Here at Sunny Patch Preschool, we know that sending your little one off to a new program can feel overwhelming - especially if your child has a language delay or is learning English for the first time in a group setting. We have lots of experience supporting families through the transition of entering group care while developing those foundational communication skills.
If you've already toured with us you know we very intentional in structuring our environment and curriculum. The children have opportunities to practice language skills in a variety of ways including large or small group time, one on one support, circle time where we sing songs or discuss things going on in our homes and LOTS of open ended opportunities for language acquisition through PLAY!
The following list are some of the ways we help our children and families feel supported in the first leg of their educational journey.
Connection - Our first strategy in working with ALL the students in our classroom is establishing CONNECTION. We do this by ensuring that your child has a familiar welcoming face first thing in the morning and one adult who goes to him when he's looking overwhelmed. This adult provides a safe space for your child to observe classroom activities and explains what's going on while the other teachers are continuing on with our morning routine. We've all had the experience of walking into a room of strangers - depending on your personality it can be pretty scary! We want your child to know that he has a support person while he's getting to know his new environment so we spend a lot of time in the early days creating a relationship that lets him know she's not alone in our classroom.
Encourage Observation - Children who have difficulties communicating due to age, stage, temperament or language exposure need a little more time to observe their peers before they're comfortable jumping in to an activity or a social situation. Parents sometimes see our brightwheel videos and ask why thier child isn't participating. I always explain it like this: imagine going to a party where everyone knows each other and speaks a language you're not really familiar with, the natural way to navigate the situation would be to watch what everyone else is doing to get your bearings. After a while when somebody friendly approaches you and you're feeling comfotable getting in the mix your open up.
Children are the same way, their personality and stage of play often determines how quickly they are ready to get in the mix. Our team knows that this is a developmentally appropriate part of learning language and social skills; we allow her the space to observe without pressuring her to participate before she's ready. During this stage we support your child by playing next to her narrarating what the other children are doing and making suggestions for how she can also enter play. This might look like making cookies in the playdough center, narrating what the other chidlrne are doing and suggesting that she offer a cookie to the child sitting next to her.
Peer Mentoring - One of my FAVORITE parts of working in a mixed age classroom is that we have children of many different developmental stages in our space. This means that someone is always learning to talk so children who are second language learners, have a language delay or are just really really shy fit right in. ALOT of language and social skills evolution takes place through peer mentoring. In our classroom it looks like this, we notice one of our quiet children standing on the side looking lost, we will bring one of our more outgoing children over and say Our new friend doesn't have alot of words but she wants to play, can you show her how to go through the obstacle course? Or shes looking a little sad because shes missing her mom who has a hug for her? Our group is really great about offering a hug, inviting the new child to play, bringing her toys or just sitting next to her. Peer memtoring is a great tool for our more establihed children too! They learn to read body language, take on leadership and practice next level social skills.
Songs and Finger plays - Using familiar songs and finger plays is such a powerful tool in our classroom. We have a repeat playlist of songs that we sing over, and over and over again lol. Songs an fingerplays not only help our children with langauage barriers but they create a sense of synergy and joyfulness amongst all of the children in the group. You may notive that we use the same songs in grouptime - this is because we know all of the children really enjoy the feeling of coming together that singing our familar songs brings. Some of our favorites involve singing each one of the children's names in the song, your child can't wait to hear a special song all about her!
Connection Between Home and School - We use an app called Brightwheel in our classroom. This helps us share videos and photos with our families so that mom and dad can see the progression of language / social devleopment. We've found this tool to be very beneficial in educating parents about the process of learning for young children. Sometimes our parents will ask why is my child not participating? This opens the door for us to share how important the process of observation is to your child's development. We encourage our parents to ask questions so that we know where to support you in undertanding your child's needs in social settings. We also give updates of group activities, special notes about your child and photos / videos of all the fun ways we encourage your child's language skills.
Learning language in the early years is a crucial part of our child's educational and emotional foundation. If you have any concerns about your child's ability to communicate be sure to ask for an evaluation through your local early on. Evaluations and services are free for children under the age of three who qualify so don't worry but don't wait!
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