A lot of research has been done on the topic of the importance of early childhood learning and what it demonstrates is that preschool-age children learn best in environments that are safe, led by caring and responsive adults, and where they feel free to explore and develop their interests. A well-designed learning environment plays an important part in enabling this process to run smoothly and successfully.
Effects of Various Early Childhood Learning Environments
In all walks of life, environments affect us, whether it’s a favourite restaurant, a local park, a sporting centre, or a friend’s home. The enjoyable experiences we get there will make us feel good. Just thinking about these places will ignite positive feelings related to the experiences.
The same goes for places we don’t like, such as the dentist’s office, crowded airports, or noisy restaurants. All this means that in some settings, we feel comfortable and relaxed, while in others, we feel tense and overwhelmed. Environments affect our feelings, actions, and the way we respond in certain situations.
As with adults, preschool-age children are also affected by their environments, even though they’re too young to express these feelings clearly. This is why we need to make sure that classrooms and learning spaces make children feel welcome, secure, and ready to learn, as it’s done in versatile child care in Ballarat which has sunlit classrooms, a generous playground featuring all weather surfaces, covered decks and a sustainability garden from which on-site cooks harvest fresh ingredients for children’s daily meals.
A Supportive Learning Environment
Creating a supportive learning environment demands time, effort, reflection, and planning. Regardless of how much time children spend there, the environment plays a key role in helping them explore, develop and learn. Research shows that a well-designed, high-quality classroom environment can promote the closing of the achievement gap, that is, children who enter school with weaker predispositions and less ready to learn will be the ones who benefit the most from supportive environments.
A supportive environment is well-organized, flexible, dependable, safe and can cater to various interests and abilities. One of the most important aspects of supportive environments is that they send children a lot of positive messages about the learning process. It is a good place to be, there’s a sense of belonging, a feeling of trust and safety, a place that offers a variety of activities and allows you to be yourself. Environments affect our feelings and actions, and they can influence what we learn. Due to this huge impact, learning environments are often referred to as “third teachers” (The Reggio Emilia approach).
Places of Interest
In environments intended for young children, the terms “interest areas” or “learning centers” are used to describe spaces particularly designed with singular purposes. They typically contain materials with similar uses, and when a child enters these areas, they should be able to clearly see the materials and understand what type of play can happen there, as well as how they’re expected to behave there.
In good learning environments, learning opportunities for children are designed every day, and the way the classroom or outdoor environment is set up will spark their creativity and entice other learning opportunities. This is why interest areas are instrumental in learning in preschool environments.
There are several common interest areas recommended for preschoolers: blocks where children build things and learn how stuff works, dramatic play where they dress up and take up roles, toys and games, art and music, library, discovery area with materials for open-ended exploration, tech and media centre that can provide developmentally appropriate learning opportunities, and a sensory area with sand, water and any other material that motivates children to experiment and explore.
The Right Arrangement
There are many different ways you can arrange preschool classrooms to be effective learning environments. However they get set up, each of them should contain several important elements:
- Learning objectives: materials and interest areas aligned to learning objectives.
- Safety standards: children can be seen and monitored at all times, all areas are easily accessible, and entrance/exit is clear at all times.
- Defined boundaries: there are physical boundaries such as shelves and furniture that break up large open spaces and help children focus and understand the purpose of a space.
- Sufficient materials: there needs to be duplicates of all toys so there’s enough for more children to play together in social areas – they are more likely to engage in meaningful play if there’s enough material to use together.
- Engaging materials: provide material that children enjoy using, and add and rotate materials regularly so they don’t get bored.
- Separate spaces for loud/active and quiet/calm activities: quiet interest such as the library, listening center, and writing center as opposed to loud, active centers with blocks, dramatic play area, and sensory area, allow children to choose their activity based on how they feel.
Final Thoughts
Children are powerful learners, so as adults, we should take lead from whatever interests they exhibit. This is why the learning environment plays such an essential role and is often considered to be the third teacher. We need to take time to design the right learning environment that offers children valuable learning experiences, so hopefully, the tips listed here can provide guidance and help.
