What are corners?
Corners are spaces located in different areas of the classroom. In these spaces, children can work independently, in pairs or in small groups. Every corner works different topics with specific resources. For example, music and movement corner, art corner, math corner, technology learning corner, etc. Activities that are done in these corners can be free or directed by the teacher. The work by corners allows to eliminate differences and to focus on the interests and learning rhythms of every child.
Learning corners allow children:
- To explore and discover things that are new to them and make connections with things that they already know.
- To relax because when children play they don't worry about expectations and their tension is reduced. There is no pressure because the focus is on process, not in the final product.
- To express and to be themselves.
- To develop communication skills and build working relationships with their partners. It also allows them to see things from other points of view.
- To be more independent because they direct their own learning.
- To role to play in order to understand the real world and their personal experiences.
In summary, learning corners allow children to develop appropriately. Through corners, children are encouraged to play and explore their environment by themselves.
Some of the most common corners are:
- Math corner: In this corner children can learn about numbers, colours, shapes, quantities, etc. We can work this with the following materials: building blocks, dices, scales, number cards, abacuses, puzzles, a lot of objects with different shapes, colours, sizes, etc. Some activities can be: dice games, count objects, classify objects by shape, size, colour, craft games…
- Art corner: In this corner, children do artistic activities to develop their creativity with different materials like: watercolors, canvas, paintbrushes, plasticine, oil paintings, scissors, glue, marker pens, thin cardboards, papers, chalks, blackboards, … Some activities can be: drawings, collages, figures, paintings, crafts, etc.
- Music and movement corner: In this corner, children can work with different instruments, sing, listen to music, dance, experiment with sounds and do tapping in different body parts. Some materials can be: headphones, CD player, microphones, songs CD, flutes, maracas, xylophones, toy guitars, piano, drums, bells, triangles, tambourines, accordions, cymbals, trumpets, rain sticks, etc.
- Literacy corner: this corner should encourage children to sit down in chairs, sofas, carpets, pillows and listen to the teacher reading books, comics or magazines (on paper or tablets) about different topics. They can also practise writing stories, poems, their names, holiday experiences, songs…
- Technology learning corner: In this corner, children can develop their technology skills by playing educational games about different topics, listening to songs, watching videos or films, etc. In this corner, we can find: tables, chairs, computers or laptops, tablets, headphones, printers, interactive whiteboards, cameras, loudspeakers, keyboards and mouses.
- English corner: One of the many resources to learn English is this corner. In this area, children can expand their vocabulary (numbers, letters, greetings, days of the week, animals…) and improve both communication skills and oral expression in a fun and interactive way. You can see this in the following video.
Although there are a lot of schools which don’t have necessary resources or teachers which try to avoid this methodology, we think it is very useful in the children’s education because Remember! one of the best way to learn is by doing. Teaching through corners will allow us to help children pay more attention and they be more interested in learning.
