Report on Planned Learning Environments

Analysis of the Center

'Happy 'R' Wee Preschool Learning Center' has been providing pre-school education since 1992. The philosophy of the center is to provide high-quality preschool education with daycare amenities in an environment that is warm, nurturing, well-ordered and meaningful. The activities are imaginative, innovative and fun so that children learn through active exploration and exposure.

The strategies that the center uses are to a large extent in accordance with the principles, practice and learning outcomes of the Belonging, Being, Becoming Early Years Learning Framework of Australia. The Center ensures the regular communication with parents and believes that the role of parents in a child's life and learning is a significant one which is in accordance with the principles of the Belonging, Being, Becoming EYLF (DEEWR, 2009). Furthermore, with regard to the principles, cultural diversity of the Center's children and families is celebrated and multicultural learning through respect, understanding and appreciation is ensured.

In relation to the extent to which learning outcomes of the EYLF are used, the designing of the classroom and activities in the Center is of the kind that encourages the development of the awareness of sense of self in the students (Outcome 1). The approaches of the curriculum of the Center are child focused and play based such that children are encouraged to be active participants. The play based curriculum of the center makes use of activities in the areas of reading, writing, language, math, science, art, music, social and emotional skills, and physical development and in this relation various grouping experiences in the classroom are employed while individual instruction is also provided.

Day-to-day practices in designing learning environments make use of social and emotional development activities that help in fostering the child's sense of self, increase the ability to make friends and become open towards learning (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). Physical activities help in improving the overall health and growth of the child (Trost, 2005), and classes such as music, art, dance etc. are devised for the creative expression and aesthetic development and foster the appreciation of a child for these areas (New Jersey Council for Young Children, 2013) . Thematic lessons connecting the child to their world along with library visits and field trips are also part of the curriculum.

With regard to the use of strategies for sharing of information with families, the activities that the child indulges in are documented in the form of binders and photo album that illustrate the learning that has taken place.

My Philosophy of learning and teaching

Each of us has our own philosophy about learning and teaching that influence the way we teach. I believe that the learning needs and requirements of each child are to be kept in consideration when devising programs and thus a teacher should also keep that in consideration and plan the activities accordingly. For example, children learn with real life examples as a context and are confident and involved learners (Palaiologou, 2012), and hence they should be provided ...