I have been observing the Little Dominic Preschool Center in our locality since I started taking up the subject. From most of the people’s perspective and from my viewpoint, this is the best preschool center in town basing it from the number of enrollees, the social and economic conditions of parents who wanted to bring their children at the center, the state and location of the center and most especially the facilities of the school. Enrollment comes on a first-come-first serve basis so as early as six months before the actual opening of classes they already accept enrollees. The class-size is limited to 15 – 25 pupils handled by two preschool teachers.
A classroom in the school is composed of 6m by 8m room with a mini library where books are displayed together with a reading corner while other educational activity boards and material are also displayed and free for the kids to get at the far side of the mini library. The writing center also serves as the main classroom for the class where the children can draw, write and do other seatworks they may have. In addition, there is a toy corner and a mini playground where the children are allowed to play during breaktime the back of the room.
What makes the school standout from other local preschool centers is the presence of several library materials and activity books in the library and the presence of the mini playground in addition to the fact that the school is run by Dominican Sisters. I also adhere to this belief until such time that I read about the ideal literacy environment for preschools.
I cannot say that there is still lack of materials yet in the classrooms because with the number of educational materials around, it is already sufficient. It just lacks the proper placement so the children will have some directions when they their activities. It must be transformed into a literacy environment that is capable of stimulating the functional reading and learning among the students.(Morrow, L.M., Strickland, D., & Woo, D.,1998).
If I have to make three changes to the current setup of the Little Dominic Preschool center first, I’ll have to make distinct distinctions between the literacy center, the library corner, the writing center and the word study center. Although, these can be within proximate distances between each other, it is important to show to the kids the distinction between these.
The about one-eighth of the room will be use as the literacy center which will be adjacent to the library corner. It will be made in such a way that it will be able to hold the postings on the achievement of the pupils in the class and must be cozy. It is important for this place to be cozy with beanbags and pillows so pupils who would want to read in this corner will feel comfortable. The Library Corner on the other hand will hold all the reading materials and activity books available organized in bookshelves. The bookshelves will also be utilized as the divider between the literacy center and the Library corner. Likewise, it must be decorated with colorful pictures of famous children’s stories to make the children feel that they are familiar with the contents of the library. The writing center to be placed on the opposite side of the Library contains tables and chairs where the kids can write and be decorated with bulletin boards and boards where they will have a chance to express themselves and communicated with both the teachers and their classmates. The word study center will form part of the activity center where the toys are to be placed but one corner of it will be utilized for toys that enhances the vocabulary of the children.
References:
Morrow, L.M., Strickland, D., & Woo, D. (1998). Literacy instruction in half- and whole-day kindergarten: Research to practice (pp. 98-111). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Reprinted with permission.
