Throughout the past few weeks, I have observed a number of different environments.
At Aldo Elementary School I saw an environment which focused primarily on play but was still a more structured environment then I expected a classroom in that school to be; this actually was due to the fact that it was a Kindergarten classroom but also because the time I did my observations was during Literature centers. The literature centers was full of children interacting with one another as well as their environment. On a large scale the students do not have free choice as they are expected to visit each center for a specific amount of time. However, when the children do get to the different centers they are able to pick what literature they look at, what word-work they work on, what poems that get to sequence correctly, and what letter combinations they get to sort when working at the chalkboard. The teacher is focusing mainly on the group that he is directing (the guided reading station) and pays little attention to the surrounding centers unless there is an outburst or interruption by the students.
Another environment that I've observed for countless number of hours is at the Children's center on campus. Although I work there every morning I made sure to take a step back and clearly observe for this project's requirements. I feel like the preschool can be both a structured and a non-structured environment depending upon the time of the day that it is. During circle time the students have a set of expected behaviors that is established and upheld by the teacher and the other student workers. They have little room for interaction with one another except when asked to participate or during an activity during circle time. Other than that, they are expected to be sitting quietly and listening attentively. On the other hand, after circle time is done, the children are given the opportunity of free choice throughout the different centers or areas in the classroom. Like, the Aldo experiences, the students on a grand scale have most of the centers decided for them. However, one of the ideologies of the children's center is that (like a Montessori school) anything that is within the students reach is their's to manipulate and utilize. The children center fosters the idea of connecting with the 'whole child' and there are a variety of opportunities for each child to learn through different intelligences and different content areas. For example, there is always music on and multiple areas for art integration. There are blocks, open space, puzzle areas, science areas, and literature areas. Also, opposed to snack, there are opportunities for the children to work with cooking which helps with math, social, and cognitive development. The children are constantly interacting with their peers of around the same age group as well as the student workers that usually in the age of their twenties, and also the primary teachers that are in adulthood; this allows the students to interact with different age groups as well as different manipulatives, and being exposed to opportunities to play is a very beneficial way to foster their all around development.
One environment that really gives children free choice of play is when they are allowed the opportunity to play outside. The time allotted ranges from fifteen to forty five minutes usually. Although the area is closed in, the children have little interaction with teachers; the teachers duty is mainly to supervise and not scaffold. They have a sandbox, a jungle-gym, tree stumps, a play house, and trees as their environment tools. They are allowed to an extent to play in a rough and tumble manner, play games like tag, or use their imaginations and play house, or any other game that they can make up.
Lastly, the other environment that I observed was that of my own house when I was babysitting. I babysat for two children, sisters, one of around the age of 7 months and the other just turned five years old. Especially with the age of the younger one, I mostly had to do my observations while interacting with them. The baby is really used to close proximities with her parents so she is constantly being held of close by. She has begun crawling more and plays with a lot of toys that make sounds or are able to be put in the mouth (which closely follow Piaget's theories of cognitive development). While playing with the four year old, we often play games that she decides on the setting which is usually a game that coincides with that from her real life (like house, where there is a mom and daughter and they do everyday things). Especially at that age, she is very intrigued when she is able to direct the games herself. She decides the setting, the plot, and the characters. "Ok, you be the mom, and I be the daughter. I'm going to do this and you are going to say this." Many of the experiences I have with her are closely linked to her modeling things she's already experienced and very rarely strays to an area that she has not yet experienced or what she has not learned about before.
