A learning center, in the context of education refers to an area where students can perform tasks or activities that they may do alone or while interacting with others with the aid of instructional materials that will allow them to explore one or more subject areas. A learning center allows educators to give students a variety of activities that will introduce, reinforce and/or extend the learning of the student, often doing so even while the teacher is not physically present.
Learning centers are a good tool to help address the varying needs and skills of young learners. A child learns and actively constructs knowledge through hands-on interaction with the world that surrounds them. Teachers can them contribute to their learning process by organising learning centers that will encourage resourcefulness and independent activity. A learning center will allow an early childhood educator to teach a specific skill to children either individually or in small groups. This method will also work for children who are lagging behind while the rest of the class continues with the normal pace of learning activities. Learning centers can also provide facilities that will help teachers review basic skills such as telling time, practising basic mathematical operations, creating word families and recognising and writing the alphabet.
A learning center does not really need to be intricate, expensive or have too many equipment. We must remember that they are only tools to aid learning, and that the child should still be able to learn even without it by reverting to traditional methods that were used when technology was not yet invented to make a learning center possible and learning was at its purest form of teacher to student interaction. Instead, students can do structured activities with tasks that are arranged in a specific sequence. Teachers can also make use of open-ended materials that will encourage student creativity and help enhance their oral vocabulary.
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