states, “Developmentally appropriate practice and child centered learning are proven to be excellent ways to teach children,”
(Page 10) and, “DAP means that what we
do is aligned with where children are developmentally, not where we ‘expect them to
be’” (Page 29).
All children, especially preschoolers,
need SMART goals (Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Realistic, and Time limited). It
may be that your goal for your 3-year-old
is that they keep their school area toy free
when they are not actively playing. You must
break this goal down for
your preschooler into
specific parts so they understand that it is their
job to put things away
where they belong when
they are done with an activity. You need to make
it achievable by giving
them the tools to reach
this goal–maybe toy bins
or shelves. At first you
will actively clean/organize with them, and
as they learn the routine they move into
being able to do it on their own. Your role
is to guide your preschooler into learning
this routine. Some children will learn this
quickly–some will not.
What are some things you can do to help
your preschooler and your preschool area
become organized? First and foremost, you
must model the behavior you are hoping
your child learns and accept that it may
be that your child is not developmentally
ready to learn to sort all their toys by them-
selves. This is where being a student of your
child comes in. Involve them in the work of
sorting their toys. It would be dishonest for
me to say I like cleaning and putting away
laundry. What I do like is a clean house;
therefore, I clean and put away laundry. I
don’t complain out loud about doing this
work because I want to model the behav-
ior I would like my child to learn–working
without complaining.
Consider your home
environment and what
you can do to make organizing easier for your
family. Do you need a
bookshelf with tubs or
baskets for daily supplies
or do you need a cabinet
where you can close the
door when you are not using it? Think about what
would make becoming
organized easy for your
family and look for ways
to purchase or barter the supplies you need.
Some common organizational tools are
bookshelves, cabinets, tubs, and bins.
Do you or your preschooler need a structured routine? If so, set up a daily schedule
of activities but keep in mind that while
many preschoolers flourish with a regular
routine, some do not. Again, be a student
of your child and you will get clues from
their behavior if your routine is helpful or
not working.
Tina Rice is a veteran homeschooler of 22
years. Three of her four children graduated
homeschool, and her baby is a sophomore.
Tina is the owner of Tina’s Tie Dye (www .Tinas
TieDye.com) and the author of Exploring
Color and Science with Tie Dye—a fun tie-dye-based science unit study. She and her husband Tim run a small publishing company.
Tina and Tim use an eclectic mix of Classical
and relaxed educational materials. You can
reach her at www.facebook .com/tinastiedye .
"IF YOU WERE ME AND
LIVED IN..." CULTURAL
SERIES:
VISIT ALL 22 COUNTRIES
"IF YOU WERE ME AND
LIVED IN..." HISTORICAL
SERIES:
10 DIVERSE HISTORIES
OH SUSANNAH
SERIES
EARLY READER
CHAPTER BOOK
CAPTAIN NO BEARD
ADVENTURE SERIES
3-8 YEARS
AWARD-WINNING PRE-K
SERIES ABOUT COPING
AND SELF-ESTEEM
I want to model
the behavior I
would like my
child to learn–
working without
complaining.
