Better Planning to Extend Children's Interests

Yesterday we had a planning meeting, in which the team as a whole agreed that we could have done better to extend children's interest. The major thing we picked up was the lack of opportunity to revisit learning experiences. We tend to follow the children current interest and accordingly provide resources and plan for the environment to support the dominating interest at the moment. When we noted that majority of the children are doing superhero play, we organize dress-up; make props; bring in comics books; provide blank ComicLife template for children to create their story; purchase Lego Knights, Mobilo for construction and so on. Initially, the children were kept busy, and we did witness the developing of construction and drawing skills.

Lately, however, the children seem to regress back to boisterous play.  Is that because we have not addressed the underlying ideas that they are exploring, such as the good vs the bad; the power/ control issue; the emotion of fear and so on. We recall that Ann Pelo talked about what's most worthwhile to work on is the ideas behind the play. Perhaps, we should slow down and encourage children to revisit their previous learning experiences, and then they will be able to consolidate their learning.

So, today I used iMovie to collate photos and short videos that I have taken, and I plan to show it to the children on the next kindy day. When reviewing the movie, I noted that a small core group of children are really driving the superhero play. The children shown are wearing their favorite hero's costume; sawing wood and hammering to make swords; climbing up high and then making a leap of faith; designing complicated Transformers; acting out battle scenes with Lego Knights and so on. The movie makes the learning involved visible, such as extending imagination; developing physical strengths, enhancing creativity; and promoting verbal communication skills.

I also add a few photos here and there of real heroes in the community, such as policeman and firemen; parent helpers; and a girl who helped watering the kindy garden. My intention is to prompt the children to think what are the significant qualities of a hero; and what heroes do.

Hope the children will enjoy the movie! I certainly do.

Use of camera in early childhood

My kindergarten used to put out two cameras in a basket and let the children help themselves. The cameras did not last long and both were broken in less then six months. Subsequently, the head teacher lost faith and no more camera for children. I believe that young children are competent learners and problem solvers. So, I let them use my camera often.

My camera is still in good order. I guess it's because they need to ask me first before they can lay their hand on my camera. It gives me an opportunity to remind them about how to look after the camera. The children learn fast, they understand that the privilege to use the camera is conditional on using the shoulder/ wrist's strap in case the camera drops; they know they need to return the camera back to my safe hands after they have finished. If they are beginners, I will go through the basics of which button to press to shoot a photo; how to check the screen to confirm whether their fingers are in the way; and which button to press to view the images taken and so on. Also, I will supervise for a while before I let them move out of my sight.

Let children use the camera addresses adult-child power imbalances in documentation of children's learning. The children are allowed to have a say and their voice is heard/visible. Yesterday, a child asked me for the camera to take a photo of his Lego construction.  As I was documenting another child's learning, I could not lend him the camera and I offered to take the photos instead. So, the boy asked me to capture only the part made by him, and he wanted me to avoid the adjoining part built by another child. I notice that children always have a sense of purpose in using the camera to document their learning.

Similarly, photography initiated by children provides rich insights into how children experienced art. Rosemary Richards of Massey University has done a research called "young visual ethnographers: Children's use of digital photography to record, share and extend their art experiences". She found out that photos taken by children reveal their perspectives; and that children looking at photos together with an adult heightens consciousness of the art experiences. So many times during the day, the children invite their teacher to enjoy their art,  "come to see my painting, do you like it?" Use of camera by children enhances the joint experience.

Specifically, photographs promote interpersonal and interpersonal dialogues. The child has some images to refer to when revisiting, evaluating, analyzing, and simply talking about his art experiences to a teacher or a friend. Even though the child looks at the photos on his own, he is looking at the artwork with fresh eyes , as Rosemary says, he is "having a sense of audience". He is taking up the role of an audience as well as the artist. The experience helps the child to develop metacognitive skills to think, to critique, and to improve.