Preschool Classroom Observation

The classroom that I will be observing is a Preschool classroom at KinderCare Learning Center in Bartlett, Illinois. The teacher I will be observing over the next period of time is Laura Sturgulewski. She has worked at KinderCare for 8 years, mostly in the 2 year-old room until fall of 2013, when she took the lead teaching position of the Preschool classroom. Her classroom mainly has 3 year-olds, but on occasion has a mix of 4 year-olds and transitioning 2 year-olds. The number of students in her class depends on the day, because they are a child care center some students have a part time schedule, unlike an elementary school where children attend every day. Ms. Laura has 21 children currently enrolled in her classroom, 11 boys and 10

I think that the physical environment can play a major role in a child’s learning. If the classroom is very closed off and blocked the children will not feel free to explore their surrounding and become more independent. Ms. Laura’s classroom is very open and spaced out, even though the center itself is built with an open concept and only having half walls to divide the classrooms. She has organized the room in such a way that every though the different centers are clearly laid out, it’s not in such a way that makes them feel enclosed and blocked off from the rest of the room. The environment offers children a variety of different choices all in one area, all of the math, science, and table toys are together, so that a child does not have to search the entire room for something that they are looking for. Ms. Laura also encourages these choices by letting the students pick some of the centers in the morning, she will usually have 2-3 set centers and then give a child or two the option of picking a center. The room arrangement supports children, because she has quiet activities next to quiet activities, so if a child is trying to read a book they don’t have blocks in the same area. She also made sure to be aware of different family’s cultures, by labeling items in different languages and making sure when you look around the room there