Madison Bradbury

March 24, 2022

Environment Project

Part A- Outlining

When designing a high-quality environment for young children, I want to make sure I am

including safety measurements, as well as a variety of options for the children. There are so

many ideas I have when creating my classroom, but the one that sticks out to me the most is

creating a comfortable environment that suits every child's needs.

Starting with the outside of my building, I want a large area gated in by fences for a

playground. I want fences/gates because of cars in the parking lot and for the children's safety. I

want the classic playground with swings, slides, areas to climb, a jungle gym, a sandpit with

toys, tire swings, and a fire pole. I also want to include an open-spaced area outside where

children can run around, play with basketball/soccer balls, etc.

When visiting educare, I really liked how when you first walk in they had a check-in area

where you sign in and everyone had to use a keycard to get into the area where the children are. I

want to use that same concept in my environment. As for my classrooms, I am going to create

very similar concepts between each classroom, but change the specifics of how my layout is

depending on the age in each classroom. For my baby's room, I want an area in the room for

sleeping/cribs. As well as an area for eating, such as a table and chairs that are appropriate for

their age. I also want to include a variety of toys and activities for the kids such as books,

textured mats, balls, blocks, etc.

 For my infant room, I want a similar structure, but don’t want to take up the whole room

with a sleeping/quiet area. I want to include many different toys and activities that will be

appropriate for their age and for each child's needs/wants. I want to have a climbing structure

where children are able to explore and use physical skills when using the climber. This allows

children to have independence and exploration skills when trying to get through the structure. In

my classroom, I also want to include a quiet area with a chair/blanket/beanbags and books where

a child can go and sit down when they need a break. As for the actual structure of my building, I

want to create a room similar to the summit room here at Thomas. I love the concept of the room

and how the roof is windows and it creates an open concept to see the outside world while

indoors. I think this room can be used for children to go into but not for classrooms because the

sunlight can distrust some children in their learning. However, I think creating a space that

allows a lot of natural light would create a great concept throughout my building.

NAEYC Principals

1.) All domains of child development—physical development, cognitive development,

social and emotional development, and linguistic development (including bilingual or

multilingual development), as well as approaches to learning—are important; each

domain both supports and is supported by the others.

-In my classroom, I am including all different objects and activities that help children with

different types of development that are stated in the NAEYC. As in the development of my

classroom structure, I am including different areas of my room that are designated for different

parts of learning. For example, I have an area for books, an area designed for a texture table that

includes different objects and materials which children can explore and learn in. As well as a
climber, which allows children to developmentally explore and learn with experiments of testing

if they can climb or climb through.

2.) Play promotes joyful learning that fosters self-regulation, language, cognitive and social

competencies as well as content knowledge across disciplines. Play is essential for all

children, from birth through age 8.

-My classroom allows children to be free and explore throughout my classroom. I want children

to be able to play and learn about their surroundings and what everything does. As well, I want

children to be comfortable with playing with other children and for them to develop new social

skills throughout my classroom.

3.) Children are active learners from birth, constantly taking in and organizing information to

create meaning through their relationships, their interactions with their environment, and

their overall experiences.

-Children learn new things every day and creating an open range of options for children, allows

them to better understand and connect throughout the classroom. As well as creating an open

environment for children to play in and socialize with other children.

5 Guiding Principals in The Creative Curriculum

● Building Relationships with children

● Recognizing a child's individuality

● Creating a welcoming environment

● Creating a daily schedule

 ● Individualizing goals and objectives for children

-The five guiding principles I chose from the book are some of the things I want to incorporate

throughout my classroom. Such as building relationships with children, I think it is very

important because I believe children need a support system at school, especially at such a young

age. I believe you need to be there for children as a teacher, as well as a support figure because

not every child has a support system at home. This allows you to better connect and build

relationships with your students.

-Recognizing each child's needs throughout a classroom is important for me as a teacher because

it allows me to create different activities and spaces throughout my classroom for each child's

needs. Not every child learns the same and they need a variety of options for curriculum and

spaces in the classroom for their needs. As well as creating a welcoming environment for

children, this ties into the other principle. Children want to feel safe and welcomed in a

classroom and creating a space for them to be themselves is very important in the process of

creating a high-quality classroom.

-Creating a daily schedule is an important part as a teacher because you want to be organized and

have an outline of your day. Children need a solid structure and creating a daily schedule that is

familiar and easily organized, is beneficial to yourself as a teacher.

-Creating goals and objectives for each child is also very important throughout the classroom. As

mentioned before, each child learns differently and you need a structure for how each child

learns and developmentally fits throughout your classroom. Creating goals and objectives for

each child, allows you to personalize what each child learns and creates certain challenges for

children throughout a classroom.

 Brief Bio:

I am a freshman at Thomas College and I am an Early Elementary Education Major. I

want to teach kindergarten and I want to use the skills I have learned throughout this semester to

create a safe and appropriate environment for my future classroom. I am the best person to win

this contract because I am implementing principals from NAEYC documents into my

classrooms. As well, I am creating a range of activities for children and structure that allows

children to develop in different categories such as cognitive, emotional, gross motor, physical,

and social. I do not have much of a background in working in school districts, but I have worked

in infant and toddler centers as well as summer camps. I have a pretty general idea of how

children learn and develop and I want to incorporate those practices into my school environment.