This semester was a crazy one for field experiences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I spent 5 hours in the Grove City College Early Education Center (EEC) alongside my Early Childhood Curriculum and Instruction class. By the end of the semester, I finished the experience by recording videos of me doing crafts/reading aloud for the students.
Throughout the semester, I saw the EEC as a stellar example of many best practices. They are excellent at family involvement, they prepare their students well for kindergarten, their main method of teaching is play-based learning, they use developmentally appropriate practice, they have excellent assessments, and they use inclusive practices. Additionally, the EEC follows many of the ideas of the key educational theorists. Of all the theorists, I think that the EEC most aligns with Piaget’s ideas. Piaget really emphasized the importance of play and developmentally appropriate practice. The EEC uses mainly play-based learning. This is extremely powerful for the students. The teachers do an excellent job facilitating play. For example, the teachers sit on the carpet with the students when they are playing in the morning. I hear them ask the students guiding questions and ask them to explain their thinking as they play. They teach vocabulary as it authentically arises in conversations of play. They also do a great job placing developmentally appropriate toys out for the students. On my first day, I cleaned a lot of new toys. There were a variety of toys, but I noticed that all of them could be tied to an early learning standard in some way, and all were developmentally appropriate for the preschool age. The teachers also use DAP in their teaching. They sing a lot of songs, they involve the students in their learning, they ask the students to draw often, and they have the students practice writing their name in small steps at a time. If Piaget were alive today, I think he would have loved the EEC.
I was very impressed by the EEC’s ability to switch to online learning. The teachers were well prepared and within the first week of online learning had plans for many college students to send in videos. I think that this transition has really shown the flexibility of the teachers. Of all classes to teach online, I think that preschool would be the most difficult. From the video responses of the families, it seems that the families are excited about all that the teachers are doing for the students.
While this field experience may not have ended in the way any of us anticipated, it was a valuable learning experience for me. My time in the EEC reinforced everything we learned in class and gave me a real-life example of what each best practice looks like.
Throughout the semester, I saw the EEC as a stellar example of many best practices. They are excellent at family involvement, they prepare their students well for kindergarten, their main method of teaching is play-based learning, they use developmentally appropriate practice, they have excellent assessments, and they use inclusive practices. Additionally, the EEC follows many of the ideas of the key educational theorists. Of all the theorists, I think that the EEC most aligns with Piaget’s ideas. Piaget really emphasized the importance of play and developmentally appropriate practice. The EEC uses mainly play-based learning. This is extremely powerful for the students. The teachers do an excellent job facilitating play. For example, the teachers sit on the carpet with the students when they are playing in the morning. I hear them ask the students guiding questions and ask them to explain their thinking as they play. They teach vocabulary as it authentically arises in conversations of play. They also do a great job placing developmentally appropriate toys out for the students. On my first day, I cleaned a lot of new toys. There were a variety of toys, but I noticed that all of them could be tied to an early learning standard in some way, and all were developmentally appropriate for the preschool age. The teachers also use DAP in their teaching. They sing a lot of songs, they involve the students in their learning, they ask the students to draw often, and they have the students practice writing their name in small steps at a time. If Piaget were alive today, I think he would have loved the EEC.
I was very impressed by the EEC’s ability to switch to online learning. The teachers were well prepared and within the first week of online learning had plans for many college students to send in videos. I think that this transition has really shown the flexibility of the teachers. Of all classes to teach online, I think that preschool would be the most difficult. From the video responses of the families, it seems that the families are excited about all that the teachers are doing for the students.
While this field experience may not have ended in the way any of us anticipated, it was a valuable learning experience for me. My time in the EEC reinforced everything we learned in class and gave me a real-life example of what each best practice looks like.