Moving Beyond Trial and Error

04/07/2014

Moving Beyond Trial and Error

We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.
Will Rogers

In the revised edition of The Intentional Teacher: Choosing the Best Strategies for Young Children's Learning, Ann Epstein makes these observations about supporting children's experimentation:

"Children experiment for two reasons: out of curiosity (to see how something works) and to solve problems they encounter (to get something to work that is not working). Experimentation lets them observe cause-and-effect relationships. Their efforts are still largely trial and error early in preschool, but with adult scaffolding, they can become more systematic....

"....To gradually replace trial and error with systematic experimentation... talk with children about what they are doing and the results of their actions. Carry out simple hands-on experiments with easily observed results (for example, paint with water outdoors on dry pavement or listen to the sounds of shakers filled with different materials). Suggest that children try new ways of using familiar materials, and comment on how changing an action changed an outcome. Offer challenges that suggest step-by-step investigation (for example, how could you make the waterwheel turn a little bit faster? What about a medium amount faster? How could you make it go really fast?)"

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