IEL Resource
- Resource List: Designing Early Learning Environments
Web Resources
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Clean Up Your Act! Creating an Organized Classroom Environment for Students on the Spectrum
Source: Reading Rockets
Students with autism may struggle with focus and planning. An organized classroom with routines can help. This article gives teachers some tips about physical structure, visual structure, and visual schedules in a classroom.
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Creating a Peaceful Environment for Young Children
Source: PennState Extension
This article explains how the physical space of the classroom can convey a feeling of peace, calm, and belonging to a young child through options like bringing nature into the classroom and having free access to creative, interesting play materials.
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Declutter Your Classroom
Source: Edutopia
This blog uses reflection questions as a tool for teachers in decluttering their classrooms. Considering important things like, “Does this encourage thinking?” can help when making a keep or discard decision for educational materials.
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Designing Classroom and Socialization Environments for Infants and Toddlers
Source: Head Start ECLKC
This Head Start tip sheet gives directors and educators strategies and resources to plan for the design of developmentally-appropriate learning spaces for infants and toddlers. Attention is given to accessibility for young children with disabilities as well as safety and sleep.
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How to Be a Minimalist Teacher
Source: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
This blog gives teachers great tips on what to keep and what donate or throw away when decluttering a classroom, workspace, or to-do list.
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Marie Kondo in the Classroom: How Teachers Are Tidying Up
Source: Education Week
This article helps teachers stay organized and tidy in the classroom using a decision-making culling process designed by Marie Kondo. By keeping only important items that “spark joy” and that are useful, teachers can successfully declutter and downsize their collections.
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Preschool Learning Environments: The Indoor Environment: Designing and Organizing
Source: Virtual Lab School
This free open-access online learning module is focused on the design and organization of the indoor early childhood learning environment, considering aesthetics, children’s independence, and the easy use of materials. This self-paced module allows users to explore videos, photos of various model environments, readings, and resources.
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Support You Can See (and Feel): Teaching Children with Autism
Source: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
This article explains the purpose of visual supports for young students with autism as an important part of the classroom physical and visual environment. The article gives six strategies that an early childhood educator could use in a preschool classroom to try out visual supports.