Create a physically and visually comfortable classroom. Children cannot feel free to learn and explore if their physical needs are not met. Tell them where bathrooms are located and when lunch and snacks will be served so they can focus their attention on learning. The classroom should have engaging decor with learning materials easily accessible, but it should not be overly cluttered with information.
Design lessons and activities around the current skills and interests of the preschoolers. For example, focus on teaching basic letter and number identification for preschoolers. Activities should capture their interest, spark their curiosity and desire to experiment, and encourage them to interact with others.
Determine how to develop skills through appropriate activities and interactions with their peers. For example, observe what the children enjoyed most during a lesson and where they were most successful in demonstrating their knowledge of the concept. Next, determine what activities best encourage peer interaction, such as teamwork projects, and design future activities using this information.
Provide age-appropriate materials for the students to manipulate. Simple manipulatives displaying letters, numbers and shapes are appropriate for preschoolers. Blocks or other building materials allow children to explore possibilities and potential problems. The materials should be at a level where students work somewhat independently, yet still have plenty of opportunities to formulate questions and create solutions.
Encourage preschoolers to use knowledge they already have and support them to think of other things they still want to learn. Ask the children questions you are positive they know the answers to. After they answer those questions, help them apply their knowledge to a new concept. For example, if they know a block has a square shape, ask them what else they know about blocks, such as : "What does it feel like when you hold it?" "What does it sound like when you drop it?" "What does it look like when placed next to a circle?"
Remain accessible so students can ask questions and share ideas. Be available for supervision if a problem arises. Do not ignore the issue, but support the children to think of ways to work through the conflict with each other. Encourage discussions.
Include children in creating classroom rules. Ask them to raise their hand to call out specific behaviors that should and should not be displayed in the classroom. Allow them to take on responsibility; get them involved in taking care of the classroom to build ownership and cooperative skills. Model appropriate behavior at all times.
Support and even encourage mistakes. Verbally acknowledge when children make mistakes, but do not reprimand them. Instead, talk through other options available and help them come up with a different solution. This encourages problem-solving skills.