on theory and practice

The Hundred Languages of Children has made itself at home in my backback, I take it out for a read most days on my commute to and from work. This section in Eva Tarini and Lynn White's chapter has been earmarked and reread several times over the last week. 

Role of the Adult

Our contact with Reggio educators has caused us to reevaluate the role of the adult in the classroom. We believe that simply providing materials and then managing the group is not sufficient in helping children extend their thinking. Instead, working alongside children for long periods of time helps us all arrive at deeper and richer understandings. We have found that a stronger presence can be very important in helping children focus for longer periods of time, in helping them rise to new challenges, and in helping them express themselves in ways that are more creative, more communicative, and more thoughtful.

As we continue to introduce and expect children to revel in the creative possibilities of open-ended materials it has been a daily reminder - that children need support in imagining the possibilities for such materials.

What I found this week in offering a myriad of colorful glass beads and rocks is that my expectation for children to create representations and stories with the material was met with the reality of their frustration and boredom with the material. I found children 'done' after 10 minutes at the light table, showing me a table covered in a sea of beads . A huge 'oh no' and 'ah ha' moment for me. It could only be through my support (not merely) an introduction of the material that they would be able to maximize its potential. This led to a week of scaffolding, sometimes side by side and other times, a more silent scaffold.

Before this photo was taken (and before I intervened), the light table was a sea of glass beads.

I used paper as a tool to help children organize and design within a space.

Within the spaces, children were able to create representations and give them meaning.

Next week I will make the materials available at the light table again,  to see if the support in using the material helped children in internalizing the creative possibilities. However, I don't think my role is done, I think the potential to unlock imagination and storytelling is present in these beautiful glass rocks and beads but I think I will need to be a part of that discovery process alongside the children. It's a constant reflection on when to watch and when (and how) to intervene. That's really the beauty of being an educator, it is our job to actively think every moment of the day.

What is your view on the subject? How do you support children in using materials or in acquiring skills with a new medium?

The Beginning

I am sitting in our classroom...already getting completely excited about the new school year. There are several changes that I want to make this year, inspired by the many Reggio books and blogs I've read over the summer and from visiting a Reggio private school over the summer. I hope you and your child are getting excited as well, it will be a wonderful year.

I was just writing the supply list for the year when I got stuck on how to describe beautiful junk. I decided it was worthy of a full blog post, since we will will be using beautiful found objects and "junk" throughout the year for sculpture, collage, and art projects. We often throw away items that can be transformed by the creative hands of a four year old. Some of the things you may want to bring in from home are listed below, but feel free to bring in anything throughout the year that you think can become part of a work of art!

- buttons
- yarn
- fabric scraps
- scarves
- egg cartons
- shoe boxes
- packing peanuts
- CDs
- boxes with lids (all sizes)
- empty plastic containers
- plastic containers with lids(transparent and opaque)
- plastic screw-top container lids (peanut butter, spice bottles,
coffee jars)
- unpainted metal jar lids,

Here are two pre-k blog posts all about beautiful junk. For some reason the link function isn't working but you can copy and past them into your URL...Enjoy!

http://www.playbasedlearning.com.au/2010/08/junk-art/

http://simpleorganic.net/the-three-rs-go-back-to-school/

I'm very much looking forward to meeting parents and children in just a few more weeks! If you happen upon the blog before school starts and you want to come by the school to meet me and see the classroom just email or comment on here and we can set something up!