A child, or childish?

Children are most often disregarded for their capabilities, especially those who misbehave. Clemens and Gleim discuss using documentation to gain an understanding for children. 

“Believing that the child is competent, we have to figure out his or her behavior when it seems odd to us. We have to learn to see better. Regularly writing down what we see — and regularly taking photos and recording — are tools for improving understanding.”

How do we see better?

Through observing, having our full attention, eyes, ears, mouth, movement, focus, all on the child.  Children are fascinating humans, so fascinating that we adults need to decode children’s true abilities, and help them break through to reveal them. 

“Finding strength and competence in children who appear to much of the world as incomplete or incompetent has made me adopt an unwavering belief that all children are born competent, capable and rich.”

Such a powerful message, that Gleim believes that all children are BORN!! competent, capable, and rich.  

            What do we do to bring out these competencies?

            Is by 4 years old too late?

How do we find the strength and competence in children who are incompetent?   

“Do you respect her? Can you think of her as competent, strong, and full? This isn’t easy, but it is necessary.”

Yes, it is necessary.  We need to see each child as full, strong, competent, and with respect.  Through observing, through documenting, through researching each child, and then each child as a group, building each child, and then continue to research over and over to unravel what the child has been storing since birth. 

So if we teachers go through this researching and documenting, what do we do with it? 

Is it only for parents to see?

Do we share it with others?

How?    

 “While you collect data you send a clear and powerful message to Lauren that she is interesting, likeable, strong and capable, showing her that she is good.”

These observations and documents are especially useful for the child themselves.  They deserve to know of themselves.  When they see themselves being documented and then being able to learn of what they are capable of, the child is seen as important, they see themselves, and they notice what they themselves are capable of.     

Children are important.  They may not be seen as important.  The views of a child is seen as childish, foolish, babyish, silly, as playful, which often associates with mischievous, rascally, spirited, not serious.  But as you change your view of children hopefully “THE CHILD” maybe seen more seriously.    

Excerpt From: Clemens & Gleim. “Seeing Young Children With New Eyes.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/6f7k2.l

By:  Jadelynn Davis

How do we communicate?

What is the purpose of our work in the end of all things?
Why are we doing what we are doing?

These questions all lead to the idea of communication for me.  In the end it is getting the word out to the people of children.

To get the children's voices heard

To get the understanding of children out

To get people to know children

To get people not to underestimate them

To get the word out that children are capable

Two examples of communication from Making Learning Visible and Seeing Children With New Eyes are:

Daily Sheets

Long Distance Communication

Daily sheets on the one hand communicates with parents directly, the ideas and the explanation of teachers and their ways of teaching.  Through the stories that the teacher describes each day explains to parents what the children are doing and in that why it was important, that there was teaching within the playing.  

Long distance communication is a bit more complex since it takes cooperation from two parties to communicate.  But in doing this children are exposed, different parts of the world is exposed, children are seen, support from parents and the whole school is added in the mix, and learning is exercised.  There is so much to learn from long distance communication and so much can be done.  Pictures, phone calls, mailing, faxing, and nowadays there is video chats, which are all ways of communication, which ideas and teachings can be used.  The expansion of "the child" is expressed in the child, the parents and families, school, and it opens the doors for the community, even people across the world.  

What will you do to communicate? 

Why is communication important to you?

Why will you use communication?

What are other ways to communicate?

What do you use for communication? 

What do you say when you communicate?

Is getting the word out about "the child" ever the focus?

By:  Jadelynn Davis

   

How do we help children?

As teachers, how do we help children see themselves as able bodies, physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally?  How do we help children help and notice each other?  

As teachers we have become keen to observing and documenting the children.  And as we all should know that documenting helps us as teachers grow and it helps us help the children.  But how do we help the children help one another?  How do we help children see one another?  And hear one another?  How can we help children understand each other?

“Young children don’t yet understand that others have different ideas and perspectives and that talking with each other is the way to explore and possibly bridge those differences. If children come to our programs sometimes seeing other people as objects, we can help them become more adept at relating to others as people who are in some ways like them and in other ways different.”

Knowing the capabilities of children and understanding their milestones, gives us, the teachers, an explanation of what we should be doing.  So how do we do with this knowledge? 

We build the child!  

We build the child through play

We create activities of interaction 

We build our own vocabulary to express to children 

We plan intentionally!!

We listen to the children 

We are the children's role model 

We consider the children's thoughts and perspectives and ideas 

We allow children to guide their own learning 

We build relationships with everyone we come in to contact with 

We have an unbiased view

And in addition, we document!!

"The effect of documentation (documents, notes, slides, and recordings) is not limited to making visible that which is, but on the contrary, by making an experience visible, documentation enables the experience to exist and thus makes it shareable and open to the "possibles" (possible interpretations, multiple dialogues among children and adults)," (Project Zero, 150).

So how do we use the children to our advantage?  How do we use our documents to our advantage?  How do we help build relationships?

Excerpt From: Sydney Gurewitz Clemens & Leslie Gleim. “Seeing Young Children With New Eyes.” Leslie Gleim, 2014-01-28. iBooks. 

This material may be protected by copyright.

Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itun.es/us/6f7k2.l

Project Zero & Reggio Children (2001). Making learning visible. Reggio Emilia, Italy: Reggio Children. 

Documents?

As an early childhood educator all I know is play.  All I know is to focus on the children and to build the child as a whole.  So why do we need documents?  What are these documents?  Who are the documents for?  What do you document?  Clemens and Gleim ask "Is it something we do or is it something we make?"  

When I think of the word documents, what comes to my mind is...

Paper work 

Piles of forms

Rules

Writing

Information 

Records

Facts 

Official use

Objectives

Files 

None of these definitions of documents have anything to do with children.  So why is it important?  Why do we need rules and forms?  Why document?  

Well I'm glad to say that documents and documentation have an important use in the early childhood field.

-Clemens and Gleim indicates “We collect data, we think about what we’ve collected, we consider it with our friends and colleagues and we produce something to share with the children, their parents, the school community, and the wider community.”

-Documentation according to an early childhood educator, from my perspective, is a record developed by teachers of instances and experiences from straight from children, whether verbally, through play, through interactions, etc.

-Documentation is the true examples of children's capabilities.  And through documentations parents can become aware, the community can become aware, founders and the government can become aware of all the wonders that children have in stored.  And most importantly the children can visually see their abilities when documentations are shared on the children's level.  

-Documentation is not only for the use of capturing the child's abilities, but it's also used for the teachers.  To reflect on their teaching and handling of the classroom.  To discuss daily activities, what's working? what's not? what are the children interested in? Are the children understanding?  Or is the information not being grasped?  

Do will you document?  And if so how are you using these documents to its fullest capacity?

Excerpt From: Sydney Gurewitz Clemens & Leslie Gleim. “Seeing Young Children With New Eyes.” Leslie Gleim, 2014-01-28. iBooks. 

Who will be the change?

I often hear phrases such as...

-It doesn't take much to "WATCH" a kid

-Watching children is so easy

-You watch children for a living?

-All you gotta do is set the kid in front of the TV and thats all

-Being a teacher is terrible pay

-A monkey can watch a kid

-All you gotta do is discipline them then they will listen

-That's what you do is play all day with children?

These phrases just boggles my mind, as I try to understand where are these people getting their information from?  Do people honestly not know what it takes to be a teacher of children?  Yes, the preschool age group may be easier then elementary, high school, and college aged students, but seriously, you honestly think its that easy?


"Since 2002, when the No Child Left Behind law was passed, American teachers have been mandated to follow scripts found in teacher’s manuals that accompany textbooks, and to test children with standardized tests several times each year. Practically, this means teaching only the “official” text without veering from what is prescribed."

I would like to add, that if all you're doing is following a scripted lesson plan, then yes, this sounds easy peasy!!! I mean, who wouldn't want to be a teacher?  The planning is done for.  All you need to do is the grading, which is probably easy as well since it's all prescribed anyways.

But on the contrary...

"People in early childhood education (ECE) who teach in preschool programs are affected by the change in expectations of children about to enter Kindergarten, and people in ECE who teach kindergarten, first, or second grade are swept up in the mania for testing and pulled away from the real job, helping young children to grow and learn in ways that interest them and serve the community, to focus on “their creative capacities and their socio-emotional and physical development.”

Yes, that's a mouthful!!! but in short, this "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" is bull crap on the part of the children.  Yes the thought is there to not allow children to be left behind, but in doing so, this law is leaving the child as a WHOLE out = which means it's leaving...

the adventurous child out

the athletic child out

the imaginative child out 

the creative child out

the wild child out

the artsy child out
the loving child out

the squirmy child out

the celebratory child out

the loud child out

the quiet child out

the shy child out

the cheerful child out

All these aspect of a child is being left out from this one bill that only focuses on the academic.  As an early childhood educator you look at the the child as a whole.  In order for the CHILD as an individual TO GROW teaching according to the now is a MUST.


But this can change, this law can change.

“It will take lots of love and courage and political wit to induce our politicians to change these policies which utterly fail to acknowledge the uniqueness of each child. Our ability to effect this change will come as a result of looking with open hearts at children, parents and teachers, listening to them, and exchanging learning. Then we must find a way to convey changes that are needed to those who make policy. Action based on what our heightened consciousness and close observation show us will result in changes that benefit children and schools.”

BE THE CHANGE!!!

Focus on the child

Not what the adults want

Not what the statistics need

Not what tomorrow wants

FOCUS ON THE CHILD NOW!!!

Be the change for your child today!!

“Through observing closely and being open to new possibilities, by taking time to reflect on what we’re doing, we increase our own competence. We must abandon the idea that we already know what is here. What we know is influenced, bounded and constrained by our past experiences, and today’s new experiences give us fresh data to process, and what we see this afternoon may challenge what we believed this morning. Thinking all the time takes work, but it sharpens and develops insight — something every good teacher needs.”

The children need us.  It's not so easy to raise children in a developmentally appropriate way.  It takes hard work, commitment, time, energy, and most of all CARE!! in order to be an effective teacher of children from zero to eight.

Early childhood is needed, so who will be the change?  What will you do?  When will you do it?



Excerpt From: Clemens & Gleim. “Seeing Young Children With New Eyes.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/6f7k2.l