Reflection three - 20th August 2013
As the children were arriving at the centre today they were excited to see the outside area covered all pink from our blossom tree. Their language clearly described what they saw. "Look Joanne, look at all the pink", "It's everywhere", "look at the mess". It was 4 year old "T" who found a broom and started sweeping. From this I then noticed as some of the younger children, "D" & "L" both 2 years old were keen to help with the sweeping. The children used the brooms and a brush and shovel. The technology which I felt had the biggest impact was the brush and shovel. It is from these early experiences not yet understood which can be connected to events in the child's school years (Fleer & Jane, 2011).
The significance of the children using the brush and shovel was they knew how to use it and it served its purpose. Using the broom had its own purpose but the brush and shovel served two purposes. Using the brush and shovel the children could sweep and pickup the blossoms. Smorti suggests that technology is used to solve problems (1999). The children saw how the outside area was completely covered in blossoms and through past knowledge and skills found a solution to the problem.
The children are learning skills in helping to care for their environment by looking after it and keeping it tidy. Through the use of this technology children develop their hand-eye coordination, Communication skills as they work together, Cognitive development through problem solving providing children with an understanding of how things work. Te Whāriki, the New Zealand early childhood curriculum states "children learn through play - by doing, by asking questions, by interacting with others, by setting up theories or ideas about how things work and trying them out, and by the purposeful use of resources" (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 82). In this case the resource being the brush and shovel, was purposeful to the task.
When children transition from early childhood education into school it is from their early childhood learning experiences where connections can be made and built upon (Ministry of Education 1993). It is the early childhood experiences they have which prepares and connects them into school.
References:
Fleer, M.,
& Jane, B. (2011). Design and
technology for children. Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Australia.
Ministry of
Education. (1993). The New Zealand Curriculum
Framework. Wellington: Learning Media.
Ministry of
Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki
mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Smorti, S.
(1999). Technology in early childhood.
Early Education, 19, 5-10
I really like this reflection because it shows how this simple low level technology that is used in mine as well as many other people’s everyday lives is so beneficial to children’s learning. I really like how this reflection was child-led, the children were able to problem solve using their prior knowledge (I assume from the centre and home life), to care for their environment. It is so important that educators encourage children to care for their environment and I can see from this reflection that your centre supports this which is great. I really enjoyed the children’s use of language in this experience; you can see how they are influenced by what they hear both in the centre and at home.
ReplyDeleteTo further extend this experience for the children (if you do not already do this) you could look at different ways of caring for the environment, like recycling or gardening. This will develop the children’s awareness of how they can help the environment and hopefully carry it with them into their futures.