Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/energizing-the-traditional-classroom-table/5024616/
*Additional photos and tables can be found in the pdf version of this article.
For many, the kitchen table is the heartbeat of the home. The kitchen table serves many purposes. It is a place to gather and eat meals or a spot to sit and drink morning coffee. Children often do their homework on the kitchen table and parents use it as a desk to pay the household bills. It is a place for some children to sit and talk to mother, father or grandparents about their day as dinner is prepared. When friends or family come over, they usually end up gathered in the kitchen and sitting at the table. Just as the kitchen table is the “hub” of the family, the table in the early childhood classroom can become its heartbeat and take its rightful place at center stage.
This is an invitation to view the classroom table as more than a flat surface upon which to eat breakfast, lunch or snack. Rather than thinking about the classroom table in an ordinary and everyday way, we invite you to begin viewing classroom tables as extraordinary and important tools for enhancing young children’s development. With a little imagination, lots ...