SOLSC 2015 #15: How can I convince you?

Each day during March, I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for thirty-one days. My slices will be primarily about teaching preschoolers. Check out the Two Writing Teachers  website for lots more reflections on teaching. Thanks especially to Stacey, Tara, Anna, Beth, Dana, and Betsy for hosting this writing challenge. 

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I have spent a good bit of time this weekend drafting report cards for second trimester. For each preschooler, I prepare a narrative focusing on their social-emotional, cognitive, and academic progress.

It's amazing what jumps out at me, today - in time for a blog post! 

As I write, for example,

• about her love for building ramps, how this is where she heads whenever she has free choice of activities, and that she has a precise plan for what she will construct...or 
• about his willingness and readiness to try every new activity, however, he quickly runs off when something is more difficult or challenging then he imagined...

I realize (again!) that children's play provides tremendous insight into how they learn. 

How he himself learns. 

How she herself learns.

I fully believe adults can help foster stronger academic skills through play. Playing off the two examples above, I would look for ways to help them extend their focus, or ways to help them consider another idea than the one they had originally.

However, writing report cards, it leaps off the page how children are helping themselves develop stronger academic skills through their play.  I see them -

fixing, 

trying, 

persisting,

re-purposing,

imagining,

gaining more patience,

being more flexible,

and more.

Juxtapose this insight with a brief conversation I had recently with an acquaintance, a young father, upon meeting his three year old child, who will turn four late next fall. 

I inquired, 

"Oh, so will he start preschool/pre-k 3 in the fall?" 

"Oh, no, I hope not. He's already in a daycare program. They play too much. I want him with older kids. He's really smart. I'm going to see if I can get him in with 4 and 5 year olds. I want him to learn to read and to write his name."

To which I quickly (and somewhat aggressively, I realize now) responded, 

"May I give you my two minute preaching on this subject? This is the age I work with every day...three year olds...you want him in a good quality play-based program. Let him learn about himself, what excites him, what is fun, how to speak up, ask questions. You want him playing right now, working with other children, learning how to be a great friend. Seriously, don't rush him."

The look my acquaintance gave me as he scooted away assured me he thought I was nuts.

Can a nut plant seeds?

SOLSC #23 Thinking about academics

I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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To know me is to know that I believe in play, exploration, and social-emotional learning in preschool, opportunities for children to learn and enjoy being together.

Something I often wonder -
Do families realize how much true academic work is happening alongside all this play?
Do they believe that social-emotional learning is emphasized at the expense of academics?

I dare to say that

to emphasize play, exploration, and social-emotional learning 

leads to richer, deeper, stronger early literacy and mathematics learning.

Play is the very best way to teach preschoolers anything and everything!


A moment last week -

a boy, playing with playdough and counting bears, building a large boat for the bears. He calls to me, "Ms. Ingram, look! I have 14 bears on this boat!"

Me - "Fourteen? Wow, that is a lot of bears! How do you know there are 14?"

And he proceeds to count the bears trapped in his playdough boat, one-by-one.

I nudge him further, pointing to index card numerals that I have laid out on the table as a part of this activity,
"Is the numeral 14 here? Which numeral matches how many bears are on your boat?"

He studies these and chooses "10."

I nudge him to count the small dots underneath this numeral -
"Do those dots add up to the same number of bears on your boat? Is it the same total?"

Methodically, slowly, one-by-one, he counts the dots on the 10 card and says,
 "No, that's not right. It is more."
He puts the card down and grabs the "14" - "See, this one, this one is right." Then he counts the dots on the 14 card to be sure.

Me - "Wow. That is a lot of bears! And you are right, that is the numeral 14. You have matched the numeral to your quantity."

"Now I am going to have more bears on my boat!," he declares and begins to throw in additional bears and get back to his play, bears in the boat.

All of this takes a matter of moments.

I have intentionally woven math opportunities into the play. At the beginning of the school year, according to my baseline data, this young child wasn't recognizing any numerals. He was not able to identify quantities for three objects, let alone fourteen.

Math in the preschool classroom is intentional and organic - woven into all we do -
- how many kids are at that table? 
- how many children are absent?
- how many dress ups do we have? who is playing family with you and how many is that?
- what blocks will you use to make that bigger? what can you tell me about your design's shape?
- "let's make a number line for our classroom!"
- what will you do next? what did you do before?
- how can you make a bigger firetruck? how much bigger does it need to be?
- is this the same or different? how is it different? 
- do you see any patterns
- who is first? who is second? 
- how many people are in your picture?
- is she taller or shorter than you?
- will this container hold more sand than your container? or less?
- how many napkins will we need for everyone?

When we allow children the flexibility to choose their own learning,
to play and explore with what interests and excites them, and
have faith in our ability to weave math and literacy into this fun,
I have no doubt that
the academic learning is profuse and genuine.

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(A daily share by preschoolers in their own words)

A Story Collage by Shaan

     This is a story for my Mom. The sun is on top and everyone is warm. Ezra Jack Keats is there and Julian was there and he is jumping on something, a special jump rope. There was a mommy of somebody. The bats fly away and they try to get all the vegetables. When the kids get too sweaty, they go back inside. And they have chocolate milk and Ezra Jack Keats and Julian go to school. Mommy goes to work, she never goes back to school. The End.