Early Childhood Education | Packing for the Journey

My educational philosophy and way of teaching was built around shared storymaking in all of its forms – storyplay, art (drawing, painting collage, making), story writing/dictating, storyacting, music, song, movement dance and drama. Our storymaking became a ‘thinking-on-your-feet nudging-and-narrating’ process for us all – fluid and challenging – allowing ideas to be explored over a day, weeks, months and even over a year. I learned to have resources and knowledge, or ways of finding out, at my fingertips. I learned to listen and to interpret underlying meaning.

Nudging and Narrating

One day we had to warn everyone not to go into the sandpit until we had dealt with the overnight offering left there by one of the neighbourhood cats.

I was annoyed that we were still having to deal with this problem because the promised sand pit cover hadn’t arrived yet, but I did what I always try to do when these kind of problems arise. I paused, assessed the situation, and then set about fixing it as quickly and calmly as possible. At the same time I watched and listened to see how the children were responding. I sensed a heightened level of excitement as the word ‘poo’ spread through the group.

There’s dog poo in the sandpit!
Where? Show me!
Ooh!
Yuck!
Errgh!
Pooh!
My cat did a poo in our sandpit.
Mine too! Mum said we’ll have to get a cover for it.
(I sigh)
Let’s make a sign. Come on!

We put the signs up near the sandpit, and no-one went into the sandpit until it was safe to do so.

dog-poo-1 In the sandpit.
Dog Poo

dog-poo-3
Poo

Throughout the year making signs had become an integral part of the program. These children knew how to make signs to warn, control, direct, make announcements, and advertise.They were learning the art of using words, images and symbols to get their messages across in simple and direct ways.

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