Let's Begin to Count the Ways...
E Dollie Wolverton, Chief, Education Services Branch, Head Start Bureau
Painting, dancing, singing, block building, puzzle solving, story telling, picture reading, talking with peers and adults, taking field trips, pretending, creating with clay, and listening to stories-are some of the many ways in which children use their "senses" to learn about their environment and deepen their understanding of the world they live in. The five senses of hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling-all support children in their quest for knowledge and skills.In Head Start, staff and parents diligently strive to identify and consistently implement a curriculum that is culturally meaningful and age and developmentally appropriate. We are committed to doing this because we understand, through a foundation of child development, that children have different levels of ability, are at different stages of development, and use different learning styles.
Head Start supports learning and skill development through the interests of children and understands how the thoughtful selection of program activities, equipment, and materials facilitates the development of reasoning, problem solving, and decision-making skills.
Each day, Head Start staff in both the center-based and home-based program settings do many things to promote learning through the use of the senses. Let's look at a few examples:
Arrangement of the Environment
*Providing indoor environments that are safe, well organized, attractive, and which allow all children opportunities to learn creatively and actively.
*Making outdoor settings available which encourage child movement and exploration, and expand learning which begins indoors.
Providing Materials and Equipment
*Introducing an assortment of materials and equipment suitable to the appropriate ages and stages of development of the children.
*Providing interest areas and complexity of materials which can be changed as a child's time in the program increases.
*Giving children the opportunity to learn through their selection and manipulation of available and appropriate materials.
Selection of Activities
*Selecting activities that are attractive and appealing to children's interests and curiosity.
*Using self-selecting and self-sustaining activities which encourage problem solving, experimentation, and exploration through the use of the senses.
Use of Time
*Letting children understand that they are allowed to finish their work, which demonstrates respect for their choices and efforts, and which promotes a sense of satisfaction.*Following a daily schedule which provides uninterrupted blocks of time for children to choose activities and guide their own learning-individually and in small groups.
Head Start provides sensory learning experiences for children to grow and develop. Through daily opportunities for children to explore, manipulate, investigate, and express themselves, staff and parents are able to see and nurture the growth in children. (You may want to add your own examples under the topic headings above, capturing the various ways in which your Head Start program promotes children's learning through the use of the senses.)
While Head Start continues to offer a broad spectrum of sensory experiences for children, Head Start also needs to give attention to enriching Head Start programming. How can this be done? The following are some ways in which Head Start can continue to build the curriculum and also foster sensory learning:
*Providing a high quality, comprehensive child development program based on developmentally appropriate practices in both home and center settings.
*Providing parents with concrete experiences that help them understand how children grow and learn.
*Providing opportunities for staff and parents to in crease their understanding of how their attitudes and approaches can help children maintain their successes and their motivation to go on learning.
This Bulletin should be considered as a resource for staff development and parent involvement. It contains articles written by local Head Start staff and other early childhood experts-each with concrete ideas on sensory learning.
Please write and let me know the ways in which your program is supporting children's sensory learning. Address your correspondence to:E.Dollie Wolverton, Head Start Bureau, P0 Box 1182, Washington, DC 20013.