Changing the learning environment

Throughout teaching in ECE settings, we have always said that the environment is the third teacher. I have always believed in this statement as I know how important our learning environment is for our children.

It is so important to set up our environment so that it is inviting for our children. I want the children to feel that they are comfortable in the environment and that they want to play and explore with the materials and resources that are set up in the classroom.

During the term 1, I really struggled with the fact that we did not really have an inviting reading area. Due to the limited space, I placed some books on top of the puzzle shelf. I never really saw children reading or looking through books, so I would display a couple of books in a basket so it would look a little more inviting, and this seemed to work as I saw a couple of children reading or looking through the books.

I thought that this really needed to be changed as I felt that it was really important for me and the children to have a reading corner.

With the help of our school care taker, I was able to make some space in the corner of the classroom. The bookshelf that we have is a little hard to use for our small children, but it still looks inviting. I placed a couch in front of it as well so they can sit and read books there.

I also wanted this place to be a calm area where children can come and have their own space. It is important to create a space where their privacy is respected, but also at the same time the children know how to manage themselves in this area as it can be hard to see when I am at the jellybean table teaching a group of children.
I placed a doll house with new dolls in this area too.

As we came back in Term 2, some girls were immediately drawn to this area and really enjoy spending time here. I saw our teaching assistant spending time with some children reading, and many children love this area to play with dolls in the doll house, or little teddy bears that I got recently.

I would like to place a mat on the floor for comfort and possibly put some cushions around so that it can be comfortable for the children.

I feel that this change of the environment was quite successful as I see children utilise this area much more than before. I will provide a mat and some cushions in this area to see if that changes anything. I hope to see more children engaged in reading as well.