Art is an important part of our curriculum. Every day, children find a variety of art materials available on our shelves. Drawing, painting, pasting, molding, and constructing are not only enjoyable but also provide important opportunities for learning. Children express their ideas and feelings, improve their coordination, learn to recognize colors and textures, and develop creativity and pride in their accomplishments by exploring and using art materials.

When children are engaged in art activities, we talk with them about what they are doing and ask questions that encourage them to think about their ideas and express feelings.

We are just as interested in the creative process as we are in what children make. We say things that encourage children to be creative and confident, such as:

• “Tell me about your picture” (instead of “is that a house you drew?”)
• “It looks like the play dough is sticking to your fingers. What could we do to make it less sticky?”

What You Can Do at Home

Art is a very easy way to bring your child’s school into your home. Children love to share their art products with the most important people in their lives. Take time to talk with your child. Here are some things you might say and ask:

• “Tell me about your picture.”
• “How did you decide what colors to use?”
• “What do you like best about it?”
• “Should we hang it up in a special place so we can all enjoy your work?”

You can help your child appreciate art right in your home. When you look at books together, talk about the illustrations with your child. Discuss the art in your home.

Art is something your child can do at home in almost any room. You might designate a drawer in the kitchen or living room as an art drawer, or use a bookshelf or sturdy cardboard box. Include crayons, markers, paper, a pair of child-sized blunt-edge scissors, glue, and a separate box for collage materials. Your child is much more creative and artistic than any coloring book allows.

The library area is a very important part of our classroom and of your child’s life. It is where children gain the foundation for reading and writing. It is also a place where children can relax and enjoy the wonderful world of children’s books.

We encourage children to look at books, listen to recorded stories, retell stories, and scribble and “write” throughout the day. Sometimes children dictate stories that we write down and bind as a book.

We read stories with the children every day. Reading introduces new ideas, helps children learn how to handle problems, and encourages them to love books. As children listen to us read, their own reading skills begin to develop. Here are some things we do as we read:

• We look at picturs and ask, “What do you see?”
• We encourage children to predict what will happen next. For example, we ask, “What do you suppose will happen now?”
• We encourage children to repeat words, rhymes, and phrases they are learning.

What You Can Do at Home

Research has shown us the important role families play in helping children learn to read and write. The single most important thing you can do is read to your child every day. When your child sits next to you as you read, they begin to connect books with good feelings. Here are a few more things you can do with your child:

• Encourage your child to talk about the stories you read together.
• Use prompts like “I wonder what will happen next” or “I wonder why...”
• Try to relate the story to something in your child’s life “That dog looks a lot like Grandpa’s dog.”
• Visit the library and check out books that interest your child.
• Give your child paper and pencils, pens, or markers. Let them experiment with writing. Don’t worry if your child’s writing isn’t perfect.
   

If you would like help choosing books or need guidance about how to read with your child, please talk with us. To keep your child’s home library stocked, you can borrow books from the public library. When you take time to read with your child every day, you are doing the very best thing to help your child become a successful reader.

The hardwood unit blocks you see in our classroom are among our most valuable learning materials. They come in proportional sizes and various shapes. When children build with blocks, they begin to understand math concepts. For example, they learn about volume when they find the number of blocks that fill a certain space. They compare the heights of their buildings and learn about geometric shapes (triangles, squares, and rectangles). When they lift, shove, stack, and move blocks, they explore weight and size. Each time they use bloacks, children make decisions about how to build structures and solve construction problems.

Children often use blocks to represent the world around them, perhaps a road, a house, or a zoo. As they work together, they learn to cooperate and begin to understand friendship. To promote language development and expand children's play, encourage them to talk about what they are doing. Here are examples of what you might say and ask: 

• “I see that you made a tall apartment building. How do people get to their floors?" 
• "Where do people park their cars when they come to the shopping center?" 
• "Would you like to make a sign for your building?" 

These questions and comments make children more aware of what they are doing and encourage them to try new ideas. 

What You Can Do at Home

You can encourage your child to learn through block play by taking an interest in what he or she does at our program. Please spend time in our block area to see your child building with and caring for blocks. When you take a walk in your neighborhood, point out roads and interesting buildings. You may want to purchase table blocks, colored wooden cube blocks, or cardboard brick blocks to have at home. You can also make a set out of milk cartons, which come in different sizes. Store them in shoe boxes or plastic tubs and put a picture and word label on the container so your child knows where the materials belong. 

Identify a place where your child can build and play with blocks safely. Props such as clothespins, small plastic animals, and cars and trucks will extend your child's play and inspire new ideas. The settings your child creates can also be used for pretend play. 

In the Dramatic Play area, children take on different roles and enact real-life experiences. They use props and make-believe to deepen their understandings about the world. 

Pretending is very important to your child's development. Children who know how to make believe develop good vocabularies, which are important for reading. They learn to cooperate with others, to solve problems, and to think abstractly. All of those skills are important for success in school. When children pretend, they recall and re-create experiences. To do this, they need to form mental images. For example, to play the role of a doctor, children have to remember what tools a doctor uses, how a doctor examines a patient, and what a doctor says. In playing doctor or other roles, children learn to cooperate with others and to share their ideas. 

When children make believe, we talk with them and participate in their play to extend their thinking. We might ask, 

• "Is your baby sick? What are you going to do?" 
• "Are you the storekeeper here? I need to buy some food." 
• "What are you cooking for dinner tonight? It smells very good!" 

What You Can Do at Home
You can encourage the same kind of pretend play at home as we do at school simply by playing with your child and providing some simple props. Draping a sheet over a table creates a house or a hideout. A large empty cardboard box can become almost anything: a pirate ship, a doghouse, a castle, or a train. The nice thing about dramatic play is that it requires only your imagination.

Here are some simple ways to encourage your child's learning through dramatic play: 

• During baths, offer plastic boats, cups, and rubber dolls and pretend together.
• Save empty food cartons, make some play money, and play store with your child.
• Read stories together and involve your child in acting out different parts.
• Collect some old clothes for your child to use to dress up and make believe.
• Say to your child, "Let's pretend we're going on a train ride. What do we need? Tickets? Suitcases? Do you want to collect the tickets?"

When you engage in pretend play with your child, you are teaching important skills and strengthening the relationships that are the foundation for all learning.

Although you're probably used to seeing your children splash in the bathtub and dig in a playground sandbox, you may be surprised to know that the Sand and Water area is an important part of our school program. Both sand and water are natural materials for learning. 

When children pour water into measuring cups, they are exploring math concepts. When they drop corks, stones, feathers, and marbles into a tub of water, they are scientists who are exploring whether objects sink or float. When they comb sand into patterns, they learn about both math and art. 

We encourage children to experiment with these materials. As they do, we ask questions to focus their thinking on their discoveries. Here are some examples: 

• "Now that we've turned the water blue, what should we do with it?" 
• "How did the water change when we added the soap flakes?" 
• "What can wet sand do that dry sand can't? What can dry sand do that wet sand can't?" 
• "How many of these measuring cups of water do you suppose it will take to fill this quart pitcher?" 

What You Can Do at Home
If your child particularly enjoys playing with water and sand, you may want to set up some play areas for these activities at home. Water play can be set up at the bathroom or kitchen sink. Lay a large towel on the floor, and, if the sink is too high for the child, provide a stool or stepladder. Outdoors, you can use a small wading pool, tub, or old baby bathtub. Give your child a baster, plastic measuring spoons and cups, a funnel, and plastic or rubber animals and boats. For a novel experience, add soap flakes or food coloring to the water. Don't forget about blowing bubbles with your child! Try using different kinds of bubble-blowing frames. Plastic six-pack rings, empty berry containers, and an eyeglass frame without the lenses make interesting bubble wands. 

If a sandbox is not available outdoors, you might use a small dishpan as a miniature sandbox. All you need is a few inches of fine white sand. Collect small items such as shells, rubber animals, a very small rake, coffee scoops, measuring cups and spoons, sieves, and funnels and offer them to your child, a few at a time. These props will lead to may hours of enjoyment.

 
The opportunity to play with sand and water on a regular basis helps children develop their minds and bodies in relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable ways. 

Toys and games include puzzles; various table blocks; small construction materials such as LEGO® pieces; board games; and collections of objects (including shells, bottle caps, and buttons). When children use toys and games, they explore how things work, use their imaginations, strengthen and control the muscles in their hands, work cooperatively, solve problems, and learn content area concepts. 

When children use toys and games in the classroom, we encourage them to talk about what they are doing. For example, we might say:

• "Tell me about the design you made." 
• "How did you get those rings to fit together?" 
• "Can you tell me how the blocks you picked out are the same?" 

Such questions and comments help children develop thinking skills. 

What You Can Do at Home
You play an important role by selecting toys and games that are safe, interesting, and appropriate for your child. More importantly, research shows that the most creative children are those who have had adults involved in their play. Here are a few ways that you can be involved in your child's play with toys and games: 

• Observe. Watch as your child plays and notice his or her abilities and interests. 
• Play. Follow your child's lead and join his or her play. 
• Imagine. Keep in mind that there is more than one way to play with a toy. Be creative! 
• Enjoy. This isn't a time to drill your child or test what he or she knows. Just have fun being together, talking, and playing. 

Good toys do not have to be expensive. You might collect various small objects such as buttons, seashells, rocks, and plastic bottle tops. Make suggestions, such as "Put all of the buttons that are the same color in a pile," or "Group all of the beads that are the same size." Encourage your child to tell you about the design he or she is making or to explain why things belong together. 

Playing with toys and games at home promotes your child's development in many ways. We welcome you to to help us in the classroom by playing in our Toys and Game area with the children. You can see for yourself how much your child is learning there.