As I read, Rethinking Early Childhood Education from p. 41-42 the author talks about the story "The Three Little Pigs" and how there homes where built differently with straw, sticks, and bricks. She also mentioned stereotypes and the "many approaches to solving a basic human need" such as living things need places to live. In the reading, "Why we Banned Lego's" the author talked about a curriculum which, they have experimented with children on building with Lego's. The children built a large Lego town where they could explore the values of power and ownership. However, the teachers decided it was best to banned Lego's because the Lego town leaders took charge and told others they couldn't join in and help with the project. When that topic or experiment didn't work the teachers from Hilltop introduced another game called Lego trading. Each colored Lego had its own point value which, also had problems because there were some children who kept winning and others had no chance in winning. Therefore, some of them lost interest in that game. Is there a way for children to cooperate effectively?
In our program we try to think of curriculum topic that children are interested in and we also include topics that are important for the children to know such as, family, friends, community helpers, feelings or emotions etc.
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Hi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteWe also try to let the children settle their own disputes and conflicts. I make sure I am close by and make sure no one is getting hurt. I may encourage them to use certain words to promote using their language. Sometimes I have to step in just to state the facts such as he had the lego man first. What could you do to solve the problem. Could we work together to try and make things fair? These are some question we try to answer together.
Hi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteBoth you and Shirena mention the idea of stepping in as a teacher to intervene in order to teach about equality. Yet, if the teacher is the one intervening, who has the power in the classroom? Is it the students? Is it the teacher? If the teacher has more power, can equality truly be taught?
If a teacher chooses to move towards modeling equality, what needs to change about a classroom? teaching practices? relationships between teachers, children, and families?
Jeanne
Hi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteIt is true that teaching young children about equality is important but difficult! I do not think there is a right way or wrong way to solve a problem. To be honest with you, I am sometimes confused what to say & how to do. Everyday I challenge to find out the better solution for children's development.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was working in a preschool settings we would guide our children through problem solving conflicts. We would give children the chance to say what happened and how they felt. Next guide them on how they can both work thing out together. But main thing is to be consistent with children and make sure its very important to be cooperative.
Another idea is to find stories to tell about these situations and you could make discussions about the stories with the class. This will help them brainstorm ideas and understanding cooperation and respect.