This morning 32 pre-school teachers graduated from a six week training program in basic early childhood education and development. Participants were taught how children learn, discipline, classroom arrangement, and how to make instructional materials. They held an open day today to show off what they learnt. 7NEWS was there.
Keith Swift Reporting,
These are what are called pre-school corners. They are virtual classrooms within a classroom. The way it works is that each corner focuses on an area of pre-school education - from building blocks to science, beginners math, and even music.
Cordelia Rudon and Magnolia Pop are from the Stann Creek District and both have been teaching at the pre-school level for less than six months. Their corner was a house play and dramatic area. Cordelia says there are a lot of things pre-schooled children can learn from playing house.
Cordelia Rudon, Pre-School Teacher
"This is the area where you can come and act out the role of a mommy and a daddy, play, you can cook, you can go around, iron clothes, just the regular things that you see that your parents do at home. They come to this area of the center and they can dramatize. This is very good because they learn to share, to socialize, and stuff like that."
Leonie Taylor's corner is about water and sand which she says can teach pre-school aged children to count. She explained how.
Leonie Taylor, Pre-school Teacher
"It helps the children to develop their fine muscles and in the water and sand area they can measure. They measure and they can make models with water."
And Taylor should know - she has been teaching at Coastland Community Pre-school in Dangriga for the past 4 years. But most of the teachers who participated in the training are like Carolyn Betson. She used to teach at the primary school level but in September she'll be opening her own pre-school. Her corner was on science.
Carolyn Betson, Pre-school Teacher
"I never thought that I would get into pre-school teaching. I thought getting into down to that level was very hard and then when we began the mission work, I began falling in love with the kids. Doing this workshop impacted my life because I realize that playing is so powerful. I sent my child to a formal pre-school where much playing wasn't there but I discovered that the child uses his or her imagination and if a rock can be an egg then letters that are foreign, after a while, they make the association and it becomes a word and words is what builds together to form sentences and so this is so exciting to me."
The program ran for 6 weeks and Delda Blades from the Ministry of Education supervised the training.
Delda Blades, Ministry of Education
"At a very young age, we would say at age 2 years 9 months, we need to stimulate our young children. That is the time in the child's life when they are curious, they want to know, they want to learn. So we need to stimulate them from very early."
Very early which means that these building blocks will be the building blocks of a child's education.
The training was tailored for teachers who will be entering the classroom for the first time when classes begin in September.
