Biblical Rationale
At the Academy for GOD Preschool, we are highly intentional about environments, and it is sourced first in the Bible — not just developmentally appropriate practice. Read Miss Olivia’s insights into a Biblical rationale for ordering environments:
“Early childhood learning is pivotal to children’s development as people, but also to their experience with the education system. God designed us to learn and he wants us to walk out our education with him. It’s our job as early childhood educators to make sure students are getting the care they need and that their first exposure to education has a lasting impact that gets them excited to learn and keep developing into who God has made them to be. One of the ways we do this is through ordering environments. Specifically, the classrooms our students learn in.
One of the first lessons we teach our students at the Academy for GOD Preschool is to order their environments. Why? Because it’s what we see God doing in the creation narrative. In the beginning the earth was formless and void, there was darkness and deep waters (Gen 1:1-2). The Hebrew for “formless and void” is tohu bohu (תֹּ֫הוּ בֹּ֫הוּ) which conveys a meaning of confusion and chaos. While this is the state the world was in, God was still present, as v. 2 states “A wind from God swept over the face of the waters,” and he gets to work. As the rest of the chapter unfolds, God gets the earth ready for his kids to inhabit. In Genesis chapter 2 we see that he wasn’t just creating a place for them to live, but a place for them to learn with him.
As you read about the intentional choices teachers have made this year to set up our three and four year old classroom, read knowing that they are considering what is good for your children’s development and what is not. They are considering their education in God’s word: what God wants to teach his kids and how he wants to do it.”
Book Center
Print exposure and access to books provide foundational benefits for preschoolers, significantly enhancing their language, literacy, and cognitive development. Early and frequent interaction with books helps children develop vocabulary, phonological awareness, and comprehension skills, which are critical for future reading success (Mol & Bus, 2011). Regular exposure to print also fosters a love for reading, promoting intrinsic motivation to engage with texts later in life (Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002). Access to a wide variety of books encourages curiosity and broadens children's knowledge of the world, supporting cognitive growth and critical thinking. Moreover, shared book-reading experiences with caregivers build social bonds and provide opportunities for children to learn narrative structures, concepts of print, and emergent literacy skills, such as recognizing letters and sounds.
All of our classes offer free access to books at eye-level for these reasons. In our 3-4 year old room, children have both independent and teacher-facilitated daily reading times. Miss Natalie rotates books to be appropriate to seasons or to emphasize the monthly Biblical value, ensuring children have new and familiar material to hear and see.
Gross Motor Centers
Gross motor play is vital for the physical and cognitive development of preschool-aged children, as it involves activities that engage large muscle groups, fostering physical strength, balance, and coordination. According to Gallahue and Ozmun (2012), activities like running, jumping, and climbing promote muscle growth and overall physical fitness, while also supporting the development of spatial awareness and body control. Gross motor play is linked to enhanced cognitive function, as it helps improve focus, memory, and problem-solving abilities by stimulating brain regions involved in movement (Piek et al., 2008). This form of active play also helps children release energy, which can lead to improved emotional regulation and reduced behavioral issues.
While our playground provides room for big movements like running, our 3-4s have ample opportunity for gross motor play indoors as well. This year, we introduced sensory swings, a Pikler climbing set, and crash mats in addition to our obstacle course balancing stones, tunnels, and soft cushions. Our teachers alternate these materials to provide new gross motor activities daily.
Sensory Play
Sensory play provides significant developmental benefits for preschool-aged children, enhancing both cognitive and motor skills through hands-on exploration. Engaging multiple senses—touch, sight, smell, and sound—stimulates neural pathways, improving problem-solving abilities, fine motor coordination, and language development (Gascoyne, 2016). Research also shows that sensory activities help with emotional regulation, allowing children to express themselves non-verbally and manage stress (Macintyre, 2018). Sensory play also fosters social interaction and cooperative play, which are essential for early social-emotional development. As children manipulate materials and explore their environments, they also build foundational skills in math and science (Piaget, 1977), laying the groundwork for future academic learning.
Our 3-4 classroom offers multiple sensory experiences: a kinetic sand table, a seasonally rotating sensory table, and creative arts station are all available during free play times. These centers give children an opportunity to play solo or cooperatively, manipulating open-ended materials only limited by their imaginations.
Manipulatives
Open-ended manipulative materials, such as blocks, loose parts, and modeling clay, offer numerous developmental benefits for preschool children by encouraging creativity, problem-solving, and fine motor skill development. These materials allow children to explore various possibilities without a predetermined outcome, fostering creativity and critical thinking as they construct, deconstruct, and reimagine their designs (Drew & Rankin, 2004). By manipulating objects, children enhance their hand-eye coordination, finger dexterity, and spatial awareness, essential for writing and other academic tasks (Clements, 2004). Additionally, open-ended materials promote social interaction and collaboration, as children often work together to build or create, improving communication and cooperation skills. This unstructured play fosters independence and resilience, as children learn to solve problems and adapt their approach when faced with challenges.
For children four and under, open ended play provides crucial learning opportunities. Most children this age are not ready for traditional academic techniques that require a great deal of focus and bodily self-control. However, this does not mean they aren’t ready to learn; on the contrary, everything they do becomes a learning opportunity. Providing open-ended manipulative materials allows our three and four year olds to exercise their creativity while learning STEM, literacy, and SEL lessons.
Our three to four year olds have the great benefit of having Miss Natalie as a lead teacher. Natalie is a professional fine artist, skilled in a variety of mediums but especially in oil painting. She brings her skills and insights from using art into the classroom, providing materials and methods for children to engage in creating their own works.
Conclusion
At The Academy for GOD Preschool, all of our rooms are ordered intentionally, with children’s developmental needs and holistic growth in mind. Each center or material provided considers not just the age group, but the specific group of children and their needs. The flexibility of our environment allows us to meet our students where they are at, and ensure they learn according to their developmental stage and learning style. Our Preschool environment reflects our Biblical values most of all. Like God’s intentions in the garden, our environment is set up for learning — the kind of holistic learning that supports the development of a whole person.
References:
Gallahue, D. L., & Ozmun, J. C. (2012). Understanding Motor Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults. McGraw-Hill.
Piek, J. P., Dawson, L., Smith, L. M., & Gasson, N. (2008). The role of early fine and gross motor development on later motor and cognitive ability. Human Movement Science, 27(5), 668-681.
Gascoyne, S. (2016). Sensory Play and Child Development: From Birth to Five Years. Routledge.
Macintyre, C. (2018). Understanding Children’s Development in the Early Years: Questions Practitioners Frequently Ask. Routledge.
Piaget, J. (1977). The Development of Thought: Equilibration of Cognitive Structures. Viking Press.
Mol, S. E., & Bus, A. G. (2011). To read or not to read: A meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 137(2), 267-296.
Sénéchal, M., & LeFevre, J. A. (2002). Parental involvement in the development of children's reading skill: A five-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 73(2), 445-460.
Drew, W. F., & Rankin, B. (2004). Promoting creativity for life using open-ended materials. Young Children, 59(4), 38-45.
Clements, D. H. (2004). Geometric and spatial thinking in young children. Teaching Children Mathematics, 10(9), 450-455.
Comments