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.

Handling unacceptable behaviours of young children

Hitting is an unacceptable behaviour. But the fact is it does happen among young children.

Earlier today, I was asked what would I do if a parent said his child was hit by another child in the kindergarten. I replied that I would promise the parent to investigate and treat the matter seriously. I would also reassure her that hitting is totally unacceptable in the kindergarten. And then, I would discuss with my colleagues to find out more. Reflecting on it now, I think I have shortchanged my friend, who probably would like a proper analysis of the scenario. I once worked for a home based early education and care provider and often had similar questions referred to me. Let me answer this question again:

The incident involves the child who was hit, his mother, the child who hit, the teaching team, and all the other children.

First and foremost, everyone needs to feel safe and secured in the kindergarten. The child has a right to be safe, especially one can learn only when he feels safe. The child who was hit didn't tell a teacher. Why? Did he not trust the teacher? Was there no teacher nearby?If no teacher has witnessed the incident, the team needs to step up their supervision. Are there any blind spots around the kindergarten?

The incident of hitting could be more complicated than it seemed. The child might be provoked, which doesn't give him the license to hit back, of course. But then, it might become a learning opportunity for emotional management. The child needs to learn to stand up for himself in non aggressive way. The teacher needs to talk gently with both children to get a clearer picture of the incident.

What about other children in the kindergarten? Was anyone around at that time? No one came forward to tell a teacher? No matter how vigilant and alert the teachers are, they might not see everything. It is a fact that we must accept it. The teacher could be busy working with some other children who demanded her full attention.  Again, the incident calls for some teaching/learning activities about behaviour management. At mat-times, perhaps, a discussion about what constitute unacceptable behaviors? The 4 year olds might be mature enough to draft up a good behaviours contract that could be signed by all of them afterwards. Also, brainstorm what to do when confronted by aggressive behaviours. If the children are younger, give specific instructions about what to do, such as saying, "stop it. I don't like it!" And then, go and find a teacher. The whole group can practice together to say, "No, hitting is not acceptable!" I always advise the children that they are allowed to use a big voice to say NO! in such situation.

Parents are our close ally in supporting the growth and development of young children. They all need to know how we manage behaviours of children in our care. Take the initiative to discuss behaviour issue in newsletters; and seek their feedback. To the mother whose child was hit, explain what actions you're going to take or have taken; inform her about the progress of the investigation; reassure her that hitting is a serious matter; and keep the dialogue and any other two way communication open.

Sufficient? Appropriate? What do you think?

Assessment in early childhood education - including the child's voice

Teachers of young children all spend a lot of time, very often their own time, to write up children's assessment. Assessment gives useful information about children's learning and development. As it captures children's learning experiences in the kindergarten, parents will therefore become much more aware and convinced of the learning achieved by their child. As such, communication between teachers and parents are enhanced.

Reliable assessment should include multiple voices. Instead of telling the learning story from her own perspective, the teacher also needs to give the child involved an opportunity to tell his story. A learning experience is best interpreted and assessed by the learner himself, which allows the child to take over some responsibility and claim ownership of his learning. In practice, find time to talk with the learner about his experience (photos will provide cues for a thoughtful conversation): let the child indicate what he is learning, thus drawing out the meaning of the experience. When the teacher and the learner "co-author" a learning story, the assessment is authentic, and the process is exciting and energising.

 I like this concept of "co-authoring" with the child, if possible, while making observation, otherwise make time for discussion afterwards. Let the learner talk about whatever comes to his mind. This assessment practice also provides an opportunity to learn. Together, the teacher and the child look at or look back over a learning episode, the child is encouraged to use his language to recall, explain and express his ideas, feelings and thoughts. The sustained shared interactions and dialogue strengthen relationships with the child, who will feel empowered as a learner.

Even though co-authoring is not able to happen, due to whatever reasons, it's always helpful to encourage children to read their assessment any time. Make sure the assessment folders are easily accessible, and make a space for children reading together with peers, families and teachers.

Take this episode of marble painting, for an example. First, the teacher will consciously highlight the positive learning dispositions, such as practicing, experimenting, thinking. And then, probably, the creative and artistic development of the child will be assessed, drawing attention to her understanding of colours, skills in creating marks and patterns etc. The assessment may focus on the child as an artist. However, talking with the child may reveal her fascination with the rolling marbles and her perseverance with mastering the skill to carry the marble from the palette to the box! Through "co-authoring" or self-assessment, the learner's interest, knowledge, skills and dispositions will be recognised. These information will be helpful to establish the learner's identity.

Literacy in early childhood - alphabet knowledge

Early childhood teachers play an important role in supporting children's literacy. But, what types of literacy experiences are appropriate in the early years? The common response probably is children need to learn ABCs, as alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness are key predictors of literacy achievement later in school, in terms of spelling and reading.

Children who attend primary school with insufficient knowledge of letter names and letter sounds tend to struggle with reading, and they are likely to fall behind in spelling, reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension skills.

Alphabet knowledge means knowledge about letter names, letter sounds and letters in print. With these knowledge, young children are able to make attempts at spelling and reading. Researchers Piasta and Wagner found out that Alphabet knowledge can be strengthened through intentional teaching strategies.

Te Whaariki, New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum and Australia's Early years Learning Framework both advocate for a holistic programme. Yes, alphabet knowledge is best taught in a variety of ways within a holistic curriculum. Teaching literacy knowledge too formal and too soon may take away the pleasure of learning from young children.

There are plenty of games with a focus on alphabet knowledge. My friend has a set of bean bags with letters embroidered on them. She gives each child one, and ask them to say the letter name, letter sound, and to think of a word that begins with the particular letter. And then, they play balancing game with the bean bag, which concludes the learning session with giggles and laughters. The learning encompasses cognitive, emotional, social and physical aspects.

Other effective activities or routines could include: children to sign up on arrival at kindergarten; put own name tags on their locker on arrival; dictate names onto artwork; sing alphabet song while pointing to alphabet chart; when organising children off the mat orderly, use a letter card to send off children with names starting with the same letter; use magnetic letters to make words, and so on. You could add to the list...

Click this link for the research paper published by Piasta and Wagner.

P.S. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) recognizes development of the alphabetic principle as a goal for the preschool years and proficiency in letter discrimination, letter naming, and letter–sound correspondences are expected during the kindergarten year. 

Literacy in the Early Years - Teachers' Role

Regarding the role of teachers in supporting early literacy, I pay tribute to Margaret Carr's concept of learning dispositions, which mean that learners are being able, ready and willing to learn. So, in the context of literacy, it is about getting the young learner ready and willing to write, as well as knowing how to write.

Look at this scenario:
We baked at the kindergarten, Nina, who is gluten intolerant, was keen to confirm that she would be allowed to eat the cake we made. Despite the reassurance that we had checked all the ingredients, Nina insisted to call her Mum, just to be sure. As we said only the teachers were allowed to use the phone, she wrote down her question for the teacher to read to her Mum. Nina asked me to spell out the words, and she referred to the alphabet chart when writing. What an amazing writer! Not only does she has literacy skills and knowledge, she was also able to recognize the occasion to apply her skills; and she was willing to do it even the task involved lots of effort.

 To support literacy in the early years, I believe, teachers need to maintain a dual focus on the literacy skills and the learning dispositions. I have introduced McLachlan's work on teaching literacy skills to young children in an earlier post from my children's songs, rhymes and game blog , now I'm going to focus on dispositions in this post.

When a child has learned a literacy skill, for example, how to identify ABCs, he is able to do something he couldn't do before. But he may not be spontaneously make use of that ability when a relevant situation arises, if he doesn't realize its relevance. Try to ask a child who knows the alphabet to read out the letters of words from a book, he may say he doesn't know how.  It is not much about being able, he is not ready to make use of the ability he possesses. Also, he may still need a degree of support and encouragement, which involves his desire to try when there is a certain degree of difficulty. It's about being willing.

To support a disposition to write, the teacher needs to model purposeful literacy.  At kindergarten, teachers who jot down notes about children's voice/ ideas and learning episodes are providing role models for emergent writers. Children observe when teachers write. The teachers are modeling an interest in writing, in particular, when they are keen to talk about and share what they have noted down, they are modeling a passion for expressing and recording ideas, feelings and thoughts in print/ written language.

Guy Claxton writes in 2009, in a forward to the book entitled Learning Power Heroes from the Building Learning Power programme in England, that teachers are learning heroes. He suggests that children learn in the way their parents, carers and teachers learn. So, if they are around people who love to write,  they will pick up the habits and rules of writing, as well as develop a passion for writing. This is especially true with teachers, as they are important people/ heroes to young learners in the kindergarten.

In short, early childhood teachers must support young children to develop not only literacy skills but also positive dispositions to use the skill willingly when the situation is relevant.

Managing unacceptable behaviour in the early years

Managing unacceptable behaviour should begin with thoughtful planning of the environment and routines. Ideally, the environments should engage and nurture young learners, so they will be deeply involved in constructing knowledge and making discovery. Moreover, the environments need to be carefully arranged in order to minimize confrontation and conflict. Bearing in mind that young children are learning to take responsibility for their own actions, so the environments also need to respond to their developmental level. 

During my work with children, I am often struck by behaviour management issues that could simply be solved by implementing a few changes in the environments.

Yesterday, when I worked with a 3- year-olds' group, a teacher was setting up water play outside, with four ice-cream containers of coloured water. The activity was meant to be an extension of a previous interest in colour mixing. As there were only four smocks available, the teacher said only four children were allowed to play. To make her point clear, she counted the smocks and the four children who had successfully reached out for the water containers. After a short while, some children gathered around, demanding their turns, and a few tried to jostle their way in front of the water containers. The teacher told the onlookers, "1,2,3,4. That's it. Don't stand around here, you're wasting your time. Go find something else to do!" From then on, the teacher's role was to police the children, ensuring everyone behaved nicely and had a turn, and she was unable to write down any notes about children's comments or discovery about the properties of colours. 

Although the number of smocks and containers suggest only four children are allowed,  it can limit the possibilities for richer experiences of collaboration and learning. Also, we don't generally expect 3-year-olds are able to wait for a long time for their turn. Manageable expectations and limits should be set, in the first place.In this scenario, crowding and queueing are causes of frustration and conflict for young children. Appropriate changes could be made to achieve a positive impact on the children's level of involvement in the activity and their interactions with each other. 

More containers should be available for the activity. The containers do not need to be the same, and the size does not matter. Better still, just put out a few jugs of coloured water and let children mix the colours up in their individual cup or bowl. True, we don't want children to get wet, so the teacher need to remind the children to be careful, such as pulling up their sleeves and getting changed when wet. Young children need to learn to look after themselves. 

The smocks should not be a barrier to meaningful learning, unless it was freezing cold in winter, then the teacher might need to plan differently. Instead of letting children to construct knowledge from physical involvement, the teacher could demonstrate colour mixing while children observe and develop their working theories, in the cold winter months.

Also, young children should be gently encouraged to accept the reality that they need to wait for a turn. The teacher might need to talk about what other activities are on offer, apart from the amazing water play. Be specific, for example, prompt children to go to the art easel where they can find the colours of the rainbow. Simply say, "go find something else to do" is not clear enough for the  younger ones.

When planning activities  and equipments/ playthings, the teacher needs to take into consideration the children's developmental stage and adjust expectations accordingly. Ask yourself these questions: To what extent is sharing important, or should there be enough playthings to prevent conflict? What are realistic expectations about children's abilities to cooperate, take turns, or wait for assistance?

Managing behaviour in the early years

Effective behaviour management in the early years involves learning. Unacceptable behaviour should be dealt with to ensure that children are not demeaned or their self esteem is damaged. Te Whaariki, the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum, outlines the ways in which behaviour management could be empowering: the children will know the limits and boundaries of acceptable behaviour; and will understand the consequences of stepping beyond the limits of acceptable behaviour. Behaviour management strategies are not only meant for preventing unacceptable behaviour but also for developing ideas of fairness and new social skills.

Today, I visited a long day care centre and stayed in the room for three year olds. I realized how easily young children become tired, especially after being stuck inside for a long period of time due to bad weather. At the young age, their self control may still be unreliable. I think it's the teacher's responsibility to observe and respond to signals of tiredness. When there are issues of unacceptable behaviour, the young children need to be handled in a calm and caring way.

After lunch, one teacher brought children out to have a little play, while other teachers set up the sleeping area.  Some children started doing forward roll on the wet ground and more children joined in. The teacher asked them to stop and warned them that they would get wet and sick. And then, she threatened to bring the children inside to sleep if they did not take notice of her instruction. A few children did not listen and kept doing forward roll on the ground with small puddles. In the end, she scooped one child inside, while the child yelled in protest. And then, another child was taken inside the same way. Despite that, two children continued to roll on the ground, regardless of the consequence. To me, it's seem they were unable to stop themselves, rather than blatantly disregarded the teacher. They probably were very tired, so ready to have a lying down.  I just said No to them clearly and distracted them by saying not on a cloudy day without the sun. They naturally checked out the sky, and I reinforced that they would be allowed to do it on a sunny day. On that moment, I invited them to go on the jungle gym. Distraction and provision of alternatives could be more efficient than punishment at this young age.

The same strategy applied later.  After nap, a child who has woken up for a long while pushed a child who just woke up several time, probably trying to get him into playing together. They started to pushed each other roughly. The teacher said, "no fighting, otherwise you will go to the office!" Though children need to learn the consequence of their unacceptable behaviour, but not in this way. Logically, getting hurt is a possible consequence of fighting that children need to be aware of , as the learning outcome is to understand how to look after their own well being and to keep themselves from harm. It's different from avoiding the punishment of being sent to the office.

 I thought those children were unable to decide what to do when they just woke up. They simply need to know there is another option. So, I asked them whether they want to do a painting. One child immediately followed me to the art table. And the other child said, "me too!" I think the teacher could bear this in mind in future planning about respect for rules. For sure, the children need to understand the rule about harming others and an understanding of the reasons for it.

Children develop a sense of self worth when their emotional well being is nurtured. Teachers of young children could give genuine opportunities to make choices and to develop independence. Also, its the teacher's' responsibility to help young children to understand and accept necessary limits, without anxiety or fear.

Click here for positive parenting resources developed by S.K.I.P. of New Zealand. The ideas and concepts are relevant to early childhood teachers as well.