Our Bakery, The Importance of Cleaning Up, Watercolors, and Collaborative Work

Documentation for the week of September 13-16, 2016

(We began our Tzedakah project this week, but I will talk more about that in next week's post.)

Our Bakery

The Morahs thought it would be a great idea to turn our dramatic play area into a bakery as we began to explore Rosh Hashanah. We turned our tables into a work counter and offered a spot for a cash register, shelves, and menus. The children got to work right away! Ariel S. noticed that we had two types of "dough" to work with. She decided that the white dough (cornstarch and conditioner) was cake dough and the darker dough (flour, salt, and water) was baking dough. She decided to make pizzas. Eliya soon joined her and they chose to make pizzas together. Imie chose to be a server. She stood at the counter, took orders, and told the bakers what to make. They chose a menu as they worked- which was impressively consistent. When Morah Tara asked for pita and hummus, Imie and Eliya both said that it was not on the menu, but offered a pie, a cookie, a pizza, or a bread. \



 

The children also began exploring play money with the cash register. They counted the bills and coins as well as told each other how much items at the bakery cost. This will be a great Segway into our explorations of money in relation to our Tzedakah project next week. The cash register also brought about some conflicts. The children were challenged to negotiate turn taking all week long. One morning, Leah and Bayla were playing bakery together. Bayla walked away to see what her friends were doing at the table. After a few minutes of Leah waiting for Bayla to return, she used the pager on the cash register. She called into it, "Bayla, you are needed in aisle 4 at the bakery! Bayla, please see me at the bakery!" This was such a creative way for Leah to invite Bayla back into play. She could have just called Bayla's name or walked over to her and asked her to play, but she chose to stay within her play reality and reminded Bayla of the work that they were doing in a way that was exciting to her.

The Importance of Cleaning Up

Oh boy, the clean up this week was impressive! There were bits of play dough all over the classroom! Everyone worked very hard to clean up the mess. Imie chose to sweep up play dough off the floor with her hands while Oree chose to use the hand broom to sweep the tables. This kind of tedious, cleanup work shows that the children are able to focus on one task while there are lots of other things happening around them. It also challenges their ability to experience delayed reward: one of the most important abilities a child could have to achieve success in their later educational endeavors. When a child can work towards a goal, knowing that they will receive a reward later for the hard work that they are doing now, they are more likely to apply themselves when school work becomes challenging for them. The other important concept that children are experiencing during challenging cleanup times is intrinsic reward. This also promotes children's abilities to accomplish larger life goals as they grow up. An intrinsic reward is when you feel a reward within yourself. In the case of our classroom, the intrinsic reward is a sense of accomplishment upon finishing a task. We did not offer the children a treat or a prize (extrinsic rewards) for cleaning up their mess, but we could see in their eyes and huge smiles that they felt rewarded by finishing their work. Their sense of pride was a huge intrinsic reward that will motivate them to take on larger and larger challenges in the future.

Watercolor Exploration

There were two goals in mind as we introduced water colors into our classroom this week: allowing the children to explore the medium and allowing the children to work on observational paintings with still lifes. The first day that we offered painting, we put an apple on a plate for the children to paint if they chose to do so. Lucy, Imie and Ariel S. chose to explore the water colors without painting the apple in front of them. Instead, they noticed how the colors blended together, how the brush felt in their hands, how different amounts of water affected the paints differently. This is what we call Process Art. The point of doing artwork in preschool is to allow children to explore materials in whatever way they feel inspired. This means that often their artwork doesn't look like much in the end. It might be a paper covered in brown because they blended and blended and blended their colors. The importance is not the product at the end of the day, but the process in which children learned about color, space, and technique.

On the second day we offered water colors, we put an apple on a plate at one table and a Shofar at the other table with the same explanation. The children who had explored paints already, began observing the still lifes and painting what they saw. The children who began painting for the first time went through a similar process exploring the materials. Sometimes the transition happens quickly like you can see with Ariel F.'s first painting and second painting, which were done within a few minutes of each other. Sometimes it takes children days, weeks, or months to transition from exploring materials to taking on a specific task or provocation. There is no right amount of time to go from one to another. The importance is that children have space to learn about whatever most intrigues them.

Collaborative Work 

We have had a lot of discussions since the school year started about our work verses other people's work. We have extended this concept to our bodies as well. We are exploring the importance of asking permission to touch someone else's belongings, someone else's body, or someone else's tasks/work. On Thursday all of the children made a very interesting choice. They decided to draw a picture with sharpies on the floor. Instead of choosing to each get a piece of paper and work near each other, they chose to collaborate on a few pictures at the same time. They were able to negotiate concepts of ownership and asking permission. Throughout the day, they continued to come back to the three papers on the floor and work together to create three pictures.

The children also made amazing towers this week together. Throughout the week they chose to work as a whole group, in smaller groups, or individually. Their towers show that they are exploring balance, height, and symmetry. They were challenged to work together and solve disagreements as they built together or shared materials while building separately.

 

When I Was a Baby...

The children started telling each other stories about when they were babies. It was so much fun to listen to what they had to say about "when they were little." Morah Tara decided to take these conversations one step further by offering writing/drawing prompts for the children. (Please forgive the Hebrew...We try our best!) The children chose to use the papers offered to draw pictures and tell more stories about their time as babies.

Davening, A Play Story, Numeracy Exploration, and Problem Solving

Documentation for the week of  September 6-9, 2016

Davening with Siddurs

Last week, the Morahs noticed that the children were not very interested in davening on the rug while singing preschool songs anymore. They were deadly distracted, and seemed like they were just going through the motions. We reflected on possible solutions: should we make Siddurs for the children with picture references to the prayers? Should we ask the school to purchase children's siddurs? Moran Merele then suggested that we use the Siddurs that we already have, and we decided that this would be the best choice for the children in our class. We also decided to start davening in the Shul, after considering davening on the rug or at our table in the classroom. Using real Siddurs in the Shul teaches the children the importance of davening as well as reminds them how they can Davening on Shabbos with you at home and at the synagogue. 

We sat together at a table in the big Shul on Tuesday and in the weekday Shul on Wednesday and Thursday. There were so many learning opportunities as we changed our routine! The first task at hand was talking about how we treat our Siddur. Bayla remembered that it cannot touch the floor, and Oree told us that when you shut it you give it a kiss. Imie told us that you cannot put anything on top of a Siddur because Hashem's name is inside. We then asked the children to find the Aleph-Beis chart. This was a challenge, because it does not have a page number. The children were required to use previous knowledge to search for the right page. Once we were all successful at that, we sang the Aleph-Beis together!

  

Morah Merele asked everyone to turn to page 5. By Wednesday, Eliya shouted, "We go to page 5!" It was amazing to see how he remembered where to find the first prayer! Searching for page numbers allowed the children to explore sequence. They learned that the numbers ascend from the right side of the book to the left, making it extra challenging to find the page that they were looking for. We then asked the children to find the letter Mem at the top of the page. The children shouted, "I found a Mem!" They were so excited! We sang the Modeh Ani together. Next we asked the children to find the page 12. This was a much greater challenge. We told the children that they could search for the numbers 1 and 2 or they could turn 7 pages. Bayla, Leah, and Ariel S. chose to turn pages and count together. Imie searched on her own for a 1 and a 2, then she helped Oree to find page 12 as well. The children also followed along with their fingers as we sang the prayers together. Even though they are not yet reading the words as they sing, this helps to train their eyes to follow their fingers: an important pre-reading task. They were also able to recognize letters along the way, making the letters that they already know become more meaningful by putting them into context.

Besides the amazing learning that occurred while we davened with Siddurs together, it was so heartwarming to feel the children's enthusiasm for learning together. Their faces were so focused on their work, and it made davening together even more special.

Oree's Play Story: An Example of How Play Stories Affect Our Class Day

On Wednesday morning, Oree had a hard time saying goodbye to her Aba. A minute or so later, she was ready to move on with her day and enjoy her time with her morahs and her friends. When 12:00 came around, and it was time to write a play story, Oree remembered her challenging transition at the beginning of the day. She drew a picture of her Aba, herself, and her morahs. This type of reflective practice is so helpful for children, because it allows them to work through challenges when they are feeling safe again. She could draw and dictate about how she was crying, how Morah Tara was there to hold her, and how her Aba needed to leave. We chose her story to share during our Afternoon Meeting. She stood up in front of her friends and told them about her drawing and her experience in the morning. This allowed space for us all to reflect and problem solve together. 

Morah Tara: Does anyone remember Oree crying this morning?

Imie nodded somberly. 

Eliya:Yes, I remember!

Morah Tara: Has anyone else felt sad or upset when they got dropped off at school?

The children shook their heads no. They didn't appear to remember feeling upset at drop off anymore.

Morah Tara: What might make Oree feel better tomorrow morning?

Ariel S.: We could give her a hug.

Morah Tara: Oree would you like it if your friends gave you a hug tomorrow morning?

Oree: No

Bayla: We could ask you how you want to be greeted.

Imie: Or we could make you a bracelet or a necklace.

Morah Tara: Would either of those choices make you feel better tomorrow, Oree?

Oree: A bracelet

Morah Tara: It sounds like making Oree a bracelet would make her feel better in the morning. Would anyone like to make bracelets or necklaces for Oree?

Everyone: Yes

Morah Tara: Ok, what kinds of things do we need?

Lucy: We need to have colorful beads.

Leah: And we need strings

Imie: The strings have to have knots on the ends of them so the beads won't all fall off.

Morah Tara: Is there anything else we need?

Imie: No, that's all.

On Thursday morning, we set out beads and string for the children to make bracelets and necklaces. Everyone sat down and got to work once they got to school! We tied knots in the ends of the string so that they would keep all the beads on. When Oree got to school she did get upset again, and was not quite ready to receive the gifts her friends had made her. After a few minutes, though, she was beaming with happiness as she wore the necklaces.

Numeracy Exploration

Last week we could hear the children counting throughout their play. They were counting blocks as they were building, they were counting fruits in the dramatic play area, they were counting manipulatives as they worked with loose parts. We decided to create a provocation that allowed them to explore number symbols and create a number chart for our classroom. 

At the beginning of the week, we put our pieces of paper with numbers on them. We also provided baskets with dice, rocks, and shells as well as markers, papers, and scissors. On Tuesday, the children went straight for the markers and traced all the numbers over and over. They also copied the number onto the paper. Imie chose to add to our chart by making papers with the numbers 11, 12, and 13. They then used the shells and stones to trace the letters as well. This type of learning is important because it allows seemingly random symbols to become important to them. Using loose parts and markers to trace the numbers allowed them to become familiar with the curves and shapes that number symbols have.

On Wednesday, we added a ten frame made from popsicle sticks for the children to explore. Ariel S. chose to use one-to-one correlation by placing one shell in each frame. She also distinguished that she was only using large shells. This is a pre-math concept we refer to as sorting. She could differentiate the shells from each other in a way that was meaningful to her. Bayla chose to start with the first frame by placing one shell inside, then she placed two shells in the next frame and so on. This activity showed her how each square gained one shell, exposing her to addition properties as well as the necessity to count and use her memory.

On Thursday, we added ten frame pictures to each piece of paper. Lucy worked with Morah Tara to glue a leaf representation of each number symbol starting with one leaf glued to the ten frame on the page with the number symbol, 1. Lucy worked hard to continue this process, which required a lot of focus, and multistep directions. After a while, Imie decided to join Lucy, and Morah Tara began observing instead of participating. They first talked about how they were going to share the tasks at hand. They considered Lucy doing the gluing and Imie placing each leaf or taking turns with the glue stick and the leaves. They decided on the latter. Even though they had reached the highest numbers in our number chart, they were able to identify how many leaves they needed in each ten frame, and where the leaves were supposed to go in the sequence. 

Lucy and Ariel F. Solve a Problem Together

When we were playing outside on Wednesday, Lucy and Ariel F. were working with their friends to make nature soup. They were placing leaves, rocks, and whatever they could find into a large basin and pretending to stir it up! Then this happened:

Ariel F.: Morah Tara, Lucy kicked pebbles into my shoe!

Morah Tara: Why don't you tell Lucy about it?

Ariel F: Lucy, you got rocks in my shoe!

Morah Tara: How can you make it right, Lucy?

Ariel F.: She could say that she's sorry.

Lucy: I'm sorry Ariel. I can help you get the rocks out of your shoes. I didn't mean to do that.

Ariel F.: Thanks, Lucy.

How Do We Resolve Conflicts?

Documentation for the week of  August 29- September 2, 2016

Problem solving and conflict resolution are some of the most important aspects of learning in early childhood. If a child has the ability to solve their own problems truly engrained in their mind, before they turn five, they will be capable of problem solving for the rest of their life. It is a skill that is required no matter what you decide to do. You are more likely to be successfully in school, at work, and in relationships if you can see where there is conflict and have the reasoning, executive functioning, and communication skills to work through it.

So How Do We Teach Problem Solving in the Rainbow Class?

There are three things that children need most from us so that they can learn these important skills:

1) Space to have conflict.

2) Time to practice resolving conflict on their own.

3) Coaching and modeling from adults when they get stuck.

Let's walk through a conflict that occurred in our classroom to share how these three steps work. As open exploration time began, Bayla and Imie both wanted a purse. This shows how the classroom was set up to provide opportunity for conflict: I could have chosen to put out several purses for the children to choose from, but instead I put out one purse. This is something you will see throughout our classroom. There are not always enough scissors out for each child or glue sticks or pots and pans, etc. 

Once Imie and Bayla started pulling on the purse, the Morahs did not immediately intervene.

We allowed time for them to practice solving the conflict with each other, and for their friends to decide if they wanted to help. As the conflict grew more intense, Ariel F. pointed at them from the library and said, "They're fighting."

I asked her and Ariel S., "What should we do?" Ariel S. said, "Nothing. We should keep reading our book." I agreed that this was a valid choice for them, as it is not always safe for children to intervene in other children's conflicts. They went back to their work looking at a book together.

At this point Bayla and Imie were both very upset. Bayla was yelling, "But I had it first!" Imie was yelling, "But I want to be the mommy!"

I noticed that Oree and Eliya were also watching the conflict occur. I asked Oree if she wanted to help them figure out a solution to their problem. She said, "No." Eliya asked Oree, "Do you want me to help them, Oree?" Oree shook her head so I asked her and Eliya if they would like to send them well-wishes: a skill we have been practicing during davening time. Oree said, "Yes," and, together, we put our hands on our hearts, took a deep breath, and said out loud, "We wish you well." This action is extremely powerful for young children and adults alike. It allows us to take action without putting ourselves at risk. Oree and Eliya were able to feel like they assisted their friends, and provided Oree with the confidence to assist later on.

After a few more minutes, I kneeled on the floor, and said to Imie and Bayla, "I see that you both want the purse. Is this working?" They both yelled their arguments louder at me in hopes that I would decide for them who should get the purse. Instead, I said, "I hear Imie saying that she wants to be the mommy and Bayla saying that she had the purse first. Does pulling on the bag, yelling, and crying decide who gets a turn with the bag?" (It is possible that this could have solved the problem if one of them was stronger than the other. This time they were equally matched, and pulling didn't make a difference.) Imie and Bayla stopped pulling and grew quiet. 

Oree joined us and, pointing at Imie, said, "Yeah, she got it first. No I saw that she got it first. She was picking up this.

Imie responded to Oree's comment, "I dropped it, and I was going to get it. She took it. I was going somewhere." 

Bayla asked Imie, "Can we share it?"

Imie said, "Yeah, but can I have it first?"

Bayla said, "Yes, and then me and then you and then me and then you."

After all this work, Imie said, "I don't need it," Oree took the bag after Imie took a turn, Imie told Oree, "Oree give it to her," and Oree handed it to Bayla. 

Now Bayla had another problem to solve: she was very upset and tired from the fight she had with Imie.  She decided to get a tissue to blow her nose. Then she asked Morah Tara to hold her. They sat together until Bayla felt ready to find new work to do in the classroom.

So what about being first?

The Morahs noticed that the argument, "I had it first!" was coming up a lot in pleas for materials. Morah Tara challenged Eliya and Leah to make decisions in other ways instead.

Morah Tara saw Leah and Eliya deciding who would get to build with a square plank. She said, "Instead of 'I had it first,' let's decide by asking, 'What's your plan?'"

 

Leah took a turn showing Eliya and Morah Tara that she planned to put the plank on top of her tower where she was creating a pattern of 1 plank, 1 shoebox block, 1 plank, 1 shoebox block. Eliya watched her share her plan, then tried to come up with a plan of his own, placing the plank in between two blocks in his tower, and his tower started to fall down. Eliya realized that Leah had a better plan for the plank that he had gotten first. He said to Leah, "Okay, here Leah. I build with small blocks now."

Leah said, "See, mine didn't fall."

Eliya responded, "You can use all of these ones, Leah."

Leah said, "Thank you, Eliya.

Simple Ways to Encourage Problem Solving

Here are some other ways that we encourage problem solving throughout the preschool day that could be useful to try at home:

1. We acknowledge that a child is struggling and ask open ended questions when children get stuck: "I see that you are trying to open your snack container. I wonder what might happen if you ask a friend to help you. What else could you do?"
2. Once the children learn the classroom routine, we ask questions about sequencing instead of telling them what to do next: "You put your lunch on your hook! That was a helpful choice! What are you going to do next?"
3. When a child trips or bumps into something, etc., we give them time to assess the situation on their own and are available if they decide they need help, reassurance, or a hug.

How Does Your Family Solve Problems?

What ways do you notice your child finding resolutions on their own? Do you have any strategies or key phrases that work for you? We would love to hear more about them in school or in the comments section of the blog where we can open up a dialogue. It is great for us as teachers to know what works for your child, and we would be so grateful for anything you are willing to share with us!