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www.lombardparks.com (630) 620-7322 9 Guidelines for Classroom Planning The guidelines for classroom planning include physical, intellectual, emotional, social and creative development. The focus is to develop the whole child versus targeting one area of development. The concept of developmental appropriateness has two dimensions: age appropriateness and individual appropriateness. Physical Development: The physical area includes development of small and large muscle skills. Small muscle skills promote the physical development of the fingers, wrist, and hand. The purpose behind developing small muscles is to enable the child to strengthen the hands and fingers for future writing skills. This is accomplished through use of manipulatives, more commonly referred to as table toys. Table toys begin large and easier to put together, as the child's competence progresses, the size decreases and the complexity increases. Manipulatives include duplos, legos, playdough, puzzles, stringing beads, etc. Large muscle includes the physical development of the back, legs, shoulders and arms. By strengthening large muscles, children develop coordination in the areas of throwing, running, jumping, skipping, climbing, and balance. Children accomplish this development through activities such as parachute, scooters, ball play, climbers, swings, block play, obstacle courses, and music and movement activities. Social Development: Social development is the ability to interact, learn, cooperate, and take turns with others in a classroom setting. Children need to participate in a social setting to become well rounded individuals. This includes: self control in group activities, negotiating skills, and respect for others. The instructor monitors the social environment by facilitating small and large group activities. In these activities instructors encourage children to use their words to solve their problems and take turns (as appropriate for their age). For example, when two children approach the computer at the same time, the instructor facilitates the negotiation process. The instructor encourages the children to establish the problem and come up with a solution that they both agree on. Negotiation skills also involve encouraging children to use their words. For example, Johnny knocks Mikey's blocks over. Instead of Mikey physically expressing himself, the instructor encourages him to use his words to let his feelings be known. As a result, the children are learning to communicate in an appropriate manner. Emotional Development: Emotional development centers around children's changing feelings about themselves. For children to take risks, they first need to feel secure within themselves and trust their environment. Allowing children the freedom of choice encourages them to be more independent, which promotes a healthy self-esteem. The activities provided for choice are open-ended which enables the child to be successful. There are many ways children can achieve this goal. The main responsibility for forming a trusting environment lies with the instructor. The instructor respects each child as an individual and allows them to express their feelings and emotions in a positive manner. Intellectual (Cognitive) Development: Cognitive development is the way in which children develop understanding of concepts about themselves, others and the world around them through observation, interacting with people and real objects, and seeking solutions to concrete problems (Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children Birth Through Age 8, NAEYC). Children need to participate in hands on open-ended activities designed to help them develop the foundation concepts needed for future learning. The areas of cognitive development include: math, science, language development, and problem solving. Creative Development: Creative development typically involves original thinking, imagination, expression, both verbal and non-verbal, through all areas of curriculum. Creativity lays the foundation for the child's individuality. This encourages the development of self-esteem, and self expression. Creativity encompasses art, music and movement, and dramatic play. The instructor works as a facilitator of creative development by providing the appropriate materials at the child's option. Materials at each age level are the same, what the child does with these materials differ. For example, in art the child progresses through the stages of scribbles to representational art.