I will have ECERS onTuesday of next week (7/8) any fab ideas on center enhancements?

Question

I have the Environmental Ratings next week in my Pre-K classroom (4-5)s.

I need some really cool ideas that will help enhance my classroom.

Does anyone have ideas for something neat and cheap I can make?

Transition attention games or songs?

Or anything you did that helped you score?

Answer 1

do you have the ECERS handbook that shows you the scoring system? i found that to be very helpful. think about areas that you will be the weakest in and go through and do a self evaluation. things that they liked in my classroom were things such as

-everything is labeled

-children's art work is displayed at their level

-variety of materials available...for example, you should have a wide variety of materials to create things with that allow for open endedness like crayons, markers, paint, paper, hole punchers, staplers, glue, pencils, etc...

-make sure you have soft furnishings and a quiet area.

-have books and writing materials available in multiple areas in the room

they want quiet areas to be separate from noisy areas. such as a library area needs to be away from blocks and housekeeping areas. that was something they mentioned with me.

-you need to make sure that there is a schedule posted.

-you need to make sure emergency procedures are posted.

-they will check a few kids files, so make sure their files are up to date with everything.

another big thing is the amount of time they spend for free choice time, outside time and teacher directed time. there are guidelines in the ECERS handbook to know how to figure out with how long you have kids, how much of each amount of time you need.

if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.

here's the website for ECERS. this overviews the scales they will be scoring you on:

http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ecers/

Answer 2

Your need to have at least five centers.

Make sure your schedule is posted and allows for center time for 1/3 of the day.

Interact with the children while they are in centers.

Add cozy items to the library (small rug, pillows, clean stuffed animals).

Make sure you have a variety of books (fantasy, non-fiction, diversity).

Add multi-cultural items (baby dolls, food in dramatic play).

Have pictures of real people around the room that show diversity (photos of children's families or magazine photos or teacher store posters).

Make sure most of the wall displays are child-created. Also, this work should be individualized. NO WORKSHEETS!

Have art open. Have sand/water open both inside and out.

Take extra toys outside (a basket of outdoor toys).

Make sure your block area has room for 3 children to build independently. Add people, animals, and cars.

Greet each child by name when they enter and speak to parents and share info about the child's day.

Limit circle time to 20 minutes.

No whole group work at the table. Do small groups.

Make sure children and teachers wash hands thoroughly after messy play, upon entering and re-entering classroom, before and after meals and snacks, after bathroom use.

There are weekly tips here  

http://www.The-Preschool-Pages.com/tips