Hungry to learn, curious and so willing to experiment— this description fits so many young children. Mister Rogers has a song called “Did You Know?” in which he tells us that it is in those moments of wonder and marvel that our children learn so much, if we give them the opportunity to let the learning unfold. While our focus on autumn is still in full swing via lesson plans, I wanted to share with you some of the spontaneous learning your children delight in. Much of this is started through a question or observation on the part of a child, and piggybacked on through either hands-on exploration or, in some cases, quality reference materials.
On Tuesday, during our outside playtime, T was leading an effort to create another lake in our sandbox. The huge stock pot was filled with water for the proposed project, and V noticed the sunlight reflecting off the water, dazzling a patch of white light onto the side of the house. “What’s That?!” she asked excitedly, pointing. I only briefly explained that it was a reflection, just like in a mirror. What could we do with it? I suggested kicking the side of the pan of water to see if the light did anything different, and then more exploration continued with covering the pan, standing in different places next to the pan, and watching as the light moved, became still, or disappeared altogether. T and B joined in on the action, and keeping track of what the light was doing became the center of attention for a while before the group’s efforts to fill the lake (taking turns filling and dumping a large container with the water) moved them along in their play.
“Would you eat a snake?” We were playing “Raise Your Hand if You Like….” at the snack table, asking about all sorts of yummy treats, when T asked me this question. My “yes” answer drew their surprise and distaste, until I explained to them about eels. Reveling in the ‘eeww-yuck’ creepy factor and giggling, we looked through one of our nature books for pictures of eels. When one page showed an illustration of not just eels, but other underwater creatures, the questions came quickly. What was that one? What do you call that? What’s this one doing? Anglerfish were interesting, with their forehead-lures lit up to draw in other fishes; sharks were inquired about; the odd gulperfish, all mouth with a skinny body following behind was a fascinating creature. Other, more familiar creatures like lobsters and prawns were also asked about until their curiosity was satisfied, as were their stomachs, and they left the table to go play. It’s these cozy moments that, I hope, will augment their love for books and interested perusal, and teach them to keep asking questions, no matter how silly they seem. You never know what the answer might be!
Working with crayons at the big table on Thursday, I was transcribing T’s comments about his pictures on the back of his page. When I flipped it over and set it aside, V noticed the lines of color on the paper below and her eyes grew wide. “What are those lines?” I asked her if she’d like to try it. We re-created the process of this crayon-color carbon-copying, first coloring a sheet of paper with crayons (our block crayons were rubber banded together in sets of three for a little fun this day) and then using a ballpoint pen on the reverse to create the ‘copy’ onto a paper below. Her face wore an expression of being very impressed and pleased with herself.
In all of these instances, just giving the children an explanation would have been ‘enough’, but offering opportunities to explore their own questions makes this learning so much more relevant for them. On my end, it is deeply rewarding to see the children immerse themselves in pursuing the answers to their questions.
One of our ongoing topics is trees, and this week, we explored the question “What lives in the trees?*” At Thursday Gathering, we used the whiteboard to draw a tree and then add in all sorts of critters: a bird with a nest; a squirrel with a nest too; a ladybug, spiders, and bees rounded out our local tree inhabitants. Then we took a walk to investigate the trees in the neighborhood and discovered that something else lived on the trees—mosses and lichens made their homes their too. On another tree, seedlings were growing in its hollow, four feet up off the ground, and there were the telltale sings of ants, their neat holes scarring the exposed wood near the hollow. We heard, but couldn’t spot, a well-hidden squirrel in a large evergreen and noticed both the nascent and mature pinecones above our heads. We spotted huge spiderwebs, fat spiders waiting in their centers, searched for a hole high up in a bee tree, and spied a small family of immature crows on a walk, plucking up breakfast from between the blades of grass. The children watched for several minutes, squatting low and quiet as the crows came ever closer, until we decided that it was time to head back for a snacktime popcorn “picnic”.
A few more glimpses into our week:
The playdough table is dramatic play central! T begins with making burritos for one and all. B makes herself a birthday cake, complete with a popsicle stick candle, and sings a Happy Birthday to herself. V decides to fete herself as well, and plunks four popsicle sticks into her cake, declaring that she’s “three and a half”, then offers cake to everyone. T is on to making pizza while B works with scissors to cut up her orange-colored playdough into “macaroni and cheese”. T’s work turns experimental, using the sides and ends of different tools to see what sorts of impressions he can make in the dough, and V is a ‘bug’ and ‘going to eat a pretend snack’.
Spiderweb play! Using balls of yarn, the children moved like spiders through the kitchen, fixing their yarn to various drawer and door knobs and letting their trail of ‘silky thread’ follow behind them. It took no time at all before the random wanderings became enough of a web that we had to crawl under it. Now we know why it’s so easy for a fly to get stuck!
Outdoors, we are gleaning the last few weeks of berries. I love watching the children wander over to pick a few berries and then run back off to play. B especially seemed happy to plunk down and enjoy a handful of blueberries in the shade.
We are still working at extracting sunflower seeds from the giant sunflower head with tweezers. On Thursday we got a big surprise when we found that a squirrel had devoured our activity for breakfast! The seed head was empty, but we have more… We are also offering different activities that ask the children to use tongs to manipulate materials. We have offered cotton balls (easier) and our shiny blue glass ‘gem’s (more difficult) to be pinched, grabbed up, and placed into various sorts of trays. This encourages both fine motor skills, counting and arranging. I heard lots of counting and saw rows of the gems being arranged and rearranged to make them even.
In the housekeeping area, B has been loving up the dollies, while T and V have some interesting culinary creations cooking!V and B play dress-up, festooned with aprons and lacy doily-type shawls and necklaces.
T and B huddled over the water play bin. B using small tubes to pour minute amounts of water back and forth while T works with the bigger scoops pouring water into the mill.
Check out our autumn leaf paintings on the window of the preschool door, and the preschool space is showcasing some of the bigger art done at the easel.
As usual, I'm looking forward to another fun and busy week with your children. Have a restful weekend and we’ll see you Tuesday!
