References 

Anderman, E., & Maehr, M. (1994). Motivation and schooling in the middle grades. Review of educational research, 64 (2), pp.287-309.

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Dockett, S., Farmer, S., & Death, E. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4^th ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Thomson Learning.

Copley, J. (2008). The young child and mathematics. Washington, D.C., USA: National Assoication for the Education of Young Children.

David, T. (1999). Changing minds: Young children learning. In T. David (Ed.). Young children learning, Paul Chapman, London, pp.1-12.

Mindes, G. (2006). Social Studies in Kindergarten. In D. F. Gullo (Ed.). K today teaching and learning in the kindergarten year. (pp. 107 – 115). Washington, D.C., USA: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, He Whāriki Mātauranga mo nga Mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early Childhood Curriculum.Wellington: Learning Media Ltd.

Osterman, K. (2000). Students need for belonging in the school community. Review of educational research, 70 (3). pp. 323-68.

Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

Scholl, M. (2005). Social stuies in action. Young Children. Vol (62) (4) pp.1-5.

Tsantis, L. A., Bewick, C. J., & Thouvenelle, S. (2003). Examining some common myths about computer use in the early years. Young children. Vol 58 (1), pp. 1-9.

Wardle, F. (2007). The role of technology in early childhood programme: Early childhood news. Retrieved September 16, 2010, from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychilhood/article_print.aspx...

Yelland, N. (2007). Shift to the future: Rethinking learning with new technologies in education. New York, USA: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Children learning about “volcanoes”

Reflective Blog Four

Date:  14-9-10 (Tuesday)

Most children were fascinated with volcanoes. Children were going to make a volcano. I helped and supervised children for safety reasons. A teacher placed a large pan on the table with an empty bottle in the middle with the top off. Children used modelling clay to make a mountain of vertical ridges round the bottle. Other children mixed liquid detergent and baking soda in a cup and then poured it into the bottle in the middle of the mountain. Another child put a few drops of orange food colouring into the mixture. I took the pan with the mountain to an outdoor bench and asked children to stand back. The other teacher added white vinegar to the bottle. The mixture bubbled up and out of the bottle. Children watched the foaming “lava” curiously as it poured down the volcano.

Learning was going on for children kept on asking questions. A asked whether there were volcanoes nearby. B and C asked why there were volcanoes and what happened to people during an eruption. I showed them a map of volcanoes in Auckland. I told them “One Tree Hill, Three kings, Mt. Eden, Mt. Wellington are medium-size ones and Rangitoto is the largest in Auckland. The nearest one to the Centre is Mt. Wellington”. We took them outside where they could see Rangitoto Island. We told them a brief history of its eruptions and formation. When we were back inside, we shared a book of Maori myths associated with Rangitoto. In the afternoon, B and C continued asking questions about volcanic eruptions. They were so worried about their safety and the safety of the community. I told them that Rangitoto was not likely to be active again and it was being monitored, if there were any new activity, the community would be warned. Children had a lesson in social studies because they explored “people’s interactions in and with their social and physical environments” (Mindes, 2006, p.107).

The recent Canterbury earthquake made children aware of the devastation brought by natural disasters. Children showed their concern for the safety of others because they had a sense of belongingness to the community. Anderman & Maehr (1994) claimed that teachers should emphasize on cooperative learning rather than competition in learning so that children interacted with each other and depended on each other to complete the task; helping each other as well as caring about each other’s learning (Anderman & Maehr, 1994). This learning experience also helped to build caring and supportive adult-child and child-child relationships (Osterman, 2000). Mindes (2006) also emphasised involving children in collaborative learning activities that develop a community of learners (Mindes, 2006). In addition, Osterman (2000) claimed that children’s sense of belonging to a community stimulated their intrinsic motivation to learn. Children would show pro-social behaviour had a sense of identity, more able to regulate their behaviour and to take an active part in the programme (Osterman, 2000). I think there is a need to introduce earthquake drills in the Centre so that children know what to do when an earthquake or volcanic eruption occurred. At the same time, I will extend children’s learning by asking them to look for more information in the Civil Defence website for survival guides during an emergency. If any disaster strikes, they would be able to save themselves and others.

Children learning about “islands”

Reflective Blog Three

Date:  7-9-10 (Tuesday)

A group of four children aged 4 ½ learned about “islands”. I started the activity by explaining to them that special names were used for certain landforms. I used a world map and pointed to Australia asking them what they noticed about the continent of Australia. A notice that Australia was surrounded by sea. I told children that Australia was an island. An island was a piece of land surrounded by water. They were then asked to find other examples of islands.  C pointed to New Zealand on the world map. I asked them “How many islands make up New Zealand?” B replied, “Two”. I extended her answer by asking children the names of the islands. Then I pointed to North Island and South Island on the map. Children spent more time finding islands such as Tasmania, Madagascar, Colombo and Cuba etc. Next, I divided the four children into two groups. I put two pieces of blue plastic sheets on the table for children to work on. I passed some green playdough for children to use. The blue plastic sheets represented the sea. Both groups moulded an island. I realized that they understood the concept. Then I suggested that the first group moulded the North Island and the second group moulded the South Island. They looked very closely at New Zealand on the world map as they were working on the playdough. There were lots of discussions and interactions going on.

I recognised that children were having a lesson in social studies as well as gaining, experience in using one of the communication technologies--playdough. Mindes (2006) asserted that topics in social studies could enhance children’s critical thinking, problem solving and acquisition of knowledge (Mindes, 2006). By dividing the children into two small groups and giving them a problem to solve, I promoted cooperative learning in children. Mindes (2006) argued that through cooperative learning children learn cooperative problem solving by expressing and justifying one’s own ideas, listening to others and discussing different opinions and solutions (Mindes, 2006). Afterwards, the two groups put the playdough of North and South Island on the same sheet of blue plastic. Arthur et al (2008) maintained that collaboration with peers had the potentials to create a ZPD when those peers were more knowledgeable or capable. Meanwhile those who were more capable also benefited from the experience for they accommodated their communication and interactions to recognise their peer’s understanding and involvement (Arthur et al., 2008). Interactions between children became a powerful learning context. They learned from interactions such as arguments, disagreements or consensus as they worked towards the common goal of moulding New Zealand.

This learning experience stimulated further learning. B asked where Christchurch was. A replied that it was in South Island where the recent earthquake happened. D told us that she saw on T.V. collapsing houses, cracks on roads. B asked why earthquakes happened and what volcanoes were. I took two books from the bookshelf on those topics for them to share and asked them to look for information on the internet at home and share it on the next day. Scholl (2005) stated that it was vital to be open to children’s questions and to follow up on their interests (Scholl, 2005). Realizing that they wanted to learn more, I decided to plan another activity of demonstrating to children volcanic eruption and showing them the location of volcanoes in New Zealand.