TheApple

I've always been under the impression that in early childhood, a lot of their learning happens through experiences and most of all, play. I don't think that you can push a student with "too much learning" at that age, if what you provide as the teacher are the opportunities for learning- lots of hands on stuff is great. Also, repetition is another thing that works- reading a favorite book to the class several times for example. I'd also suggest not limiting yourself in terms of what you think the kids can understand or absorb. For example, my son will be 3 soon and he loves dinosaurs. We've been looking at a lot of different reference books again and again that are way above his reading level, for several months now. Today he flipped through it and could name the dinosaurs on sight- and we are talking about complicated names!

Little kids are like sponges- if the activities are fun and engaging, and you change them up enough during the day, they will learn a lot! My Mom, who has experience teaching a variety of ages for over 35 years, told me once that at age 3 you actually have the most brain cells you will ever have in your life. Capitalize on that and teach your little ones everything that interests them. Good luck!

Your question could be complicated, but it really isn't. Yes a teacher can push a young child too much. When you're talking about these little tikes, 3-5, expecting them to sit and listen for longer than ten to fifteen minutes is expecting too much. Also trying to force them to sit and color, draw, or practice tracing when they are in the mood to romp and play would be pushing too much. Even if your arts and crafts projects seem really interesting and fun, if the child is ready to run and jump, he's not going to be able to focus. These kids haven't developed the ability to control their energy yet, so the "teacher" needs to be able to go with the flow a bit. Follow the kids' lead. And provide them with as many different options as possible.