Earthquakes in Christchurch

                                              People, Places, Things and Events


Earthquakes are scary
                                                                                                                                                            During March we decided to have a sensitive chat to the children about the earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan, we cut and pasted newspaper photos of the events that occurred from the New Zealand herald newspaper.  I found the children wanted to talk about the earthquakes and they got quite worked up about it, talking loudly about the fires that the earthquake caused to peoples homes. The children mentioned that they saw the earthquake burning peoples houses down on television news and the people had no beds,or food, they told me that the people were sad and crying. The children said the buildings had tumbled down. They saw the stormy events in Japan on the television news and as they pasted the photos from the New Zealand herald it brought back into their minds what they had seen on television.  The children pasted photos of the tsunami  in Japan and we chatted about the water flooding the people and their houses and cars and bending the trees over.  Te Whaariki states that the "programme builds on passions and curiosity of each toddler,and that adults can talk with toddlers about differences in people, places, and things (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.69).  I felt surprized and happy because the children obviously needed someone to talk to outside their families and Whaanau, and to share and tell others about their feelings the children have learned that their friends watch the televion news just like them.  Information and Communication Technology has enhanced learning opportunities for the children, enableing the children to share the same concerns and interests from the television. Watching the television news has"broadened their horizons by exploring the wider world" (M o E, 2004, p.2).   ICT has taught the children to notice, recognise, listen and respond.

 My next step in extending news items will be about the Royal Wedding and how Prince William and Princess Kate get married at the Westminster Abbey. This experience will be a happy, colourful exciting time with story tale, romantic, news cuttings, and the children can role play and become royalty.  The children will see the wedding on television and it will become a big event for us.

References

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki mātaurangi mō ngā mōkopuna o Aotearoa.  Wellington: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2004). Kei tua o pae: Assessment for learning: Early childhood exemplars. Wellington: Learning Media.

Jack in the box

                               

People, Places, Things and Events

Jack in the box  

                                                                                                                                                                         We  sing,                                                                    

J’ is for jack in the box.  “Jack in the box, Jack in the box, quiet and still, will he come out? Will he come out? Yes I will.  My eyes are blinking, blinking, blinking my eyes are blinking just like this.  At mat time, one of our favourite songs is Jack in the box.  The children like to squat and jump up, when we sing it, learning to be careful of other children.  One day we used a box outside and some children had turns in being Jack.  By following children’s interest in jumping, we can “encourage children to use their own words to describe concepts, such as gentle/peaceful, timid, or string/powerful/bold” (Wright.  2003, p.268).  While we were jumping outside we noticed our shadows and we thought about taking a photo of a Jack in the Box shadow.  The children were very curious about what their shadows would look like and I wondered if it was time to give them some responsibility to take photos as well.  Te Whāriki suggests that “children should experience an environment where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking, and reasoning.  The ability to represent their discoveries, using creative and expressive media and the technology associated with them” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p.88).  I wondered if I extend their interest and  scaffold the children,  teaching them how to use a camera, this would provide a new beginning for the children in their play and  they could continue to take photos of while following their interest. “Play provides a new context for children to practice newly acquired skills and also to function on the edge of their developing capacities to take on new social roles, attempt novel or challenging tasks, and solve complex problems that they would not (or could not) otherwise do”(Talay-Ongan, & Ap. 2005 p.132).  We will be extending this experience about shadows.

Reference

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki mātaurangi mō ngā   mōkopuna o Aotearoa.  Wellington: Learning Media.

Talay-Ongan, A., & Ap, E.A. (Eds.). (2005). Child development and teaching young children. Southbank , Victoria:Thompson Social Science Press

Wright., S, (2003). The Arts. Children and learning: USA. Pearsons Education.

What's that ?

People, Places, Things and events

 Keeping our centre nice and clean is a big job, we always send the children outside or to another room to play while we vacuum and mop the floors.  But I always seem to have a little helper who sneaks away from the rest of the children to give me a hand.  He watches me while I vacuum and mop the floor; he moves the bucket of warm soapy water around the room and often spills some over the top. He always helps me bring the bikes inside the door and he rides them in and parks them exactly where they are meant to be. He waits while I close the windows and we usually go outside to play again. He doesn’t speak much unless he wants to say something important or meaningful to others. The other day after I vacuumed I thought I would change the bag and when J saw the vacuum cleaner in two halves he pointed at it and said `look.’  He walked up and investigated the vacuum cleaner, “what’s that” he asked. That’s where all the mess goes when the vacuum cleaner sucks it up. J was surprised that the vacuum cleaner was in two pieces and he didn’t like the look of the full bag. At first he just stared at it and then he seemed a bit weary of it.  I told J `don’t worry it won’t bite you.’ He pointed at the vacuum cleaner again and said `look’ he didn’t like it being in two.  He watched me carefully when I took the full bag out and put a new bag in.  His friend D came over and asked me `what did you put in the vacuum cleaner Mavis,’ that’s a new bag to hold all the mess we make each day.’ After they had investigated the vacuum cleaner we turned it on to make sure it would start up, they were satified and D went away to play and J stayed to help me mop the floor.  I asked him `do you help mummy mop the floor’  he just looked up at me and grabed the mop. Te Whāriki, says “Adults should be are aware that all happenings have the potential for play and learning” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 85).  He laughed out loud, I showed him a stain on the floor and he mopped it.  `J’ does not speak as well as he could for his age and it was important to us to share experiences with him and to be able to observe and communicate with him “observing and listening in to Information, communication and Technology practices includes watching adults and other children using ICT for a range of purposes” Ministry of Education, 2004, p.5).                                 

 J enjoyed helping me and he smiled and laughed when I vacuumed the floor because he could see all the sand and bits of paper get sucked right up the pipe. When I let him have a turn I was empowering him, he felt good about himself and he felt positive about his relationship with me, although he wasn’t meant to be vacuuming.  “To empower children, staff must be committed to creating a more just social world through transferring power from more powerful groups to less powerful groups” mentions “MacNaughton & Williams, 2004, 279).  J has learned that the vacuum cleaner has suction and he knows how all the sand and other stuff get’s sucked inside to the bag.

“These play experiences are very valuable for young investigators. Through their play, they often consolidate and make deeper and more accurate sense of their experiences and related concepts” (Helm & Katz, 2001, p. 56).  Children like to join in with teachers when it comes to cleaning the centre.  We packed the vacuum cleaner away and extended our cleaning game with two brooms, and swept the sand back into the sand pit.

Reference.

Helm, J., & Katz, L. (2001).   Young investigators the project approach in early years. New York: Teachers College Press.

MacNaughton , G., & Williams, G. (2004). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice (2^nd ed.). Frenchs Forrest NSW:  Pearson Prentice Hall.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki mātaurangi mō ngā   mōkopuna o Aotearoa.  Wellington: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2004). Kei tua o pae: Assessment for learning: Early childhood exemplars. Wellington: Learning Media.

Shadows in the sunlight

People, Places,Things and Events.  Shadows in the Sunlight   Shadows in the Sunlight

                                                                                                        Teacher Mavis...`that is the shadow that the sun makes of your hand.

R, said `Look I can see my hand in the sun, look at my hand.   

`Look at my hand.’ said S.

Teacher Mavis …`yes I can see your shadow too, S.’                    

`Ha ha  ha  look at me too, my hand is there.’ said T.         

Teacher Mavis… `that is a good shadow T.’                                                                           Teacher Mavis… `that is a pretty shadow R, `well done.’  

 R. giggles,`the sun is still shining on  me. ’                                                                                    M… `ha ha ha  I can do it too.  Look at my hand in the sun.’                                                    Teacher Mavis… `this is fun and everyone has made good shadows, well done to you all.’

The children were experiencing something new and interesting; they all wanted to have a turn at finger shadowing. Te Whāriki suggests that “Children should experience an environment where their play is valued and meaningful learning and the importance of spontaneous play is recognised (Ministry of Education, 1996, pg.84).   Children need to try things out to be able to fulfil their curiosity and to explore the natural elements around them; the elements are important and valued ways of learning.  We decided to extend on our observations on the children making shadows and go out side and take photos together. 

                                                      

Using Information, Communication and Technology, by “taking photographs to construct text that the photographer, who cannot read and write in the conventional sense, can read and revisit” (Ministry of Education, 2004, p.6).  I found this great for providing documentation records of children’s progress of learning and development, and child initiated play information for their journals. Documentation taken on children’s work is evidence of the experiences they participate in and as Helm and Katz explain “comprehensive, good-quality documentation of a project can provide evidence of children’s learning in all areas of development; physical, emotional, social, and cognitive”(2001, p.66).  We will extend our experiences of light because light it is much more than the sun shinning, light is colour that the children use everyday when they paint and (role play) dress up.   Malaguzzi,(2006) States “there are children, even after they grow up and apart from a few fleeting personal sensations, who continue live immersed in light almost without being aware of it or seeing it”(p.61).  Colour makes up a great part of our lives and are elements to be enjoyed. 

References

Helm, J., & Katz, L. (2001).   Young investigators the project approach in early years. New York: Teachers College Press.

Malaguzzi, L., (2006). 1 CENTO LINGUAGGI DEI BAMBINI / THE HUNDRED LANGUAGES OF CHILDREN.  Italy:  REGGIO CHILDREN S.r.l.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki mātaurangi mō ngā mōkopuna o Aotearoa.  Wellington: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2004). Kei tua o pae: Assessment for learning: Early childhood exemplars. Wellington: Learning Media.