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Liberty Preschool, housed within Lynwood Elementary, serves as the MSD Decatur Township preschool program. As stated on the Liberty Preschool webpage, “Our staff appreciates the privilege and the responsibility of educating Decatur's youngest students! We provide a nurturing atmosphere in which the differences of all children are respected.”
Susan Bryant, Director of Liberty Preschool, has been a teacher and administrator in Decatur Township for over three decades. Mrs. Bryant stresses the important role of “play” in early childhood education and the instruction provided at Liberty. “All research tells us that kids learn through exploring their environment and through play,” she explained. “We continuously increase the academic focus, but also provide plenty of time to learn through play in every school day.”
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Mrs. Bryant, Liberty Preschool Director, and students
Ms. Charity Thomas shared further, “I love being a preschool teacher because when people ask me what I do, I can proudly say, ‘I play all day!’ Sometimes I get funny looks but, it's true! During play, children build strong cognitive skills, social skills, emotional regulation, and physical skills that are building a strong foundation for future skills they will need to learn later in school.”
Ms. Charity Thomas introduces a learning activity where students find plastic worms in paper dirt and then sort them by size: big or little.
“Play” in a preschool setting includes a variety of activities. The preschool schedules include time for students to independently choose activities with materials provided by the teacher. These materials are specifically designed to provide a rich experience in math, science, and/or additional skills. Ms. Charity explained the learning experience from playing with blocks, for example: “In the block area, they are not just building a tower and then very promptly kicking it down, they are working on their gross motor and fine motor skills. They are learning about spatial reasoning. They are working on hand-eye coordination and dexterity, problem solving skills. They are building a strong foundation to so many math and science skills, just by stacking blocks and kicking them down.”
Students play with blocks in Ms. Charity's classroom
Student plays with stuffed animals in Ms. Lacy's classroom
Mrs. Bryant shared that directed play is included in the school day as well. Teachers, Assistants, or Service Providers, such as a Speech Therapist, will guide or facilitate students during play, which is especially impactful to build language skills. When playing in a “house/kitchen” area for example, a staff member might prompt the student with a question like, “Will you cook me something?” or “Find a food that is green.” These prompts and the role playing that occurs build receptive and expressive vocabulary for students.
Frannie Yohler, Speech Language Coordinator and Therapst, facilitates play with a student in the classroom kitchen area, while building language skills.
The impact of play in the preschool classrooms is clear to see and hear from the smiles and laughter of Liberty students as they play and learn at school each day.