Reflection 3 - Rustic woods
I noticed Pa and Sa (pretend names) came across a box of woods and blocks around the carpentry corner. Are these rustic woods useful?’ they asked. Rustic woods are their interpretation with these woods. They carried the box of woods and blocks to the table. The children decided to dig into the box and took out some woods. They sat down and tried to figure out what they can create from these pieces of woods. They talked among themselves and agreed to create a tree. They put the woods on the table, stood them on the round block leaning to each other. Oh no, this does not work. Pa turned around and said to me, I know, this can only work if we use the glue gun. How about something else, I asked. No, not nails they are too small and dangerous. It did not stop the children there. They looked for further stuff to add on to their creation as you can see in the pictures above. MacNaughton and Williams (2009) emphasise that children extended their discoveries into other materials and equipment by offering “open-ended materials in a variety of areas will spark children’s imaginations and speak to their desire to continually rearrange and combine materials for exploration and inventions” (p. 3).
Developing children’s initiatives gain confidence for them to take over responsibilities for enquiring and for testing ideas to solve a problem (Ministry of Education, 1996). Children’s creation by making sense of these natural materials; raised their self-awareness of the natural world which is respecting and appreciating the natural environment (Ministry of Education, 2007).
The children used non-digital technology wood to build their decorated trees with other various objects. The children develop and present their own ideas in constructive play. Prairie (2005) suggests that “process is how children learn, such as exploring or experimenting” (p. 191). A child’s learning in early years discovered through (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008) interactive process between the child and the environment, as well as other children and staff.
Allowing children to make meaningful learning of their own play develop “reflective and creative thinking as they contribute ideas and try them out with others” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 96). Children enhance learning by sharing their thoughts and ideas with others. Children gain knowledge by exploring these rustic woods with curiosity to answer their own question by creating a tree and its decoration. Children were able to solve their problem by activating their own imagination and ideas. There question was answered with what they have created from their creative name, rustic woods.
Through this observation, I would prefer introducing technology to children as suggest by the Ministry of Education (1996) to solve problems and build their self-confidence. I believe it is fundamental to introduce and encourage children in their early age to use technology. It gives them confidence to overcome fear and prepare them to become history makers in life. I acknowledge what the Ministry of Education (2007) says about the purpose of developing a broad technological knowledge for children. It is a way of preparation for them to take part in society as knowledgeable citizens and later in life access to technology related careers.
Smorti (1999) also suggests that “technology is also a creative and purposeful activity aimed at meeting needs” (p. 9). So for children to acquire new knowledge about technology they need to be introduced to the how and why it is useful in life. Technology has a major influence as part of changes we face in life. I suppose with this experiment, children should have been introduced to technology earlier in order to acquire the capability to “represent their discoveries, using creative and expressive media and the technology associated with them” (Smorti, 1999, p. 8).
References:
Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2008). Foundations of early childhood education: Teaching children in a diverse society (4th ed.). Boston, United States of America: McGraw Hill.
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices for theory and practice (3rd ed.). New South Wales, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aoteroa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum: English-medium teaching and learning in years 1-13. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Prairie, A. P. (2005). Inquiry into math, science, and technology for teaching young children. Clifton, Canada: Thomson.
Smorti, S. (1999, Autumn) Technology in earlychild. Early Education, 19.
