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Ladybug Wings
May 21, 2015
If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees.
-Rainer Maria Rilke
-Rainer Maria Rilke
In their book, Learning Together with Young Children, Deb Curtis and Margie Carter give an illustration of the challenges in implementing an emerging curriculum:
"Linda's initial efforts at using an emergent approach to curriculum have been based on trying to develop curriculum plans around 'themes' the children seem interested in. For instance, when they noticed the children interested in bugs, she and her team developed an extensive curriculum plan centered on different kinds of bugs, with activities related to this theme.
"Recently as she thought more about the idea of looking for what was really capturing the children's attention [and looked at some photos of the children's initial interest in bugs], Linda realized that they had totally overlooked a little girl's close interest in the wings of a ladybug. The child was investigating how the wings were sometimes hidden and then appeared. But at the time Linda and her co-workers didn't pay attention to this and just focused on the idea of bugs in general. 'We totally missed it!' she exclaimed in hindsight. It was a great relief for her to hear that this is common for teachers who are just starting to think in new ways about deeper curriculum experiences for children."
Many curriculum books treat teaching as something you do to or for children. Deb Curtis and Margie Carter, bestselling authors in the early learning field, believe teaching is a collaborative process in which you reexamine your own philosophy and practices while facilitating children's learning.
Each chapter in this curriculum framework includes a conceptual overview followed by classroom stories and vibrant photos to illustrate the concepts.
You will learn to create materials and a classroom culture reflecting your values; teach through observation, reflection, inquiry and action; and encourage children to represent their learning in multiple ways, including songs, stories, and drama.
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Comments (1)
Displaying 1 CommentPennsylvania, United States
I believe that when teaching young children you have to be focused on the 'here and now'. You need enough teacher support to be able to notice that this young girl, for example, is focused on the wings. Then you can spend time talking with her about her observations. As is often the case, there are not enough teachers for the type of one-on-one dialogue that is so important. By the time you develop a curriculum plan, the children are on to new interests--we need less time with planning out big ideas and more time spent in mindful-attentive listening to children.
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