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TEACHING STRATEGIES E-NEWSLETTER # 10 October 9, 2000 IN THIS ISSUE: FEATURE ARTICLE: Group time in The Creative Curriculum THE LATEST FROM TEACHING STRATEGIES: Coming Soon: The Creative Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers in SPANISH! New Literacy Booklet: "Reading Right From The Start" Our Communities CATALOGS AND PRODUCT UPDATES: POSTAL MAILING LIST E-NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION FEATURE ARTICLE: Choice Time and Group Time in The Creative Curriculum® Recently on the Creative Curriculum e-mail discussion list, there was a lot of interest in group time. The following excerpt, which was written by several TSI senior staff members, details our views on group time. To Read the article in it's entirety, follow the link below. The Creative Curriculum® approach is based on a strong belief that children learn best when they are actively engaged in play and activities that are meaningful and relevant. "The Creative Curriculum® for Early Childhood" and our new companion book, "Connecting Content, Teaching, and Learning: A Supplement to The Creative Curriculum® for Early Childhood, 3rd Edition," describe and demonstrate how to plan a developmentally appropriate program focusing on ten well-organized interest areas. The Creative Curriculum® is a comprehensive approach that presents specific goals and objectives for teachers to address in social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language development. In order to meet these objectives, during the course of a day, children should have opportunities to work in small group, large group, and independent activities. Teachers should plan daily routines that balance the pace and flow of activities that are active/quiet, individual/group, indoor/outdoor, child-initiated/teacher-directed, etc. Since The Creative Curriculum is a flexible framework designed so teachers can make informed decisions based on how children learn best, they must determine when and how to include opportunities for independent, choice time, and small group activities. WHAT IS "CHOICE TIME?" Making choices is an important lifelong skill for young children. We want children to make good choices as they grow up, and this is a great place to start. If teachers make all the choices for children, then they are taking away an opportunity for children to learn important decision-making skills. "CHOICE TIME" is a part of the day when children are free to choose the interest area in which they would like to work, who they want to work with, and what materials they would like to use. You may hear this time referred to in different ways-- center time, work time, or interest area time. During this time, all interest areas are available to children: blocks, house corner, table toys, sand & water, library, art, etc. When children are finished working in one area, they are free to move to another area. The teacher's role during this time is to move about the room interacting with children, asking open-ended questions, extending their play, and supporting their learning. Choice time typically lasts for a minimum of an hour a day, exclusive of cleanup time. Many teachers offer choice time longer or at several intervals during the day. DO TEACHERS NEED TO HELP CHILDREN MANAGE THEIR CHOICES? Sometimes teachers feel the need to limit the number of children in any given area, so they set up classroom systems or rules for the number of children in the interest areas. Other teachers like to encourage children to learn to work out these space and management issues over time. Regardless of which process teachers choose, it is important to provide ample opportunities for children to gain experience in making choices about their activities and solving problems about their environment. WHAT IS SMALL GROUP TIME? In a small group activity, the teacher plans an experience for a small group of children for a short period of time.Why have small group times? Small group work allows the teacher to:
This article is only an excerpt. THE LATEST FROM TEACHING STRATEGIES: COMMING SOON! The Spanish translation of "THE CREATIVE CURRICULUM FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS! EL CURRÍCULO CREATIVO PARA NIÑOS DE CERO A TRES AÑOS" Here is the long-awaited Spanish version of the best-selling infant/toddler curriculum. This is a perfectresource for Spanish-speaking caregivers/teachers in Early Head Start, Migrant Head Start, family child care programs and all programs using The Creative Curriculum® for Infants & Toddlers. This publication continues Teaching Strategies? commitment to creating high-quality Spanish translations of our major texts. Like all of our Spanish-language products, this translation has been especially crafted to be cross-culturally effective and appropriate for the wide range of Spanish speakers in the United States. As a part of our Infant and Toddler celebration, we are featuring this book as our October internet special! Buy this book online now and enjoy 20% off on your prepublication internet order. STILL NEW: "READING RIGHT FROM THE START: WHAT PARENTS CAN DO IN THE FIRST FIVE YEARS" We are proud to announce the publication of "Reading Right From The Start". This beautifully illustrated booklet by Diane Trister Dodge and Toni S. Bickart was written for parents with emerging literacy skills with assistance from the America Reads program of the US Department of Education. The booklet offers new insights to help parents provide rich literacy experiences at home without special materials or gimmicks. "Reading Right From the Start" provides excellent ideas to encourage parents to become partners in their children's early learning experiences. "Reading Right From the Start" is available for purchase in sets of 10 for only $29.50 from our bookshop, at our everyday online discount of 15%. Read an excerpt from Reading Right from The Start So, you've always wondered about the Creative Curriculum and Primary e-mail discussion lists, but they were just too much trouble to join? Now you can join easily! Simply visit the home page, scroll to the middle of the page and enter your e-mail address in the box on the left margin and click the submit button. It's easy! You will still want to read the guidelines for information about posting, receiving the "digest" version, and unsubscribing. You can read the guidelines for the Creative Curriculum and Primary lists by clicking on the appropriate buttons on the home page. CATALOGS AND PRODUCT UPDATES: POSTAL MAILING LIST Have you received your new TSI Catalog for 2000-2001? If not, let us know-- we'll send one out to you ASAP. WHAT? YOU AREN'T ON OUR MAILING LIST? Shopping on the Internet is great, but sometimes you just want to kick back and thumb through information, rather than sit at your computer. To be included on the Teaching Strategies postal mailing list so you can lounge on the couch and catch up on our newest books and videos, send your request, your name and address to custserv@teachingstrategies.com . Once you are on the list, you will receive the latest information about our catalogs and product updates. Your privacy is of the utmost importance to us. We NEVER sell our mailing lists or provide your private information to individuals or other companies. TSI E-NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION To SUBSCRIBE to this newsletter, please follow these instructions:
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