You may remember the Early Achievers Equation posted earlier
–
Free
Play + Open Ended Questions and Conversations
= Learning About the Child
= Learning About the Child
At our October Reflective Practice group, we took a look at
this equation. Small groups rotated
through different kinds of activities and answered the following questions:
1.
What can
the child learn playing with this?
2.
What are some open ended questions and
conversations I can initiate when I play with the child here?
3.
Through these open ended questions and
conversations, what can I learn about the child?
4.
What can I do with this learning?
Here are the results from the group:
BOOKS
What can the child learn?
·
How to read a book, turn pages
·
Colors, numbers, animals, etc.
·
Imagination and creativity
·
Connecting books/stories to real life situations
or experiences
·
Different characters
·
Moral or lesson
·
How words connect to make sentences
·
How letters make up words
·
New vocabulary
·
Communication
·
Parts of a book
·
Just about anything!
What questions/conversations can I have?
·
What’s this story about? What do you think will happen?
·
What did you like?
·
Have you seen something like this? Tell me about it
·
What would you do in this situation?
·
What do you think will happen next?
·
Ask child to retell the story
·
Pointing out items in the book, or parts of the
book and asking, “What is this?”
What can I learn about the child?
·
What are the child’s interests
·
Cultural views
·
Child’s range of current knowledge
·
Attention span
·
Life experiences
What can I do with what I learn?
·
Get books that reflect their interests
·
Expand elements of the book into other
activities
·
Find books or activities on the same topic but a
deeper level
DRAMATIC PLAY
What can the child learn?
·
Different cultures
·
Different family roles
·
A sense of who they are
·
Cooperating with others
·
Exploring roles, cultures, genders, etc.
What questions/conversations can I have?
·
How and why questions
·
What are you planning?
·
Do you need anything from me?
·
What happens next?
·
Who do you know that does that?
·
Where are you going? What will you do there?
·
Tell me what you know about that.
What can I learn about the child?
·
Interests, temperament, personality, etc.
·
What is happening in child’s home life
·
How they see others
What can I do with what I learn?
·
Scaffolding – expand on their play
·
Inspire curiosity
·
Expand vocabulary
·
Curriculum planning – building on interests
Fine Motor
What can the child learn?
·
Problem solving skills
·
Hand eye coordination
·
Critical thinking
·
Communication and language
·
Self help skills
What questions/conversations can I have?
·
Tell me about your building
·
What can you do with this?
·
What would you add to that?
·
How else could you use that?
·
What else could you try?
What can I learn about the child?
·
Their level of development
·
Dominant hand
·
How easily they get frustrated
·
How the solve problems
What can I do with what I learn?
·
Provide activities that meet their developmental
level
·
Provide time to practice newly emerging skills
Blocks
What can the child learn?
·
Cause and effect
·
Imagination
·
Engineering
·
Sorting
·
Confidence
·
Problem solving
·
Physics
·
Sharing
·
Shapes and sizes
·
Balance
What questions/conversations can I have?
·
What are your ideas of what you can build?
·
What would you need to make it bigger?
·
Tell me about your building
·
How did you figure out how to do that?
·
What would happen if…
What can I learn about the child?
·
How they solve problems
·
What kind of learner they are
·
How they interact with others
·
Interests
·
Developmental skills
·
Attention span,
dealing with frustration
What can I do with what I learn?
·
Find ways to challenge them further
·
Add more accessories to expand play
SCIENCE AND NATURE
What can the child learn?
·
Textures, measuring, sorting, etc.
·
Life cycles
·
Caring for the environment
·
Basic scientific laws
·
Observing
·
Scientific method
·
Cause and effect
·
To love nature
·
Curiosity
What questions/conversations can I have?
·
Predicting – what do you think will happen if…
·
How and why questions
·
Why do you think that happens?
·
What do you notice?
·
What can we try?
·
Have you seen this before?
What can I learn about the child?
·
What they already know
·
Interests
·
How they learn
·
How much time they spend outside
·
How they figure things out
What can I do with what I learn?
·
Curriculum planning
·
Adjusting activities to the child’s interests
and abilities
·
Add tools to expand learning (magnifiers, etc.)
·
Take anecdotal notes for child’s portfolio
·
Provide next steps
