Our open classrooms are large part of the curriculum and they:

 

• Are designed in an intentional and appropriate way that supports children as they learn and encouraging them to explore

 

• Allow for development in all three domains – physical, cognitive, and social-emotional. Space design is a security issue, a management issue, and an important part of creating the proper space for children to learn and grow

 

• Allow the teachers to always be aware of who is coming and going, and allows for supervision of all children by sight and sound at all times, and thus encouraging children to play and hone their skills

 

Children learn best when they move. Play that is active helps the brain develop properly throughout early childhood. Very young children need play materials that are open-ended, rather than toys that have only one use. Open-ended play is important because it emphasizes the processes involved rather than the end product. Such play allows children to think, reason, make choices, and problem-solve. In fact, as children are engaged in open-ended play, they may actually come up with more than one “ending” for the play. This is an important problem-solving skill as children learn to measure the pros and cons of various situations.