“Remember you have to share” - Growing children's social competance

How do teachers grow childrenʼs social competence?

“Remember you have to share”, “Use your words” and  “We donʼt hit around here” - are we really helping children when these practiced phrases spill forth smoothly form our lips as we rush on to the next group of children? I think our intentions are sound - to support children to work things out, think for themselves and become independently self-regulated. Yet I think we can do better.

Itʼs spring and I wonder how much time and effort might  be going into producing daffodils, fluffy lambs and tissue blossoms? What about the real stuff? What about the issues that affect children such as fairness, friendships, rights and rules? How much time is spent on ensuring social competence and social literacy is foregrounded and embedded into everyday conversations and happenings? Itʼs easy to plan an art activity around making daffodils. Itʼs not so easy to engage in deep discussions about what really matters. When a child is feeling hurt and upset brushing over issues with predetermined phrases like “We are all friends here”
wonʼt do it.

We might think we have ʻdealt with itʼ but underlying will still be the hurt and the impact this has. Some children will be learning ʻIt is ok for me to hurt othersʼ, some children will be learning ʻAn adult wonʼt help meʼ, and some children will be learning, ʻWe only have to be nice while a teacher is in the roomʼ. More worrying still is that children will learn that the culture of this place allows one person to hurt another - physically or emotionally.

Itʼs about relationships... read more

It starts with teachers... read more


Read full article PDF

Alison Brierley is a Project Facilitator of the Educational Leadership Project (Ltd), a provider of professional
development for early childhood teachers in New Zealand.
For more information visit the website: www.elp.co.nz

Brierley, A. (2011). “Remember You Have to Share” - How Do Teachers Grow Childrenʼs Social Competence? R e t r i e v e d  f r o m : http://elp.co.nz/

Lion Templates

 

Isn't this mask beautiful? Get the template for it and other lion masks and lion paper creations like the folding paper lion and other paper animals and the moveable lion held together with a split pin. I remember making these when I was about 4 or 5!



OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES at early play:

Time to get inspired, grab your coats and head outdoors for play and learning:
Sand play
Leaf Hunt
Mud play
Shadow play
Create a fragrant garden
Gardening with children
Nature rubbings
Nature table
Looking for insects
Make a bird feeder
Create a lizard garden
Playgrounds part 2: Imagination Playground Park New York
Earth Day everyday
Wonder of water
playgrounds worldwide


JOINED THIS POST IN AT TUESDAY TOTS

Mothers Day quotes, rhymes and cards

Thanks Karen for this card

Mother's Day is coming and I thought you might like some different ideas to try when creating something for Mothers, Moms, Mum...so here we have lots of Mother's Day ideas. It is a mixed bag of quotes you could use on an artwork, a letter or a card for Mother's day: some are cute, some are funny and I hope 1 appeals to you. There are also templates for Mother's Day cards and coupons.

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.
~ George Cooper

A mother's role is to deliver children once, and by car forever after.

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.  

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new.  ~Rajneesh

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.  ~ Jewish Proverb

A mom's hug lasts long after she lets go.

A mother's heart is a patchwork of love.

A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done.



Get Mother's Day card templates.

Get Mother's Day coupons to print out.

 

 

Mother's Day lettering ideas

Food for thought about gifted and talented kids

“Adults constantly raise the bar on smart children, precisely because they're able to handle it. The children get overwhelmed by the tasks in front of them and gradually lose the sort of openness and sense of accomplishment they innately have. When they're treated like that, children start to crawl inside a shell and keep everything inside. It takes a lot of time and effort to get them to open up again. Kids' hearts are malleable, but once they gel it's hard to get them back the way they were.”
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

I cannot teach anybody anything (REVISITED)

I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think. Socrates

This really is my basic premise to learning and teaching and it shapes the way I work as a teacher, a parent and a grandparent. While I think of my self as a teacher the way I teach may be different to you. It's just the way I am and the way you are.
I like to present an invitation to explore and that is how I set up most of the activities for children. Here is an example:

• Place some rocks and some smaller pebbles and a few leaves and a few wooden animals or plastic animals together. 
• A child comes along and there are no expectations of what to do. 
• As a teacher I just observe, unless I am asked verbally or in gesture to join in. 
• What ever happens is wonderful, whatever happens is a learning experience for me and hopefully for the child.
• The next time I see that particular child, the one who wanted to catch a lizard to put with the habitat they created with the rocks and leaves, for example, I try to find that storybook about lizards  or Photo book about nature and insects, or help them create a lizard habitat in the garden. 

You see I cannot teach them anything... I like them to discover it for themselves through their own interests and their ways of seeing the world. 

How do you teach? I would love to learn...

RESOURCES:
 
Lizard's Home

Incredible Lizards: Fun Animal Books for Kids With Facts & Incredible Photos (Exploring Our Incredible World Children's Book Series)

LINKED UP AT: Tuesday Tots   THE SUNDAY PARENTING PARTY

What's new at early play

• A simple clapping song - lyrics and video.
• A little brown rabbit - fingerplay.
• Lullabies - for calm times.
• early play on twitter 
• easter basket templates to make your own easter basket
• you can get free early play ideas sent to you each month. Just add your email below

Email:


               HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

Easter templates for free use

Image from picmonkey

See all the simple Easter templates for use with preschoolers or older children:

• Easter Eggs - simple shapes
• Easter basket templates
• Easter colouring sheets
• Easter Animals
• Easter chicks

Rolling down the hill

I remember loving to roll down a grassy hill when I was young. Did you do this?
Another thing we use to love, which combined outdoors and laughter, was spinning around and around and then falling down flat on our back with eyes wide open to watch the world go spinning around. Going on the tire swing was also great fun. All these activities are loved by most children and stimulate the vestibular system which is the balance centre in the inner ear. As a matter of fact it is immature in infants and young children and they need these activities. Luckily they are fun and come naturally for most. Some children however do not enjoy these activities and should not be forced to participate.
More on this vestibular stimulation soon.

Easter ideas abounding for preschoolers

Thought I was overdue for an easter roundup of ideas for early play, so here we go...

EASTER IMAGES:

Simple easter egg templates - free 

Rabbit photos - free to use

Easter eggs - free to use

Vintage Easter Images - free to use 

EASTER CRAFTS and ACTIVITIES

Easter Resources for early childhood

Easy Easter Craft Ideas

BOOKS:

Easter reading for the early years

EASTER FAMILY FESTIVALS IN AUSTRALIA