Communication and Collaboration in Early Childhood
Sensory Skills
Each child that enters the care of an early childhood educator has a family that supports and is at the core of the child’s education. It is essential for early childhood educators to collaborate and communicate with the child’s family to provide the best educational practices. There are two core environments in young children essential for the development of early learners; they include their home and the early childhood education program environment (Rouse and O’Brien, 2017). The Covid-19, the pandemic has brought discontinuity in learning activities among the early learners. Collaboration between learners and teachers is essential for the continuity of their programs and involvement.
Sensory skills play an important aspect among children and most significant for those who have challenges in processing their sensory activities. Sensory bags are easy to develop, inexpensive and portable (Educational Playcare, 2016). They can also be called squish bags. Sensory bags are essential for the development of the sensory aspects in children and more significant for children having challenges in processing sensory senses. They allow children to be creative, develop, think, and learn through the engagement of their various senses. The sensory input mystery bags can be guided by both teachers at classrooms and parents at their homes. Their portable nature enables their use to be at any place, at homes or during road trips. The bag can easily be manipulated and taped vertically or horizontally for the children to have a better experience.
The sensory bags impact different skills development among children. Development of language skills is essential for learners, through the bag; children enhance their vocabulary and grammar skills. The bag provides sensory input in meeting the children’s needs. A child’s motor skills are improved through manipulating objects in the bags (Gift of Curiosity, 2020). Moreover, children improve their social skills through play and communication with the rest of the kids. According to research, professionals who work with people having conditions of dementia and Alzheimer report the significance of sensory bags. The bags can be of great importance for children who suffer from Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).
Some examples of sensory bags include American Girls Sensory Bags, Money Sensory Bag, Snowflake Sensory Bag, and Trolls Sensory Bag among others.
The bags provide long hours of mess-free sensory play. A sensory bag is an easy item to make from scratch, provided you have the right fillers. First, fill the resealable bag with the favourite fillers and then seal the bag. There are different materials one can use for the sensory bags; these include grains, cereal, sand, salt, dry beans, uncooked rice, pebbles, play-doh, play foam, flower petals, and magic sand. Additional sensory tools include; scoops, measuring spoon, silicone baking cups, plastic pipettes, trays, large boxes to hold everything, and shredded paper among others. Directions for playing the sensory input mystery bag are as follows:
After choosing the right materials, insert them in the bag and then seal the bag.
Open the sensory bag and withdraw one item at a time from the bag, naming them and placing them on the platform.
Put the items back in the bag, with the child helping you in placing them in the bag.
Close the bag, and insert your hand in the bag, and visually think of the object you are grasping and call out the object.
Pull out your hand from the bag, holding the item and let the child verify the object.
Now it’s the child’s turn to guess what is in the mystery bag.
Moreover, you can perform the activity by using identical pairs of items and two bags.
The activity shall be pulling out an object from one bag and grasping the identical pair from the other bag.
Educators should work to promote family engagement in their educational program and should aim for more than just a family engagement. As much as family involvement is important, family engagement includes further working with families in aims of building a strong and effective education for the family.
Early Literacy
Two-way communication between the teachers and the child’s family shall lead to the success of the child’s education and overall development. As an educator, it is essential to engage parents in early learning activities for their toddlers, especially during this period of discontinuity in school programs. Early literacy is essential for staring learners, moreover, children introduced to learning at early ages tend to excel and read earlier in their education programs as compared to those learners who aren’t exposed to early literacy in their education programs (Valley, 2020).
Early literacy activities may include singing, talking, rhyming, and talking. All the activities influence literacy development among learners (Amanda, 2020). Reading fosters creativity and enhances communication abilities among children. The educator should play with word games that encourage the children to learn sounds. For instance, the educator may say to the child, “I close the door with something beginning with K-K-K…What do you think am looking with what starts with that sound?”
The educator should ask the learner about words or sounds that match. “What sounds like fire?” The child shall be creative and look-up for words that are similar to the chosen word by the educator or parent.
To get to know if the child grasped some knowledge at school, let them tell about their last experience at school, especially on a tour to a unique place like a library. Let the child describe what they saw at the place (Literacy Activities, 2020).
You may ask the child to provide words with similar sounds. For instance what words start with the sound do? They are door, done, and many more.
The parent or educator may go out with the child, and let the child read out the names on shop fronts, restaurants or moving vehicles.
Moreover, the educator or parent may print out the different alphabetical letters in different colours. Then the child shall read out the letters loudly and avail words that start with the chosen letter.
Figure 2 Showing Early Literacy Learning (Valley, 2020)
The reading skills shall be complemented with sequencing cards, where the parent places the cards in an order at a platform and then lets the child derive a story from the sequenced cards. Through all activities of early literacy, the educator should focus on the sound formation and not word-formation.
People acquire reading skills through social encounters in their daily life activities. Educators and parents should engage with learners encouraging them to inquire what they are feeling and doing and listen to their experiences and desires. Parents and educators don’t need a lot of time for literacy activities, a few times a day or five times a day are just enough to enhance the reading skills. One of the activities that enhance a child’s literacy skills is talking activities (Raising Readers, 2020).
Colour Skills
Children in families that engage with educators exhibit high levels of skill development as compared with those who do not engage with the educators (Adams et al, 2018). At tender ages, children engage in fun activities at home, which should be manipulated to tap essential knowledge and learning skills. Colour skills are essential for children as they grow to advance learning. We are all surrounded by colours, and everything we see and observe is coloured in color. Colours have great effects on individuals, affecting every part of our lives including emotions. Colours are like games to children, the language of colours in children is essential for enliven the inner world of children and improve their psychologies.
Figure 3 Colour is essential to learners (Katie, 2018)
According to research, a majority of children reach their maturity in recognition of colours at an average age of four (Katie, 2018). Colours stimulate different emotions among children; relaxation, tiredness, anxiety and comfort. Colours guide us to an essential way we describe our world. Children shall notice a yellow cup that is different from the red one. Colours enhance verbal communication among young learners, teaching kids about colors is a great way to enhance their vocabularies by describing their world. Through colour skills, learners get to know sorting and classifying objects (Renk, 2020).
The matching colour game in an interesting game for toddlers to play with the aid from the educators or parents. Before you head out with your toddler, have the child make a selection of a design or construction paper that she can hold onto. During the outside walk, on the streets or in the park, let the kid choose to spot out colours that match the paper at hand. The objects that resemble the paper may be the colour of pumpkins, cars, leaves, shades, flowers, and random objects found on the way as they have the outside walk (Cox, 2008). Different colours can match the paper the child has, after going back home after the walk, the child shall try to draw out and color out the objects spotted while on the walk.
Figure 4 Colour Match (6 Games…, 2008)
Drawing and shading should be a reminder of what resembled the chosen colour. Thereafter, the educator shall make more repeated rounds, with the different design papers for observation.
Teaching colours is effectively done through play and everyday experiences (6 Games… 2008). For instance, you may have your child through you a certain item having a specific colour. For instance, “Throw me that yellow ball.” or “Do you want the red or the blue cup.” Moreover, an educator should ask the child to match objects with the same colour.
The educator may choose a set of drawing colours on crayons and pens, requesting the child to shade a piece of art or a drawing. Then the educator shall point out to particular shading, asking the child to say which colour is that. Repeated exercises of colour recognition shall instil colour skills in the child, enabling them have a better description of their world.
References
6 Games That Teach Toddlers Colours. (2020). Retrieved 11 July 2020, from https://www.whattoexpect.com/toddler/photo-gallery/games-that-teach-toddlers-colors.aspx