The holy grail of education, primarily with younger preschool kids, is for them to be having so much fun in the process that they don’t even realize they’re learning. We want them so engaged and so engrossed that they’re completely unaware of their own growth.
This is what little Revi (almost 5 years old) and I set out to do for this video. Using colorful glass stones she calls “dragon tears,” I set up several games for her which involve grouping. The first game is for her to make two uneven piles the same, by transferring dragon tears from one pile to the other. The second game is splitting one big pile of dragon tears into different sized groups.
Every time we learn something, it’s a chance to be inspired. What we do every second paves the way for connective and inspirational moments. Throughout the video, you’ll see my guiding principles:
• an overall approach based in love & kindness
• always following her lead
• giving her space to think
• no judgement nor pressure
• when possible, including easy items around the house
• when possible, connecting to nature
Also, here’s an exact breakdown of every teaching strategy I employ with her:
01:30 Begin with something easy, to build her confidence.
03:00 She says “byoom” so I repeat “byoom” in the same tone as hers. This is a simple act of mirroring and attunement.
03:47 She tries an incorrect approach, but I don’t say anything. This gives her the chance to self-correct, which is critical.
04:20 Simple words of positive encouragement.
04:30 Upon seeing that she’s lost, jumping in with questions to help her thinking. The questions intend to be simple, to help her regain her engagement. Thus I lead off with, “which pile has more in it?” Then the next questions are binary in nature, meaning, she can answer in only 1 of 2 ways (i.e. this pile, or that pile). Binary questions are great to help students get themselves unstuck.
05:45 I celebrate that she asks a question. Questions must always be encouraged. In my answer, first I acknowledge the logic behind her question. Then I redirect her back to the task.
06:25 to 06:55 I gave her a full 30 seconds to be lost in her thoughts. I truly believe that the act of extended deep thought is under attack by modern society. We need to battle to let our kids experience uninterrupted episodes of deep thought.
06:55 I gave her a reframe of the challenge, to set her up for success.
07:20 Held back from telling her she got it right, to let her figure it out.
07:30 to 08:25 I didn’t fully let her off the hook, by asking and re-asking her questions to make sure she completely understood. Then moving on when realizing that any more questions would belabor the moment.
08:48 “Thank you for asking.”
09:05 Following her lead, by asking her if she wanted to do one more game.
10:20 I pulled the plug when she was done. So important to keep the experience positive, so that she’ll want to participate in the future.
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