(side note: I did not actually survey any children...this would require paperwork, and time away from play...I am severely allergic to both)
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| Time launches curiosity and provides ownership of discoveries. It requires GREAT effort and TIME....but letting children own discoveries is worth the effort it takes to be quiet and resist the urge to SHOW. |
What was it? No one knew for sure, and...I wasn't about to tell them!
I am a firm believer in giving children ownership of discovery. This sometimes requires GREAT restraint on my part (trust me, my mouth prefers to be talking and my hands love to show)...but I have learned that the results of letting children own discoveries are ALWAYS worth it!
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| Time launches vocabulary. |
After much debate, it was determined that the purpose of this strange contraption was to launch things. Already the vocabulary benefits of plopping something unknown into a young child's environment were apparent.
"Look! It moves!"
"Whoa! It's stretchy!"
"It's so smooth"
"Hey! I think its for launching stuff!"
"YES! You are right! It's a "canipult"!"
After a quick look around the room, a ball was grabbed and the launching began!
It didn't take long for us to realize that the balls seemed to fly a bit too easily, and a bit too far and hard. So, we quickly did a search for softer items to launch. We agreed that the "Stuff Approved for Launching" or S.A.F.L's would be fluffy pom poms (not the cheerleader type), foam blocks and three lucky stuffed mice (I am certain I saw a look of fear in these little bugger's eyes as I snagged them from their safe haven in the coveted "Nita's Closet" :)
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| Time launches opportunity to fail and succeed. Great skill is required to have a successful launch. Failure happens, but launching is motivating, and so perseverance happens too. Giving children TIME to learn through trial and error as well as ALLOWING them to fail are vital to a child's development. If we never permit children to fail, how will they ever learn to handle failure in the future? Let's face it, failing is inevitable. Resist the urge to help and show....let failure happen. |
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| Time allows trust to happen. The catapult is scary at first. It is noisy, and until the children were confident in what they knew about the catapulting process, all were a bit nervous each time someone executed a launch. |
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| Time launches practice. Notice Jack's eyes? They are practicing for reading someday. Tracking the launched object with his eyes is preparing Jack for reading. He is also comprehending distance and watching to see if his object flies as far as other objects have hurled through space. He is also prepared to step aside for the next child to have a turn, even though he would LOVE to continue launching the S.A.F.L himself! |
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| Time encourages innovation. It took about 45 minutes of launching one object at a time before Erik placed a handful of pom poms onto the launching pad. WOW! The results were amazing! To you and I , this is a no-brainer...of course launching multiple items would be far more awe-inspiring..but to a young child, this moment was thrilling and boosted pride! |
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| Time launches scenarios and story telling. About 15 minutes into the launching fun, stories were being told, and "objects" were no longer being just randomly launched with no purpose. Sound effects were added and children were getting lost in their imaginations. |
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| Time launches problems. Problems launch problem solvers. When several children are launching stuff around the room, there is eventually going to be a problem (no more SAFL to launch because all the stuff is on the floor!). Solving problems empowers young children and gives them the confidence they need to tackle other challenging tasks like reading and writing. Just as important as owning discoveries, let children solve problems too. Encourage them to use tools, ask for what they need and work together. |
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| Time launches creative organization. Chins come in handy to free up hands to help a friend. |
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| Time launches our inner scientist. Children are natural scientists. Never satisfied with the results of one try. They test results and theories again...and again...and again. It was determined that the pool noodles were not very flight friendly! |
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| Time launches cause and effect. Erik had devised some form of technique for each object that was launched. The foam blocks flew better from half way down, while the mice flew the best being launched from the lowest point possible! |
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| Time launches bravery. Some children need to observe for quite a while and weigh out the options in their own mind. Without time, little Trillian would have never had the opportunity to say "I DID IT!!" |
This fantastic morning was inhanced with a MYSTERY WORD. The key requirement of a mystery word is that it be PERTINENT in the lives of the young children in your program. Today, right now....LAUNCH was a very pertinent word that had the potential for LOTS of meaningful, hands-on learning!
During all that child-led exploration of the catapult, the children were also finding the letters for the days' mystery word (recall: "launch"). I am proud to say they figured out what the word was. Did they sound it out? Not totally. What they did was gathered clues. They knew the mystery word began with the letter "L" and enough of the children know the sound "L" makes. They also knew we had been spending the morning launching stuff. They put those clues together and were over the top excited to tell me that the mystery word was "LAUNCH!!!"
Brainstorming and "show and pride" began as we explored OTHER methods of launching.
We were launching the SAFL (stuff approved for launching) in DIFFERENT ways!
1. We launched with our feet!
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| Time provides opportunities for cleverness. Again, time gave the children the opporunity to color outside the lines and try new things. Gavin cleverly put more then one item in his shirt to launch. |
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| Time launches motivation. The results of Gavin's cleverness motivated the children to help him set up for another launch! My crew know the benefits of working together ( a life-long skill) |
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| Time is rewarding! Time and teamwork created this VERY exciting moment! |
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| Time allows children to organize themselves. It is a grand thing to watch children organize themselves into one cohesive force. |
Give children TIME. The content of this blog occured over a 3 hour period -- plenty of TIME was given for all sorts of learning to be launched!!
Do you think the children in your program would benefit from the addition of a catapult? If so....you can purchase them from Jeff A. Johnson at Explorations Early Learning. Jeff handcrafts each one especially to be used for lots and lots of play! Here is the link: I WANT A CATAPULT!! enter the code: "Denita Sent Me" for a 15% discount!!
Give the children in your program time to launch their own learning!! PLAY COUNTS!!!
