Ichen’s stone ball Scroll to learning area

Three year old Ichen has found something that’s caught his interest. It’s a small stone ball. He works out an interesting thing  he can do with it and is keen to share it with the practitioners and children in the group.

Good for looking at

• Curiosity
• COEL
• Materials
• Socialising
• Effective adult support

Notice

• How is Ichen learning? Which areas of development, engagement and characteristics of learning can you observe?
• Can you see evidence of any aspects of self-regulation?
• In what ways does the adult support Ichen’s learning?
• How does the environment support the Nathan’s learning?
• What is valuable about the materials provided?

Reflect

What are your thoughts about:

• How and what is Ichen learning?
• The role of the adults in this interaction – how did they support Ichen?
• The value of the environment and materials for Ichen’s curiosity and learning?

Respond

What would you do to:

• Extend Ichen’s curiosity in how objects can move and behave?
• Encourage children to come up with their own ideas and experiment with materials? Do you allow enough time for them to experiment and come up with their own ideas?
• Allow children plenty of time to understand properties of different objects and materials?

What next:

• Do you need to allow children to experiment, come up with ideas and solve problems on their own in your setting? Do you know when to offer support and when to stand back?
• Do you offer enough space and time for children to develop their own ideas?
• Do you offer enough open ended materials for children?