Geometric Stripes
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As an educator working with school age children, I find there is a delicate balance between working together and taking away from the children’s work.
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The Paper Locket
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Children often gravitate toward a favorite material and combine that with a new material they are interested in exploring
Read MoreThe Apple Bed
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Part of my practice as an educator is moving throughout the learning space and engaging in conversation with different children. During these interactions, I am looking for an opportunity to observe a child or a group of children, as they work on an exploration that invites further investigation.
Read MoreTaking Flight
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Paper planes are a classic activity for children. We have come along way in plane design from the classic dart to the modern craft of today. What has not changed is the connection the children create around an activity the love.
Read MoreIce Castle
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Children use pre-made and created props as a backdrop to their imaginative play. These props add depth to the story they are creating and give children motivation to continue developing their characters and the adventure.
Read MoreFinger Knitting
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Children when excited about the work they are doing are more verbal, and socializing is a big part of the work itself. This expression enhances the experience for the group and leads to further exploration and social connection.
Read MoreSalt Dough Animals
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Slime is still trending, so I wanted to continue the exploration of slime and different gooey tactile materials with the children. This week I decided to try a classic recipe and make salt dough
Read MoreTissue Paper Prints
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This is the gift children can give all of us, no one cared what another child’s technique looked like, they were just happy to be together laughing, talking, and experimenting with two kinds of paper and water.
Read MoreTwo Materials and a Mirror
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At the beginning of this provocation, I wondered how the children would approach the work. They started off slowly, but through experimentation and supporting each other, new discoveries were made about how materials can be used in ways different from what we think they are capable of.
Read MoreThe Magna-Tile Exploration
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Whenever I think that the Magna-Tiles have been assembled in as many ways as humanly possible, I delight in seeing a new creation by the children, born by weaving and interchanging the Magna-Tiles in a form I would have never thought possible.
Read MoreChildren Come First
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Looking closer at the philosophies of different schools, there are guiding lights in the practice of these programs that stand out as lighthouses for all people who work in early childhood education.
Read MoreElectronics Day
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Technology can be wonderful. The potential of computers and online learning to expand our knowledge is amazing. In our field, schools exist that frequently utilize computers and other technology in meaningful work.
Read MoreCurating Mindful Inquiry - Part Three
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When we enter into learning as co-learners, we construct our practices together. Our dialogue with all members of the learning community involves diverse perspectives that help to shape our ideas of children.
Read MoreThe Box Robot
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Materials do not have to be fancy or expensive to provide wonderful creative opportunities. Recycled materials are free, easy to acquire, plentiful, and provide children the opportunity to imagine and create their ideas.
Read MoreCurating Mindful Inquiry - Part Two
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When we adopt the stance as co-learners, we acknowledge our responsibilities to scaffold and support the specific ideas and theories that children bring forward into our classroom, programs, and our lives.
Read MoreDrawing Transformers
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Observing children and documenting as they are creating and expressing ideas, is an opportunity for educators to discover insights into the thinking process, skill development, and the learning journey of a child.
Read MoreCurating Mindful Inquiry - Part One
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As humans, we are all invested in discovering our world. The practices of discovery allow us to test ideas of what might be happening, to draw conclusion, and to create a construct that explains and categorizes as a ‘truth’ from our discovery.
Read MoreYesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
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I am not looking for school age care to change for the sake of changing. The traditions of our work has helped and supported millions of children and families over the history of our practice, but I still wonder why school age care has not evolved as a practice like the work that is being done in early care and education?
Read MoreShape Shifter
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The other day, I had the opportunity to offer the children a preplanned project. The possibilities this project offered the children to work on technique and have some fun was inviting, so I decided to give it a go.
Read MoreSlime is Trending
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Gooey materials are wonderful because like all great materials they are adaptable to all children. Children of all ages love gooey materials. The drive to play with this type of material starts young as we discover some water mixed with dirt makes the original gooey material, mud.
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