Play Dough Diaries

Self-portraits are key to development

Web Admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 17:55:49 +0000

The class was all doing self-portraits with crayons and pastels. Jackson did a picture of his head.

“It is my head in armor.” He thought for a moment and then said, “I can’t draw my body until I measure it. I don’t know how big a paper to use.”

“Okay,” Miss Paula said, “I’ll get a tape measure.”

We measured Jackson. He is 43 inches tall.

“Forty three!” Jackson was very excited. He kept saying “Forty three!”

“Would you like to write that number?” Miss Paula asked.

“I can’t. I don’t know how.”

“Here, it’s on the tape. You can copy it. Start with the 4.”

Jackson wrote the number 43. He was so pleased with his work he wanted to take it home. So he did a second self-portrait for the classroom.

He set the whitepapers face down on the white surface of the writing center. “Miss Paula,” he said, “it’s camouflaged.”

Psychodynamic Development:

The exercise of doing a self-portrait helps children conceptualize their view of themselves. It is a form of mirroring, supporting brain development, and is a basic step in developing self-awareness and understanding. Jackson has clear ideas, he knows he was bigger than a single sheet of paper.

Values and Character Development:

Being able to direct the activity himself gave him a sense of power, or control, helping him to gain ever important social skills.

Literacy Development:

Jackson’s clearly articulated directions and descriptions are evidence of growing literacy and language development. Drawing and mapping the body is also an early form of learning geography. Children first learn the parts of their body before they can understand larger concepts of city, state, country, etc.

Post by:
Miss Paula
Teacher, Superstars

Horizons' Fable Project

Web Admin — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:34:00 +0000

During the school year the Horizons (ages 5 and 6) were having trouble with sharing. This culminated with the arrival of seven brand new bikes! These bikes were promptly named “monster bikes” by the kids and they were the fastest, coolest, most desirable bikes on the face of the earth!!!! Everyone desperately wanted a turn! Everyone was distraught when their turn was over! It was an ongoing crisis, day after day!

This daily dilemma inspired a unit on fables. The Horizons teachers were hoping that by studying fables, the children could become less egocentric and a little more compassionate toward their friends. We began by reading some old favorites like the Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs. We read many different versions so the children could compare and contrast the stories. Was the wolf the bad guy in every story? Could Goldilocks learn from her mistakes? Because these stories were so familiar, the children loved acting them out. They loved being the big bad wolf and then later becoming the pig with the sturdy brick house. This helped them explore various viewpoints.

We read other fables like Bat’s Big Game, Chicken Little, The Hare and the Tortoise, Peter Rabbit, Where The Wild Things Are, and Abiyoyo. Bat’s Big Game really held the children’s interest. The story is about a bat that keeps changing teams depending on who is winning. Horizons are all about winning! They are not too worried about following the rules nor are they bothered by the notion of cheating, unless it’s done by their opponent. They just want to win! This story explored themes of loyalty and playing fairly, concepts that are relevant to pre-k and kindergarten aged children.

Gradually, the Horizons began creating fables. During small group time, we brainstormed what our fable could be about. Immediately the kids discussed that hitting and kicking and even biting can be a problem in our room. Other problems that came up were name calling and being mean to others. One little boy talked about how other children sometimes knocked his buildings down when he was still working on them or playing with them. I probed a little bit and said, “Why do you think kids might do that?” There was silence and then, “because they are mean!” This, I soon realized, was a very difficult question for a five-year-old boy. Getting into someone else’s perspective is difficult when still learning about your own feelings and wishes. So I offered a possible reason. I said, “Maybe it is fun for them to knock your building over, but they aren’t thinking about your feelings and all your hard work. Later I thought I could have added, “next time someone knocks down your building, tell them how you feel about that. That could help them not do it again.”

Eventually, sharing toys and materials evolved as an important and major theme to write about. After all, hitting and other forms of aggression are often a result of issues around the toys and materials in our room. We also brainstormed about what animals could be in our fable: mice, foxes, monkeys, cats, and pigs.

One small group wrote (through dictation) a story about the fastest bikes on our playground. (Download fable as pdf) Another group wrote about a fox wanting a fire truck that a cat was playing with. The last group wrote two mini fables. Three students wrote about sharing flowers that were found in a meadow and three other students wrote about how to share rocks found on a hike through the woods. They all contributed illustrations. When the books were completed, they became the favorite reading material in our class library.

To make the fable experience a little more concrete, we asked the children if they would like to act out their stories while we photographed them. They enthusiastically agreed. It was in this stage where some transformation took place. For example, in the fable about the new “monster” bikes, the children took turns being the kid who “really, really wants a turn,” as well as being the kid who “just got this bike!” They had worked out solutions to various scenarios in their illustrated version, so the skits provided practice for finding solutions that were respectful and fair to those waiting and to those who already had the bikes. When these photographed versions were included in our library, the children studied them daily.

Literacy Development:

Through this unit the children were immersed in literacy. They read traditional and non-traditional fables. They used oral communication when expressing their ideas and concepts. They became illustrators and authors. They became playwrights and actors. Coming full circle, they became readers again when they read and retold their fables in the library.

Values and Character Development:

At 5 and 6 children are becoming more capable of recognizing their own feelings and the feelings of others. The fable unit helped strengthen those skills, which in turn helped the children share the most prized toys in the classroom and on the playground. They became more empathetic.

One little boy was especially devastated if he did not have a monster bike before our fable unit. It was unbearable for him to wait for a turn, and after even a long turn he was again devastated when his turn was over. By the end of the project, he became a leader in turn taking. He would ride a bike for a while, and then say to a friend, “free monster bike! Do you want a turn?” Soon his friends were following his example.

Slowly, the anguishing bike problem faded. Horizons did become less ego-centric. The children understood that their friends desired the monster bikes as much as they did. They were able to negotiate solutions, and those waiting became more trusting that they would, indeed, get a turn.

Psychodynamic Development:

Children at this age are learning to regulate their feelings. Sometimes they feel like the monster in Abiyoyo. In one small group activity, the children wrote and illustrated their favorite part of Abiyoyo. One girl turned Abiyoyo into a girl-monster who has to eat sheep because she needs energy to dance at the ball! This little girl has powerful emotions that she has trouble regulating. She identifies with Abiyoyo because the monster has untamed impulses similar to her own untamed emotions and impulses! Feelings are powerful and children want to feel powerful. Through writing and acting out fables of sharing, the children learn ways to be powerful in appropriate ways.

Post by Val
Teacher in Horizons

The Sweetheart Dance

Web Admin — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:05:00 +0000

The Sweetheart Dance
From the Horizons Room (4-5 yrs)

The day had finally come! The Horizons room had been preparing for the Sweetheart Dance for weeks. The children had proudly made invitations, decorating and hand-writing notes that were sent to their families. They also sent invitations to their senior friends at the Gatesworth community, whom they had been visiting throughout the year. The children had even decorated the room with handmade paper chains and hearts, as well as prepared snacks to share with their visitors. Now the only thing left to do was enjoy the day with their families, teachers, and friends! Several girls enjoyed twirling around gracefully in ball gowns, while the boys mischievously scampered around the room teasing the girls. When one of their classmates became upset, several children gathered around and helped comfort their friend. At the end of the day, the Horizons class came together to make the Sweetheart Dance a great success!

Values and Character Development: Compassion and empathy are two essential parts of a person’s character. The children showed their appreciation to both their families and the seniors by inviting them to the dance and preparing for the event. In this way, these preschoolers acted compassionately by thinking about their guests’ needs and showing gratitude for all they had done for them. They also empathized with a fellow classmate who was upset and showed compassion by comforting their friend.

Literacy Development: Writing is a very important early literacy skill. By making their own invitations, the children explored how to use written language to communicate with others and share ideas. These emergent literacy skills will be extremely helpful as they continue in their development and education.

Psychodynamic Development: As children enter the preschool age, they become better able to take initiative. In this case, the Horizons class stepped outside of their own perspectives and took the initiative to organize and host a party for their families and friends. As children become more social, they gain the ability to understand group and cooperative play. This coincides with the decrease in egocentrism that children usually experience as they enter the late preschool years.

Children at this age also begin to identify themselves as boys and girls, taking on and experimenting with traditional gender roles. Here, the girls dressed up in dresses and danced gracefully, comfortable with their developing femininity. The boys’ excess energy in this situation demonstrated their discomfort with the increasing gender difference. This is an identity dilemma that these children will revisit during adolescence.

Exploring a pumpkin

Web Admin — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 20:00:44 +0000

From the Infant Toddler Room (6weeks – 24 months):

It was a Tuesday afternoon, and we were going to explore the pumpkin we had in the classroom. First, newspapers were put on the floor, and then came the pumpkin with the lid cut so that the children could see inside. As the children finished with lunch, one by one they came over. We cut the lid off and I pulled out the some of the guts and seeds, having the change to feel it if they wanted, to let them explore it on their own. Some of the children just wanted to take out the seeds, by using a pincher grasp not wanting to touch the slimy stuff that was part of the pumpkin. As some touched the outside, we talked about how cool, and bumpy the texture was, and the color orange. We also had printed words to a pumpkin song on the white board to sing if we chose too.

Values and Character Development: Group explorations are very important for young children. It helps them develop a sense of “other,” and respect that each person is an individual with individual wants and needs. By giving kids different roles in the pumpkin experience (some pulled the top off, others pulled the guts out, etc.) they are exposed to opportunities to develop empathy, and see thing from another’s point of view.

Literacy Development: Printed words and spoken words are all part of the early literacy experience. Developing the skills necessary to read begins long before we are able to understand “A is for Apple”. Songs keep children engaged, build vocabulary, and will eventually lead to phonetic awareness.

Psychodynamic Development: As a teacher, it is important for me to respect each child’s individual temperament. Some children love the mess of the pumpkin, while others can’t stand it – both of which are okay. As the teacher of infants, I know that I am often the gateway to many new experiences for children. This sensory experience could be the very first time a child encounters a pumpkin – which becomes the scaffolding for every other experience with the pumpkin for the rest of their lives, remembered or not.

Post by Becky
Infant/Toddler Teacher