When you walk into
a good preschool classroom, you will see varied learning areas; a variety of
opportunities for students to explore their developing skills playfully. Youwill see materials that have more than one way to be used and children who are
engaged with these materials. Most importantly you will see a teacher playing
with her students. What you may not see but is present in a good preschool
classroom is a teacher carefully selecting the materials, to fit the students’
specific developmental levels. You may not see that when that teacher is
playing, he is shifting how he speaks, what questions he asks, and how he
models using the materials based on the child using it. This is differentiation
in preschool.
Differentiation
means adjusting or changing the lesson and its goals based on the specific
needs of the learner. In a playful preschool environment, differentiation is
subtle and takes some practice to do well, but once you get in the habit, it’s
second nature.
WHY
DIFFERENTIATE?
“…just because there is a predictable
pattern to growth, and a predictable season for blooming, doesn’t mean that
every flower on the plant will bloom on the same day. Each flower opens at its own rate within the
growing season. For a flower, the season
for blooming may be a matter of weeks or months. In child development, some seasons may even
last a few years.” – Amanda Morgan Not Just Cute
Children are
simply not ready for the same things at the same time. As preschool teachers,
we should be meeting our students where they are at with an eye to the next
stage. Our job is to be thinking of how we can support, not force them to get
there. In any preschool class no matter what school, geographic area, or
socioeconomic class you will find a wide range of abilities, this is normal.
Differentiation allows you to provide a rich experience for all your students.
Differentiation
may seem like a lot of work, but it makes your job easier, I promise. When the
materials and activities are differentiated, they fit your students’ needs. And
that fit equals better engagement, less frustration, and less boredom. You can
probably guess what this means… WAY better behavior, giving you as a teacher
more time to focus on connecting with the students through play.
Enjoy,
Ms. Nora Sierra
EC Assistant
Principal
Discovery School
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