Visit to Förskolan Tjädern (Preschool Ptarmigan)

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.

Layers of Colour

When I am in Athens next year to be a keynote speaker where I will be talking about play learning and the very youngest preschoolers I will also be presenting a workshop on play - with a focus on light and shadow, similar to workshops I held this year in Jenin, Palestine.
But at the moment I am collecting ideas, testing out the ideas and developing them - so that the play-workshop in Athens can push our play and imagination a little further...
Here is a short film of today's testing...
I have an idea of layering colours to create shadows... and this was my first test to see how we can create temporary art installations... and I want movement to be a part of this also.

This activity can easily be connected to Mondrian if you add strips of solid material/black card or frames and hang them between/round the cellaphane to create the Mondrian look
In this link you can see some Mondrian inspiration in the Hague... including coloured shadows...
Mondrian art on buildings in the Hague

This is of course just the first test of an idea which is slightly more complex in my mind, but I just wanted to see if it would work, and how it would work, to think out how to develop it further...

The story of a hug...

I recently read a short article about the benefits of hugs (touch) and babies... and just how it impacts the brain and development of the child.
The post was shared in a group about early childhood education as a reaction to the fact that some settings are writing no-hug policies.
And while I think physical contact is incredibly important to the well-being and development of each child, I also think we cannot just go round hugging every child as a pedagogical plan to develop their brains... we need to think about consent.
As a person who does not like hugging all that much, and also the mother of children where hugging/touch is not something they are keen on outside of the family I think we have to be aware of how we reach out to others.

As an early years educator I have learned to hug and touch to me the needs of the children... it has come out of empathy and an intellectual place. I have a huge respect for children who do not want to be touched and will wait for a signal, or will gently test to see if a hand on an arm, or holding a hand is what they need... sometimes it is just about sitting next to them... that is contact enough.

A hug or touch is a sensory experience. And if you are a person that is easily sensory overloaded then it can be difficult to appreciate the intentions of the hugger as all you focus on is the overload sensory experience and how to deal with that.

I have worked with children that have needed a firm hand rather than a light touch - the firmness was a better feel than the light touch which triggered a kind of discomfort - some children love to be tickled... others experience it as pain. I worked with one child that would stim a lot when very excited... hands waving so much she was unable to eat her apple, but if I applied pressure to her back in an up and down movement she was able to release the joy through me and focus on her apple. The moment I stopped was the instance the stimming started. I have no problem with stimming, but it was getting in the way of her eating her apple with the other children, and this small gesture enable her to be included in the group activity.

I think what it boils down to is love.
Jools Page has researched and written about Professional Love which I have written about on numerous occasions on my blog over the years. This is such an essential part of working with people.
Not just young children... but all people.
I think if we are coming from a place of professional love then we are going to be incorporating consent too, it is about showing care for the whole child/person and being aware of their emotional needs... understanding when a hug and when touch are essential to enabling the child to develop and reach their own potential, and also understand what form of touch is the most supportive and caring and respectful in the situation.

Today I read about children (albeit older ones) receiving electric shocks in a school in Massachusetts as part of their education... to condition them... and from what I can gather it is clear that the shocks are not being used in a therapeutic way but more as a way of control and punishment.  Professional love should be something that is used throughout the education system.
We see the lengths teachers go to protect their children in USA and the awful mass-shootings in schools... it is clear that professional love happens... but maybe it should become more official.

If you explore what the word love means you will see there is great diversity in its definitions... but essentially it involves caring for, or identifying with another. Also as I explored love I cam across the chinese word REN... Confucius never apparently completely defined it, because of its diversity... but it kind of comes back to love, humanity and interactions with others. Which is what we want for our children in schools... and this can mean touch and hugs.

There is the science (neuroscience) to back up the effects of touch - there is research about the catastrophic effects of when children do not get the physical contact that they need... (see links below)...

we need to ensure we are meeting the needs of the WHOLE child.

other links for further reading
Tracey Seed - Cuddling
Not touching - likened to child abuse
På svenska - in Swedish... research projects about touch in preschools - necessary or bad?
No touching kids policies is good for teachers - not quite the text I was expecting to read... as it seems to be written by a person who does not like being touched, but still important to read.
Losing Touch - how teachers are afraid to have physical contact with children in their care.
What the lack of affection can do to you
The Influence of touch on child development
The human touch: a neglected feeling - the importance of touch throughout life
Touching Empathy - that lack of physical touch can actually kill babies...

The story of looking closely

The March equinox has passed... this means that I will be starting to work a little more on the International Fairy Tea Party project...
This year I have decided that the theme will be #lookclosely - something that I saw happened naturally with my preschoolers (and myself) as we explored fairies... where do they live, where do they come from, how small are they really, can we find traces of them.. etc etc.
As we looked for clues we found so much magic in nature... we also learned a great deal about nature... and in turn there was a greater tendency by the children to take care of nature... both to protect the fairies and also to protect the nature they now understood better and marvelled at more.

In a recent post about The Art of Learning I was inspired by Arthur Harry Church who said "Until one has drawn it is impossible to understand" - that through drawing we notice details that we would otherwise have missed... through the movement of the pen we gain an understanding of the movement of the subject we draw... or an understanding of how it is made... etc.

By looking closely we also get this chance to se things that we might have missed.

By taking close up photos we get the chance to see yet another perspective of what we observe.

There are many ways to look closely... cutting out a small hole in some card can help children (and adults) focus on a detail rather than the whole... to look closely and observe what they know in a new way.
Taking close-up photos allows us to see new details... especially if you have a camera that kets you get really close... but the film I include here uses photos I have taken with my mobile phone... I do have a camera with a fabulous lens too... but I wanted the film to be an inspiration that does not require fancy technology.

Magnifying glasses are great simple ways of exploring nature in new ways - including the jars with magnifying lids.

microscopes too... for a real close up look - and technology is such that computers, i-pads etc can be linked up to digital microscopes which make it easier for young children to explore the very small.
My posts on Border Crossing reflects on nature and technology... another post of this kind will be coming too.

Sometimes drawing the details can be easier than drawing the whole... I have worked with children that preferred to draw using squares rather than rounded forms... so robots rather than people... and drawing  cells or parts connected together was easier than a whole plant - this gave the child a framework to excel within their own competence and from that feeling of competence build the details together until a whole was made... ie learning to draw in multiple ways based on the child's own competence and confidence.
The close up pictures are more abstract... and for those children who do not feel comfortable making mistakes, the abstract is a more comfortable place to start from. And for me it is always about helping children to find their own starting place to be able to then go on to explore their own learning and also discover techniques and learn to dare to take risks... and yes I think drawing and art is also risk taking... for some it's more scary than others... just as some children will jump from high places without blinking an eye while others barely dare to climb that high let alone jump..

So looking closely is not just about the child looking at nature close up... it is also a chance for us as educators to look closely at the child to better understand - the child, their play and their learning.

I hope you join in The International Fairy Tea Party this year in September... and celebrate play and imagination. I hope that you join in the #lookclosely theme and explore the world through new eyes...
but you do not HAVE to do the look-closely theme to participate in the International Fairy tea Party... that you can do any way you think is best for the children you work with... the most important is to play and to imagine.

and of course we can look closely year round...
Looking closely means slowing down... if we are always in a hurry that we will miss the details, miss the beauty, that is hidden before our very eyes...
It is linked to original learning in the sense that we learn organically through our observations, by awakening natural curiosity etc - read here to learn more about Original Learning

Below are some photos with comments and also some quotes...

with my superduper camera I can take close up photos of birds... but I still have to be quiet and learn to place myself right in order not to disturb the birds. Using photography as a language to look closely means learning about animal behaviour, our own impact on nature, how the weather impacts nature etc etc...

taking the time to slow down enough to see things... like a dead bumble bee... then to take the time to look closely.
Looking closely means slowing down

beauty and fear... sometimes it is a fine line... learning to respect nature, and how to handle nature properly.

all seasons have magic to share...  fairies were a gateway for us as a group to learn about nature...

by playing we make further discoveries - how does light impact the leaves, what happens when we squash a berry?

looking closely is a part of this rich sensory experience children need to be exposed to

Illustrating learning and play

Today will just be a brief post... because I have been busy all day and I need to rest... but I promised myself a post a day... even if it was just a short one.

Yesterday I wrote a children's story based in Jenin with the idea of introducing magic, imagination and also points of learning...

I read the story today to the advanced group and then with their shadow playing skills from Tuesday they were asked to illustrate the story in six scenes.
First they needed to agree on which scenes from the story should be illustrated, and then each chose a scene.

I provided materials for them to choose and they explored light and shadows again to create the illustrations, which we then took photos of.

Afterwards we explored the learning... but also how this one story could offer months and months of exploration... I helped them break down each scene into science and geography explorations... into philosophical inquiries, into art projects and biological investigations - as well as language and literacy and math... we basically had the curriculum covered...

It is always so much fun to see how much learning and play can be found in a story - and my illustrating the story they found further learning and play  potential.

It is unlikely you will be able to work out "our" story from these images... but maybe you could make another story?

Experiencing the universe...

This is a just a quick post to share some images from this week...
I am helping out some days at a local preschool on the days that I am not writing or travelling to Gävle...
The preschool has a space project happening at the moment... so the two days I was there this week I took in some of my materials for the children to experience a sensory approach to space...

The first session the children got to play with small lights, loose parts and coloured rice on a tray I brought back from Palestine (it is big with large sides, so perfect for sensory play on a small scale). The children were engrossed in the play... exploring how light went round planets from what they have already learned about space - but mostly it was about feeling the rice, experimenting with the lights and interacting with the materials... it was about filling and emptying and not so much about designing patterns... but I also think this indicates what their needs are right now... they have a hunger for sensory play. The play was peaceful, the children talked with each other, and it was enthusiastic... peaceful in the sense that they were able to sort out differences through their words (and well chosen words) rather than using their bodies...

Today I hung up two semi-transparent curtains with a small space in between so that I could project images of space onto it... going through the first then the second and then onto the wall... each layer also displaying the image projected... it gave the feel of being in space. I put a big mirror on the floor too, in order to give it a more infinite sort of feel. I would have liked the room to have been darker to get a bigger impact of being in space... so maybe waiting to do this in the afternoon would be better - as it is dark by 15:20 here in Stockholm at the moment (it will be earlier than that before long!)

The children came in groups of four to be able to explore the experience... and once they had the chance to do this they could come back and start using construction materials to create a space station... the images being caught on the materials... the shadows found themselves in outer space.

Enjoy the photos and films...

spreading out the coloured rice... blue and black...

experimenting with light

light from the bottom

light from the top

the rice was out of date... I had bought it for my daughter over a year ago... cheap rice for her student days... but being a family of rice snobs this was not yummy rice and she did not like it all, so she let it just sit at her student home... I rescued it and it is now being used for a much needed sensory activity

glass beads and light exploration

some of the loose parts that could be used

experimenting with light and movement

The next session

the set up

one of the teachers needed to test to it too!

we dressed a duplo figure (female one) as an astronaut... using silver tape