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Leonid Mamchenkov Academic subjects can be introduced in an integrative way - that is, by combining cognition with feeling, physical/sensing, and intuition. The table below provides examples of activities that enhance integrative education in a preschool curriculum for children ages four through five.
| Caregiver Activities | Because |
| Organize an environment that allows choice and a high degree of variety and novelty. Organize so that the child can follow through on an activity to its conclusion (e.g., when writing a story, illustrate it and bind into a book; when planting seeds, water and care for plant as it grows). | Helps develop an independent, autonomous learner; inner locus of control; intellectual stimulation; sense of responsibility. |
| Centers or areas where children can discover basic concepts (e.g., in math or science); practice specific school skills (e.g., writing, hole punching, use of ruler); and develop awareness of themselves. | Provide intellectual stimulation, cognitive skills, problem-solving abilities. |
| Provide inspiration and materials for children to write their own books and poems, with the help of an encouraging adult who will write as the story/ poem is dictated. | Useful in developing creativity, basic reading skills, language experience, intuitive skills. |
| Provide a variety of art materials, such as glue, colored paper, scissors, beans, bits of yarn, ribbon, scraps of wood, crayons, large-sized paper, marking pens, water paints, clay; materials that will stretch them beyond where they have gone(e.g., "Find something inside the clay and let it come out with your hands."). | Facilitates developing creativity, basic reading skills, language experience, intuitive skills. |
| Provide sharing times and social outings with other children; organize group games and cooperative activities; allow opportunities to settle differences with other children, guiding only when necessary. | Research shows that young children can increase their cooperative social interactions, ability to overcome obstacles and to talk with peers, and decrease negative behavior. This allows children to grow in social problem solving. |
| Make use of the community and the surrounding areas for field trips and exploration. | Develops a sense of competency, autonomy, deeper understanding and appreciation of nature. |
| Provide opportunities to establish a relationship with a significant adult friend. | Allows children to get another point of view on issues; acquaints them with other interests, language patterns, and vocabulary; allows them to be guided and listened to when they feel parents cannot. |
Excerpted From:
Excerpt from Growing Up Gifted: Developing the Potential of Children at Home and at School, by B. Clark, 2008 edition, p. 109.
© ______ 2008, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The reproduction, duplication, or distribution of this material by any means including but not limited to email and blogs is strictly prohibited without the explicit permission of the publisher.
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