AnonyMouse_30128 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Just reading Ang123's post about polar regions brought up a question that i've been thinking about for a while. Do you sometimes follow your interests rather than the childrens? You see i am a terror for seeing fab things like making igloos out of milk bottles and thinking this would be fab at pre-school, i think these new experiences are important for the children...after all some children only have very limited experiences nowadays(IMO) and i am sometimes reluctant to follow things like Peppa pig and Ben 10 when we could be creating the most fantastic igloo and chatting about something that they know nothing about...surely this is as important as following their interests....otherwise their general knowledge will be very limited. I have to say that when i am doing next step planning i often see it in more 'global' terms like 'exploring with paint' 'mark making' or den building which can be taken in many different directions. I do think that it's important that we enjoy ourselves too and that reflects on the children's enjoyment...i am often to be found in the middle of a carpet with a group around me creating something or just having a chat...but if ofsted were to visit well..... i would hope they could see the benefit ! Humm ...just rambling really....please indulge me it's Christmas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_8457 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I agree with you but think it's up to us to try to use their interests to develop their KUW though. So maybe have Ben !0 off to the North Pole for a mission... Peppa Pig could be learning about something at school? We have a box of dinosaurs that, if left to their own devices, children fight with. We have bought some books and also use the PC to look up the dinosaurs, to try to find out what they might eat etc and how they might have lived and lead play that is more 'educational'. Of course they probably did fight but why? We build them homes, make them paper leaf food and send them on adventures. Then when the adult leaves the carpet they go back to fighting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 I guess i am still rather uneasy about using commercial products ...especially those that are television led. It concerns me how much children watch nowadays and ben 10 is certainly not a favourite of mine as there is far too much fighting IMO. The dinosaur one is interesting isn't it...after all how much information do children have about them? (i have some who are obsessed and know lots!!!) but they look like monsters and so monsters fight don't they?? I am not suggesting that i dont take these things into account but a child could show me 10 interests in a day i might choose to follow one of the other 9 rather than the ben 10 theme! For instance we have a young chap who has a ben 10 lunch box and likes wearing his ben 10 t shirt but he is inclined to fight so choosing this as his interest can become a problem...i would rather choose his other favourite of trains to follow! Interestingly he is one of those children who have very limited experiences and would be one child who requires a variety of new ideas. Sorry this is a really rambling post...definitely no real thread to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_5970 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I agree with you Finleysmaid, I think its really important to introduce new ideas to children as well as using children's own interests. Yes many children are interested in characters from popular culture and I see nothing wrong with that. But some children would never find out about say the weather, the stars and moon, apples, Diwali, etc etc if we didn't plant the seed. Like most things, I think its a case of striking the right balance. But sometimes easier said than done. Beehive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_3307 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I'd say of course it's ok to introduce things children don't know about! And also if we were to follow all children's individuals interests all the time we'd all go mad (well in a 30 child reception class anyway!) Adult directed ativity is just that - we introduce it. We use playful experiences and maybe these are rooted in things the children have brought with them but doing something utterly new is just as valid. By widening their world we are educating them about possibilities. It's about a balance isn't it.And how do you get awe and wonder if you're not surprised sometimes!! Cx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I always incorporated my and staff likes and specialities during the year... a story or a picture or even a prop helped an interest which is so easy to spark at this age.. we became quite adept at it.. and it helped that it made the staff animated and eager as well as the children. For me it was always a story I loved read or told and ideas came form that.. could change and be as diverse as I felt the children needed.. bear hunt was always my fave.. could tell and work things around it without a book and the children loved it.. another staff member liked the Gruffalo and could do the same.. then a third was a gymnastic coach so she incorporated this in many ways .. took the younger staff a while to get the confidence to do this but would let us know and we would start off something with the children which they would then run with.. each time we started and showed an interest in something just like the children do and they picked up on it and we all went with them form there.. We thought all the time we were expanding the children's own experiences and allowing them to learn that we too had interests and liked things which they could help us with .. we had lots of fun with it and it gave the staff the enthusiasm to pass on to the children, Suppose in a way this is where the topics were useful, but often they were the wrong way round, what we wanted first then the child.. now it is a bit of both.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_26037 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I definitely think we need to follow our interests too - we're more likely to have decent background knowledge about a subject for one thing. I know we don't need to know everything and often it's better if we can discover along with the children but I also know that if I'm unsure about a 'must do' topic my hesistancy in talking about it can make something so hard to follow it becomes boring even if it wasn't in the first place! I think sometimes having an 'interesting' topic can be about how you introduce it. I had a couple of days about India earlier this year. I pinched an idea from somewhere on FSF (thank you whoever it was - worked really well) and did pass the parcel as my lesson input - between each layer was a glue to India (picture of the flag, a Diwali festival, a sair etc), we had Indian music to accompany it. I was all ready to change at the drop of a hat but they were all interest, engaged and asking lots of questions and really enjoyed the afternoon but not one of them had shown a drop of interest in India before that. Introducing new experiences is really important too. My first topic for next term is around caves so today I had a small group at a time to find out what they knew already/what they would like to know - lots of caves are dark/spooky/creepy and bears/bats/bugs/spiders live in them. I asked if people lived in them - utter incredulity from all but two. One said "sometimes if they're poor" and the other said "they used to but not any more". After hearing this another child said "Oh yes, but they're not people they're cavement" I don't, at the moment, have any idea where to take this - look out on here for posts about this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_19782 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 We have friends who live in a cave settlement in Spain. There are people all over the world still living in caves I should think, I know they do in Australia too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I have visited one area in Spain with cave dwellings, fascinating. It also reminded me of these. Troglodytic Village Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_4619 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I am sure that some "caves" in Shropshire have been lived in in my lifetime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_26037 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Thank you! I'm sure there are plenty of 'lived in' caves around - I think that would be an interesting angle to go down with the children and perhaps a good way in to highlighting some differences in culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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