Preschool gives children their first sense of community outside the home. Social-studies learning begins as children make friends and participate in decision-making in the classroom. Then it moves beyond the school into the neighborhood and around the world.
- The Classroom
Preschool is a safe, caring community with an orderly routine, and each child is valued as an individual. Everything in the classroom lends itself to learning the concepts underlying social studies. When children play pretend games or build with blocks, and work together in small groups on class projects, they learn to accept differences, deal with their emotions, and practice resolving conflicts. They gain confidence as their social skills develop, and they learn to share, take turns, and practice being both leaders and followers. They develop a sense of personal responsibility by performing a variety of jobs, such as giving out the cups and napkins for snacks, or opening the door and turning out the lights when the class leaves the room.
- The Neighborhood
Teachers help children apply the concepts they learn in their classroom to an understanding of their neighborhood. Children learn to observe their surroundings: the homes, banks, firehouse, police station, restaurants, movie theater, church, synagogue, mosque, senior-citizen center, schools, playground, park. They observe the kinds of stores in the area: groceries, dry cleaners, tailors, barber shops, clothing boutiques, bookstores, toy stores. They learn what each store sells, where the merchandise comes from, who the customers might be, and why each is important.
- Class Trips
Preschoolers often go to restaurants to learn how meals are prepared and served. They may visit banks and firehouses, police stations and senior citizen centers. When the children return to their classroom, they discuss their observations and reinforce their learning through play. They may set up a bookstore, a grocery store, or a bank in the dress-up area, and act out the things they have learned.
- Holidays
Teachers take advantage of holidays to teach children about their history and to make them aware of different cultural traditions. At Thanksgiving, children might talk about the things they are grateful for and act out the first Thanksgiving dinner. On Lincoln's birthday, they may build log cabins out of pretzel sticks, or recite poems, or listen to stories. On Martin Luther King's birthday, they talk about civil rights and learn about the importance of the role King played.
Children also learn to respect the traditions of others by understanding the stories and traditions of religious and ethnic holidays: the visit of the three kings, Christmas, Easter, Passover, Chanukah, Yom Kippur, Ramadan, and Kwanzaa.
- Special Visitors
Parents, grandparents, and other adults from the community, such as police officers, firefighters, dentists, doctors, and artists, may be invited to come to the classroom to share stories about their jobs and cultural heritage. A parent who grew up in Portugal or Korea might bring in pictures of traditional costumes, tell a folk tale, or teach the children a dance or song. They might also prepare a favorite recipe for children to taste and explain how it is made and where the ingredients come from. Later the children draw pictures and write stories about the visit to reinforce what they have learned.
- The Classroom Library
Children also learn about their history and other cultures through books they see in the classroom. Teachers read stories about children growing up in Russia, Iceland, Botswana, and on islands in the Caribbean. Children may act out the stories or learn the traditional songs and dances.
