Universal Pre-K Classroom Observation

General Information I went to a universal Pre-k class in Amityville. The day was February 17, 2017. I got there at 10:30 AM and I left at 2PM. The children were four years old turning five and some of the kids were already five.
Staff
There were two teachers in the class I observed who are everything a child needs. There’s 18 kids in the class. There are more girls than boys the ratio is 13:5.
Activities
When I got to the class it was center time. They had many different centers going on that kept the kids active. They had reading time that was introduced for the first time today, they had painting which included the smocks and easels. Being there I witnessed activities like; play house, veterinarian, mother and child/family.
The classroom is a rain forest and has trees and monkeys painted. The teachers also decorated the walls with the children’s artwork.
There are three tables that are three different colors: red, blue, and yellow. There are different centers; math center, block area, writing center, puzzle mat, science center, art center, music center, cubby center, and library center. There’s also a sandbox that’s for sensory activities. The classroom is nice and big and it’s easy for everyone to move around. Walking around the classroom everything is labeled, in the block area there are pictures of the shapes of the blocks and what shelf it belongs on. They have the art area labeled and everything is organized. The cubbies are at a height the children can take objects from, and the library has an area kids can sit down and there’s a variety of different books. “Teachers place books in an inviting, comfortable library area and in other places conducive to their enjoyment and use.” (Brederkamp, 2009, p. 167) There’s a poster that has the centers on it and they put the kids into groups. Each group had a colored clothes pin, whatever center the child was at they put the clothes pin
During lunch time, all the children know to get their lunchboxes and sit down at their group tables. The food is all healthy and During centers the teachers do small group reading and they also do reading during circle time. While the main teacher was doing reading Personal Reflections I went to the school thinking that the kids were going to be all over the place, but I was wrong. The teachers are friendly and they allow the children to learn on their own. I never been to a preschool or around younger kids that act as well as this class did. The kids know their colors, number, cooperate with peers, know how to read, etc. The kids listened well during transitioning time, but that class size looks like it’s too big for just two teachers.
The classroom is beautiful and has enough space for all 18 kids to move around freely. I love how the classroom doesn’t have a television. What I would change about the program is the amount of kids in the class. The day I had my observation the children couldn’t go outside since it was after the big