But What Are They Learning?

But What Are They Learning?

It's incredibly powerful for parents to hear what their children are learning while they play. Here's a cheat sheet for different areas of the classroom:

Sensory Play

  • Hand-eye coordination
  • Opportunities for solo and cooperative play
  • Fine and gross motor development
  • Self-regulation
  • Flexible thinking and creativity
  • Experimenting with cause and effect

Art Area

  • Self-expression and creativity
  • Exploration of new materials
  • Fine and gross motor skills
  • Pre-writing skill development
  • Sensory stimulation

Block Area

  • Pre-math skills like balance, symmetry, size, order, length, pattern and weight
  • Positive social interactions
  • Turn-taking strategies and sharing space
  • Problem solving skills
  • Scientific thinking skills
  • Flexible thinking


Cozy Reading Area

  • Self-regulation
  • Mindfulness
  • Building vocabulary and oral language skills
  • Building memory
  • Making connections between print and images
  • Exploring reading interests
  • Book handling skills


Puzzles

  • Control of fine and gross motor muscles (ie: fingers, hands, wrists, arms, shoulders)
  • Visual perception skills
  • Spatial awareness
  • Focus
  • Persistence

Manipulatives

  • Fine motor development
  • Pre-writing skills
  • Problem solving
  • Making hypotheses and testing theories
  • Flexible thinking and creativity
  • Early math concepts (ie: comparing, categorizing, one-to-one correspondence, etc.)

Dramatic Play

  • Positive social interactions and play skills
  • Turn-taking strategies and sharing space
  • Role playing
  • Language development
  • Flexible thinking
  • Self-care skills
  • Emotional regulation

Outdoor Play

  • Gross motor development
  • Building stamina for active play
  • Self-regulation
  • Exploring the natural world
  • Negotiating conflict
  • Problem solving
  • Imaginative play
  • Flexible thinking
  • Hand-eye coordination

Label the Learning

Interested in sharing this information with your parents? Download and print out our Learning Center Labels.