My first activity was very spontaneous. Sometimes in the centre we give the children popcorn for late snack and it always cooked in the microwave. The microwave is also in the kitchen so the children’s involvement starts and stops with them getting given the popcorn in cups. This time one of the children put her arms up to show me a pop corn seed and scrunched her face up thinking why this is in here and what is this, it occurred to me then that the children were completely unaware that what they were eating was from a seed and the process that led to them eating it.
I thought it would be a good idea to bring in my popcorn maker from home so they could see the transformation for themselves. I gad a bag of the seeds and showed them what the seeds looked, felt smelled and tasted like, and then we put the seeds in the lid and turned it on. It was amazing the children were so excited and kept jumping when the popcorn shot up. I loved how the children wanted to get involved and were so curious about what was happening.
After all of our classes in technology it was bothering me that the children were being kept away from all the technological parts of the centre because of safety risks. This activity worked really well and all the children got involved and had a part to play. The children were aware that what they have been eating was from the seed and when the seed gets heated up the seeds popped open into the popcorn they eat. According to (Smorti, 1999) “technology is about helping people and solving problems” the problem was that the children had no involvement and through technology I helped the children learn.
I loved how the popcorn maker was child appropriate even for the 2 year olds in my room and they were all asking questions like:
· “Why is it popping?”
· “Where do the seeds come from?”
· “Why is it white?”
· “What makes them fluffy?”
The activity also gave me many ideas for how to extend the children’s learning. For example instead of them always being given food for morning tea and lunch get them to make something for themselves so they understand the process involved in cooking and using the skills they develop in sand and water play such as pouring and measuring to make something they can eat themselves and be proud of. Te Whāriki also says “each programme should be planned to offer sufficient learning experiences for the children to ensure that the curriculum goals are realised” (Te Whariki, 1996). I feel that too often it is easier to simply exclude children or rush them for what suits us and by creating activities like this where the children are involved and explore science and technology they can be included and not excluded.
Question for thought......
do you feel children are rushed?
what do you think about routines are they for the children or teachers?
References
References
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa .Wellington: Learning Media.
Smorti, S. (1999) Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn 1999.
Hi Jodie,
ReplyDeleteAwesome work! The way that you responded to the children was responding to their interest and curiosity. Friedman (2005) believes teachers need to use the learning opportunities presented by children daily to entice and extent interest and knowledge (p. 1).
Our children have snacks of popcorn regularly, but until reading your work, I would not have asked if they knew that popcorn came from a plant. That corn grows in a field and when grown is a big stalk like plant. That the corn kernels from the cob of corn when dried become our popping corn? You provided hands on opportunities to taste, smell and touch the kernels before demonstrating the popping process which would have been exciting. You provided an awesome learning experience for each child involved drawing from Te Whāriki’s exploration strand goal three where “Children experience an environment where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking, and reasoning”
In answer to your question yes I do think that children are rushed, I don’t agree with it but I have been guilty of it myself. As teachers our days are full from beginning to end and sticking to the routine can become more of the focus than what the children are doing and thinking about if stopping them in action stops learning. In our centre the routines are put in place by management and are to be adhered to. For special occasions we maybe allowed more flexibility but not on a regular basis. If for example I was to ignore tidy up time and continue playing we would be later for lunch. The ripple effect would be that we delayed lunch, tidying up, the kitchen routine, the changing and settling routine and other staff’s lunch breaks.
Reference list:
Friedman,S. (2005). Social studies in action. Young Children on the Web, November 2001, 1-9.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Hi Jodie,
ReplyDeleteAwesome work Jodie! Sometimes we do rushed children from one activity to another just to complete what teachers has already set up for the day but reading your blog it reminds me how important it is for us teachers to give every child a time and space for them to experience the whole learning process that they are going through at each moments of their learning and development through technology.Giving children the opportunity to explore and learn through using popcorns maker/machine instead of just waiting for the popcorn or food to be ready and then eat. They were given from you a great opportunity to view, experience, explore, learn,and develop more in their learning through technology (popcorn maker). Lee, Hatherly, and Ramsey (2002) encourages us teachers the importance of "focusing on learning and teaching for a new generation of young people who are growing up in a digital world, are comfortable with technology, and need their schools to reflect these realities" (p. 10). This is a great learning tool to be used in our centre daily routine. To enhance children's learning and development through using popcorn maker as one of the best learning you have impart to young children. It also points out to me that every creative moment you put into children is a special learning moment for them and opportunity for their growth which is what it's all about.
Ka pai
thanks guys its nice to know i am not alone and that we all are human but i do admit i was shocked that something so simple was right in front of me and i never noticed how excluded we can make children
ReplyDeletethanks for your feed back
jodie
x
That is so true Jodie!Well-done xxx
ReplyDeleteKia ora,
ReplyDeleteYour blog is awesome and full of ideas. I have never thought of extending our children’s learning in my centre though they normally have popcorn for their afternoon tea. The learning experiences you have provided to your children are amazing. Well done.
To answer your question it is ‘Yes’. I think as teachers we are more into following routines and time management and less into what children are doing. After reading your blog, now I will be extending children’s learning in my centre. Great to see I will be adding another ICT into children’s learning. This is supported by O’Hara, M. (2004) “introducing ICT into curriculum will ensure that children became more knowledgeable about information, become increasingly comfortable with new technologies and are better able to exploit their potential” (p. 3).
O’Hara, M. (2004). ICT in the early years. New York, NY:Continuum.
Goodness, I think that at our centre, we are starving the children of having popcorn :) We do not have popcorn on the menu at all and what a shame as it could be such a great experience, especially if they make it and go through the entire process. FUN!!!!
ReplyDeleteKa Pai Jodie
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your blog as it is so true we do rush children from one activity to another for the teachers purpose. At my centre I believe that we rush children to get the teachers lunch breaks done or to get the dishes back to our cook so she can clean them.
I found another quote from Te Whāriki where it states "children develop the knowledge that trying things out, exploration, and curiosity are important and valued ways of learning" (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 84).This was shown when the child was curios about the popcorn seed so you brought in your popcorn maker for the children to explore how popcorn is made and what popcorn looks like before big white fluffy balls.
My centre gives children popcorn to the children for afternoon tea as well and a child asked me what the popcorn seed was as well. i told them that was where popcorn came from, but the look on their face looked as if to say "whatever". I brought in my Popcorn maker and allowed the children to taste smell the popcorn kernel, then when we added the popcorn kernels into the machine and when the children saw the kernels starting to pop they were to jumping up and down and saying "ohhhhh" and "yeah".
Thank you for sharing Jodie
Hi Jodie
ReplyDeleteWhat a great blog I love how you thought about what the child could have been thinking through facial expressions, this demonstrates how well you obviously know the children in your centre.
What a great way to extend her inquisitiveness of the seed. I enjoyed reading the process that you went through of the children exploring the seeds and then watching them pop. The problem solving process would have been great to watch. To answer your question do we think that children are rushed? Yes I think some times we do tend to rush children and this is due to teachers rather than the children as I feel it is because we want to stick to routines and times. But many times it is spontaneous opportunities like these that we provide the most beneficial learning experiences for the children.