How children learn in the early years

I believe children make their own discoveries; and learning comes from within. With natural curiosity, the child is intrinsically motivated to learn , to explore and to experiment. Everyday, children are making an effort to make sense of the world. At the same time, children's learning is also influenced by external forces in the environment. The child develops not in isolation, but through interaction with other people in his social world. So, as teachers of young children, we have an influence in the child's learning and development. However, trying to directly teach children things is not helpful. The child needs the opportunity to construct and to discover the knowledge on his own. The teacher's role is to support the child by stimulating and challenging the child's own thinking. The teacher cannot prescribe the manner in which the child learns, but she can design a programme that supports the child's learning in a progressive manner. But this doesn't mean the child will develop according to the teacher's plan, as development has its own rhythm. Still, teachers' involvement is necessary. With it, the child's mind be able to advance far.

Recalling the experience of working with clay with the young children, regular opportunities proved to be very beneficial for them to develop their technical skills and knowledge about the properties of this unique medium. Initially, I simply put some clay balls on the table with a wet sponge in the middle of the table. They started to play
with the clay... I can imagine what was going on in their mind included: what can I do with clay? Can I change the shape? How? What happens when I pinch, poke, squeeze, or roll the clay? What if I squeeze water out of the sponge and moisten the clay? How will the clay behave when wet?

As time went by, their emerging skills were adding complexity to their creations. Some children started to construct objects that have different parts , and joined them.  The children began with a body and added legs, head and so on. It was hard to join various parts securely though.

I demonstrated to them how to begin with a single lump and then split and squeeze the parts from it. With lots of practice, the children are now able to use clay to make their imaginings to take shape and form. My demonstration and coaching has helped the children to master the skills that they can't immediately grasp on their own.