Frogs - Taking Advantage of Real Life, Hands On Learning

"If it's not in the hand, then it's not in the head or the heart!"

~ Bev Bos

Strolling along a nature trail, throwing rocks into a lake, or playing on a playground is where you will find us on most days.  We typically get out to a park or playground every day, and allow our children to take us on all kinds of adventures.  What a gift it is to see the wonder of the world through their eyes.  On one such trip recently, we came upon a lake brimming with tadpoles.

YES – We can bring out our nets and catch some for you all to explore.  

YES – You may walk into the water with your shoes on (or off).

YES – We can catch more than one.  

YES – We can take them home for further exploration and learning.

YES - You may hold them.

This type of hands-on learning is ideal - 

to spark interest

for better retention

and because its fun.

Thus it begins – the life cycle of a frog adventures.

Catching tadpoles

Watching tadpoles

Scoop 'em up!

Got some!

The wonder!!

YES - You may hold them.

Growth of a Tadpole

"Look, this one is the smallest."

"This one has hind limbs!!!  He must be the oldest.  Will he be a frog soon?  Let me pick him up for a better look."

We watched a short video about the Life Cycle of the Frog

An invitation to explore the tadpoles.

He put one in a petri dish for a better look.

Using a magnifying glass.

"I'm drawing the whole tadpole family."

Our hopes are that the tadpoles continue to grow and our children get to watch the metamorphosis   Once they are frogs (fingers crossed), we will take them back to their lake and set them free.

How rewarding!

Tell me and I'll forget;

Show me and I may remember;

Involve me and I'll understand.

- Chinese Proverb

- AK/RL

Invitation in Green

This summer we struggled to maintain enjoyed the benefits of a bountiful garden. We had more summer squash than we knew what to do with, so we gave a lot away and made a lot of squash muffins (think "zucchini muffins" but with squash...yes, it works, but it's not the same). We also had a lot of okra - yum! And we soon discovered that it was better to pick small okra in the morning because by evening they were too tough to eat (seriously, they grew THAT fast). Anyway, one day we had some giant okra, so I decided to create an invitation in green. We'd already done the Yellow Invitation using the squash so it made sense - why not?!

 I set up an invitation on the light table after collecting a number of green tools for measuring, cutting, writing, and general exploration. Lately Addi shows interest in having a variety of collected items to create with, so I really did include a a lot (last year this many items would have overwhelmed her, so it's important to research your child's individual interests and needs when setting up an invitation).



Addi immediately took the lid off the homemade light table and brought it to the ground along with all the supplies; she always knows just how she wants to play, lol. Then she set to work pouring the paint into the translucent cups.  She noticed the cups with paint were now opaque and explored how to completely cover all the cups...the green popsicle sticks worked well.

"I can see through these, but not that one. Can you help me? Oh, I got it."

This summer her interest in letters grew, so I try to include them in most invitations. I didn't know how she would use them in her work; she started off by painting around them while singing a song from one of her favorite books (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom).

"Weeee said D to E F G I'll beat you to the top of the coconut tree."
"K is out of bed & this is what she said, dare double dare you can't catch me..."

And she painted her hand, around her hand, and made a hand print.



"I'm painting my fingers, not your fingers. Is that cool?"

Luckily there was quite a lot of paint on the ground because Addi LOVES to spray and wipe up...well, she loves to spray. And she likes knowing she can get her own cleaning cloths out of the closet.

I make my own cleaning products, so she's welcome to spray away!

Researching our children's interests can be a fun challenge as long as we don't set ourselves (or our children) up for failure. There are several ways to do this:

• Does your child work more deeply with a few items or many?
• How does lighting affect his/her play?
• Include your child's favorite colors
• Include an object your child visits often (lion, letters, etc.)
• Consider a theme: color, animal, letter, medium (art, sand, water, etc.)
• Give yourself a pep-talk before setting up a potentially mess-making invitation, "This is going to be messy and fun. The more mess the more learning. I will ignore the mess until after dinner if I have to, even until after bedtime." If you start to panic, focus on the sheer joy on your child's face!
• Keep your sense of humor and playfulness.
• Follow their lead: if they want you to play you can whisper, "what should I do?" Otherwise you can simply enjoy the show.
• Jot down their reactions and responses. Their facial expressions and words can bring new and deeper meaning for everyone.
• Let go of how you want the materials to be used and instead notice how your child chooses to use them - become curious! "Why did he paint the cup rather than the paper? Interesting: she took apart the light table before using the other materials! I wonder why she included the horse?"

Raising children is full of magical moments when we are able find within ourselves the time and space to watch and listen. I hope you'll find some today...or tomorrow!

Yellow Invitation

I have to make "To Do" lists or I'll get very little accomplished. Recently my daughter noticed my list on the front seat asked, "can I highlight the words on your paper?" She'd recently witnessed her Dad using a similar highlighter while working, and this was her chance to do some equally important work. "Sure!" I had pictures of her highlighting work, but now I can't find them...or maybe I don't really want to showcase all the things I have to write down in order to remember to do them...surely some of you can relate!

A few days later we had a GIANT yellow squash in our garden - too big to be tasty (and frankly, I was thrilled because we've eaten so much squash this summer I don't care to see another until next summer). Anyway, I wanted to find a way to include the beautiful yellow color into an invitation and remembered Addi's recent interest in highlighting. So I set up the invitation to include words for highlighting and multiple yellow writing utensils. I was curious to know how she might use the different objects.

Simple invitation...forgot to include squash for picture.

"Mom, I'm highlighting these words."

She was initially very interested in highlighting the words. Then she became interested in using the yellow writing mediums on the squash. Finally she compared the different yellows on the squash versus the different yellows on the paper. She concluded that "squash isn't easy to highlight."

Invitations are one way to research a child's interests. Sometimes the invitation is used according to our plan, other times children change it to better meet their interests, and sometimes we may consider an invitation a "flop." But they always give us insight into our child's ever-evolving mind.

The "Invitation"

An invitation is simply and extension of our children's play.   Its a way to either build upon existing knowledge and delve deeper into the interests and curiosities of our children, or a way to inspire engaged exploration - to inspire an outpouring of ideas, questions, and emotions.    An invitation can be anything.  It can as simple as a bowl of strawberries sitting on a table or as complex as something like THIS: 

Ornament Invitation

We usually set up invitations when our children are sleeping (or even when they are engaged in independent play).  Most of our days are spent outside playing and exploring nature, but when our children show a deep interest in something (or if its a rainy day), we use those times to extend their play (through invitations).  There are also times where our children take an active role in setting up an invitation (I guess it wouldn’t really be considered an “invitation” in that case, would it?  At any rate, there is value to the child playing an active role.  There can be a lot of great opportunities to learn during the setting up process.).

Invitations can be accepted, denied, played with and then cleaned up, or left out for days to revisit.  Its all about free play so we never force our children to engage in anything we set up for them.  Is it worth the mess?  The time?  The energy?  In our opinion – absolutely.  Everything we do for our children is “worth it” – even the invitations that flop.  We may find a sense of disappointment in the flops, but when an invitation is a hit, that makes up for all of the flops. 

Invitations can be

OPEN ENDED

snow sensory bin

glow painting

 Invitations can be

SUGGESTIVE

light panel dragon fly

exploring color

The Beginning and End of Color

Invitations can

HAVE A GOAL 

(though exploration is not limited to that goal)

Invitation to Cook

Some invitations require more guidance than others.  The important thing to remember is to offer guidance and join in without taking over.

(These are just a few of our invitations.  Want to see more?  Let me know.)

- AK (MESE, MECD)