Being a part of the preschool program comes with a lot of changes that help children develop their executive functioning skills. Center time is one major change that seems like a simple format change, but is in essence teaching a plethora of skills. Children transition from doing activities as a whole group or in small groups to navigating multiple activities that are simultaneously occurring. Centers involve four or five activities and groups of students that then rotate to ensure every child has the opportunity to engage in each center.
This offers many valuable opportunities both for teachers and children. Teachers can group students by development, goals, and temperaments to help meet children where they are at and to effectively manage the classroom. Teachers are also able to introduce a variety of topics in a shorter amount of time since they occur simultaneously. Students learn impulse control (refraining from going to next center until it is time), regulate emotions and develop comfort with transitions (needing to stop one activity to go to another), to follow multiple-step directions (remembering the instructions for each center), flexibility and adaptability (recalling expectations for each center and applying them when engaged in each), and a chance for deeper social connections (dramatic play groups change daily).
Each classroom has their own approach to centers that fits the needs of the classroom as a whole. Orange Preschool does centers in the morning and afternoon as well as sets musical timers to help children regulate the timing of each center rotation. Green Preschool does 5 centers so they are able to implement both sensory and dramatic play. Blue Pre-K uses centers as a time to engage children in tailored literacy centers. Lastly, Yellow takes this opportunity to dive deeper into academic concepts and provide students some one-on-one assistance when needed. Now that we’re over halfway done with the school year, children have successfully learned to navigate this change and apply their newfound skills into their everyday life.