As mentioned during the introduction, children need a physical setting—both inside and outdoors—where they can play, explore, and learn safely. The learning environment needs to include engaging and developmentally appropriate materials and be arranged to promote independence and exploration based on children’s different stages of development and various abilities. For example, infants need to interact with their environment in a very physical way, examining cause and effect relationships by touching and feeling objects. The environment should therefore include toys made of different materials that are small enough to be picked up by an infant.
Toddlers and preschoolers use objects in more complex combinations and engage in socio-dramatic play with one another. Their environment needs toys that spark the imagination, such as play kitchens, and that can engage them in problem solving such as puzzles. Learning centers—clearly defined areas set aside in a learning environment where children can have easy access to materials and engage in independent and self-directed learning activities—can be an effective way to organize and support developing abilities, encourage interactions, create opportunities for role playing, and promote literacy skills.
In addition to the indoor learning environment, children need access to outdoor space where they can move and engage with the natural world. Outdoor play has positive impacts on health and has been shown to combat childhood obesity and help develop stronger immune systems.Research also shows that children who play outdoors regularly have more active imaginations, lower stress levels, and have greater respect for themselves and others.
While there is no single definition of high quality and therefore no single measurement tool to determine and compare early childhood program quality across the United States, there are a number of tools that are widely used to assess and report the quality of early childhood programs.
Environment Rating Scales
The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, or ECERS for children ages 3–5, the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale, or ITERS, and the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale, or FCCERS, are standardized tools used to measure process quality at the classroom level. The measures contain multiple items on which programs are rated, organized into seven subscales. These subscales include ratings of the space and furnishing, personal care routines, the activities and interactions that take place in the classroom, and how the program engages with families. Ultimately, these tools are designed to assess the various interactions that occur in the learning environment—for example, between staff and children and among children themselves, the interactions children have with materials and activities, and the structures that support these interactions such as the space and the schedule.
In addition, the environmental rating scales measure environment accessibility for both, children and adults with special needs, and adds notes for clarification to be read and to guide the evaluator when conducting the classroom assessment.
Some of the elements included on the scale assess that:
- The space for children is accessible to all children and adults with disabilities (for instance, access for wheelchairs and walkers, ramps and handrails)
- Routine care furniture is accessible and convenient
- Most or all spaces for play are accessible for children with various levels of ability
- Provisions for children suffering food allergies as well as other types of allergies.
- Provisions for administering medication, and
- Provisions for children with disabilities regarding assessments, environmental modifications, following through with professional intervention recommendations, and parent involvement.
High quality environments for children should be created around five fundamental principles of environmental design:
- Organized, challenging and aesthetically pleasing
- Capable of creating a caring community of learners and affirming diversity
- Clear goals that are reflective of a specific instructional emphasis
- Protect children’s health and Safety
- Allow children equal access to age-appropriate materials and equipment. (Gargiulo and Kilgo)
Key Dimensions
When designing environments for young children with various levels of developmental needs, teachers must consider a number of factors. Their knowledge of children’s growth and development as well as their knowledge of children with special needs enrolled in their program will support them on setting up an inviting classroom environment to support children’s development. Effective environment arrangements are created considering the following factors:
- space and room arrangement
- age’s of children served in the program
- population density
- individual differences of the children
- environment aesthetics and visual appeal
- accessibility
- safety and health
- materials and equipment
- classroom organization
- classroom materials
- child-adult ratios
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Center for American Progress. Quality 101: Identifying the Core Components of a High-Quality Early Childhood Program. Posted on February 13, 2017. Retrieved on 9/18/18 from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2017/02/13/414939/quality-101-identifying-the-core-components-of-a-high-quality-early-childhood-program/ (Links to an external site.)
Richard Gargiulo and Jennifer Kilgo. Introduction to very Young Children with Special Needs, Chapter 7, P. 193.
