TEACHERS’ TRAINING DIPLOMA PROGRAMME MODULE - V ™ VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY Shop No. B 41, Patel Shopping Contre, Chandevarkar Road, Borivali (W), Mumbai - 92, India. Tel. : +91 22 2894 553B » +91 22 2894 5954 * +91 98695 46913 E-mail : enquiry@[Link] Website : [Link] / [Link]VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY © Copyright Warning - All Rights Reserved By Vidhyanidhi Education Society. The text of this pul be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, ion, or any part thereof, may not broadcasted, displayed or published in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise. Any tampering or transgressions with the said materials in the manner mentioned above or otherwise shall make the person concerned liable to prosecution. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, IndiaVIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY PREFACE The teacher to a child is like a gardener to a plant. A gardener creates conducive conditions for a plant to grow to its full potential. In the same way, it is the foremost duty of an effective teacher to plan and create a favourable and constructive atmosphere for a child that ensures his holistic development. Prom the point of view of humun development, eurly childhood years considered very crucial. These are the most impressionable years in the life span of a human. The foundation laying for all future development takes place during these formative years. The child in these years is very curious, observant, receptive, and creative and is ever to learn all that he can from the environment. Therefore, to let children blossom holistically, it is vital that they get nurtured and educated by well trained preschool teachers who have the skill to comprehend the child, his needs and his abilities and act accordingly. ie. 0-6 yrs) ure. Vidhyanidhi Education Society a renowned teacher training institute was established two decades ago atter recognizing the need for well-trained and qualified pre-school teachers. Since then we have been producing quality preschool teachers who are excelling in their chosen fields. Our alumni are a reflection of the institute’s rich experience and its perpetual dedication to the cause of teacher training. This comprehensive courseware brought forth by VES is a product of extensive research and has been designed with utmost care by our well qualified and experienced course coordinators who have been working relentlessly for years in the field of preschool education. Our courseware provides you with exhaustive knowledge about principles of - child growth and development, child psychology, child health and nutrition etc. It equips you with strategies ‘ond fachniques far imparting quality child-cantrad adurntion. It alee anrichas you with the knowledge required for - planning and designing a stimulating environment for young childron, conduction of various play activities for childron, proparation and use of different teaching aids, organizing and management of a child care services etc. This courseware therefore, is an indispensable instrument for the successful completion of your tanchar training pragramma thie making you positive attitude. fo a [Link] tanchar hrimming with We wish you all the best. Hope you enjoy learning with us | Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, IndiaVIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY MODULE - V WORKING WITH CHILDREN INDEX CHAPTERS] TOPICS PG. NOS. Chapter 1.| Nurturing Creativity 1 Chapter 2.| Art For Children 5 Chapter 3.| Story Telling 9 Chapter 4.| Sangs And Singing 14 Chapter 5.| Planning For Activities 7 Chapter 6.| Activities For Children 24 Chapter 7.| Class Observation 46 Chapter 8.| Lesson Plan 52 Assignment 71 APPENDICES - INDEX SR. NOS. DETAILS PAGE NO. Appendix |_| Format For Lesson Plan and Report Writing 77 Appendix Il | A Craft Specimen 80 Appendix IIl_|A Creativity Specimen 81 Appendix IV | Reference Letter for Internship 82 Appendix V | Format for Teaching Practice Observation Sheet 83 Appendix VI | Specimen of Pre-school Admission Form 84 Appendix VII | Specimen of Pre-school Report / Evaluation Card 86 Appendix Vill] Course Feedback Form 88 Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, IndiaVIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY MODULE - V WORKING WITH CHILDREN 1. NURTURING CREATIVITY Structure 1.1 What Is Creativity ? 1.2 Creativity and the Child 1.1 WHAT IS CREATIVITY ? Creativity is the word that often comes up in our conversations. We talk of a certain person being creative. Perhaps we have made or heard statements like “She is innovative”, “He does things differently!” or "That's a good idea!” But what is if exactly that we mean by the word “creative” or “creativity” ? Some Definitions : The Webster dictionary defines “to create” as “to produce as a work of thought or imagination” or “to bring into being”. Creativity involves imagination and fantasy. “Creativity is that process which results in a novel work that is accepted as useful or satisfying by « group at same point intima.” “Any process by which something new is produced as an idea or an object is called creativity.” This new product may be a new song created by a composer, a painting or a recipe for soup. When we study about creativity, we must consider both the process of creative thinking and its product. 1.2 CREATIVITY AND THE CHILD When we talk about creativity with regard to children, the emphasis is on self-expression and not on the end product. Of course, when children are being creative, they will produce something. But their goal is not the finished product. It is the process of expressing themselves that reflects the creative urge. Evaluation of the end product is more appropriate when working with the older children and adults. Some general principles, which if you as a teacher can keep in mind during your interactions with children will enable you to nurture their creativity, are os follows : 1. Make children feel creative : The social environment of children will determine to a large extent, whether they will be creative or not. One of the first conditions for creativity to flourish is a willingness Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 1VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY to try out new things, an attitude which can be summed up by the following words- Lot's try it autl’”, “Why nate” Be open to children’s suggestions about doing something different and venture with them os they explore their play material, Such an altitude will tell ther thot it is all right to try out something new, to experiment. Sometimes you may need to encourage children to explore and think for themselves if they seem hesitant to do so. A) Keep The Level Of Anxiety Low : When children are in an environment that is comfortable and predictable, where they know what is expected of them, they feel secure and have eneray to be innovative and original. You are creative when you are relaxed, contented and happy. 8) Be Prepared For Disorder : If ateacher wishes te generate a creative to live with a little bit of disorder. When children are drawing, painting, making items with clay or playing games using blocks and such other materials, there is bound fo be some disorder. Paint may be dropped on the floor or on clothes or the ate for children, she must be prepared blocks muy lie scattered uboul. Insisting thal children and Ihe play room remain neal and the play materials be kept in order at all times can interfere with self- expression. Once children have finished playing, you can Involve them in cleaning up. C) Give children time to complete what they are doing : While the teacher needs to make a time table for the activities for the day, she should not stick to it rigidly. If the children are involved in painting or working with clay, she should not change the activity simply because her time-table indicates it. D)A general air of approval concerning children in the home or in the pre-school sats a tone in which childran can he crantive + Are teacher and parents flexible when they are with children or do they expect children to conform strictly to rules? Are they rigid and fussy about keeping things in order? Do children seek them out to participate in their play? How can you, as u leather, chonyg the climate of the pre-schuol centre for the beter ? A place where children are happy, enthusiastic and eager to explore and the adults are warm, relaxed and friendly is an environment where children’s imagination, fantasy and creativity are nurtured. 2. The creative process is more important than the product : Children do not ofien draw or paint or sing wilh the sole uit of produ When they begin to paint, for example, they rarely have a particular theme or an something. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 2VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY object in mind. They are interested in experimenting with colours and as they do so, same dacign ie farmed. It ic froadam af chaating calaure and mixing them ac thay like that makes the activity enjoyable. This is the beginning of creative self-expression and it must be nurtured. Therefore, do not be critical or judgmental about what children say or do. Instead, respond encouragingly to what they show you and appreciate I. Children’s drawings or models or stories are not likely to correspond to adult standards. But that is not important since their intention is not to capture the real world. It does not matter if the apple the child has painted is purple in colour. From the child’s angle, there is no fun in copying from a model made by adulis. Copies are neither spontaneous nor original and we know that originality and spontaneity are essential aspects of creativity. Do not reward children for an activity which they like to do in the first place, in the absence of the reward : Children as well as adults will be most creative when they participate in an activity in which they find interest, enjoyment, satisfaction and challenge. To put it in other words, they will be most creative when they are motivated trom within. It has offen been found that when children initially showing a high level of interest and motivation in a task, are rewarded for an activity, they lose interest and their creativity qoes down. Therefore, when a teacher finds that children find activities pleasurable in absence of any reward, she should not begin to reward them. She should maintain a delicate balance between praising the children and not diminishing their desire for the task. Encourage children to make choices : Encourage children to make choices about their play activities and the play materials they would like to use. For example, instead of telling children that they must draw, the teacher can give them a choice between drawing, painting, making a collage or making models with clay. They are all activities that allow self-expression. Offer eupport whon nooded, but intorfere ae little as possible : Children will often come to the teacher to show her what they have made. They may say, “How is if? Itis good, isn't it?" What they are asking for ia their teacher's approval. At such times, the teacher should encourage and appreciate children. She should never criticize their effort. A child took his clay model fo show to the educator, who asked him, “What have you made ?” The child responded proudly, “A man.” The ‘man’ was a longish roll of clay. The teacher frowned and suid “This does nol look Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 3VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY like a man. Where are the arms and legs ?” Saying this, she took the model from the child and rechaped it. “Horo, take thie, Now make ane like it,” che eaid Watching the teacher change his clay sculpture, the child lost interest. He put the leucher’s clay model away und wen! lo play outside. The teacher had clearly dumpened, his enthusiasm. If the teacher had drawn the child’s attention to his model by scying, “Would you like to add the arms and legs @”, she would have channelized the child’s thinking in that direction without curbing his enthusiasm. There is a difference between suggesting and imposing one’s ideas. Children may need help with the play materials. A child who took to working with clay with great interest, was about to give it up since the clay was too hard to be made into anything. The teacher, seeing the child struggle, softened the clay by adding some water. 6. Schedule some acti activities as creative as possible : When formulating the curriculum and making the schedule of activities for the day, the teacher must be careful to see that she has provided enough activities that will foster the child’s creativity. Most activities, tor example, painting, dancing, working with clay, collage, ‘movement’ activities, story-telling and dramatization con be creative or restrictive, depending upon how you organize the activity. The more freedom an activity allows a child, the more opportunity it gives for being creative. What happens in many pre-schools is completely different. The child is asked to colour a drawing made by the teacher or to copy a drawing from the board. This is least creative. The child has no freedom at all. Often, he does not even have the freedom to choose the colours as the teachers or parents insist that the drawing should be realistic and, therefore, only specific colours have to be used. ery day, that allow self-expression and make these STRUCTURED AND UNSTRUCTURED PLAY MATERIALS FOR CHILDREN You must have understood by now that the kinds of play materials that will encourage creativity are those that are unstructured, i.e. ones that can be manipulated in several different ways and put to several uses. We also call such types of play materials “open ended”. Clay, blocks, paints, beads, old clothes, leaves, twigs and pebbles are some evamples Each child can use it in « way in which he wants to use it. In contrast, story books, jigsaw puzzles, letter and number blocks, graded blocks for seriation and counting frames are structured play materials since they have specific uses. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 4VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY 2. ART FOR CHILDREN Structure 2.1 Art- It's meaning for Youna Children 2.2 Ways of Art Expression in Children a) Drawing b) Painting <) Pri d) Clay e) Tearing and Pasting {) Paper Folding g) Paper Cutting 2.1 ART- IT’S MEANING FOR YOUNG CHILDREN: Children enjoy making drawings and paintings and expressing themselves. Some teachers may think that these activities are a means of keeping children busy and out of trouble. This perspective is not correct. Art activities must be planned so that they help children develop rather than merely keeping them engaged. Providing @ variety of art activitioa creates opportunity for the all-round development of children. Thoughts and feelings, which young children cannot express fully because of their limited vocabulary or fear of disapproval, are brought out In the colours of the painting, the moulding of clay, the stamping of feet etc. A feeling which a child does not understand, can be expressed through a painting. Cognitive concepts are learned through art activities. While painting, children get to know the names of colours. While playing with clay, they come to know that they can make things only with wat clay and that clay tays ara hrankahla whan dry Motor skill development is an important outcome of experience with art materials. While using crayons, brushes, chalks and scissors, children train the small muscles of the hand and the eyes. In most of these activities, we find children talking fo each other and sharing the thrill of discovery. Children also learn to share materials and take turns fo use them. Such an interaction aids social and language development. 2.2 WAYS OF ART EXPRESSION IN CHILDREN A) DRAWING Every child’s self-expression, whether in art, music ar dance, is based on developmental stages. In the beginning, the child vigorously makes straight lines Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 5VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY B) Q D) going up and down. He holds the pencil or crayon so tightly that after a while, the tight grip ie loosened duc te fatigue. At thie stage, childron require large choote of paper and floor space as they make sweeping arm movements. This scribbling stage continues fill about 2 or 2”, yeurs of aye. In Ihe next stage of controlled scribbling, the lines become semi-circular. This implies greater control over the movement of the wrist. Now, curves, loops and intricate patterns begin to appear. [he lines now do not always go out of the paper. The naming of what has been drawn is the next stage which appears after three years of age. The child, after four years of age, may make his drawings look more real. Gradually, around nine years of age, the child develops more skill and he is able to draw parts of tho body and other dotaile in roalictic proportions. PAINTING Painting as an activity provides greater opportunity for experimenting than drawing. A painting session requires prior preparation by the teacher. She will have to mix the paints and keep them ready, organize the work area in terms of providing sufficient space ta each child and tie an apron far each child, if itis available. Basides painting with a brush, a teacher can introduce children to spray painting, sand painting, thread paint painting. PRINTING Yes, the pre-schooler can also do block printing. To make a block, cut horizontal sections of vegetables such as potatoes, onions, lady's finger’s and lotus stem. On the cross section of a potote, a teacher can carve a pattern with a knife. The cross 19, blow painting, hand and finger painting, loaf and flower painting and floor sections of lotus stem and many vegetables like lady’s fingers have their own patterns. Then take a bowl of paint and dip the sections in the paint and print them on paper or the required surface. Different leaves can also be used for this activity. Bits of cotton, wool, crumpled paper and cloth can be used for block printing. CLAY Clay gives an opportunity to create in three dimensions i.e. objects made of clay have longth, breadth and height. Handling a lump of clay ie a concory oxporionce which will further develop the ability to learn by feeling. It will also improve fine motor co-ordination. When the child becomes familiar with clay, he starts using it to represent objects. He begins by making small balls or coils. Naming of these objects comes later. We can see recognizable forms in the clay models of four-year-olds. We Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 6VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY may find that the child has taken a ball and made holes to denote eyes, nose and mouth. —£) TEARING AND PASTING Provide children with pictures from old magazines and newspapers. Have some glue and sheets of paper ready on which children can paste the pictures they have torn off. The teacher may have to demonstrate how to stick the pictures on paper for the firet tima When childran ara able ta paste tha picturac, ack tham tn da tha cama activity using small bits of paper. The children will first have to tear off bits of paper. ‘Appl n. This activity is relevant for older pre-schoolers as well. F) PAPER FOLDING The older pre-schoolers may like to make obiects by folding paper in various ways. The teacher can show children how to make a fan, a boat or a bag from paper. However, before children can do this, thay will naed opportunities to fold paper ng glue to omall bits of paper gives practice in fine motor co- ordi Initially the teacher may need to help children as they cannot overlap one fold over the other completely. Later, concepts such as of ‘half’, ‘quarter’, ‘square! and ‘triangle’ can be taught through paper folding. G) PAPER CUTTING Paper cutting is an activity which requires fine motor control. Always use round- tipped scissors when introducing this activity to children. Only after considerable control of the fingor muscles has been achioved, can childron cut paper well. Thon they will be able to cut what they want to and will also be able to follow instructions. Initially, firm but net very thick paper is given for culling. The size of the paper should be such that it can be held with the other hand. Around four years of age, a child can cut out pictures somewhat roughly. Between five and six years of age, he can fairly cut intricate details of a picture like the ears of a rabbit, the leaves of a plant etc. Play with water and sand Children simply love to play with water and sand, but many adults have strong prejudice towards ‘wetness’ and ‘muddiness’. Children must remain clean, they teel, even it it is at the cost of exploration and discovery. This is a wrong attitude. Experiences with water, sand and mud provide innumerable opportunities for learning. It requires a little more alertness on the part of the teacher to see that children do not throw mud or water at each other. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 7VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY For water play, the pre-school can have a small, permanent pond built in the playground, oF it can store water in largo challow basine or tube. It chould ole provide beakers and containers of different shapes and sizes, funnels, plastic toys and objects. Children develop fine motor control us they pour water from one container to the other. Such repeated experiences will help them develop an idea of conservation of amount. It will also help them form an idea about shape, size and volume. Water play also helps children to develop ‘an understanding of concepts like ‘light’ and ‘heavy’, ‘floating’ and ‘sinking’ and to know some properties of water. To provide opportunity for sand play, the pre-school can dig a pit in the open playground or improvise one indoors. Playing with sand fosters fine motor co-ordination as children make ‘pancakes’, ‘balle’ and ‘houses’. But bosidoe thie, cand play ie an offective medium for nurturing children’s imagination. When children are plying with sand, one can observe them und creule stories uboul giants, demons, kings ele. The teacher should provide children with containers and rakes of different sizes for use in the sand pit. Later on the elaborate notions of measurement and shape are constructed from such elementary experiences of digging and pouring sand in containers. Some children, because of the rules imposed by adults, may feel uncomfortable playing with water and sand for the fear that they will got dirty. This deprives children of a major sensory experience. The teacher should encourage such children to play and should also talk 10 the parents and reassure them so that they do nor get unnecessarily tense when children get dirty. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 8VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY 3. STORY TELLING Structure 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Values und Objectives of Storytelling 3.3 Sitting Arrangement 3.4 Narrating the Story 3.5 After the Story 3.6 Supports for Story Telling 3.1 INTRODUCTION A story is defined as a narrative or tale of real or fictitious events. In a pre-school programme, as far as possible, storytelling should be a daily activity. Stories tend to be appealing to children for a variety of reasons. For a story to interest children, it must serve one of the several functions such as arousing children's curivsity, entertaining them, stimulating their imagination, appealing to their sense of adventure and being in tune with their hopes, desires and fears. A story must help them clarify and deal with their emotions, give recognition to their problems and suggest solutions and help them develop their intellect and self-confidence. In other words, ‘a story must enrich children’s life and relate to aspects of their personality; it must help them to develop their inner resources. These are characteristics of good stories. However, all these characteristics need not be found in every story. We can broadly classify children’s stories into three categories : a) Stories based on real life : They are stories based on some phenomena of nature, science stories, stories about children growing up in different regions or stories about growing up itself, stories about brave men and women etc. b) Stories based on imagination and fantasy : They include fairy tales, folk tales, stories containing impossible events, stories based on ‘Superman’ or ‘Batman’ ete. c) Stories from a specific culture : They include myths, legends, epics and other folklore. Some examples of these are the stories about gods. goddesses and demons. 3.2 VALUES AND OBJECTIVES OF STORY-TELLING 1. Story-telling is a joyful activity and it is a source of enjoyment. 2. It promotes the following: + Social development : Children observe group discipline while listening to a story. + Emotional Development: The child identifies himself with the character of the story as though things in the story are happening to him (Feelings of sympathy, joy etc.). Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 9VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY + Intellectual development : Abstract concepts are made concrete through story- tolling ; it onrichee vocabulary ; it provides eppertunitics for thinking, reacening and concentration. 3. It serves as a good toundation tor tuture reading. 4. {tis a gateway for imagination, creativity and self-expression. 5, It aids personality development. 3.3 SITTING ARRANGEMENT 1. Children should ai 2. The teacher should sit at a slightly higher level than that of children so that they all can see what she is showing. 3. The teacher must ensure that every child is able to see and hear her. ircle. close to the teacher in a group, children can sit in a semi 3.4 NARRATING THE STORY Narration is a crucial part of story-telling. A teacher may have selected a good story, but it may still fail to hold children’s attention if it is not told in an interesting manner. The way a story is presented will also determine how much children enjoy it and participate in it. While narrating a story, eye contact with children is important. The choice of the words, the modulation of voice and facial expressions contribute to the liveliness of the story. Use words that enable children to picture the scene and stimulate their imagination. A narration which says “The mice tiptoed to the cupboard and slowly and noiselessly munched the sweet” is more interesting than the narration which seys “The mice cautiously went to the cupboard and quietly ate the sweet.” VBICEIABAUIGHSA is o must to bring feeling into the story. Imagine hearing a story which is told in a monotone, i.e. with the same tone to express delight, fear, anxiety or caution. The tone communicates a great deal to the listener and must be appropriate to the content being expressed. While speaking the above-mentioned sentence about the mice, for example, one can linger upon the words “The mice slow-ly tip-to-ed”, which will convey the mood. The pitch of the voice must be lowered too, Along with voice modulation, there mus! be (SEISIERBFESSIOBS ond BBAYEROVEMRHIs 10 convey horror, amazement, delight, fear, anxiety, bravery, ity oF humo: Besides, a teacher can also “become” the various characters in the story. She can Bacdine an elephant by bending over, extending one arm to the floor. A rabbit's long ears can be depicted by placing her hands on her head. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 10VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY The teacher must not feel self-conscious or inhibited while doing this. Children like it when the teacher thinks and acts like @ child. Story telling can also be made more interesting by using masks and puppets. 3.5 AFTER THE STORY The story-telling session does not come to an end once the story has been told. A teacher can notice that after listening to a story, children talk to each other about it, imitate the characters of the story and make comments. Each child will have his own response to the story, and he must be allowed to express it. Therefore, the teacher should talk to the children, giving each of them an opportunity to talk and to listen. This helps children to understand others’ point of view. 3.6 SUPPORTS FOR STORY TELLING The use of supports like masks, puppets, illustrated story books, drawings and flash cards helps children to imagine scenes of the story, which makes it more interesting. Some of the supports used for story-telling have been described below. Flash cards are cards which have different scenes from a story, The scenes are either drawn or are depicted by pasting available pictures. The description of the scene is written at the back of the card. The teacher shows one card at a time and reads out the script written on it. Flannellograph is based on the same principle as flash cards. Here, each pictorial card has a piece of sandpaper pasted at the back so that it can be stuck on a board which is covered with flannel. As the story progresses, the relevant card is stuck on the board. Thus, the avanis of the stary are depicted on tha board. Illustrated story books, too, are effective during narration. As the teacher tells a story, she can turn over the pages of the book so that the relevant illustration can be seen by children. The illustration should be clear and colourful. Masks of the characters of the story can be made for children from materials easily available at home. such as used envelopes. old newspapers. used paper bags. pieces of cloth. buttons, twigs and so forth. An interes: jon is the use of puppets in story-telling. Children like to see puppels as puppets make the characters of the story life-like. When a puppet talks, children feel that it is talking to them and so children will respond. Puppets are the most popular of all supports. The teacher can make finger puppsts which are to be worn on a finger. She can use paper or cloth to make puppets. To make stick puppets, she can draw the characters ng var Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India i"VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY or figures on paper and then cut out the figure and paste it on to a stick. During narration, cho can hold the etick in hor hand and move it to chow movement. Clove puppets are to be worn on the hand. They are usually made of cloth. SOME POPULAR STORIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS : 1. The Thirsty Crow ‘One hot day, « thirsty crow flew all over the fields looking for water. For a long time, he could not find any. He felt very weak, almost lost all hope. Suddenly, he saw a water jug below the tree. He flew straight down to see if there was any water inside. Yes, he could see some water inside the jug! The crow tried to puch hie head into the jug. Sadly, he found that the neck of the jug wae too narrow. Then he tried to push the jug to tilt for the water to flow out but the jug was lov heavy. The crow thought hard for a while. Then looking around him, he saw some pebbles. He suddenly had a good idea. He started picking up the pebbles one by one, dropping each into the jug. As more and more pebbles filled the jug, the water level kept rising. Soon it was high enough for the crow to drink. His plan had worked! Moral: Think and work hard, you may find solution to any problem. 2. The Hare and tho Tortoise One day a hare was boasting about how fast he could run. He was laughing at the tortoise tor being so slow. Much to the hare’s surprise, the tortoise challenged him to a race. The hare thought this was a good joke and accepted the challenge. The fox was to be the umpire of the race. As the race began, the hare raced way ahead of the tortoise, just like everyone thought. The hare got to the halfway point and could not see the tortoise anywhere. He was hot and fired and decided to stop and take a short nap. Even if the tortoise passed him, he would be able to race to the finish line ahead of him. All this time the tortoise kept walking step by step by step. He never quit no matter how hot or tired he got. Ho juet kept going. However, the hare slept longer than he had thought and woke up. He could not see the tortoise anywhere! He went at tull-speed to the tinish line but found the tortoise there waiting for him. Moral: Slow and steady wins the race. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 12VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY 3. The Lion and The Mouse Once when a Lion was asleep, a litle Mouse began running up and down upon him. This soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him and opened his big jows to swallow him. “Pardon, © King!” cried the little Mouse, “Forgive me this time. | shall never repeat it and | shall never forget your kindness. And who knows, but | may be able to do you a nad turn ana af thasa daye?” The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, that he lifted up his paw and let him go. Sometime later a few hunters captured the King and tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon to carry him on. Just then the liifle Mouse happened to pase by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, ran up fo him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasis. “Was | not right?” said the little Mouse, very happy to help the Lion. Moral: No act of kindness ever goes wasted. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 13VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY 4, SONGS AND SINGING Structure 4.1 Charactoristics of a Good Song 4.2 Time for Music and Movement Almost all children enjoy singing. They sing loudly, offen with more energy than skill. Thay pick 1p eangs thay haar, camatimar rapanting a phrnea aver and aver, camatimac mispronouncing the words. At times, the pitch is off but that seldom deters a young child. Learning and ging songs arc probably the moat common musical experiences in the early childhood years. The teacher can use this enthusiasm in many ways. 4.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD SONG Sunys uppeul jo children because of their musical quulily. If we luke a close look af the popular children’s songs, we can observe some common traits that they share. Children like songs that : 1. Deal with familiar things 2. Include children’s emotions 3. Have an easy rhythm 4. Are not very slow or very fast 5. De not have much change in veice inflectione 6. Use easy and simple language 7 Haye nonsense rhyming words 4.2 TIME FOR MUSIC AND MOVEMENT Music is an integral part of the curriculum, and a pre-school programme should have special time for it. Ihe day could begin with music, exercise and creative movement. This could be organized with all the children, or in separate groups. Singing and dancing together build a sense of comradeship, co-operation and harmony. The music and movement session can be followed by a quiet story time since the former takes up a lot of energy. Tho purpose in giving musical oxperience to childron ie for enjoyment and expeeuro rother than for teaching a skill. Children’s performance ability would not be high at the start. Do not expect them to be experis in movement or singing. There is no right or wrong way to use the body. As far as the child is concerned, he is experimenting and exploring. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 14VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY Similarly, the child should not be forced to sing or be ridiculed for not knowing the werds. The teacher chould move te rhythm and ng conge with joy eo that che becomes a model for children. She should avoid correcting children’s musical rendering; it is beller to sing correctly and wail for thern to pick il up. As wilh other aspects of learning, children’s interests and joy can be created and sustained by the teacher. Her positive attitude and approach to musical experiences are crucial factors. Ihe teacher who enjoys music with enthusiasm is the one who will receive the greatest response from children. SOME POPULAR RHYMES AND SONGS FOR PRESCHOOLERS : Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star Twinkle, twinkle, little stor, How | wonder what you arel Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky! Jack and Jill Jack and Jill Went up the hill To feich the pail of water; Jack fell down And broke his crown And Jill came tumbling after. ‘Chubby Chooke Chubby cheeks, dimpled chin, Rosy lips, teeth within, Curly hair, very fair, Eyes ure blue, luvely luv, Teacher's pet, is that you? Yes, yes, yes! London bridge is falling down London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady! Build it up with iron bars, Build it up with iron bars, My fair lady! Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 15VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY Old Macdonald Old Macdonald had a farm ee-ya, ee-ya-oh. And on that farm he had a duck ee-ya, ee-ya-oh. With a quack, quack here and a quack, quack there. Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack quack Old MacDonald had a farm, ee-ya, ee-ya-oh. And on that farm he had a cow ee-ya, ee-ya-oh. With a moo, moo here and a moo, moo there. Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo, moo. Old MacDonald had a farm ee-ya, ee-ya-oh. And on that farm he had a dog ec-ya, o0-ya-oh. With a bow-bow, here and a bow-bow, there. Here a bow, there a bow , everywhere o bow-bow. Old MacDonald had a farm ee-ya, ee-ya oh. And on that farm he had a pig ee-ya, ee-ya oh. With an oink, oink here and an oink, oink there. Here an oink, there an oink, everywhere an oink oink. Old MacDonald had a farm ee-ya, ee-ya-oh. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 16VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY 5. PLANNING FOR ACTIVITIES Structure 5.1 Planning for activities 5.2 Things to be kept in mind by pre-school teacher while conducting any activity 5.1 PLANNING FOR ACTIVITIES We all know that children learn through activity. They learn as they explore things around them. But one cannot leave all learning to chance encounters between children and their environment. The guidance of the teacher is necessary to help them understand what they see, to direct their attention to what they are likely to miss and to introduce new concepts to them. The teacher can foster cognitive development by setting up an environment where there are many stimulating things to do, time to experiment and someone to listen to as children reason and question. Before planning any activity, the teacher must have answars ta the following questions; 1. What is if that she wants children to learn through thet activity, i.e. what is the goal of her activity? 2. How will children learn this, i.e. what will be the content of her activity? What material will she use to carry out that activity? 4. How will she find out whether or not children have reached the goal. i.e. how will she evaluate the usefulness of the activity? oe Let us look ul each of these uspecis one by one. The goal of an activity can be, for example, ‘Children will have gained understanding about some animals’ or ‘After this activity children will know some ways in which the parrot and the sparrow differ’ or ‘Children will enjoy making greeting cards’ or ‘Children will gain some understanding about colours through this rhyme’ or ‘Children will play with each other in the sand’. A goal, therefore, means that after a particular activity, children will be able to name, identify, construct, solve, select, compare, understand and 80 on. Before selecting the content of the activity, think about the following : a) What do children already know about that topic? In other words, the teacher must assess the present level of knowledge of children so that she can build her own activity upon it. She can come to know this by observing children, asking them and listaning ta them. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 17VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY b] Is the content of the activity realistic, i.e. will children understand the concept @ Is it suited to their lovel of development ? c) _|s the concept something worthwhile for children to learn at this stage or will it be better fo wait until they are older ¢ Is it something that children will learn better and more easily later on @ The activities that the teacher chooses should : + Cive children an opportunity te think. Children should be able te link the acti their past and future experiences. * Offer a challenge, but it should also be such that children can successfully achieve. This will give them emotional satisfaction. + Be of interest to children and relevant to their lives. In this way, there will be personal involvement. While planning the activity, the teacher should check a few things - whether or not she has the materials needed for the activity, whether she needs to get something, how expensive the play material is and whether it is safe for children to play with. After conducting any activity, it is important to find out whether or not children have grasped the concept. This will help the teachor to know whether the activity she chose was useful and whether her method of organizing the aciivity was appropriate. This means that she must evaluare the activity. There are many ways through which she can judge whether children have understood the concepts. Some of these are : a) After the activity is over, the teacher can carry out a discussion. She can ask questions based on the activity. b) The teacher can ask children to recall the sequence of events in the activity. In an activity related to growing plants, for example, she can ask children to recall the sequence of events in planting seeds. c) She can carry out art activities through which she can find out what all the children have grasped. For example, after talking about the festival of Christmas. she can ask children to draw something related to this theme. Thus, in order to help herselt plan an interesting activity, the teacher should write out an activity plan. An activity plan is a sort of mental preparation for her. An activity plan states the following: 0) The goals and objectives of tha play activity b) The content of the play activity Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 18VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY c) The materials she will use d) Tho eritoria te judge whether or not childron have grasped the concept. For carrying out play activities with children, one must think like a child. In some cases, she may need to read some books before she can carry out an activity with children. For example, when talking to children about rain, she may need to read on that topic so that she can answer children’s questions. 5.2 THINGS TO BE KEPT IN MIND BY THE PRE-SCHOOL TEACHER WHILE CONDUCTING. ANY ACTIVITY 1. Relevance of learning experiences The learning experiences should be appro} Children should not be pushed beyond their capacity as this takes away their motivation, discourages them and results in tension for parents, educators and children. The parents will be unhappy because their child cannot do what they expect of him, and the child will be unhappy because he has not been able to live up to the parents’ expectations. This lowers the child’s self-esteem. ren’s age and abililies. One of the ways in which the teacher can gauge children’s age and abilities is by finding out what children themselves find interesting. If she conducts the play activities that interest children, it will be just appropriate to their needs and abilities. This is haenica childran chow intaract in what thay ara mantally and phycienlly capable of doing. 2. Utilizing the “teachable moment” To understand this, let us go through a situation at o pre-school wherein, Mrs, Brenda (a pre-school teacher) was narrating a story to children when Michelle, an active four-year-old who had been playing outside till new, came running to her with a weaver bird’s nest in her hand. Excited by her find, she wanted to show it to others. She said, “Teacher, look what I have found!” Before Mrs. Brenda could reply, the other children, who till now had been listening to the story with rapt attention. got up and crowded around Michelle. Harry "Show! Show me!” Sandra ~ “It is very big.” ‘Amy - (feeling the nest) “Oh | This has grass in it. And it is prickly as well I” Harry - “I feel this is a snake‘s house. See ! There is a hole in it”. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 19VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY Jacob -"We can play football with it!” The nest pussed from one child to another. Each one had something (0 say about it. At this time, Mrs. Brenda intervened and said, “This is somebody's house, but it is not @ snake's house. This is a bird’s house. It is a nest. Have you ever seen a bird’s nest ona tree ?” Some children responded to her question. Finding that the majority of the children had not seen one and, therefore, would not be able to understand much of what she would say further, Mrs. Brenda took them to a tree where she had seen a nest some days earlier. She pointed out the nest to them. There in the open, under the shade of the tree, followed a conversation about why and how birds make nests and when thay lay agg in it At this juncture, David said, “I eat an egg every day.” No sooner did David say this than Sandra, who was sitting next to him, exclaimed gleefully, “Now a baby bird will form in your stomach !” This caused the whole group to break up into laughter. David, believing that this would really happen, got frightened. At this point, Mrs. Brenda interrupted the conversation and said, “No, this is not correct ! If you eat an egg, a bird can’t come out of it. A baby forms inside an egg only when the mother bird sits on the egg.” David seemed a little reassured by this, but Mrs. Brenda could see that he was not yet convinced. She made a note of it, realizing that she would have to deal with this aspect further. The entire episode, from the time Michelle had brought the nest, to this last conversation, had taken about 25 minutes. Finding that the children were no longer as interested in the nest, Mrs. Brenda decided that it was time to change over to the next activity. She. therefore. dispersed the group. asking them to play on their own. The episode described above is a good example of how one can use the “teachable moment”. Finding that the children were interested in the nest and that it was an excellent opportunity to further their minds, Mrs. Brenda left the story narration and changed the activity. She was flexible. ElSRIbINysTalveryulnponanitraltyinlalpte - A teacher who is not flexible may have responded to Michelle by saying, “Now keep quiet, Michelle! Where were you all this while ? What have you got here ? Go, throw it away and come and sit here and listen to this story |” and then, without further delay, would have continued with the story | She would not have taken up the topic of nests because this was not what she had planned. This is a rigid approach which Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 20VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY does not allow room for flexibility. Such a teacher is not child-centered. Not only door che loco an oxcellont opportunity te broaden childron’e minde, but her actione also convey to children that they should do as they are told and not make any suggestions. If children experience this repeatedly, their api of inquiry ond their sense of wonder will smother. Building children’s interests Did you notice haw Mrs Rranda allowed intarast ta build up in tha nest hefara cha intervened ? If she had intervened as soon as Michelle had brought the nest and caid:Look children! What an intoresting thing Michelle hae got ! | will tell you about nests now |", the children would probably not have responded as enthusiastically as they did. When the children touched and explored the nest, their curiosity about it reached a level where they wanted to know more about it. They were, therefore, eager to hear what Mrs. Brenda had to say. it then became an activity which they chose rather than one that was imposed upon them. Thus, the educator must know when to direct children’s activity and when to remain in the background. Spacing learning Mrs, Brenda did not load the children with information about nests. Learning should be spaced, with the leacher presenting a few fucts al a lime and promoting children’s reasoning and problem-solving skills gradually. Also the belief that children learn only when you tell them something is erroneous. Learning goes on even when children are by themselves ~ playing with pebbles, digging into the sand, pi and looking at the plants. ing up leaves Responding to faalings One must remember that feelings ore part of experience. Since children are often unable to stare their feelings clearly, elders tend to assume that they have none. Therefore, the teacher has to be particularly sensitive to the moods and expressions of children. Unless the child’s emotional life is reasonably calm, he will not be free to focus his energy on play activities. Conversing with children You muy huve noticed thut al every stuge it the Convers Mrs. Brenda involved the children. This created an atmosphere of a dialogue rather than that of a lecture. The teacher should start with words such as, “Let us talk about...” Such a statement invites the children to participate in a discussion rather than “Now listen how...” etc., because such words indirectly convey to children that their involvement is not sought. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 21VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY The latter technique, if used regularly, can stifle children’s curiosity and imagination. Thue, the way a teacher converece with childron ie oe important ae the play activitice she designs. Thus, the choice of words and sentences by her while conversing with children is very important. Level of learning Any topic that is introduced to pre-school children should help them develop their nhility ta rancan and ta daduca tha cause af avante Through tha diccussinn childran learnt some facts — that birds lay eggs and that they hatch little birds. Another aspect to remember is that the teacher must not expect children to grasp all that she has explained nor should she expect that all of them will grasp it equally well. It is not as if this discussion had clarified children’s concepts about bird’s nests. This was just the beginning. There will be many instances which will further their understanding. They will probably hear a story related to this, or the topic may come up in their conversations with parents at home. Through these experiences, they will question and re-question their thinking and develop a firmer concept. Learning based on concrete experi This means that, whenever possible, learning should be based on actual experience with real objects, i.e. it should be related to children’s environment. This concept of bird’s nest can become clearer if Mrs. Brenda takes them for a nature walk and nces introduces them to different birds and their nests and tells children what nests are made up of and where they are found, etc. instead of only using pictures to explain this cancapt. Invalving childean with tha things in the anviranmant and taaching through concrete experiences are more effective in developing cognitive abilities in childron. Conveying enthusiasm The teacher herself must be interested and involved in the activity that she is carrying out with children. This is, in fact, the crucial element which makes the difference between a good play activity and an unsatisfactory one. E| Idron can once them. A teacher, who ie interacted and enthusiastic about teaching, communicates this energy to children. She thinks of difforont ways of helping childron undoratand the concopt and uses a variety of play materials and has discussions with them. Learning then becomes an enjoyable luted fo think und expel will ask questions. we for them, In such un ulosphere, children will be si Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 22VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY 10. Helping children discover In all activ discover the answers for themselves. If one asks the right question, children can discover and think through an idea on their own. Each time the child figures out an answer by himself, his thinking is fostered, He gains confidence and independence. OF course, sometimes there is no way children can know about something unless they are told, for example, names of objects, animals, birds etc. es, the efforts of he leucher mus! be directed lewards helping children If the teacher adopts the following two strategies, she can help children to discover : a. Encourage children to ask questions It has been said that the best school is not the school where children know the most answers, but the school where children ask the most questions. When the child asks a question and finds out the answer, the learning is more permanent than when the teacher provides answers to questions. When a child’s question is nol cleus, ask hin to repeul or rephrase il, instead of igno: b. Use children’s questions to help them learn Often in reply toa child's question, you can ask another question, which will help the child to figure out the anewer to foster reasoning abilities. One needs to be alert to situations which allow children te find out things for themeclres. meelf. ‘Anewering the question with a question’ tends When posing a question to children, the teacher should keep her pace slow and wait for them to reply. Often teachers, in hurry, tend to pose a question and then, without waiting long enough to let children answer it, give the answer and go ahead with the discussion. Instead, if one waits, it stimulates the child to think. While working with ren, the teacher can ask two types of questions : chi i. Questions that focus on facts - These are descriptive questions that ask children to describe an abject or an event. Some examples of such questions are “How many legs does it have?”, “What is its colour?”and “What does it eat?” In other words, these are questions that fecus on learning facts and information. ii, Questions that promote thinking and reasoning skills - Some of these questions require children to give explanations tor why things happened the way they did. These are usually ‘why’ questions. Some examples of these questions are “Why did the clay become hard when we put it in the sun?”, “Why did the snail go into the shell?” and “Why did bubbles form in water?” Through these questions children make guesses and learn about cause and effect relationships. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 23VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY 6. ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN Structure 61 Physical and Mator Development A) Various Activities for Gross Motor Development B) Various Acti s for Fine Motor Development 6.2 Cognitive Development A) Activities for Sensory Exploration 8) Memory Games C) Activities for Developing Cognitive Abilities D) Developing Concepts £) Environmental Concepts 6.3 Language Development 6.1 PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT A) Te Various activities for Gross Motor Development : Walking * Pre-schoolers should be able to walk straight with ease. * They should be able to walk on a curved line. * They should be able to respond to variation in speed with ease and co-ordination. Activities for Walking Ask children lo walk in a straight! line when they go oul ty play ovldeer games or when they go to toilet. Initially let them keep their hands on the shoulders of the preceding child to help them maintain a line. Let children stand in a circle. Let them sing and do the actions according to the song, for example, Let us walk in-in-in, Let us walk out-out-out, And let us go round about. Lot children walk along chapee drawn on the floor or ground. Thoee chapor chould be made of straight lines, e.g. triangles, squares, rectangles etc. Once children are comfortable walking on these straight lines, a variation can be introduced, for example, walking on curved and zigzag lines. Get the children to race each other in walking forward. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 24VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY v. Make @ maze within the classroom and get the children to find their way-out as they wall: in difforont diroctione. 2. Running * Pre-schoolers should be able to run in a straight direction. * They should be able to play gamas that involve running, 2.9. “Fire in the mountain, run, run, run” etc. They should be able te start and stop running when asked with proper co- ordination. * They should be able to run with tyres smoothly. Activities for Running i. Games related to racing can be played with children, e.g. simple running or running with holding something in their hands (e.g. a gluss of woler) or buluncing something on their head (e.g. a book). Games like “musical chairs” can be played. Arrange chairs in a circle (all facing outside). The number of chairs should be at least one less than the number of children playing the game. Let all children run around the chairs to the beat of music. As soon as the music stops, each child must find a chair to sit on. The child who cannot find a chair is considered ‘out’. The game continues {ill one child is left. Games like forming a chain can also be played. In this game, one child trles to catch the other while other children try to save themselves by running away from him. However, it caught, both ot them hold hands and try to catch the remaining children, thus forming a chain. Let children run and, at the same time, roll tyre. We can also arrange simple race with thie av Balancing * Pre-schoolers should be able to balance on a beam, fallen trunk, wooden plank ote. + They should be able to balance on one foot for a short time. + They should be able to curry objects on head withou! touching ther fora shor! while. Activities for Balancing Drew lines with chelk on the floor to create a narrow space. Ask children to walk between the lines. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 25VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY ii. Keep bricks or blocks in a straight line leaving a little space between each brick or blocke. Ask childron to walle by stopping only on the bricke or blocks. ii, Organize a race for the children, in which they have to walk carrying some object on their head or in their hunds oF mouth, for example, v bovk on head, « glass of water in their hands (without spilling the water) or lemon on spoon in the mouth. iv. Place a long and narrow wooden plank on bricks for support, in a straight direction. Get all children to stand in a row and walk on the plank one by one, without stepping sideways or using any support. 4. Jumping + Pre-schoolers should be able to jump forward, at least a very short distance. * They should be able to jump over hurdles like rope, tyre, box etc. * They should be able to jump from a height. Initially, their movement may not be well co-ordinated and they may not be able to land on both feet together, but later they learn ta jump with canfidence and good co-ordination ivities for Jumping i. Make use of trampoline in schools during outdoor play, where children enjoy jumping and bouncing back. ii, Place a block on the ground. Let children climb on the block one by one and jump from it. Gradvally, ineroace the height of the block to increase the challenge. ii, Draw a circle and get children to stand around the circle. When the teacher says ‘in’, all children should jump forward inte the circle. When they all are in the circle and the teacher says ‘out’, children should jump out of the circle. iv. Let two children hold a skipping rope a little above the ground. Get each child to jump over it. 5. Throwing, Catching and Kicking * Pre-schoolers should be able to throw and catch a big and light ball from a short distance, using hands. + They should be able to kick a ball at a given target with some precision, though not very accurately. Activities for Throwing Give children a ball for free play. Make a pyramid of plastic glasses on the floor or table. Let children stand at a distance from it. Now ask children to strike down as many glasses as they can by throwing the Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 26VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY ball, (The teacher con also make use of plastic bowling sets which are easily available in the market for the camo.) iii, Let children throw balls into a bucket which is placed at a comfortable distance from therm, iv. Fix a basket ball net at low level and encourage children to throw the ball into the net. Activities for Catching i. Let children stand in two rows opposite each other. Let each child roll the ball towards the opposi ii, Let the teacher stand in the centre with children standing around her in a circle. The teacher then throws a large, light ball towards each child, which he tries to catch and row. throw back to her. Similar activity with some variation (i.e. bounce and catch etc) can be introduced tor three to four-year-olds. iv. The activity described above could be made into a game in which the child who fails to catch the ball is considered ‘out’. Gradually, the catching distance can be increased. Activities for Kicking To practise kicking, give each child an opportunity to kick a ball hard in any direction. Draw a line on the floor or ground with a chalk or a stick at a short distance. Encourage each child to kick the ball towards it. Increase the distance of the target for older children. Divide the class into two groups. Let each group stand in a row facing the other, maintaining a comfortable distance between them. Let children kick the ball towards one another. 6. Creeping, Crawling and Rolling + Pre-schoolers should be able to creep and crawl through narrow spaces with confidence and speed. + They should be able to roll on the ground with eyes closed. Activities for Creepina. Crawlina and Rollina i. Use a plastic tunnel as ploy equipment or arrange a hula hoop at a short distance. Let children crawl through if one by one. ii. Play games with children, which dramatize animal movements. For example, when teacher says, “Move like a tortoise or lion”, children start to crawl. When the teacher soys, “Move like a snake", children creep etc. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 27VIDHYANIDHI EDUCATION SOCIETY iii, Let two children hold a rope at an appropriately low height and get the other children te crawl under it ono by one. iv, Let children lie down in an empty classroom or on a lawn, and ask them to roll from one end to anvther 7. Rhythmic Movements * Pre-schoolers should be able to respond to the rhythm or beat with body movements like swaying, jumping, clapping etc. * They should be able to do simple dance movements in tune with and to the beat of the music played by the teacher. ioe for Rhythmic Movements Get children to perform simple dance movements to the music played by the teacher. Get children to sing action songs which involve movements of the body, e.g. “Here we go round the mulberry bush early in the morning, This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth early in the morning, This is the way we comb our hair, comb our hair, early in the morning”. Let the teacher provide rhythm in the background, for example, beating a drum. Ask children to follow the rhythm as they clap, walk, hop, skip or jump. Change the rhythm to fast and slow and vice-versa and ask children to do the activities according to the chythm. iv. Games like musical chair can also be played. B) Various activities for Fine Motor Development : 1. Drawing, Colouring and Painting + Pre-schoolers should be able to colour within a large outline, though not very neatly. + They should be able to scribble with enjoyment, draw lines and copy circles. + They should be able to draw many meaningful figures and shapes. ivities for Drawing, Colouring and Painting i. Provide children with crayons and an old newspaper or any other paper. Let them use crayons treely by drawing on paper. ii. Give children crayons and colours and let them use them freely to create their own drawing and painting. iii, Children can do spray painting by dipping old tooth brushes in paint and forming designs on paper. Copyright @ Vidhyanidhi Education Society, India 28