Activity settings and daily routines in preschool classrooms: Diverse experiences in early learning settings for low-income children

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Abstract

This paper examines activity settings and daily classroom routines experienced by 3- and 4-year-old low-income children in public center-based preschool programs, private center-based programs, and family child care homes. Two daily routine profiles were identified using a time-sampling coding procedure: a High Free-Choice pattern in which children spent a majority of their day engaged in child-directed free-choice activity settings combined with relatively low amounts of teacher-directed activity, and a Structured-Balanced pattern in which children spent relatively equal proportions of their day engaged in child-directed free-choice activity settings and teacher-directed small- and whole-group activities. Daily routine profiles were associated with program type and curriculum use but not with measures of process quality. Children in Structured-Balanced classrooms had more opportunities to engage in language and literacy and math activities, whereas children in High Free-Choice classrooms had more opportunities for gross motor and fantasy play. Being in a Structured-Balanced classroom was associated with children's language scores but profiles were not associated with measures of children's math reasoning or socio-emotional behavior. Consideration of teachers’ structuring of daily routines represents a valuable way to understand nuances in the provision of learning experiences for young children in the context of current views about developmentally appropriate practice and school readiness.

Highlights

► We identified daily routine profiles among diverse early education programs. ► High Free-Choice programs spent most of the day in child-directed activity. ► Structured-Balanced programs balanced child- and teacher-directed activities. ► Program type and curriculum use predicted activity profiles but quality did not. ► Profiles provided different opportunities for pre-academic engagement and learning.

Section snippets

Conceptualizing quality in early learning programs

Prior studies have typically conceptualized and assessed children's experiences in early learning settings by exploring various aspects of structural and process quality (Phillips & Howes, 1987). Some studies focus on structural quality, which concerns features of program infrastructure or design. In these studies, program quality is assessed in terms of adherence to standards involving teacher education, teacher–child ratio, class size, and other regulatable aspects of care (Barnett, Hustedt,

Research on children's experiences in early learning programs

Some recent research has begun to document time use in preschool programs along with other measures of children's experiences. The National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) conducted two large studies of publicly funded pre-kindergarten programs and employed a large battery of measures of structural and process quality in these programs (Early et al., 2005). Early et al. (2010) used time sampling observational data to describe the amount of time that children spent in

The current study

The current study builds on the existing body of literature by drawing from a unique sample of early learning programs that captures more of the diversity of early learning settings available to low-income families. In the extant literature, many researchers have limited the focus of their investigations by restricting their sample to public center-based pre-kindergarten programs for 4-year-old. In this study, we cast a wider net by drawing from a rich sample that includes center-based programs

Sample

This analysis uses data from a larger longitudinal study of school readiness among low-income children. A variety of early childhood education programs serving low-income children in Los Angeles County, California was selected to represent a range of diverse learning settings available to low-income children. In the larger study, the sampling procedure involved recruiting programs serving 3-year-old in the first year of the study as well as recruiting a comparison group of children not

Results

Means, standard deviations, and percentages of all analysis variables as used at the child- and classroom-levels are presented in Table 1, Table 2. The classroom quality measures are each positively correlated with each other (CLASS Emotional Support and Instructional Support r = .48; CLASS Emotional Support and ECERS Academic r = .28; CLASS Instructional Support and ECERS Academic r = .34; all ps < .01). The assessor ratings of children's assessment behaviors were also significantly intercorrelated

Discussion

The current outcomes-based educational climate emphasizing teacher-directed and academically oriented instruction is counterbalanced by supporters of early educational approaches arguing that children do their best learning in all domains in play-based settings (e.g. Bodrova and Leong, 2007, Zigler and Bishop-Josef, 2006) and free-play opportunities should not be reduced for the sake of teacher-directed academic activities. Indeed, advocacy organizations concerned about what seems to be the

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    The research reported in this paper was supported through the Interagency School Readiness Consortium (NICHD, ACF, ASPE; Grant Number: 5-R01-HD046063). However, the contents do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education and endorsement by the Federal government should not be assumed.

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