Playschool is the first step for the child into the outside world or an unfamiliar place outside home.
It should be attractive, friendly and welcoming. When the child enters the school for the first time, a teacher's smiling face at the entrance, makes him feel happy and secure. Sometimes when the child is naughty at home the parents themselves or some members of the family threaten the child saying, "Wait, if you do not behave well at home, we will send you to school and then you will see how your teacher will straighten you out." Never try to scare the child like this as he will fear going to school instead of enjoying the experience. Instead try talking to the child about the school being a wonderful place which has lots of play equipment and toys to explore. Emphasise on having opportunities to find new playmate at the school. Talk positively about the school. Try visiting the school before hand, showing the child various attractive areas such as the play area, colourful classrooms, outdoor play area etc. This will help develop a "happy" feel about the school.
What is the first thing that a child sees when he goes to school? It is the entrance, of course. The entrance of the school could be painted with animals, flowers or even cartoon characters to makes it look attractive and colourful. The name of the school should also be displayed at the entrance. This helps the child to form an association with the name of the school and remember it. This comes in handy in case the child gets lost.
If the school has open space, it can be used very effectively to attract children. The open space can be done up with a theme in mind. Various play equipment are available in various shapes and sizes apt for any theme. Consider the swings, slides, Jungle gym etc., which could be part of the décor for the Park theme. Some children would have visited parks earlier with parents and family, the pleasant and familiar experience would make them feel comfortable. This could further encourage the child to attend school and look forward to it.
Now, let me tell you more about the appropriate play equipment. The play equipment must be suitable to the age group as they are not just meant for free play. They are most useful for the physical development of the child. It also facilitates the socialization and teaches him how to share and be patient, while he waits for his turn to play. The same open area can be used for water play, sand play and various planned games. Water play and sand play can teach various concepts like sizes and shapes, eye-hand coordination and motor control. I will discuss in more detail with more examples when I will talk about "Learning through play".
The entrance lobby and waiting lounge for parents must also be done beautifully and interestingly. The information desk should be equipped with informative material about the school, academics, timings of the school, the list material the child must bring to class. For example, some schools do not allow ready to eat food items such as chips, chocolates, noodles etc. They encourage and insist that the child must be given healthy, home cooked food. Communication between the teachers and the parents must be very clear.
The passage leading from the entrance to the classroom can be done up nicely with soft boards which can be used for displaying children's works, circulars, weekly programmes and activities. The pegs for hanging the water bottles should be kept at a lower level so that the child can easy reach it. For this age group, the water bottles and the snack boxes are the most priced possession and they do not like to part with them. Specially the water bottles, since the snack boxes are usually inside the bag. So to encourage children to part with the water bottles, fancy wooden pegs could be put outside the classroom. An individual wooden peg with a big space and sliding slot for the child's laminated photograph with his name could be used to help the child identify his peg. The peg's face could be an animal's face or a Mickey Mouse's face for the boys and Mini Mouse's face for the girls for easy recognition.
What about the playschools in apartments?
Most of the playschools, specially in the Metro cities are run in apartments, which have space constraint. Even if the school is on the ground floor many societies do not allow commercial establishments and activities to take place for the fear of disturbing other society members. The playschools have to then make most of the space that is available depending upon the size of the apartment. All available space can be divided into different areas such as the reception area, office area, activity rooms, Music room, Language room, Number world etc. If the children are separated into small groups for different areas and are moved from one area to another, it helps to maintain their focus as the children at this age have very short attention span. They do not like being cooped up in one classroom for long periods of time. So, if the school interiors are well planned being apt for the subject, the children would enjoy learning. The entrance door could be made to look attractive by giving it a shape of a character with the name of the school. Though it is an apartment door, it must still attract the children. The passage here too can be painted with a theme. It must look different and attractive to the children. Near the entrance there should be a reception cum information desk with sitting area for parents. Some schools have CCTV monitors for parents to observe the child engaged in the classroom. Required number of screens can be displayed on a wall. Behind the reception desk the school activities can be displayed. The passage to the classroom can be utilized very creatively by placing the floor activities like the sand play, water play which come in various shapes and a handy lid to cover the top. The wall behind the sand play can be painted with appropriate themes. For example, if the sand play box is a frog shape the surrounding can be painted with a pond with other water animals around. If the shape is a lion's face, then a Jungle scene can be painted.
So, an interesting and well equipped entrance whether it is a small or a big space is very important to attract the children. Remember learning begins right from the entrance of the school.
Few pictures are below to give an idea about the various equipment that I have talked about here.
It should be attractive, friendly and welcoming. When the child enters the school for the first time, a teacher's smiling face at the entrance, makes him feel happy and secure. Sometimes when the child is naughty at home the parents themselves or some members of the family threaten the child saying, "Wait, if you do not behave well at home, we will send you to school and then you will see how your teacher will straighten you out." Never try to scare the child like this as he will fear going to school instead of enjoying the experience. Instead try talking to the child about the school being a wonderful place which has lots of play equipment and toys to explore. Emphasise on having opportunities to find new playmate at the school. Talk positively about the school. Try visiting the school before hand, showing the child various attractive areas such as the play area, colourful classrooms, outdoor play area etc. This will help develop a "happy" feel about the school.
What is the first thing that a child sees when he goes to school? It is the entrance, of course. The entrance of the school could be painted with animals, flowers or even cartoon characters to makes it look attractive and colourful. The name of the school should also be displayed at the entrance. This helps the child to form an association with the name of the school and remember it. This comes in handy in case the child gets lost.
If the school has open space, it can be used very effectively to attract children. The open space can be done up with a theme in mind. Various play equipment are available in various shapes and sizes apt for any theme. Consider the swings, slides, Jungle gym etc., which could be part of the décor for the Park theme. Some children would have visited parks earlier with parents and family, the pleasant and familiar experience would make them feel comfortable. This could further encourage the child to attend school and look forward to it.
Now, let me tell you more about the appropriate play equipment. The play equipment must be suitable to the age group as they are not just meant for free play. They are most useful for the physical development of the child. It also facilitates the socialization and teaches him how to share and be patient, while he waits for his turn to play. The same open area can be used for water play, sand play and various planned games. Water play and sand play can teach various concepts like sizes and shapes, eye-hand coordination and motor control. I will discuss in more detail with more examples when I will talk about "Learning through play".
The entrance lobby and waiting lounge for parents must also be done beautifully and interestingly. The information desk should be equipped with informative material about the school, academics, timings of the school, the list material the child must bring to class. For example, some schools do not allow ready to eat food items such as chips, chocolates, noodles etc. They encourage and insist that the child must be given healthy, home cooked food. Communication between the teachers and the parents must be very clear.
The passage leading from the entrance to the classroom can be done up nicely with soft boards which can be used for displaying children's works, circulars, weekly programmes and activities. The pegs for hanging the water bottles should be kept at a lower level so that the child can easy reach it. For this age group, the water bottles and the snack boxes are the most priced possession and they do not like to part with them. Specially the water bottles, since the snack boxes are usually inside the bag. So to encourage children to part with the water bottles, fancy wooden pegs could be put outside the classroom. An individual wooden peg with a big space and sliding slot for the child's laminated photograph with his name could be used to help the child identify his peg. The peg's face could be an animal's face or a Mickey Mouse's face for the boys and Mini Mouse's face for the girls for easy recognition.
What about the playschools in apartments?
Most of the playschools, specially in the Metro cities are run in apartments, which have space constraint. Even if the school is on the ground floor many societies do not allow commercial establishments and activities to take place for the fear of disturbing other society members. The playschools have to then make most of the space that is available depending upon the size of the apartment. All available space can be divided into different areas such as the reception area, office area, activity rooms, Music room, Language room, Number world etc. If the children are separated into small groups for different areas and are moved from one area to another, it helps to maintain their focus as the children at this age have very short attention span. They do not like being cooped up in one classroom for long periods of time. So, if the school interiors are well planned being apt for the subject, the children would enjoy learning. The entrance door could be made to look attractive by giving it a shape of a character with the name of the school. Though it is an apartment door, it must still attract the children. The passage here too can be painted with a theme. It must look different and attractive to the children. Near the entrance there should be a reception cum information desk with sitting area for parents. Some schools have CCTV monitors for parents to observe the child engaged in the classroom. Required number of screens can be displayed on a wall. Behind the reception desk the school activities can be displayed. The passage to the classroom can be utilized very creatively by placing the floor activities like the sand play, water play which come in various shapes and a handy lid to cover the top. The wall behind the sand play can be painted with appropriate themes. For example, if the sand play box is a frog shape the surrounding can be painted with a pond with other water animals around. If the shape is a lion's face, then a Jungle scene can be painted.
So, an interesting and well equipped entrance whether it is a small or a big space is very important to attract the children. Remember learning begins right from the entrance of the school.
Few pictures are below to give an idea about the various equipment that I have talked about here.
Outdoor Play gyms
Wall Painting
Soft Boards for the Passage
Sand Play
Pegs for Bags or water bottles
Entrances
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