ANIMAL FARM

In the block area, there were 4 boys, building blocks. They interacted, shared the blocks and helped each other in building their farm animals. "Hey, hurry up and get that block over there for the chicken to stand on", said child M to child T. T did and they carried on building until they agreed that it was time to bring the animals. This time, I decided to approach them by asking them where would they get the animals from. Child M said, "I'll go home and bring my cat". child S said, "I'll go to the zoo and bring the giraffe and the elephant". Then I asked them, "how would u bring the animals? "I can drive", said child M. "I will ask my uncle to bring his big truck so that the giraffe and the elephant can fit", said child S. "Well done boys, good thinking", I praised. So they went to the small toys corner and bring not only the animal they've mentioned but they bring different types of animals including cows, horses and dogs. They put them in the farm then we talked about their colours, what they eat and we sang "oh macdonald had a farm". They enjoyed it.

Base on the children's interest, they have learnt and develop lot of skills such as social skills, language skills and mathematic concepts. This activity offerred children the opportunities to think critically, solve problems, make good decisions, be curious and open-minded (Alanxender, 2008). For example, when I approached them, I asked them open ended questions, such as 'where would you get the animal from? They started to expand their thinking (cognitive skills) and answered them. These young children have learnt to be independent and develop self helping skills when they had the ability to choose thier own materials, who to play with and how to play with the blocks and the animals.

In my role as an educator, I have discovered that blocks can be a technology because it help these young chidlren to build their farm animals. "Technology is about helping people and solving problems. It is also a creative and purpsoeful activity aimed at meeting needs and opportunities through the development of products or environment" (Smorti, 1999).  This view is supported by  the Te Whaariki as it states that in order to participate in this world, our children will need the confidence to develop their own perspectives as well as the capacity to continue aquring new knowledge and skills (Ministry of Education, 1996).


In order to extend on the children's learning, I would add more resources such as trees, people who look after the animals and so on. These would help them see the bigger picture and be creative about it. We can also talk about how to feed the animals. For example, some animals they drink bottle and some don't. Not only that but we can borrow books about animals from the library. This can help the children have an idea which country can we get that type of animals.


Refrences:

Alexander, P, N. (2008). The proffesional resources for teachers and parents. Excelligence Learning Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=397 on the 21st of October, 2010 at 12:15 am.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he whaariki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Smorti, S (1999). Technoloy in Early Childhood. (pp.5-pp.10). No.19. Autumm.