Methods of teaching for Preschoolers

The children between the age 2 to 5 years are called the preschoolers. At this age the children love to explore their surroundings and observe the activities going on around them. They mainly learn by observing and then mimicing what they have seen. So the contemporary methods of teaching can not be used for teaching them. Instead the play way method should be used, which gives them enough space to show their potential and at the same time should not pressurize them to perform.
             Hence the ways of teaching involved should not restrict them to sit in one place and listen to the teacher but it should allow them to interact with the teacher and fellow students.It should develop the creativity and imagination of the child. It should futher encourage them to think and explore, and teach them to share and care about others. Thus preschool teaching should lay the foundation for basic manners and behaviour. The main aim of the preschool education should be:

- to bring about the development and understanding of the senses
- to develop the understanding the physical world
- to teach preschoolers to read and write
- to cause development of language
- to teach the children to communicate
- to develop the social and cognitive skills
         
In order to achieve this objective various methods can be used. THe best methods are those which combine the use of visual, auditory and kinesthetic styles of learning. Children get interested when somebody talks to them and hence involves them in discussion. Children dislike sitting in one place. They like to move about and indulge in all sorts of activities. So it is definitely a good idea to encourage children to do actions like moving hands and feet when doing poem recitation, drawing , playing with blocks etc. Some of the methods commonly used are listed below :

Song and Dance Routine : The 2 to 5 years olds have boundless energy and are always moving. The action based activities like breaking into song and dance routine every now and then grabs their attention. It makes them involved in the classroom activities and at the same time time can be used to teach them. for example singing the poem one two buckle my shoe helps them learn numbers, singing ABCD song tells them about alphabets and so on.

Drawing : Though the preschoolers are unable to draw clearly and most of the time they only scribble yet drawing and colouring is a good activity for them. It helps build up their hand eye coordination. It also enhances their creativity and imagination. Besides, this technique can be used to help them identify different colours and the name of familiar objects around them.

Playing with the blocks,clay : When the children play with the blocks they build structures so, this activity also allows them to show their creativity and imagination.

Enacting :Enacting or role playing helps the children understand the basic characteristics of the various characters involved, like enacting the role of tortoise the child can be told to walk slowly , for kangaroo  the child should leap and so on.

Reading the Stories : The stories should be read out loud and clear to the preschoolers, with actions whereever possible. It helps grab their attention and improve their vocabulary as they become familiar with new words and their useage. Thus it also enhances language development.

Outdoor activities : The different outdoor activities like playing in sand, building sand castles with friends, playing peek-a-boo and so on help them learn a lot from each other. THey get to interact with each other and it boosts their sporting spirit. Besides, it gives them a chance to explore the world around them. This oppurtunity can be used to tell them about their surroundings like when in the playground the various activities(jogging, children sliding on slides, skating etc) can be discussed.
                        The following sites are worth mentioning :-
http://preschools.indiaedu.com/playschool-learning-activities/
http://www.savvysource.com/articles/22p_learning_styles_in_preschoolers
http://www.preschooleducation.com/art13.shtml