Philosophy 2021
In 2019 I began training with Sally Haughey and Fairy Dust Teaching. I am poised to receive Wonder Teaching Certification in child initiated, PLAY based education.
This training and the pandemic led to shifts in our environment and teaching style. Susan Gallagher who was our Director in 2019-early 2020 developed our programs to reflect this shift. At the same time Kathleen Gorroir was hired. She has an extensive Nature Explore education background. Together we worked to bring about change at Friendship Garden.
What philosophy do we follow? The Waldorf Approach, Montessori Approach, Project Approach or the Reggio Emilia Approach? Are we Nature Inspired, a Forest School or do we follow some other guiding philosophy? We follow the MA Standards and Curriculum Guidelines for early Education. We meet and exceed these standards by choosing from the above guiding philosophies. We are not formally trained in any philosophy but rather broadly trained in all early childhood education.
Friendship Garden is first nature inspired. We are training to be good stewards of the earth. We are learning IN nature, WITH nature and ABOUT nature. We are attempting to be a fully outdoor program. We are not 100% set up to do that yet but our vision is leading us in that direction. We have a lovely 1-acre wooded property with which to work with. Year-round shelter and a supply of clothing for equitable access to this program are in the works.
Secondly, Friendship Garden is Reggio inspired. Reggio Emilia is a community in Italy that as a whole is raising its children surrounded by beauty and child led investigations. It is formally described as such, “this approach is a student-centered and constructivist self-guided curriculum that uses self-directed, experiential learning in relationship-driven environments.” Children are honored as capable co-constructors of their learning. Reggio is a way of thinking and being as an educator. The Reggio philosophy of early education is guiding our days at Friendship Garden where we are following the lead of the child and developing their interests. We can never be Reggio Emilia but we can be inspired!
Third, we are child led and play based. Our classrooms belong to the children. (We are working on this change!) The children’s interests are evident in the materials and room arrangement. The influence of the educator should be supportive and not overwhelming. The ideas belong to the children.
Finally, our focus is fostering relationships where collaboration, cooperation, self-sufficiency, imagination, self-assurance, and leadership bloom. We are developing artists, engineers, scientists, doctors, plumbers, and the like. We are creating an environment of mutual self-respect. Children’s voices matter, and they need to be listened to. Developmental psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik suggests we are “gardeners not carpenters”. We are allowing children to bloom rather than building them. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Early Education Wonder Reflection Series #1
I have been in a Wonder Teacher Education certification program and will post a series of reflections here. Enjoy!
While covering a shift in a young toddler classroom. There were magnets, tin cans, washers and metal lids set out as an invitation. Three children were exploring when one little boy, 19 months old picked up a magnet wand and a lid was stuck to it. Wide eyed he looked at me. I picked up a magnet wand with a can lid stuck to it. We exchanged several words.
He proceeded to drop and pick up the lid several times eventually spinning the lid on the end of the magnet. He did this several times until it was more fun to kick the lid when it fell, thus starting a whole additional investigation.
The child was so filled with awe and wonder I couldn’t help but be caught up in his learning. I also thought I could have so easily missed the whole thing by being “busy” elsewhere! Keep your eyes open to all the learning possibilities that surround you!
Program Director Reflection
This post is a reflection assignment for my Financial Management of Early Childhood Programs class at the University of Alaska.
After reading The National Association of Education for Young Children’s, Program Administrator Definition and Competencies, NAEYC, 2007 https://oldweb.naeyc.org/academy/criteria/core_competencies.html and the article, “Is Your Work a Calling? An interview with Kimberly Cothran” by Margie Carter, EXCHANGE, September/October 2016 Is Your Work a Calling_Kim Cothran.pdf I have summarized my own skills as follows.
Three personal qualities I possess that allow me to be a good director are first, organizational skills, second, interpersonal skills and third, analytical skills.
The first skill, organization, helps to ensure that all certifications and record keeping, and policy and procedure up to date and easily accessible. Organization allows me to prioritize daily duties and make sure that each classroom is staffed and functioning at a high level. Organizational skills help to ensure that the environment is beautiful and safe. At the end of the day, organizational skills assure that another person could fairly easily pick up where I left off. This is important to me to know that operations would continue smoothly if I were absent.
The second set of skills, interpersonal skills, allow me to listen and respond to children, teachers and families to meet their needs with competence and knowledge. These skills include an ability to suspend judgement and value each person individually. Compassion and empathy allow me to communicate with both families and the teachers I work with. Fairness in negotiation and evaluation of teachers is an important interpersonal skill. Meeting people “where they are” and looking for the good in any situation help me to be a good director.
Analytical skills are the third set of skills that allow me to perform as a director. These skills involve the ability to understand the fiscal aspects of the business to be able to respond to cash flow, profitability and budgeting. Remaining current in the field by attending workshops, conferences, enrolling in class and reading and understanding current research and trends in early childhood in important to my success as a director.
Three responsibilities of a director that these qualities allow me to excel in are leadership, mentoring and advocacy.
Leadership to me is the ability to walk away from my job knowing that I have left people empowered to continue where I have left off. It is providing direction and vision to the organization. Leadership includes the ability to motivate and inspire those around you to provide the best customer service in a positive environment. Leadership also means surrounding myself with people smarter than me and being humble to them.
The second responsibility of a director is to be a mentor as well as a mentee. It is important to be a continual learner, learning from each other in this role. Being a mentor involves elevating people in their own journey and allowing them to do the same for you. It is a way to identify for yourself and your teachers individual and collective goals and objectives.
Lastly, being a director means advocating for children, families and the child care provider on a daily basis both at the local, state and national level. Advocacy happens in the center every day, we need to see ourselves as advocates and help teachers take it to the next level whether it be community, state or national.
In conclusion the director must wear many hats all the while being cognoscente of his/her own well-being and taking care to replenish his/her energy.
A Learning Community
What is a learning community? How do you fit in? Community is defined as the experience of belonging to a group including a feeling of unity with those in the group and a commitment to the functioning of the group. How is an adult community the same as a children’s’ classroom community?
I belong to many different communities of adult learners. The community that best meets my emotional, social, intellectual, and physical needs are simultaneously the groups I am comfortable in and I learn and enjoy myself. Many of my communities overlap. There are some groups that I belong to that only partially meet my needs and my commitment to these groups is less strong.
I reflect about the need for community as follows as I compare the groups I belong to and the classrooms I see daily.
As an adult in a community, I want to feel a sense of belonging to meet my emotional needs. This unifying sense is what has me coming back again and again. This can be accomplished by the way I am greeted and addressed and if I am given a name tag and offered a place for my things. Being offered food and drink and a place to sit would go a long way in making me feel welcome in the community. A familiar face helps me feel secure. This translates to the children’s environment as well.
In a learning community the children and parents are pleasantly greeted by someone familiar and the children have a labeled space for their things in a defined classroom. Around the classrooms, posted in various locations are family photographs and photographs of the children. In several classrooms these photographs are in frames the children can carry around with them. Some play objects such as boxes and blocks are adorned with the children’s photographs. The children are ushered into a favorite spot or into a familiar ritual with their caregiver as the parent leaves. Each classroom is equipped with an appropriate sized place for an adult and child to sit. In the perfect learning community teacher turn over would be very minimal and many personalized objects would be in each classroom. Lowered ceilings and soft elements would add additional emotional security in the environment.
My social needs as an adult are met by having someone introduce me to a person with interests similar to mine within a community. I want to be heard and respected for my view even if it is in opposition to another’s point of view. In the children’s classroom, the teachers encourage children with similar interests to play together. Social interventions are modeled and practiced.
In an intellectual community I want to be challenged to learn something new. I want to believe I can fail and still be supported. Ideally, I commit to working collaboratively and cooperatively within the group. This requires a commitment to a common goal. In children’s learning communities the teachers support the children in actively exploring the environment indoors and outdoors. The teacher allows for risk and failure. The teacher scaffolds the children’s learning in the classroom.
I feel part of a community when my basic physical needs are met. The community meets my need for shelter, a comfortable temperature, rest and activity, a bathroom and food. In the classroom community teachers allow for meeting these basic physical needs as well as the need for physical activity. Children are dressed in appropriate clothing for indoor and outdoor temperatures. The teachers provide for active and quite activities. The children have their diapers changed and they are fed regularly and often fed on demand! Teachers allow children to take physical risks within the confines of comfort. I encourage teachers to trust that the children know their abilities and limitations.
In conclusion in comparing adult communities with early learning classrooms in the most successful communities our emotional, social, intellectual, and physical needs are the same throughout and met in a similar way!
Reading and Constructivist Theory
A Reflection on Reading a Story and Constructivist Theory
Definitions
Constructivist Theory: A theory which states that children construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.
Physical knowledge: Physical knowledge is discovered using one’s senses to explore objects and notice their qualities. It forms the basis of logical-mathematical knowledge.
Logical-Mathematical Knowledge: Logical-Mathematical Knowledge is constructed by each individual, inside his or her own head. It cannot be taught. It cannot be seen, heard, felt or told.
Social Knowledge: Social Knowledge must be told or taught by others.
A second reflection on the construction of knowledge.
In an interaction with two children, age 3.5 year old, one male and one female, the female grabbed a book off the shelf. She brought it to the chair I was sitting in, she thrust it into my lap and hoisted herself into my lap as well. She simply stated, “read this”.
Before I could read the book, she looked at, it opened it up and set it right side up (physical knowledge). She told me what the book was about by naming objects on the cover. I began to read the book. She interrupted with comments and an occasional question.
I continued to read the book adding a little commentary (social knowledge) to which she responded, “no, no not like that”. (logical –mathematical knowledge) I remembered to ask open ended questions and require her to find her own answers to which she did not respond.
I observed that the community culture of how to read a book must be an experience of turning pages then talking about the illustrations on the page and expecting certain answers. It seemed as though she had an expected answer for each page as she turned it. She answered her own questions and asked me for a confirmation from me and then she turned the page.
I occasionally added to her vocabulary (social knowledge). In actuality, she was reading the book, not I. I pictured in my mind what “reading” meant to her at this age and what “reading” means to me. Again, I was reminded to accept the child’s discovery of a book on her own terms. She was constructing a knowledge of reading and I was constructing a new knowledge of “reading a book”.
Upon continued reflection I thought about how many times I stopped learning from happening. My past cultural expectation is that we sit quietly listening to a reader read a book. My former community culture was to “sit quietly” which was a constraint of my mind only. The worry about interruption or “finishing the story” did not allow for authentic interactions and learning. The constraint of listening did not allow for the child’s meaningful, purposeful task.
The idea of not interrupting children’s learning is coming into the forefront of my observations of myself and other educator’s.
I am constructing new knowledge scaffolding on the old and accommodating a new idea into my practice. I accept the challenge of figuring out when to add social knowledge and when it is not necessary to interrupt what he child is constructing.
I recognize that this is an ongoing quandary since we are always imposing our own timeframe, observation, prejudice and bias to create our community culture. How do we know that the moment that we chose to speak or move is the precise moment that the child is on the edge of his/her own assimilation of knowledge. Are we scaffolding or interrupting? This is my current inquiry.
A Leaf in the Hot Tub
A Leaf in the Hot Tub
A Reflection on Constructivist Theory
Definitions
Constructivist Theory: A theory which states that children construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.
Physical knowledge: Physical knowledge is discovered using one’s senses to explore objects and notice their qualities. It forms the basis of logical-mathematical knowledge.
Logical-Mathematical Knowledge: Logical-Mathematical Knowledge is constructed by each individual, inside his or her own head. It cannot be taught. It cannot be seen, heard, felt or told.
Social Knowledge: Social Knowledge must be told or taught by others.
This weekend, I was watching two 3.5 year old children, one male and one female. They were swimming in the hot tub when the boy grabbed a leaf off of a nearby plant. My first thought was I hope he does not put that in the hot tub, I’ll have to clean it up.
Fortunately, I stopped that thought from coming out of my mouth. For goodness sake it was a small leaf! The leaf was brown and dry. He floated it on the water and watched it for a few minutes (physical knowledge, intrinsically motivated).
He then tried to pick it up at which point it disintegrated in his hand, he looked at it, turned his hand over and tried to shake it off. He finally asked me to help him get it off his hand. At this point I wiped away what was the leaf and put it on the edge of the tub. He briefly looked at it and turned away. I explained that he leaf had disintegrated (social knowledge). I said this at a time where there was no inquiry or curiosity. He was not interested.
He picked another leaf of the bush. He repeated the same process with the same results, until he exclaimed that the leaf had fallen apart when put in the water (logical-mathematical knowledge). I again used the term disintegrated. I mimicked as before that the whole leaf was now in pieces, it fell apart. He said, “disintegrated” and put a few more leaves in the water.
He continued this process of watching the leaves fall apart. He constructed a knowledge about the relationship between the water and the dry leaves (logical-mathematical). He repeated his process exclaiming the same results.
Later I had to take the filter cover off to check it for cleaning. We discovered the leaf debris and started a whole new inquiry about filtering the pool water and keeping debris out (social knowledge). He inquired whether these were the same leaves. It appeared perhaps he assimilated this information. We placed the pile of debris on the table and he briefly poked it and then tossed it. The inquiry ended there for the time. The other child did not have any involvement in this exploration. She was engaged in her own underwater pursuits.
Upon reflection I thought about how many times I stopped learning from happening. My past cultural expectation that we keep the hot tub water free of avoidable debris. I further expose that my former community culture was to quickly clean up “messes” was a constraint of my mind only.
The worry about an accident, injury or extra work did not allow for authentic interactions and learning. The constraint of listening did not allow for the child’s meaningful, purposeful task.
The idea of not interrupting children’s learning is coming into the forefront of my observations of myself and other educator’s. I am constructing new knowledge scaffolding on the old and accommodating a new idea into my practice.
I accept the challenge of figuring out when to add social knowledge and when it is not necessary to interrupt what he child is constructing. I recognize that this is an ongoing quandary since we are always imposing our own timeframe, observation, prejudice and bias to create our community culture. How do we know that the moment that we chose to speak or move is the precise moment that the child is on the edge of his/her own assimilation of knowledge. Are we scaffolding or interrupting? This is my current inquiry.
Choice Words
I am taking a class this semester therefore some of my blogs will focus around being “back in school”.
For class I read, “Choice Words, How our Language Affects Children’s Learning”, by Peter Johnson. https://www.amazon.com/Choice-Words-Language-Childrens-Learning/dp/1571103899
My first reaction to the reading was that this would be an easy read, after beginning to read I then thought, “what did I get myself into?” as the reading had me reflecting and then re-reading!
I experienced a range of emotions from the reading that I will convey in this reflection.
I am stricken and angry thinking how many interactions I had with my teachers growing up that “stopped” my learning. I am evolved enough to let that go and today it deepens my resolve to learn the skills of being a teacher who not only creates a collaborative learning community but sustains it. I am very fortunate to work with management that supports this developmental model. I read the book wearing two hats. One as a teacher of young children and the second as a mentor to young adults.
I reflect that as a teacher of young children, I am quite capable of allowing and supporting mistakes and retries. Allowing children to take risks and try things out is a common occurrence in my classroom. I noticed that within the daily structure I have emphasized correction, “have to” and/or set up situations leading to an expected or anticipated result. I will be conscious of that going forward. Within the first chapter of the reading there was a reference to “telling mode” this irritates me in my personal life yet I see that at times I have behaved that way in the classroom. At this I feel frustrated. The author reminds us that “we don’t know what we don’t know” which relieves some of my frustration and encourages me to think and grow.
Working with young adults I see that I have followed many of the examples from the reading. Allowing each person accountability, responsibility and ownership for their thoughts and actions creates the productive learning community the author speaks of. I employ many examples of the prompting language he suggests. A few weeks ago I read an article about adult learners that helped to identify for me the assumption that all teachers should “know” a rule, policy or teaching strategy and how frustrating it is if they do not. http://www.childcareexchange.com/article/helping-adults-succeed/5021316 The author of Choice Words supported this as well, challenging us to know our audience and to identify them in terms you want them to be. I am in the habit of identifying the teachers as professionals when we talk, similarly to the way the writer identifies the children as readers and authors.
I am proud to think that I have evolved more to this model however I am interested to observe my own practice and the practice of those around me. Of particular interest is noting how many teachers are teaching from the IRE model (teacher Initiates, student Responds, teacher Evaluates). How often do we give infants/toddlers/children/other teachers the opportunity to explore, experiment, take risks, fail, and conclude for themselves? How often do we respect their opinion with an open mind? Are we using gender neutral questions/phrases?
I like open our weekly teacher meetings with asking for any follow up, concerns or comments. I am really happy to be able to shift to “any compliments?” I imagine it will set the tone for great conversation. I have had the conversation many times trying to figure out why it is natural to assume negative intent, yet now I see I have set that up in my opening statement every week. Time for a change! Have you ever received a phone call or had someone say to you, “Let’s meet in my office” and be given no more information and then assumed the worst or jumped to a negative conclusion. I have and I have witnessed others do the same. The line of open ended questions similar to “which part are you sure about and which part are you not sure about” will help to clarify in the future.
I am excited to practice. I am armed with an arsenal of references to powerful language!
Documentation Board: For Families
This is a simple explanation of a documentation board for families in your program.
A Documentation Board is a visual communication tool. These boards are organized around a theme, with artwork, photographs, dictation, anecdotes, work samples, and educational information to communicate with you. They are also used by the teacher to deepen and extend the learning in a classroom and to inform future classroom learning goals.
A documentation board is created by observing, recording, interpreting and sharing the processes and products of learning.
A documentation board will enhance communication with you by:
- Allowing for a deeper understanding of how children learn
- Sharing a visible record of classroom learning
- Sharing your child’s learning
- Deepening our relationship with your children and yourselves
- Encouraging you to ask questions
Children can re-visit, reflect and respond to the visuals of a documentation board, enhancing their learning experiences.
Additionally, a documentation board allows your child’s teacher to reflect on her practice which completes the cycle to start over again.
Painting Ideas
I have been working on this list of painting ideas for the last half year. Here is my start.
Try painting:
WITH
Water color
Water color then cover with plastic wrap, let dry and remove plastic
Do a dot (bingo dabber)
Do a dot on dark paper
Frozen paint
Pudding
Kool aid
finger paint
tempra paint
Watercolor on ice block
How about painting on:
ON
Newspaper
Cardboard
Boxes
Laminating
Tubes
Crumpled paper
Ice
Tin foil
Wax paper
Paper towel
Felt
Big branch
Mirror
Rocks
Shells
You might try:
USING
Pine Cone
Pine needle
Flower
Weed
Yarn
Balloon
Ball
Bumpy ball
Cotton ball
Marble roll
Tea bag painting
Lego
Dinosaur
Animal
Brush
Foam brush
Roller
Sponge
Squeeze bottle
Eye dropper
Kitchen gadget
Fork
Scrub brush
Fly swatter
Spray bottle
Spaghetti
Rocks
Cups
Tubes
Bow
Comb
Bubble wrap
Car
Truck
Train
Cardboard scrapper
Teabag
Feather
Painty elastics around a tray, twang
ADD this:
Spice
Sand
Corn syrup
Baking soda ADD vinegar after for fizzy
ADD AFTER painting:
Salt
Can you add to this list?
Potato Container Garden
Want to try container gardening with your little ones? We had success with potatoes! Here is why it worked for us!
First, seed potatoes or potato eyes are large enough for little hands to manage. Have you ever tried planting tiny carrot seeds with young children………you get the idea, potatoes are doable!
Second, the potato grows under the soil so there is minimal disruption if a child or children pick the leaves of the potato plant. Unlike, if a just forming tomato is picked, the project is over!
Third, the potato is not delicate. Children can dig into the box at the end of the growing period and find the potatoes without harming the produce.
Here’s how to set up a potato container garden.
You will need some kind of big container, soil, starter potato, a trowel,water and mulching material.
We used an old window box, filled it with soil, dug a few holes into the soil, plopped the potato in and covered the whole box with more soil and a layer of old leaves and straw. Place your container in a sunny location.
Water your container steadily if you don’t have rain from time to time. Water it, watch the plants grow and when the plants die off sometime about 10 weeks from the start of the project, it is time to dig up your potato!
Small potatoes, big impact!