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Chapter 3 & 4 Learning Together

I Learned

Chapter 3:
I learned that the materials in early childhood programs are the bones of the curriculum
and the foundation of the teaching and learning process. The collections, offerings and
arrangements of materials reflect your values, what you believe children deserve and are
capable of, and how you see your role. I learned that to enhance childrens use of the materials
toward complex learning, you must challenge yourself to become mindful and deliberate with
what you provide and how you provide it.
I learned about examining the elements and possibilities in materials. The principles are
select materials using an enhanced view of children, invent new possibilities for familiar
materials, draw on the aesthetic qualities of materials, choose materials that can be
transformed, provide real tools and quality materials, supply materials to extend childrens
interest and layer materials to offer complexity. Children constantly use materials to learn
about the world, explore their questions, and represent their thinking. Select materials using
enhanced view of children. Examine your own view of children when providing and using
materials with them. Invent new possibilities for familiar materials, I learned that early
childhood educators are indebted to the pioneering work of researchers and practitioners such
as Froebel, Steiner, Montessori, Pratt and the educators from the schools of Reggio Emilia. They
invented learning materials that today are often taken for granted and used without much
thought. When you take the time to examine more closely why these materials are used
throughout early childhood programs, you discover the obvious: young children are drawn to
these materials because they offer multiple possibilities for pursuing different learning domains
in an active, open-ended way. Draw on the aesthetic qualities of materials, cultivating an
aesthetic sense enhances the ability to see, explore, appreciate and find joy in the beauty of the
world. Aesthetic beauty can be found in the shapes, forms, lines, patterns, textures, light,
colors, shadows, and reflective aspects of the things around you. Choose materials that can be
transformed, I learned that materials that are open-ended and can be transformed have the
power to call on childrens internal resources, experiences and imagination in multiple ways for
multiple purposes. Provide real tools and quality materials, when children are provided
opportunities to use real tools and materials of high quality, they feel respected and taken
seriously. Supply materials to extend childrens interests, I learned that when seeking new,
engaging materials for children. Layer materials to offer complexity, to build on childrens
learning with materials, it is useful to offer combinations of materials that lend themselves too
many uses and extended investigation. When children are interested in an idea or concept,
providing different materials to extend their exploration helps them make further connections
and build on their ideas.
Arranging materials as invitations for focus and intention. Principles for arranging
materials as invitations for focus and intention are: create orderly, beautiful arrangements,
provide a background for the materials, store diverse items in matching containers, group
together similar materials with different attributes, give attention to size, scale and levels,
arrange materials to suggest how they might be used, reposition materials to spark a new
interest, display books and other visual representations with the materials, and offer collections
of materials to highlight a learning domain. The collection of materials you put together suggest
possibilities. Where you place materials and how you arrange them communicates in a
powerful way the values and intentions you have in mind. Create orderly, beautiful
arrangements, the thought teachers give to the arrangement of materials communicates
respect for the children and the importance you place in the activities you offer. Provide a
background for the materials, a background both draws your eye to focus on what materials are
available and creates a container for the exploration process. Store diverse items in matching
containers, I learned that when you want to have a wide array of materials available for
children, you are faced with the challenge of avoiding clutter and helping the children focus on
whats available. When diverse materials are offered in matching containers or baskets, you can
clearly see the individual items and their unique attributes. Group together similar materials
with different attributes, offering a collection of materials with similar aspects but also different
attributes helps children notice and explore the differences more thoroughly than if they are
offered a jumble of materials with nothing in common. Give attention to size, scale and levels,
when you change the scale of similar materials and offer them on different surfaces with
different levels, children have more opportunities to use the materials in new ways. Arrange
materials to suggest how they might be used, to help children see the possibilities you see in
the materials, create a suggestion as a part of the setup. Reposition materials to spark a new
interest, moving materials to a different location in the room can stimulate a new interest and a
new way to use them. Display boos and other visual representation with the materials, adding
visual and symbolic representation to an invitation of materials gives children another resource
for investigation and learning as they make connections between the real objects and the
photos, drawings or stories about them. Offer collections of materials to highlight a learning
domain, materials provided for open-ended exploration, children often discover attributes,
principles, and concepts or practice skills that are part of your desire learning outcomes.

Chapter 4:
I learned that when early childhood educators design a learning environment with
values in mind and offer engaging materials to explore, you set the state for meaningful
experiences to unfold. The following principles will help me take charge in my role to build
relationships and lively learning experiences with children: claim your power, think through
your actions, cultivate a mindset of receptivity, seek the childs point of view, notice the details
to discover more possibilities, share conversations following the childrens lead, support
childrens connections with each other, and take action on behalf of childrens strength. Claim
your power, you decide what to pay attention to, what to stop, and what to emphasize and
help grow. When you stay mindful and act with your values and goals in mind, you become a
powerful mediator of childrens learning. Think through your actions, teachers are too often
distracted, focused on requirements, problems, or the schedule and thus miss the incredible
opportunities germinating around them. The typical teacher scripts are: make sure children
follow the rules and routines and adhere to the time schedule, intercede when children are in
conflicts or are displaying risky behaviors, plan learning activities to keep children busy and
meet standards, help children stay on task and complete a project. Know your professional
influences, you should be diligent in choosing resources that challenge you to fully examine the
complexities of your work. Know your theoretical influences. Cultivate a mindset of receptivity,
teachers must slowdown in order to take in the moment, see what is afoot and give the
situation time to unfold. Paying closer attention to these moments our delight in the children as
we gain a profound respect for their insights and abilities. Seek the childs point of view, the
childs perspective can inform your decisions and actions and is critical to understand if you are
to engage children in a deeper teaching and learning process, and at the same time, enhance
your own experience. Notice the details to discover more possibilities, children look closely at
details adults take for granted. Share conversations following the childrens lead, talking about
what you see points childrens attention to the properties and characteristics of materials,
people and actions that they may not have noticed, or do not yet have the words to describe.
Support childrens connections with each other, teachers actions can call attention to different
points of view among children. Take action on behalf of childrens strength, teachers can best
support this process by responding to children with attention to their competence.

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