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Creating the Learning Environment

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Vocabulary

cognitive development: the process of knowing, thinking, reasoning, and remembering
emotional development: the ability to recognize, identify, produce, and respond to emotions in yourself or others
language/linguistic development: the process of developing language skills to understand when others speak and to speak and engage in conversation
physical development: the ability to perform physical activities that require motor skills like running, jumping, and climbing
self-regulation: regulating or controlling one’s emotions, thinking, and behavior
social competencies: the skills needed for successful social interaction; in young children these include making simple decisions, interacting with others in productive ways, and being able to resolve conflicts in appropriate ways.
social development: the ability to use appropriate social skills to communicate and interact with others

Standards

The content of this tutorial aligns with Massachusetts standards and guidelines.

Massachusetts Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)

Center and School Based:

Curriculum and Learning 1B: Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions: Level 2 All staff receive orientation and ongoing formal professional development and supervision in how to support positive relationships and interactions through positive, warm and nurturing interactions.
Curriculum and Learning 1B: Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions: Level 3 Staff engage children in meaningful conversations, use open-ended questions and provide opportunities throughout the day to scaffold their development of more complex receptive and expressive language, support children’s use of language to share ideas, problem solve and have positive peer interactions.
Curriculum and Learning 1B: Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions: Level 4 Staff utilizes teaching strategies that ensure a positive classroom environment, engage children in learning and promote critical thinking skills.
Safe, Healthy Indoor and Outdoor Environments Program environments are the framework for children’s learning. They support the implementation of the curriculum through the use of space, materials, and opportunities for children to experiment, practice their skills, analyze, socialize and problem solve. Environments must provide support for the health, safety and nutrition of young children in order to ensure their optimum development and well being.

Family Child Care:

Curriculum and Learning 1B: Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions: Level 2 Educator has participated in formal professional development on how to support positive relationships and interactions with children through positive, warm and nurturing interactions.
Curriculum and Learning 1B: Teacher-Child Relationships and Interactions: Level 4 Educators engage children in meaningful conversations, as age and developmentally appropriate, use open- ended questions and provide opportunities throughout the day to scaffold their language to support the development of more complex receptive and expressive language, support children's use of language to share ideas, problem solve and have positive peer interactions; Educators utilize teaching strategies that ensure a positive learning environment, engage children in learning and promote critical thinking skills.
Safe, Healthy Indoor and Outdoor Environments Program environments are the framework for children's learning. They support the implementation of the curriculum through the use of space, materials and opportunities for children to experiment, practice their skills, analyze, socialize and problem solve. Environments must provide support for the health, safety and nutrition of young children in order to ensure their optimum development and well being.
Safe, Healthy Indoor and Outdoor Environments Level 2
There are at least 3-4 interest areas, depending on the age of the children, with a variety of age appropriate materials and equipment available and accessible to children. Educators utilize teaching strategies that ensure a positive learning environment, engage children in learning and promote critical thinking skills.
Demonstrates safe and healthy indoor and outdoor environments.
Safe, Healthy Indoor and Outdoor Environments Level 3 Demonstrates quality indoor and outdoor environments.
Safe, Healthy Indoor and Outdoor Environments Level 4 Demonstrates stimulating indoor and outdoor environments.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

Guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate Practice:

(2) Teaching to enhance development and learning E Teachers plan the environment, schedule, and daily activities to promote each child’s learning and development.
(2) Teaching to enhance development and learning E.1 Teachers arrange firsthand, meaningful experiences that are intellectually and creatively stimulating, invite exploration and investigation, and engage children’s active, sustained involvement. They do this by providing a rich variety of materials, challenges, and ideas that are worthy of children’s attention.
(2) Teaching to enhance development and learning E.3 Teachers organize the daily and weekly schedule to provide children with extended blocks of time in which to engage in sustained play, investigation, exploration, and interaction (with adults and peers).
(2) Teaching to enhance development and learning E.4 Teachers provide experiences, materials, and interactions to enable children to engage in play that allows them to stretch their boundaries to the fullest in their imagination, language, interaction, and self-regulation as well as to practice their newly acquired skills.
(2) Teaching to enhance development and learning F.2 To stimulate children’s thinking and extend their learning, teachers pose problems, ask questions, and make comments and suggestions.
(2) Teaching to enhance development and learning F.3 To extend the range of children’s interests and the scope of their thought, teachers present novel experiences and introduce stimulating ideas, problems, experiences, or hypotheses.
(2) Teaching to enhance development and learning F.7 To encourage and foster children’s learning and development, teachers avoid generic praise (“Good job!”) and instead give specific feedback (“You got the same number when you counted the beans again!”)
(2) Teaching to enhance development and learning H.1 Teachers understand that each major learning format or context (e.g. large group, small group, learning center, routine) has its own characteristics, functions, and value.