Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/bitty-spaces-for-one-or-two/5021715/
“Space speaks to children!” That idea was hammered home all during my graduate studies. Putting a fine point on it, my professor required us to read the little gem of a book titled Planning Environments for Young Children: Physical Space (Kritchevsky, Prescott, & Walling, 1969).The power of space speaking to children has been affirmed throughout my career. Thoughtfully designed environments can welcome, embrace, support, and nurture children to complement and support staff’s professional practices. On the flipside, poorly planned environments negate teachers’ good intentions and undermine goals for children’s development.
Extroversion
Although the importance of environment has been explored for decades, it still seems that many early childhood programs’ space �" inside and outside �" speak and respond primarily to children of extroverted nature. That’s an estimated 70% of children. (The percentage varies across cultures although 70% seems to generally represent the United States.)
So, there’s good news for children of extroverted nature who:
• tend to be more outgoing.
• enjoy lots of spontaneous, noisy socializing. The more the merrier �" as long as there are enough toys to go around.
• adapt well to change at a moment’s notice.
• jump right into the thick of things.
• revel in ...