Learning about the world...

 A few weeks back my group and I visted a park on the South Island... where we always have great fun... It just so happened that on this occasion another educator (another preschool, that incidently prides itself on having a RE approach) told one of "my" children to "STOP, not ride there" in a commanding voice... I was there and could see the whole thing... so I asked "why should she stop"
"Because she might fall"

The whole situation irritated me a little on several levels... firstly the educator shouted out stop as the child went by, without seeing how the child had been managing previously, the teacher obviously didn't either take the time to risk assess... the child was at the most balancing on the scooter on a quite narrow raised pathway, which was at most30 cm above the ground... grass on one side and protective soft surface on the other... there was little risk of a real injury, and mostly because the child was expected to stop without any reason been given... just an order... how are children expected to learn if adults are simply telling them what to do without letting them know...
sure if it's a real emergency shouting out an instruction can be important.. but afterwards a follow up as to why is equally essential so that the child gains the chance to understand why the situation was dangerous.

It got me thinking about how often adults expect children just to follow instructions... for their own good (or quite often for the good/ease of the adult) rather than trusting the children...

Of course this can be because, as John Holt wrote, because we were never trusted ourselves... BUT that does not mean it is impossible, it just means as an adult we have to think about it all the time... be conscious of what we are saying and how we are saying it... so that the children can learn about the world and understand how the world works and not just follow instructions... following instructions means you are forever dependant on someone giving instructions.
For me, the aim is to allow the children to be capabe, to be empowered and to understand the world... this means allowing them to make their own mistakes to learn from... but it also requires I keep them safe while they are doing this...

There is a local playspace that has a small house that the children like to climb up onto the roof... last year only three of my group could get onto the roof... all three of those are now in school... so there was great joy this year as they managed to get onto the roof for the first time... the joy was THEIRS as I had refused to help them up...
The children are also informed of the risk of going up, that they need to be aware of others around them... especially those coming in and out of the door...

This year some of the children dared to jump off the roof... again they had to make their own decision... if it was too scary then climbing down was a better option... and of course that is one of the things they need to think of before climbing up... "do you have a plan for getting down?". I also showed them how to land with bending their knees to avoid hurting their legs and backs... to be aware of jumping far enough out to clear the wooden patio/step... things that can be forgotten in the middle of an exciting moment... the things I feel I need to point out to keep them safe...

Jumping off the house was not the first of this season's big jumps though... they have been gradually daring to get higher and higher all year... so allowing them to jump off the house was not just a "go for it" encouragement from me, but an informed decision based on knowing and understanding the children I work with and knowing they are fully capable of this next level jump!

Just as this hanging upside down doing acrobatics on the "friend swing" has come from three years of me watching them explore this swing in many different ways... that this risk was well within their capabilities...

and this carousel swing with chairs and button seats allowed the children to explore risk in another way... this was the first time visiting this park... but I know and trust the children to take care of each other... and to take risks within their own limits...
It was interesting watching the teachers and school children who were there at the same time who had less control over their own risk assessing, as the teachers was keeping tabs on how long each turn was, how they pushed, how close they got etc etc... I felt a little concerned what those educators might think of me - but the children learned themselves that the carousel was lower at one side than the other and therefore easier to get on then (the school teachers told their children that)... that my preschoolers took turns with each other... knowing that if one child had a long turn then they too would get a long turn and that they could have fun in between pushing and haging onto the seats . They also learned that if they were not fast enough they got bumped by a swing and that falling flat to the ground was a good idea and crawling out... (the school children were not allowed to push... the teachers did that). My preschoolers have yellow vests on them!!!

In winter the children slide down hills with their bodies... they even used each other as sleds... of course I can let this happen as we have learned together over the years that if someone says stop, get off, you do that straight away... they listen to each other... I do not have to step in as a teacher to make them listen... they understand the importance of what their peers are saying... This is why I work so much with listening, and getting the children to help each other... it means that they are capable of solving their own problems because they listen to each other... if adults are always giving instructions then there is less chance children will listen to their peers, as they have never understood why they had to stop doing something before...

testing the capablities of your own body is important... understanding the risks is equally important... not only for the child testing, but also those around... the other children need to wait, trying to get to the other side in the middle of this experiment might mean a loss of concentration and a fall... it might mean they get knocked...
of course as the child gets more practiced and the other children are more aware, it can become a game of a human bridge to go under... but ALL the children need to be aware that this is the game they are playing... They need to listen to each other.

Using knives is an important way to learn about the world... learning about where fingers should be, to hold the knife on the handle not the blade (you would be surprised to read that 3 children I need to remind to keep their hand on the handle, as their hands slipped onto the blade in the hope of having more force ). The children surrounding the carrot cutting child also need to have an awareness and a respect so that no fingers get cut.

I will also lend my camera to the children to take photographs... teaching them how to hold it... letting them feel it first while it is still around my neck, so that they are prepared... informing them why it is around their neck (and my neck too) - and getting the chance to take photographs with a viewfinder... not just with a moble phone where you see the whole image easily on the screen.


So how are you helping children learn about the world?
How much time and space do you give the children to explore and make their own mistakes?
How often do your children get to make their own risk assessments?
And do you explain everytime your decisions... so that the children have the opportunity to learn?

Film-making again... learning from experience

It is not only the children that are continually learning, it's me too...
I would not say I am the most technological savvy person, but I am willing to give it a go...

Last time we made a film using drawings on laminate we had used sharpies... and some of the children had been disappointed that their drawing had not been so visible... check out this post that explains more about the process

As I have been editing the film now I see that my choice to use a better quality camera to film the animations has not created a better quality film...

My camera was only able to focus on either the background or the animation and not both at the same time... so the resulting film is a combination of in focus drawings with a blurry Stockholm, or a in focus Stockholm with a slightly blurry drawing...

I had simply not played enough with the camera to have understood this would happen and how to get around that...

Anyway here is the film...

Hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy the film-making process!

Mona Lisa inspired portraits

Just over a week ago the children were talking about the Mona Lisa.. "the world's most famous painting" and how they wanted to make a famous painting themselves... I suggested that they could make their own Mona painting, if I was to combine their photo portrait with the Mona Lisa, we could create something completely new...

for example my face with the Mona Lisa would become Mona Suzanne...

I did this over the weekend and the images were ready for the children to paint...

When they first looked at the images they laughed... deep from the belly... at their own, at each others... genuine amusement that they could look so different and yet so alike...

We looked at a print of the Mona Lisa that leonardo Da Vinci had painted and noticed the colours... they tended to be rather dark... so we made some dark colours to paint with...

The children chose their own brushes... and some changed brushes part way through when they realised that their brush was too broad... all sorts of learning going on...

There were some amazing dialogues going on too... about gender and about fashion/looks...

Were the boys still boys if their heads were on the Mona Lisa body? The boys looked at themselves and said.. yes they were still boys... but the image was it a boy or a girl? And there was a discussion about how it looked so old fashioned... well the painting is over 500 yrs old... but now I am old fashioned... as they looked at their transformation. The children really observed and reflected on the process...
They also repeatedly said it was so much fun....

I was slightly nervous about doing this... it felt like giving the children a colouring in book... although personalised... and yet the children created something unique with their print... each seeing something different in the original work that they transferred to their own art... each adding their own personal flair...

Below you can see the final masterpieces (the top two left images are works in progress with the final masterpiece directly under... so you can see the process)
Some of the children used a lighter touch to their painting so that the details of the print could still be seen... while others painted as usual with the enjoyment of a thicker layer... all images have mouths... just that one chose a VERY pale pink and when I asked if the child was happy that the mouth was hard to see from a  distance there was a decided nod.
I like to always hold up the children's artwork at the end (as long as it will not drip) so that they can see how it looks from a new perspective and make their final decision as to whether they are finished or would like to add a little more)

Learning with autism...

I am sat writing here, as my son tries to fall asleep... as usual I am right outside his room, although tonight he is in my bed... he is slightly more stressed than usual as tomorrow he will be spending the entire morning with his "normal" class.

"Normal class" I wonder exactly what that is... for the last 14 months my son has not been able to attend his "normal class" and has instead been in a special classroom with just 1 or two other children also unable to learn in a "normal class".

This time last year we were picking up the pieces after a horrendous autumn term where things had spiralled downwards far too speedily. My son (who will turn 12 at the end of this month... also autism awareness month) lost all faith in himself, deemed himself worthless and did not see the point in living let alone being in school... a whole term went to restore faith in the school system and himself...
Maybe this was not the best of things looking back in retrospect... he got into the routine of doing next to nothing... and now is finding it hard to do anything.... when it comes to school work that is.

It HAS to be meaningful. He must be interested.

And to be honest sometimes I do feel like pulling my hair out... because he is his own worst enemy.
He is that child that makes his teachers exhausted.
He is also that child that makes easy pickings for others... I mean they know he will react, so it becomes a sport.

He is very creative... but is also very addicted to computer games and screen time... when we let him have free range he would spend all his time in front of a screen, or devising how he could be in front of a screen. He would be grumpy, sometimes angry. He found it hard to find anything else to do.

We then started a 10 hour a week screen time (excluded at the family film time on Fridays, and weekend morning TV when he gets up early and he can chill out on the sofa with children's programmes until the rest of the family get up). Quite often his screen time is over by Wednesday (we have a planner, where he decides how he is going to use his hours over the week.... and he can change max one hour during the week (as before he would want to change his time all the time and then had nothing by the end of the week... by planning his week, and sticking to it, he learns more about self regulation... ). The great thing about restricting his time (but he still choooses when he uses this time) is that then he can concentrate on other play when he is finished instead of trying to work out how he can continue playing online/onscreen.

This results in wonderful lego constructions for example... which then spills over into blogposts...
He makes space in his room to set up the photoshoot, he takes the images himself, he edits them himself using picmonkey, he then loads them up onto his blog (which he shares with me here on blogger - so that all comments drop by my e-mail and I can make sure that he only receives positive feedback, or at least constructive feedback)... he then writes about his constructions.
I come in at the end and support the spelling a bit... enough to allow everyone to understand, but not too much to take away from his own personal learning charm... I mean there are capital letters popping up everywhere... he loves them... he loves the way is you put lots of TTTTTTTTTT s together it looks like a bridge.
Maths was also a part of the blog... as he added up the total powers of his lego dragons... suddenly school subjects are meaningful, useful and he has interest.

He never wants to do anything that he thinks he might fail at... despite the fact that I work hard as a person, as a mother and as a teacher that we need to dare to fail...

This is, in fact one of his sisters - a VERY long time ago. Falling falling falling off until she mastered it... and the falling was fun some of the time, frustrating other times...

But daring to fail is so essential... and so much learning is prevented by this fear. It is something we will continue to work on with my son... to learn to dare.

Today he sat down and wrote three blogposts... they tend to come rather sporadically - but I feel equally excited every time. Hoping that he will get into the routine of writing... that will allow him to write a little more each time.

He LOVES comments... and he will answer every one of them...
so if you have a little extra time... why not pop over to his blog, check it out... maybe even with children that you work with, or your children at home... and leave a comment, start up a dialogue... and know that you will be helping the learning journey of a child with autism/ADHD that is struggling with school.

Green King Dragon
Bone Dragon
Robot Dragon

Preparing for a new film

Yesterday we added sound to our lego stop motion film... and as much as I really want to share it here NOW, I am not going to... as it is/will be a surprise for the children's parents's in three weeks... also I think I need to tweak it a bit too, but if I don't get the time, it will work wonderfully anyway..

Today a new child started our group... and so that she and her family can feel important at the parent meeting we are making an extra film... today we looked at the film again (we did yesterday too) of their figures on plastic...

check it out

The children could really see what parts they liked and how they could improve their film... some of the children's artwork was hard to see... so we fixed this by using acrylic paint instead of permanent markers to colour in the images (it really has made a difference).

Tomorrow as we do the filming I imagine there will be a difference too... the children were fascinated by how some of the children moved their images as if they changed tracks, or moved on the platform, rather than just random movements... so my prediction is that more children will be moving their image in a more deliberate way... time will tell... but I am very much looking forward to seeing.

Here is a sneak peak at their artwork

Just because...

Sometimes we do things with the children just because it is fun... and just because you loved it as a child too...

We have, in the last few weeks being checking out buildings in Stockholm... the children selected buildings from the internet (a google search) and the ones I did not recognise I checked on the website of the image to confirm that they are in fact in Stockholm... I would like to point out at this stage... despite the fact I checked, it did not mean I gor it right...
This last building was NOT in Stockholm, but for some reason it said on the website that it was located in Värta Port (when the boats for Finland set sail... except they are not sail boats).
As I tired to find the exact address so we could visit... like we had visited the other 7 buildings in Stockholm, I made the discovery (after checking 5-6 web pages) that the building was in fact in Denmark... not even in Sweden, let alone Stockholm... but it was designed by the same archtects that designed the new buildings in Värta Port. So I talked with the children, and we agreed that we would check out these building instead to see if we could see any similarietes with the one that had orginally being selected... BUT I am serioulsy writing at a tangent here...

The building had a glass lift... and I knew as a child I LOVED glass lifts... so we went up and down for no reason at all except to experience the glass lift.

The children also got to play in the sculpture... it looked like there was water for the mermaid to splash into, but it was just very shiney tiles...
The children could play in there as long as their boots did not touch the tiles (my rules, to protect the artwork somewhat... ) Originally the idea was so that the children did not climb into the art work... but they soon worked out that they could play in there with their feet up... OK, I made the rule, and they had worked around it in a creative way... I let them. One child was hesitant... what if someone gets angry at me for playing here... I assured her that it would be my fault and not hers, as I had allowed them to play there... she dived into the play with joy...
I was surprised that none of them thought of taing their boots off... but it was fun watching them squirm around with feet in the air... an elaborate play evolving - mermaids, bad guys, magic... the markings on the floor and the scultpure very much inspiring the play...

In fact it really made me think how important floor/ground surface is... the patterns, texture etc REALLY does impact play...

We were at the City Hall a few weeks ago... and the criss cross patterns of the ground there inspired an complax chasing game based on a labyrinth... you can see the patterns on the image below on the left... This space overlooking the South Island and The Old Town is one the children have asked to return to, as they thought it was so much fun to play there... no playground equipment... just play.

In a way I am so enjoying watching the children making their own play spaces out of what is technically designed for adults...  Just because... they can!!

The film-making continues

Today we finished off making the films (actually we worked on it yesterday too... doing the titles and and credits...)

The children are really happy with the film and are looking forward to adding sound to it next week.

This session today also involved the whole group filming at once... and there was a huge difference ebtween the first time we filmed (as a whole group) and this time since they were so much more practised... the filming in small groups had given them enough confidence and awareness of how to make the films that thye could support each other more during the process rather than it being so much of me (even though it does require a LOT more input from me than other projects we do).

Films the children have made individually or in pairs have not needed much guidance from me at all... some of the children are completely independant... but as a whole group (and this is a small group of 8 children) there needs to be my voice added to the mix to enable the film process to remain smooth and also to encourage those children who start to lose focus that staying with it will be worth it in the end... and yes, they agreed, it WAS worth it, when they saw the film scenes played...

Here is the final scene from the film... not going to quite reveal what it is all about... but he children had to come up with a title for their film yesterday... and for some reason this one has loaded up rather slow... but all will be fixed before the final viewing where all scenes are put together...

This was an interesting process to follow... as the children started saying random things that sounded good, or that they liked... so it brought us to a great discussion about titles, books and films... and how going to see a film called Spiderman when the film was actually about Batman might be a bit confusing.... or reading a book called the Life of  a Crocodile and the book was actually about how to build a robot would probably be equally confusing... so the children gor thinking again... and said it was tricky.
So I asked if we should watch all the scenes again, and talk about the plan to end the film... this helped them a great deal to remember what the film was about...

WAR and PEACE
is the name of the film.

I think we might explore what thses words mean in the future...