I've written another post on the Turtlewings blog - this month we're thinking about images. Won't you have a look?
And please join the conversation that began yesterday about how we support children in dramatic play.
Showing posts with label turtlewings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label turtlewings. Show all posts
09 November 2011
18 May 2011
02 October 2009
Turtlewings Common
Just a quick note today to mention what I got to do last night -- I spent my evening talking with some wonderful people in the Turtlewings Atelier here in Brussels.
They will be holding a monthly evening called "Turtlewings Common", and it is a time for talk, ideas, projects -- anything that the group wants, really. Besides early childhood professionals, there was also a woman from the European Commission there, and a woman who works as a retail consultant. Such interesting perspectives! As the months go along, it will be wonderful to meet more and more people who are interested in collaborating, especially people from different backgrounds.
If you're in Brussels, you should be there, too!
They will be holding a monthly evening called "Turtlewings Common", and it is a time for talk, ideas, projects -- anything that the group wants, really. Besides early childhood professionals, there was also a woman from the European Commission there, and a woman who works as a retail consultant. Such interesting perspectives! As the months go along, it will be wonderful to meet more and more people who are interested in collaborating, especially people from different backgrounds.
If you're in Brussels, you should be there, too!
28 March 2009
Turtlewings Atelier
Up high on my list of recent inspirations is my visit to the Turtlewings Atelier here in Brussels. They had an open house for their grand opening, and I took a few photos of some children at work in the downstairs space.
They have a perfect setup for their overhead projector; the children can interact with the shadows and light, walking right through it and observing it from the opposite side of the screen. I got to watch as the boy built with pattern blocks, and the girls walked back and forth through the sheet, chanting, "Looks like the sun, looks like the sun..."
In the future, this space will be for their recycled materials library. Upstairs is a large table for their workshops, as well as a small selection of books for sale.
I'm hoping to bring my class to the atelier this spring for a workshop. But for now, I'm sifting through posts about past projects on the Turtlewings blog and going through a pretty inspiring link list.
26 March 2009
In Your Hands and On The Wall
I introduced the overhead projector yesterday. I've seen so many photographs, many from Reggio Emilia, of children using materials on the projector's surface. The children worked in groups of three for ten minutes as an introduction.
I was lucky enough to be able to observe all of the groups without interfering and without anyone needing my assistance. Most children laid tiles randomly on the surface for a few minutes and then began constructing objects out of the blocks, like houses and flowers. Some were really interested in the way their hands looked as shadows on the wall, and how the colors looked on their own bodies while standing in front of the light. Others were not interested at all, which is obviously to be expected.
I'm picking up my film after school today -- it includes photographs from a visit to the new Turtlewings Atelier. My husband, my brother and I attended their Grand Opening last weekend. They have a beautiful setup for their projector -- onto a white sheet in the middle of a wide open room so that the children can experience it from both sides. I have mentioned them before - -I was part of a casual meeting in November. They found a beautiful space! If you are in Brussels, you should visit them here. I'll share those pictures with you tomorrow.
Happy weekend!
16 November 2008
Dramatic Play
First, the Turtlewings meeting was wonderful. I met Julianne, who runs the organization, and her husband Peter. I'm looking forward to working with them -- we're talking about doing something with the preschool where I work starting in the spring; and my plan is to keep on attending the monthly Turtlewings meetings.
Now, dramatic play. As a university student, I learned that dramatic play is a center in the early childhood classroom that many people refer to as "dress up". There is also a wide tendency to call it the "kitchen area", I have noticed, most likely because it is typically equipped with child-sized cooking appliances. This, this, and this have all been in past classrooms of mine, and in most preschool classrooms.
I was at a workshop hosted by the University Child Development School in Seattle last spring, and Lella Gandini (from Reggio Emilia) was there, speaking about classroom environments. She said that when she and some other Italian educators first visited the United States, they wondered if everyone got their furniture and supplies from the same place, because all of the classrooms were exactly the same. Everyone in the room chuckled, out of truth and guilt.
What people need to see is that those do not authentically reflect a child's home, life, or interests. They are toys. They are not open-ended. They leave no room for creativity.
And even if you are trying to make your dramatic play area a place where children can go more in depth on a project, and it should be a kitchen, yellow plastic pots and fake stove burners are not going to inspire the children. Dramatic play should allow children to be open-ended and self motivated; and is should reflect their own lives and interests. If it is going to be a kitchen, try to fill it with containers that children would see in their own pantry at home; or with real dishes to prepare a table with.
In my first year of teaching, we would change the dramatic play area according to childrens' interests and the project or topic of study. In my recollection, it was four things over the course of the year: a kitchen, a store, a doctor's office, and a restaurant. The children were engaged in each one, but it was always a magical room transformation for them -- they would arrive on a Monday morning to new props, items, and furniture arrangement. Should children have more of a say in the arrangement of their classroom environment? I think dramatic play may be a good place to try that out.
Our dramatic play area has had one transformation already -- from a tiny area of just a coat rack and a table to a larger place for children to play. On Friday, five "kitties"and one "Mommy cat" were the center of dramatic play action. The area is open-ended, in my opinion -- there are chairs, mirrors, scarves, natural items, our fabulous painted tree stump, animal masks, and small materials like buttons, leaves, straws, paper, and pencils. These things can come and go as well -- nothing has to be permanent. But a child who wants to play as a fox does not have to be discouraged because there is just a toy kitchen -- each child can make it what they want it to be right now.
With "dress up clothes", I again am not one to close off possiblities. And, not to hack on Lakeshore, but these are plastic and polyester play costumes. I would much rather give children the opportunity to use their imaginations -- that is why we use scarves in our classroom. A nice addition, though, would be different kinds of materials, in a variety of sizes, that children can spread and fold and experiment with, or wrap around their heads, waists, feet, or whatever they are inspired to do.
Dramatic play is very popular in our classroom, and I think I will take that opportunity to allow the children to help plan how it should evolve. Our recent conversations about bats, birds, and mud can be our jumping off point.
It is not (and will not be) a carbon copy of someone else's idea for dramatic play. I have gotten many great ideas from other teachers and implemented a version in my classroom, but we're not going to make microphones out of toilet paper tubes unless the children collaborate on/ think of the idea.
So look in the corner of your classroom and ask yourself: is it dramatic play? Or is it dress up?
Now, dramatic play. As a university student, I learned that dramatic play is a center in the early childhood classroom that many people refer to as "dress up". There is also a wide tendency to call it the "kitchen area", I have noticed, most likely because it is typically equipped with child-sized cooking appliances. This, this, and this have all been in past classrooms of mine, and in most preschool classrooms.
I was at a workshop hosted by the University Child Development School in Seattle last spring, and Lella Gandini (from Reggio Emilia) was there, speaking about classroom environments. She said that when she and some other Italian educators first visited the United States, they wondered if everyone got their furniture and supplies from the same place, because all of the classrooms were exactly the same. Everyone in the room chuckled, out of truth and guilt.
What people need to see is that those do not authentically reflect a child's home, life, or interests. They are toys. They are not open-ended. They leave no room for creativity.
And even if you are trying to make your dramatic play area a place where children can go more in depth on a project, and it should be a kitchen, yellow plastic pots and fake stove burners are not going to inspire the children. Dramatic play should allow children to be open-ended and self motivated; and is should reflect their own lives and interests. If it is going to be a kitchen, try to fill it with containers that children would see in their own pantry at home; or with real dishes to prepare a table with.
In my first year of teaching, we would change the dramatic play area according to childrens' interests and the project or topic of study. In my recollection, it was four things over the course of the year: a kitchen, a store, a doctor's office, and a restaurant. The children were engaged in each one, but it was always a magical room transformation for them -- they would arrive on a Monday morning to new props, items, and furniture arrangement. Should children have more of a say in the arrangement of their classroom environment? I think dramatic play may be a good place to try that out.
Our dramatic play area has had one transformation already -- from a tiny area of just a coat rack and a table to a larger place for children to play. On Friday, five "kitties"and one "Mommy cat" were the center of dramatic play action. The area is open-ended, in my opinion -- there are chairs, mirrors, scarves, natural items, our fabulous painted tree stump, animal masks, and small materials like buttons, leaves, straws, paper, and pencils. These things can come and go as well -- nothing has to be permanent. But a child who wants to play as a fox does not have to be discouraged because there is just a toy kitchen -- each child can make it what they want it to be right now.
With "dress up clothes", I again am not one to close off possiblities. And, not to hack on Lakeshore, but these are plastic and polyester play costumes. I would much rather give children the opportunity to use their imaginations -- that is why we use scarves in our classroom. A nice addition, though, would be different kinds of materials, in a variety of sizes, that children can spread and fold and experiment with, or wrap around their heads, waists, feet, or whatever they are inspired to do.
Dramatic play is very popular in our classroom, and I think I will take that opportunity to allow the children to help plan how it should evolve. Our recent conversations about bats, birds, and mud can be our jumping off point.
It is not (and will not be) a carbon copy of someone else's idea for dramatic play. I have gotten many great ideas from other teachers and implemented a version in my classroom, but we're not going to make microphones out of toilet paper tubes unless the children collaborate on/ think of the idea.
So look in the corner of your classroom and ask yourself: is it dramatic play? Or is it dress up?
06 November 2008
Turtlewings
I love when things in your life connect in a way that you know something was meant to be.
A while ago, I was browsing at Urban Preschool and read about Turtlewings. I thought it was interesting and bookmarked it. Later, I was offered (and I accepted) a job in Brussels, but I did not make the mental connection that I knew of this creative program in Brussels. This afternoon, I was browsing through my bookmarks, and I ended up on the Turtlewings website. I finally realized that I was in the same city as this program; and after finding their location, I realized I'm just a few blocks away.
But the icing on the cake came when, at the very end of the day, the librarian for the Early Childhood Center sent the faculty an email noting that he is going to the Turtlewings November common meeting, because he is the librarian for Turtlewings, and perhaps some others would like to go along.
Um, yes, please.
I am really looking forward to meeting these people! I feel like it will be an inspiring evening.
A while ago, I was browsing at Urban Preschool and read about Turtlewings. I thought it was interesting and bookmarked it. Later, I was offered (and I accepted) a job in Brussels, but I did not make the mental connection that I knew of this creative program in Brussels. This afternoon, I was browsing through my bookmarks, and I ended up on the Turtlewings website. I finally realized that I was in the same city as this program; and after finding their location, I realized I'm just a few blocks away.
But the icing on the cake came when, at the very end of the day, the librarian for the Early Childhood Center sent the faculty an email noting that he is going to the Turtlewings November common meeting, because he is the librarian for Turtlewings, and perhaps some others would like to go along.
Um, yes, please.
I am really looking forward to meeting these people! I feel like it will be an inspiring evening.
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