Seek A Deeper Understanding

Rainbows hold great fascination for the children Deb Curtis works with in her program in the Pacific Northwest, where it’s "often gray and rainy" and "the sun is a welcomed friend." As Curtis explains in her newest book, Really Seeing Children, she and the children created displays of mirrored balls and prisms "to celebrate the sunlight." A few children made the connection that "when the sun is not out, the rainbows are gone. I delight in the theories the children share as together we seek deeper understandings of these amazing phenomena." (Examples of children’s theories: "Rainbows come from the clouds; Rainbows are colorful air.")

"The children's theories show what powerful observers they are of the scientific evidence at hand and also offer delightful interpretations from their unique perspectives. I don't interrupt these spontaneous musings for pre-planned academic activities...I know that embedded in their exuberant explorations are rich opportunities for collaborating, problem solving, hypothesizing, thinking and learning. I don't want to limit the children’s complex intellectual pursuits by focusing on teaching them the 'right' answer.

My priority is for children's learning to include amazement, joy, magic and wonder, rather than activities with no context and dry facts without meaning."

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