A personal blog sharing experience, reflections and inspiration about education, in particular early childhood education, listening, democratic learning and introducing the idea of Original Learning.
This week I visited several preschools together with Niki Buchan and a group of fabulous educators from Great Britain. I almost wrote last week, as I feel I have done so much this week it could not possibly have fitted it all into one week.
Over time I will be sharing some of the images and my reflections of those visits, but as I head to Palestine and Israel next week my focus after this blogpost will be on my preparations for there.
Last Monday afternoon we went to Förskolan Tjädern in Haninge.
Since I had been to the Border Crossing exhibition it was very clear that this exhibition had influenced them. The preschool was spiced with nature and technology working together for the children to explore and play with.
The other main thing that struck me as I walked around the setting was the energy of the staff working there. They seemed happy and eager to share their important work with us... it is always an absolute joy to see educators being proud of their work. And so they should be. The children were all busily engaged in an array of activities.
The photos I share below may look like the preschool was empty, but I was cleverly trying to avoid having children in the frame...
as you can see in just about every room the children had access to natural materials to explore and play with, and in different ways... you felt the hundred languages... not one way to explore nature
furniture was customised to meet the needs of the preschool and to support the play and learning. A small raised surface to build on allows the pieces to remain and the floors still to be cleaned, and at the same time makes it easy for several children to reach and interact on. And for the youngest children I wonderful platform to sit on and build, or crawl over or jump off (if no others are using it to build on) it is a suitable risk for one year olds. No danger, but the wonderful tickle of excitement if jumping off when new at jumping.
the one year olds had plenty of small spaces to climb into... all the rooms had small spaces for the children to hide away in, but it was lovely to see that in the one year old room the spaces were really small... adapting to the smallness of their bodies... creating a cozy space, but also the physical challenge of getting in and out. My own son simply adored to be squashed up in shelves like this... as have many many children I have worked with... including much older preschoolers!
space to explore nature with digital media... microscope egg to see details... using the i-pad to make films and take phtos of the close-ups
the children in the preschool had access to many of the same materials throughout the preschool, regardless of age. The difference was that in the younger years where small parts can present a hazard for some children who are in a very oral phase the small loose parts were put up high on a shelf so that they could be brought down to work with the children when an educator was sat along side to support the process and ensure nothing dangerous happened. One year olds working with toothpicks is a good risk together with a guiding adult.
I also appreciated how windows were being used, with shelves along them, so that natural light lit up the materials. It also created a well lit play-space. Of course here in Sweden we have to maximise that daylight as in winter there are not many hours of it.
the natural light also contributed towards making shadows... this made having a construction area by a window extra dynamic. There is also a lot of up-cycling and recycling materials being used. Plastic is used too. it is not a taboo if it has a valid play and learning purpose.
getting the children involved in making learning materials.
another construction area... this time for the youngest children and with wheels and movement as a focus
instead of just a flat surface to drive vehicles on blocks had been put underneath to create a variety of heights... small hills for the vehicles... and to strengthen small hands as they drive up them, and wonder as they roll down...
here the youngest children have a small patch of living grass to play around and with
different phenomenas to explore... not just natural, but man-made too
many of the role-play areas had different themes, with natural elements and forest etc being observed mostly. This was the only "traditional" style role-play space and it was in the one year old's space. I liked the idea of creating a space that reminded them of home at a time when they are first transitioning between home and preschool. It makes sense for them to play here and to feel safe... and as they get older then their play gets more daring, as the preschool space is familiar.
a homemade light table to construct on
another version of a home-made light table... this time more like a light-bin, so all sorts of sensory materials can be used in it.
a small world area for play
art studio for the older children with lots of materials easily accessible
art studio for the youngest... less overwhelming with materials. The small parts are, as I mentioned before, kept high on a shelf and brought down to work with the children with guidance... a healthy risk and not a dangerous hazard. Children are given the time to master materials so that when they are older they can have free access to them all.
sensory play
the window sill as a work surface. I have worked with so many children who love to play in the window. My own three children loved to do this at home... and my mother reported that when I was a young child this is where I did most of my playing... on the window sill. Maybe children are like flowers and search out light to grow and evolve?
severla rooms use projectors to inspire.
the absolute joy of dry rustling leaves to play with inside... sounds, smell, touch... and to observe how the leaves with eventually crumble... This room had a board across the doorway so that the leaves did not escape and end up everywhere.
digital and analogue crossing borders...
the simplicity of the younger rooms to allow them to develop relationships with the materials at their own pace
a rich variety of loose-parts to construct with.
a mini-atelier, using the natural light to its fullest
The educators here are in a process, they tell me... this is not the final product of a preschool, but just the start of a journey to understand how to create a preschool for all children... so they all feel included, they all can express their ideas, they feel valued, and learn to value others... the third teacher is their colleague to help them with this journey.
This is just a quick post in response to a question asked in the group The Reggio Emilia Approach that I am admin for on Facebook.. what started out as a way to help a person discover that there were years of inspiration and experience available in the group if the search function was used has turned into an interest in towers of my own... this is probably due to the fact that since I was a very young child I have loved castles and ruins and history in general...
So looking at everyone elses experiences, provocations and inspiration I started getting more curious about what IS a tower... and started to look at the history of the tower - and discovered that a tower has many purposes... for visibility (clock towers), for protection (watch towers) for hunting (observation towers) for support (bridges) to transmit (electricity, satellite) to access (climate, air) to expel (chimneys) to cool (cooling towers at power plants) for play (climbing towers) for art (yep, some are built for this purpose too) to store (water towers etc)... and there are more
Some places like San Gimignano in Italy towers were about status (I have wonderful memories being here and eating the most amazing meal just outside the walls... but no I digress)
So when we want to create a project or a provocation to explore towers we, as educators, need to think about what it is the children are exploring... is it design, is it the start of play (I worked with a group of children that were very clear with me that when they were building towers and castles they were not playing (even if it looked like play to me) but that they were preparing the scene for play) - or maybe it is about status... about how high that tower can get?
Maybe it is about exploring how to knock down the towers, rather than building the towers... about creating towers big enough and stable enough to put things on... a toy, or maybe even a child... how are the towers going to be built? Does the teacher allow them to build towers in order to reach the top of the original tower? or introduce a step ladder? Does the teacher offer advice, or wait for them to work it out for themselves... is it about team work or individual effort? How are other play opportunities linking to the interest in towers... do you read books about towers, or where towers are featured - like Rapunzel... how do the children feel about this tower... is it a place of safety or a prison... would they like to live in a tower? Are there any towers in the town/village where they live - have they been up this tower... is it even possible to go up that tower? why is that tower there?
Do towers look different depending on their function? Are there good towers, or evil towers? If a evil person built a tower how would it look, if a good person built a tower how would it look... why do the children think there are these differences...
There are free standing towers, towers that are a part of a wall or a building... Do all castles have towers? Do all walls have towers? What shape are towers?
Ziqqurats were the first towers... and even inspired the pyramids... does this mean that a pyramid is a kind of tower?
using a tower to gain height... helping each other on to it... there are many towers of different kinds in playspaces
snow tower
lighting them up
step ladder as a tower... to jump from... a different purpose for the tower - not to build but to fly
designing towers on paper in various materials - with various kinds of images to support ideas
using paper and tape to create towers
towers of air to explore
more paper towers
various materials in various sizes... and then the lighting can also change how you build
creating towers to make shadows
exploring light and shows on towers... so the tower is a source of exploration...
mini tower... exploring light down the tower, behind and in front etc etc
using bowls to build towers... what else can you build towers with
thinking about mixing transparent and solid in towers to explore light... exploring balance
ice as a building material... naturally occurring in freezing winters... otherwise a great way to cool down in hot summers
using natural materials
trying to get towers to be the same height
colourful towers... using light materials outside, the risk of them being blown over... the children will need some problem solving skills
stone building, can you stack to a certain height EXACTLY?
how to check if you have got it the right height....
playdough towers with other materials...
magnetic towers
a city of towers... we actually had to stop using old CDs as we had children who started playing with CDs and DVDs etc at home and destroying them accidentally... this is NOT always the case, but we have to respond to the needs of the children and families we work with...
stacking cans... is it easier with or without filling them with water... should they be full of half full... lots of strategies to try out
stone stacking on a mini scale
towers of wood
young children building big with empty moving boxes
and the joy to knock them over... time and time and time again... turn taking, collaboration
testing how tall it will go...
using a window as support
a wall with towers...
visiting real towers... this is a Roman tower in the City of York, UK
visiting castles and palaces... to discover not all DO have towers... and drawing observations - so still cannot move away from the idea that castle needs towers, even when the reality in front of them has none.
more paper towers... sometimes we built them with just tape
can you re-construct a tower you built before based on a photograph? and later build a tower you have not built before based on a photograph... the idea being with only one perspective it is hard... a focus on team work and interpretation
visiting towers...
a tower of light... using photography to create light towers...
children documenting their own tower builds... in normal time filming, and also in stop motion.
This is far from everything that can be done with tower building... but hopefully triggers some ideas of your own...
do you want to see how high? - why not look into different forms of measuring (look into how mountains used to be measured) Do you want to explore the use of towers, or the design, or the stories that can be created using towers?
Are the children interested in competing about how high they can build... where does the need for competition come from, will they be able to get higher if they work together... How many different materials can they build with... can they draw a design, then build the design and then draw a version of their construction? Does the final drawing look like their first design? Why, why not, what changes did they need to make, and why?
use film or light (technology) to explore towers and their properties
