Sensory activities facilitate exploration and naturally encourage children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore. During these activities children acquire information allowing them to make classifications in their environment. Our PK1 students experienced a lot of different textures in this sensorial course: Sticky, slippery, gooey, rough, soft, bumpy… This was also a fun way to learn French vocabulary in context, associating visual and tactile stimuli.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) is omnipresent in SDFAS curriculum and our students practice STEM activities on a daily basis.
Exploring the sand area, identifying simple machines like gears, wheels and pulleys, planning and designing structures, and making patterns are some examples of STEM in Early Childhood
Our approach? We are targeting the “what” instead of the “why”.
“What” questions focus on what is happening, what children are noticing, and what they are doing. By focusing questions on what kids observe and notice, we are helping them not only to develop valuable communication and observation skills, but also to build their confidence by giving them questions they can answer as experts.
Margot, future engineer or architect?
Multisensory learning is learning that involves two or more of the senses within the same activity: auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic.
A classic approach tends to target only visual and auditory senses. Our teachers are always trying to integrate different pathways, as we are all different learners.
In PK0, Geraldine is using visual and tactile to work on colors.
In our PK1 class, Alexandra is associating auditory, visual and kinesthetic to work on language with her PK1 students during her circle time. Look how engaged the students are!
Moving through the different stages of pencil grasp development is an important part of Early Childhood Education. At SDFAS, we start in PK0 through a lot of fun gross motor skill activities that will make shoulders and arms stronger, and help your child’s pencil grasp to mature as well.
The final aim is to reach the Dynamic Tripod Grasp. Such a grasp is characterized by holding the writing tool with the ends of the thumb, index and middle finger. The pencil is controlled with finger movement rather than the hand or arm.
And look at our PK2 students, they are already so confident with their pencil control! (Pictures 3&4)
Our PK2 students went camping today! They had their gear ready, and set out for the forest. They then selected the perfect location to set up their sleeping bags. When the sun went down, they listened to the animals to try to identify them. There were so many animals in this forest, from tiny to enormous, from bees to bears. The children even identified a dragon! What a great way to work on sound discrimination and vocabulary.
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Albert Einstein
