As I read, Rethinking Early Childhood Education from p. 123-130 the author discussed the importance of culture, which may encourage us to move from one place to another. She also talked about her experience with children when she takes them exploring such as field trips or different environments that are both fun and educational for young children. At our program, we usually take the children on field trips once a month to teach them about the environment. For example, in the beginning of the school year we took the children to IAO Valley where we taught they about the different cultural pavilions such as Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean etc. We take photo's of the children so they can reflect on their experience at IAO Valley. We also help encourage their learning by having them draw what they enjoyed the best on the field trip. How can you tell if the children are learning through this experience? I believe they are learning because they talk about what they have seen and some of them might be able to name the different areas. While I read "Bringing the Earth Home" on p. 131-132 the author talks about professional development for childcare programs. What do we value while working with young children? Some of the things we try to value in our program is for the children to learn, problem solve, and have fun.
I chapter 6 New Possibilities for ECE the author talks about her experience on teaching women. The women shared their life stories and what they do when they work with children and they also discussed numerous topics.
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You raised a good question: how do we know if children are learning through their experiences? It's always kind of a gray area. Some children talk about their experiences throughout the day and again sporadically in the year. I think one of the ways that we know they are learning is by observing them: do they use new words that they learned in conversation? Are they able to remember back to an event and talk about it? Do they answer questions appropriately? And I think we do this type of observation in several ways - pictures, child-authored books, conversations, etc. I figure that a good practice would be to always ask ourselves: How can I make this a meaningful learning experience for my children?
ReplyDeleteHi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteSo how do we know children understand? Both Dona and I are drawn to your question. Talking about an experience might be an indicator but I also wonder how developing questions might also be an indicator. Can creating deeper questions inspired by the experience offer a way to understand the level at which children are understanding an idea or concept?
Through the schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, the teachers talk about a negotiated curriculum where teachers play catch with the children in regard to curriculum, tossing the ball back and forth, questioning, responding, questioning, experiencing, etc. Can this negotiation illustrate what is being understood?
Jeanne
Wow! First of all I would like to ask what school do you work for? That's amazing how children have the opportunity to go on field trips once a month. I really like how they can learn and experience different cultures and environments. This offers children great opportunities.
ReplyDeleteAfter field trips do you guys have discussions about it and do activities that relate to what you guys learned?
Hi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you folks get to go on field trips once a month. I wish we were able to do the same. That must be pretty exciting for the children. Going to Iao must be such a fun experience, since it's such a beautiful area to explore. My question is, do you folks have specific activities set up for the children after the field trips? There must be so much to talk about and reflect on.
I enjoyed the "New Possibilities" reading. The women's stories encouraged and motivated me to continue my educational pursuit. I do value my knowledge and experiences as a student. I hope to continue to pass on my knowledge to others as well as to the children in my care.
Your field trip to IAO valley sounds very exciting and fun! We go on field trips monthly as well but for us it is hard to plan trips to nature places. It will take us an hour to get there from where our school is. I think children learn so much more from first hand experiences. Journal entries are very useful for us. We document our experience what we like best or what we saw. We also take lots of pictures and make books so we can revisit the place or activity we did. I constantly as myself are the children getting it? What have they actually taken away from this project or field trip? Sometimes I think educators are too hard on themselves. Though these are questions we ask ourselves that make us evaluate our teaching and making improvements.
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome opportunity for your class to be able to go on field trips once a month. Not every school is fortunate to have those opportunities or the funds to go on field trips once a month. For those schools how could they provide opportunities about learning cultures and exloring nature without going on field trips? How can teachers enrich their curriculum so that those students can have the same learning experiences?
ReplyDeleteTeaching children about their environment can be a great way to help them develop a love of the earth. It is great that you take your children on so many field trips. It can be very challenging to take a large group of children out of their environment and to a new location with many unfimiliarities. I also like that you talk with the children to see what they got out of the trip. These types of interests should be noted as they can be used for a follow up activity. Field trips can be quite tricky sometimes depending on the destination and temprament of the children but if done right they are great learning experiences. I like that pictures are taken for later reflection.
ReplyDeleteProblem solving and having fun are too very important factors in all eary childhood programs. Children depend on us to provide them with memorable experiences and to help develop their different skills including a very challenging problem solving skills but without the ability to solve problems the world would be in a lot of trouble.