Pre-K My Way! Hands-On Learning Materials for Young Students
My students need hands-on materials like this dress-up trunk, sturdy trucks, and puzzles so that they can learn by doing.
$632 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
When I was little, I used to love to go over to the neighbor's house and play with all the cool stuff they had over there. They had everything my little heart could want such as dress-up clothes, trucks, cars, Barbies, and puzzles. We played for hours and I learned about sharing and using my imagination.
Nearly all of my students live in large housing complexes that surround the school.
Parents walk their children to school and most are considered poor. Several of the housing complexes are Section 8 residences and often many family members live together to share costs and make ends meet. Some of my students' parents are unable to read and write and most are not familiar with English. Still, they want their children to receive a good, quality education and be fluent in English so that they can achieve goals far beyond them. The majority of my students and their parents are immigrants.
Every child at my school has qualified for a free breakfast and lunch daily and for a meal daily during the summer. For many, this is their primary food source.
My Project
For the youngest of our learners, the three-to-five-year-olds in Pre-K, the best learning comes from children exploring for themselves how things work. Whether at play in the Drama Center or putting together the solar system in the Puzzle Center, when children interact in small groups, problem solving skills and academic language advance by leaps and bounds. What's even better is that the children don't know they're in the midst of doing some important learning. For them, center time is playtime. And that's what I love about it! My students need hands-on materials such as a dress-up-trunk, puzzles, and trucks for creative learning in the classroom. The puzzle storage sets provide the structure for my students to learn to clean up and take care of things. I believe some of the best learning occurs when children work together at play. And since the children are strategically grouped, key skills and concepts are developed. For example, English speakers help English learners with language.
Children need to have the time and resources to explore how things work on their own and with others their own age.
They need to use their imaginations, their language skills and their creative and curious natures to put things together and take them apart in a supportive learning environment. These materials will enable our youngest learners to do just that. Many of my students are put in front of the TV at home and miss out on these experiences. I want them to have that and enjoy learning.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Castillo and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
