My centre offers the children many opportunities to go out to the community to develop their knowledge about it. This year, they have been to Otara library, Otara shopping centre, Auckland museum, Botanic Gardens, Clarks Beach, Mangere Mountain, Totara Park, One Tree Hill, the zoo and a farm. Last Monday, seven preschool children and two teachers went to Otara library to return some story books.
On the way to the library, we talked about and named numbers and letters on signs and mail boxes. The children had strong confidence to recognize these numbers and letters. Once they found some numbers or letters, they would call them to their friends and see who could say the numbers or letters first. Listen to M: “Look at that number on the mailbox. It’s thir…ty….fi..ve. Am I correct, Virginia?” I replied: “You’re absolutely right. Well done, M.” There was a big smile on M’s face. As Talay-Ongan and Ap (2005) argued, young children’s numeracy skills will be promoted in an authentic learning contexts.
When we looked at the houses along the footpath, some children found some houses with a chimney on the roof and some had none. Then we started to discuss what a chimney is for and why some houses have no chimney. Stonehouse and Gonzalez Mena (2004) emphasized that a sensitive and responsive teacher knows to spontaneously respond to children’s expressed interest to extend their learning. The children shared their knowledge about chimneys enthusiastically. “My house has a chimney”. “My house has a chimney too”. “My house has no chimney”. “We have no chimney at my house but we have a heater”. “My house has a fireplace and a chimney is above it. Daddy lights up firewood when it is cold”… At last they came to a conclusion: a chimney is for the fireplace smoke to go out of the house when we light up wood in the fireplace during winter. The children also figured out how the houses with no chimney or fireplace get heated: S said: “My house has no chimney cos we use an electric blanket”. D said: “We use a heater to heat the house. We don’t need a chimney”.
When we walked up to a pedestrian crossing, I asked the children what we needed to do if we wanted to cross a road. This question sparked a conversation. When T said loudly: “We need to push the button first”. He was echoed by many “yes”. Then T was selected to push the pedestrian button. When we waited for the green light, we waved to the passing car drivers and most of them noticed us and waved back or honked their car horns.
At the library, the children took turns to put the books into the slot and then searched for other books that interested them on the shelves. They were reminded to talk in a quiet voice. After a while, H forgot the library rule and started to talk and laugh loudly with another child. When I was going to interrupt, D turned around and told H in a hushed voice: “Stop it. No shouting in the library. Keep quite.” What a wonderful peer learning here!
On the way back to the centre, we went to a two-dollar shop for some craft paper and we passed a road construction site where the roadmen were repairing the road. S commented on the bad road conditions which made his friends understand the significance of road repairing. He said: “I was bumped up in my seat yesterday when daddy was driving the car because the road was too bumpy.” One and a half hours later we got back to our centre.
The children really benefited a lot from the trip around the community. This trip to Otara library not only offered the children many learning opportunities but also increases their knowledge about our local community. As Ross (2006) claimed, the local community and family is the elementary level in social studies. When the children observed community members participate in daily events, they were learning about the processes, concepts and practices that are valued within their community (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett, and Farmer, 2007). In addition, Bronfenbrenner (2005) states that the immediate environment, such as a child’s family, his daycare centre and the community, shape children’s learning and has a powerful influence on the child’s well-being. This trip helped build positive connections between the children and the community which increased the children’s social studies, community knowledge and a sense of belonging to the community. The children also developed a sense of civic and social responsibility (Ross, 2006).
I am glad to see the children display their responsibility and competence as junior citizens when participating in community life. They were capable to question, discuss and express their understanding. It’s awesome to see they learned with and alongside their peers. Next, as the lovely summer is around the corner, what about a trip around the neighbor hoodto see what is changing?
References:
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S., & (2007). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Harcourt Brace.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005). Making human beings human: bioecological perspectives on human development. Thousand Oaks, C.A.: SAGE.
Ross, E. (2006). The social studies curriculum: purposes, problems, and possibilities. New York: SUNY Press.
Stonehouse, A., & Gonzalez Mena, J. (2004). Making Links: A Collaborative Approach to Planning and Practices in Early Childhood. Castle Hill, New South Wales: Pademelon Press.
Talay-Ongan, A., & Ap, E. A. (Eds.). (2005). Child development and teaching young children.Southbank, Victoria: Thompson Social Science Press.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
A talent show
My centre has some special features of ICT. The ICT tools used are a smart board, an overhead projector, a desktop computer, two digital cameras, a printer, some educational software CDROMs and access to the Internet. The staff members take advantage of these ICT devices to offer the children many learning opportunities.
Recently the preschool children have been fascinated with dancing. They enjoy watching and copying dance videos on YouTube. They are always asking the teachers to watch them dancing. This morning, when a dancing and singing video was on, K called out: “Virginia, look at me. I’m dancing.” D said to K: “Can you dance like this?” F said: “Look at me, Virginia. I can do this” while wriggling her body. I replied: “Good dancing. Can I join you?” Then F started to teach me how to dance like her. Then I noticed D was holding a long block to imitate the musicians on the video who are holding a microphone in their hands and K was pretending to play a guitar.
At this time, T started to dance and did forward rolls. The other children had to stop to make a space for him. I quietly grabbed chairs and put them along the edge of the mat and indicated to the other children to sit down to watch T’s performance. This was really like a “talent show”. T’s rolling performance won him heaps of claps and he showed his excitement on his face. Then the rest of the children took turns to perform their dancing or singing. The second performer is D. When he was sure it was his turn, he announced loudly: “OK, it’s my turn.” D held a “microphone” in his hand which actually was a hexagonal prismatic wooden block. I asked him: “What you are going to perform, dance or sing?” D replied: “I’m gonna sing.” When D was singing, another two boys K and Z joined him. Even though D was not informed in advance, D wasn’t surprised or stopped by their sudden appearance. The two boys stood separately behind D with one on his left and the other on his right. K held a long wooden block as a “guitar” to play and Z held a “microphone” in his hand to song alongside K. This band’s spontaneous chorus was very successful, even though they did not rehearse. When they finished their performance, they got claps from the audience. D said happily: “This is the stage!” Then some other children took turns to perform as well. All the “performers” in this “talent show” looked comfortable when singing or dancing.
The children had strong confidence to show their interests and they had their own special strengths in this “Talent show”. The “talent show” was an awesome experience for everyone. The children explored great expressive variation: dancing to the music in their own ways, singing alongside the singer on the video or pretending to play a musical instrument. In addition, their knowledge on modern technology was promoted by the Internet, YouTube website and the visual and audio effect created by the combination of a computer, a projector and a big screen. Music experience is emphasized in Te Whāriki which states children should develop an expectation that music and dance can amuse, delight, comfort, and excite (Ministry of Education, 1996). However, without ICT, how can we access music? Therefore, this “talent show” also developed the children’s learning on how ICT devices function and what a great time ICT is able to bring to us.
The children at my centre also enjoy and are willing to experience different cultural music. I will continue to extend their interests in music, dancing and singing by providing them with a range of music videos to watch, to sing and dance along too. Besides, using a real microphone for their singing show will be interesting.
Rreferences:
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Recently the preschool children have been fascinated with dancing. They enjoy watching and copying dance videos on YouTube. They are always asking the teachers to watch them dancing. This morning, when a dancing and singing video was on, K called out: “Virginia, look at me. I’m dancing.” D said to K: “Can you dance like this?” F said: “Look at me, Virginia. I can do this” while wriggling her body. I replied: “Good dancing. Can I join you?” Then F started to teach me how to dance like her. Then I noticed D was holding a long block to imitate the musicians on the video who are holding a microphone in their hands and K was pretending to play a guitar.
At this time, T started to dance and did forward rolls. The other children had to stop to make a space for him. I quietly grabbed chairs and put them along the edge of the mat and indicated to the other children to sit down to watch T’s performance. This was really like a “talent show”. T’s rolling performance won him heaps of claps and he showed his excitement on his face. Then the rest of the children took turns to perform their dancing or singing. The second performer is D. When he was sure it was his turn, he announced loudly: “OK, it’s my turn.” D held a “microphone” in his hand which actually was a hexagonal prismatic wooden block. I asked him: “What you are going to perform, dance or sing?” D replied: “I’m gonna sing.” When D was singing, another two boys K and Z joined him. Even though D was not informed in advance, D wasn’t surprised or stopped by their sudden appearance. The two boys stood separately behind D with one on his left and the other on his right. K held a long wooden block as a “guitar” to play and Z held a “microphone” in his hand to song alongside K. This band’s spontaneous chorus was very successful, even though they did not rehearse. When they finished their performance, they got claps from the audience. D said happily: “This is the stage!” Then some other children took turns to perform as well. All the “performers” in this “talent show” looked comfortable when singing or dancing.
The children had strong confidence to show their interests and they had their own special strengths in this “Talent show”. The “talent show” was an awesome experience for everyone. The children explored great expressive variation: dancing to the music in their own ways, singing alongside the singer on the video or pretending to play a musical instrument. In addition, their knowledge on modern technology was promoted by the Internet, YouTube website and the visual and audio effect created by the combination of a computer, a projector and a big screen. Music experience is emphasized in Te Whāriki which states children should develop an expectation that music and dance can amuse, delight, comfort, and excite (Ministry of Education, 1996). However, without ICT, how can we access music? Therefore, this “talent show” also developed the children’s learning on how ICT devices function and what a great time ICT is able to bring to us.
The children at my centre also enjoy and are willing to experience different cultural music. I will continue to extend their interests in music, dancing and singing by providing them with a range of music videos to watch, to sing and dance along too. Besides, using a real microphone for their singing show will be interesting.
Rreferences:
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
An exploration on Chinese paper cutting
Last week, the preschool children were intrigued by me when I did the paper cuttings. They were curious about it and asked many questions. On the way home that day, I thought about organizing some activities to extend children’s interest in paper cutting. The next day, I brought a PowerPoint about Chinese paper cutting and showed to the children at mat time. This PowerPoint interested the children and they asked many questions about the slides and paper cutting. O asked: “Is that boy your son? (there was a boy in one of the slides)”. I told him: “No, it’s not my son. He is a pupil cutting paper with his primary school teacher.” C asked: “Chinese kids like paper cutting? When I answered: “Yes”, she nodded her head. Then S asked: “Ummm, what’s that for?” I told them: “We cut the paper then use them to decorate our houses.” H said: “It’s cool. I like it.” On that afternoon, I set up the art table with many pieces of square paper and scissors and some children joined me. By watching me and following my verbal instruction, each of them learned to fold a square piece of paper into a small triangle. After that, every child started to use scissors to cut some shapes into their folded triangles. After cutting, they unfolded the triangles. Different patterns appeared on their square paper. They all felt amazed at the paper cutting art. A told me: “I like it. I’ll take them home to show my mum.” S told me: “Look at my one, Virginia. It looks like a butterfly. See, it is flying (She was holding it in her hand flying it up and down).” J said proudly: “Look at my one. Many diamonds on it.” Then we stuck some of the paper cutting on the windows to decorate our classroom.
This activity not only provided the children with an opportunity to enjoy art creativity and aesthetic experience but also promoted children’s appreciation towards Chinese culture and Chinese people’s wisdom. As Singham (2006) argued, New Zealand is a culturally diverse country, educators should strive to offer educational experiences in which students learn to understand, embrace, and appreciate cultures that are different from their own. In addition, this paper cutting activity offered the children an opportunity to use scissors for creativity. Technology is about how people use tools to create and change the world (Hjorth, Eichler, & Khan, 2007). Actually, the children used their tools, the scissors to create art work then used them to brighten our classroom. During the process of using scissors, the children made their own design and verbally appraised their art work. As Smorti (1999) argued, centres should use a process approach to technology and encourage children to design, make and appraise their work. Besides, the paper cutting activity extended the children’s cross-cultural learning on how Chinese people use technology to create and change their life.
I wrote a learning story about this activity and reflected my culture-orientated practice. The children showed their strong interest in other cultures. I will continue to promote the children’s curiosity and new interests in Chinese culture. This activity was affirmed by the centre manager and other staff. At the following staff meeting, we developed a multicultural learning programme. We will have a culture month to celebrate different cultures at the centre. During the culture month we will celebrate some festivals, do a range of arts activities, dress up in different cultural costumes and cook different traditional food. And we also planned to invite some families to join us to share their family, race and culture. References:
Hjorth, L., Eichler, B., & Khan, A. (2007). Technology and society: issues for the 21st century and beyond. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Singham, M. (2006). Multiculturalism in New Zealand - the need for a new paradigm. Aotearoa Ethnic Network Journal, 1 (1), 33-37.
Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in early childhood. Early Education, No.19, Autumn.
The children and the camera
In order to increase the children’s learning on ICT, I placed the digital camera in the middle of children’s activity table. Just several seconds later, girl S, who is four and a half year old, discovered it and started to manipulate it in her hands. I approached her to remind her to put the string around her neck. Many other children were fascinated with the camera as well and they formed a big group to follow S and patiently wait for their turns. “Virginia, am I after L?” “Virginia, is it my turn now?”… They expressed their intention for participation so I arranged them in order to take turns.
S walked around the centre taking photos of both the environment and the children.
-------- S:“Virginia, look, I am gonna to take a photo of the monkey bars cos I like playing here”.
-------- I:“That’s a good idea.”
……
-------- S:“Excuse me, Virginia. Can you show me what my photo looks like?”
-------- I: “ Of course, Look here. There are the photos you just took. You can see them one by one”
-------- S:“ Yeah, I like my photos. Can I take them home to show my mum?
-------- I:“ Sure, we will print off one if you want to show your mum. We’ll do it after.”
……
When S was walked into the room, she met her brother，R at the door.
-------- S:“R, you want me take a photo of you? OK, look here. Say cheese. Good boy. R, do you want to look at your photo? Virginia will help us to look at them.”
When I showed them the photos, S looked at them with a sense of fulfillment on her face announcing: “R, look. This is you. I took photos of you. I’m good at shooting, aye.”
S walked inside to the bookshelf to take a photo of a Maori myth book named Tane and the star. I asked her why she liked to take pictures of this book. She said: “I like Tane cos he lit up the dark night sky. He is cool.” Meanwhile, she pretended to be Tane scattering “stars” into dark night skies. That is what we did when we acted out the myth at mat time. S turned the pages of the book and took photos of all the pages in the book. After a while, when we sat down to look at her photos in the camera, we found she had another book of Tane and the stars. The difference is this book is a digital one.
When I reminded S to give a turn to another boy, she accepted that and gave it to J saying: “J, it’s your turn now.” Then she took the string off her neck and helped to hang around J’s and reminded J: “You need to put this around your neck, otherwise you might drop it on the ground.” J had no idea about the camera and he even held it upside down. He was not sure which button to push. When S noticed J could not use the camera properly, she offered her help again. She told J: “Don’t block the lens. Move your fingers away.” When she figured out J had no idea about her suggestion she had to solve the problem physically by moving J’s fingers off the lens. Then she continued to teach J how to push the shot button.
-------- S: “You push here.”
-------- J: “Where?”
-------- S: “Here, the big button. Here, look at my hand.”… “Ummm, that’s it”
-------- J: “Yeah!!!”
After S and J, many other children also took the opportunity to take photos with this camera. On that afternoon, I uploaded all the photos the children had taken the computer. The children were very excited to share their work with their friends. S said: “Look at this. Its R. I took this photo for him.” J said: “Look at this. Its my one. I took a photo of the lemon tree.” I asked them if they wanted to print their photos off so that they could take them home to show their family. They all nodded their heads and called out “Yep”. Then the children took turns to go to the office with me as the computer in the office links to the printer. We printed off one photo for each child. Great stuff you guys!
The children really had a great time taking photos with this digital camera and many learnings happened. Their camera knowledge and operational skills were extended. They showed their strong interest, curiosity and persistence to explore the camera’s function. Thouvenelle, Borunda, and McDowell (1994) argue that in order to participate in this world, our children will need to develop their own perspectives as well as the capacity to continue acquiring new knowledge and skills. In addition, there were lots of questioning, explaining and happiness sharing during the process of experiencing the camera which enhanced their communication skills. And their social skills, such as turn taking, interaction initiating and listening skills were promoted as well. What’s more? Peer teaching and learning happened all the time. Te Whaariki advocates for peer learning, stating children are expected to experience an environment where they are encouraged to learn with and alongside others (Ministry of Education, 1996). Besides, the children developed confidence in using the digital camera. As Liu (1996) mentioned, knowing how to use ICT often makes young children feel confident and increases their self-esteem.
I am glad they enjoyed the exploration today. I will continue to promote the children’s curiosity in ICT. More ICT devices, such as the active screen, the CD players…will be given to them for exploring and their learning journey will be documented for them to revisit.
References:
Liu, M. (1996). An exploratory study of how pre-kindergarten children use the interactive multimedia technology: Implications for multimedia software design. Journal of Computing in Childhood Education, 7(1/2), 71-92.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Thouvenelle, S., Borunda, M., & McDowell, C. (1994). Replicating Inequities: Are we doing it again? In J.L. Wright & D. D. Shade (Eds.), Young Children: Active Learners in a Technological Age (pp.151-165). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
S walked around the centre taking photos of both the environment and the children.
-------- S:“Virginia, look, I am gonna to take a photo of the monkey bars cos I like playing here”.
-------- I:“That’s a good idea.”
……
-------- S:“Excuse me, Virginia. Can you show me what my photo looks like?”
-------- I: “ Of course, Look here. There are the photos you just took. You can see them one by one”
-------- S:“ Yeah, I like my photos. Can I take them home to show my mum?
-------- I:“ Sure, we will print off one if you want to show your mum. We’ll do it after.”
……
When S was walked into the room, she met her brother，R at the door.
-------- S:“R, you want me take a photo of you? OK, look here. Say cheese. Good boy. R, do you want to look at your photo? Virginia will help us to look at them.”
When I showed them the photos, S looked at them with a sense of fulfillment on her face announcing: “R, look. This is you. I took photos of you. I’m good at shooting, aye.”
S walked inside to the bookshelf to take a photo of a Maori myth book named Tane and the star. I asked her why she liked to take pictures of this book. She said: “I like Tane cos he lit up the dark night sky. He is cool.” Meanwhile, she pretended to be Tane scattering “stars” into dark night skies. That is what we did when we acted out the myth at mat time. S turned the pages of the book and took photos of all the pages in the book. After a while, when we sat down to look at her photos in the camera, we found she had another book of Tane and the stars. The difference is this book is a digital one.
When I reminded S to give a turn to another boy, she accepted that and gave it to J saying: “J, it’s your turn now.” Then she took the string off her neck and helped to hang around J’s and reminded J: “You need to put this around your neck, otherwise you might drop it on the ground.” J had no idea about the camera and he even held it upside down. He was not sure which button to push. When S noticed J could not use the camera properly, she offered her help again. She told J: “Don’t block the lens. Move your fingers away.” When she figured out J had no idea about her suggestion she had to solve the problem physically by moving J’s fingers off the lens. Then she continued to teach J how to push the shot button.
-------- S: “You push here.”
-------- J: “Where?”
-------- S: “Here, the big button. Here, look at my hand.”… “Ummm, that’s it”
-------- J: “Yeah!!!”
After S and J, many other children also took the opportunity to take photos with this camera. On that afternoon, I uploaded all the photos the children had taken the computer. The children were very excited to share their work with their friends. S said: “Look at this. Its R. I took this photo for him.” J said: “Look at this. Its my one. I took a photo of the lemon tree.” I asked them if they wanted to print their photos off so that they could take them home to show their family. They all nodded their heads and called out “Yep”. Then the children took turns to go to the office with me as the computer in the office links to the printer. We printed off one photo for each child. Great stuff you guys!
The children really had a great time taking photos with this digital camera and many learnings happened. Their camera knowledge and operational skills were extended. They showed their strong interest, curiosity and persistence to explore the camera’s function. Thouvenelle, Borunda, and McDowell (1994) argue that in order to participate in this world, our children will need to develop their own perspectives as well as the capacity to continue acquiring new knowledge and skills. In addition, there were lots of questioning, explaining and happiness sharing during the process of experiencing the camera which enhanced their communication skills. And their social skills, such as turn taking, interaction initiating and listening skills were promoted as well. What’s more? Peer teaching and learning happened all the time. Te Whaariki advocates for peer learning, stating children are expected to experience an environment where they are encouraged to learn with and alongside others (Ministry of Education, 1996). Besides, the children developed confidence in using the digital camera. As Liu (1996) mentioned, knowing how to use ICT often makes young children feel confident and increases their self-esteem.
I am glad they enjoyed the exploration today. I will continue to promote the children’s curiosity in ICT. More ICT devices, such as the active screen, the CD players…will be given to them for exploring and their learning journey will be documented for them to revisit.
References:
Liu, M. (1996). An exploratory study of how pre-kindergarten children use the interactive multimedia technology: Implications for multimedia software design. Journal of Computing in Childhood Education, 7(1/2), 71-92.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Thouvenelle, S., Borunda, M., & McDowell, C. (1994). Replicating Inequities: Are we doing it again? In J.L. Wright & D. D. Shade (Eds.), Young Children: Active Learners in a Technological Age (pp.151-165). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
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