CCC Employee Newsletter

One Child at a Time

As an early childhood professional, you already know that young children are eager, active learners who come to your program ready to play. For some children, however, there may be obstacles in your environment that get in the way of playing. These obstacles may include physical barriers such as stairs, uneven surfaces, or narrow walkways. More often, children’s full participation is limited by more subtle obstacles. Coat hooks may be placed too high. There may be too few toys and materials or toys and materials are hidden in cupboards or boxes. Some programs have poorly defined play spaces with too little room to maneuver. Others offer toys that are hard to grasp, give too little time to accomplish a task, or have paper towels that are too hard to pull out!

To truly individualize for young children, the early childhood setting should not only be barrier-free but child-centered. Child-centered environments enable children to meaningfully and playfully explore their surroundings. In many ways, an environment individualized for each child serves as a private invitation—a personal message that says, “This space is just for you.”

You can extend this invitation, allow children to become fully engaged in play, and help them overcome obstacles related to play materials and room arrangement by looking at the environment from their perspective. Try to visualize how your program environment and your play materials look to each child currently enrolled. This approach works whether you have a single room or several, a large playground or small grassy yard, new toys or old favorites, established learning centers or shelves in a basement play room of your home.

While it is possible that many areas of your program already accommodate a particular child’s needs, perhaps you are wondering what to do and where to go when you see the need for change. After all, simply recognizing a need is the first step in the process of improving your situation. Some solutions become obvious as you focus your attention on a specific issue. You are likely to get the best solutions from watching the child! If you know a child's abilities, interests, and preferences you can invite him into play by using that information.

When you find solutions, how do you implement them? You will need to make notes of your observations, identify strategies that might work, and formulate a plan. For example, “Summer has her own cubby, but the coat hook needs to be lowered so she can hang up her own coat.” Some ideas for changes may pose particular challenges. Children can only participate when you look beyond limitations and allow them the same experiences as their peers.

There are no right or wrong answers and no ready formulas. Your task is to find individual solutions to help each child participate in typical routines and activities. Solutions may be as simple as placing toys on lower shelves or adapting a toy to make it appropriate for a child's developmental needs. Talk with the child's family, therapists, and other early child-hood professionals for additional suggestions. Your goal is to create an environment in which the child has access to your play areas and play materials. Be flexible enough to try several different ideas, watching carefully to see which ones help the child play in each area. Let the child show you what works and what does not.

*Reference: CCPlus www.ccplus.org

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One Child at a Time