Preschool for High School

Early Childhood Education Students on the Pressures of Running the Preschool

 

 Lesson plans and due dates are putting pressure on the Early Childhood Education (ECE) students this year. Children, while generally considered adorable, can still be quite a handful, but these ECE students are working hard to give them an incredible preschool experience.

 

 Running a preschool can be difficult, but according to junior Abigail Thommen, a student in ECE 2, the hardest part isn’t dealing with the children – it’s the before.

 

 “I think doing the lesson plans and trying to make them child appropriate [is the hardest part],” said Thommen. “…we get a theme from Ms. S [Swinimer] and base the lesson plans off that theme.”

 

 Although it’s difficult to plan the preschoolers’ lessons, the ECE students are able to put them together. Recently given a new topic, the students struggle to quickly prepare a lesson plan.

 

 “Right now we’re doing community helpers and we’re getting a police officer… a bus driver, and firefighters to come and talk to the children,” said Thommen.

 

 Thommen believes that the children retain the information they’re taught really well. “A lot of [the children] come back and they always show their parents what they learned… we have a book where the kids write down [what they learned]… and their parents can read it,” said Thommen.

 

 “There’s a lot of learning that happens [in ECE]… [the students’] presentations and lesson plans mean something big, because this is what they’re learning,” said Principal Dr. Elizabeth Noto, whose daughter, Scarlett, attends the preschool. Noto thinks that the ECE students are doing a great job handling the pressure of putting together lesson plans. “The stakes are really high,” said Noto.

 

 “I do [think she’s learning a lot]… she didn’t know her colors at all [before attending the preschool], but now she comes home and can point out all of them – even ones we haven’t taught her yet,” said Noto. “It’s very interactive.”

 

 Noto believes that the students are doing a fantastic job running the preschool. “I think there are improvements that could be made for any program… but I can’t pinpoint any one thing… they’re doing a great job,” said Noto.
 Although dealing with preschool-aged children can be a grueling task, ECE students ensure that watching them learn makes it all worth it. “They’re really great kids,” (Thommen).