3/23/10

Today I observed at the St. Norbert Children's Center for an hour. I watched a group of children play with Legos. There were 2 boys and 2 girls at the Lego station. The girls were playing with the boys and they were all making people. They all wanted their person to have either hair or a hat on their head. The two boys were making cars for their people to ride in. They also made a racing area. One of the girls was pretending that her person was swimming and diving off of a diving board, while the other girl was making her person ride horses and made a stable for the horses to live in. I also watched one girl on the computer who was playing a barney counting game. She was singing along to the song that was playing in the background. It was a counting song. She was also dancing around as she sang the words.
Later the children went outside to play on the playground. They were much more active outside than inside. They were all running around on the equipment. Some of the girls were playing with hula hoops and some of the boys were throwing a football around. There was also a group of children playing tag. They were all really enjoying themselves and it was very nice outside. I believe that the nice weather made them more energetic and excited to be able to run around and play outside. I believe that it is definitely important for children to be able to have plenty of time to play outside on a playground. This type of play is a great opportunity for children to do what they want, have fun, burn off extra energy, and get the exercise they need to stay healthy. Children play with more energy and vigorously outside in a playground than they do indoors during play time.

3/2/10

Today I observed at the SNC children's center. The type of play I observed today was not structured play, it was after nap and snack time, so the children were free to play with whatever they liked. I observed four of the children playing with connecting blocks, two boys and two girls. The two girls at first were making towers to see how tall they could get them before they would break and fall to the ground. Later they started to pretend that their straight line of blocks were people, a mother and a daughter. The girl who was playing the daughter was telling her mother that she needed to go to the hospital because she was hurt. Then the other girl who was playing the mother told her to get in the car and they went to the hospital. They continued to play with similar situations. The two boys at the table were playing very differently than the two girls at the table even though they had the exact same toys. The boys were pretending that their blocks were airplanes, cars, and guys who drove the cars. They were more rough with the blocks, making them crash into each other and not taking care of them like the girls were. This observation helped me to actually see how gender can determine the type of play a child participates in. It was very interesting to see, and related a lot to the Children's Play book that talked about gender roles in play. Later during my observation I moved and watched some children play with puzzles. They were using problem solving skills to try and make the pieces fit together. Sometimes they became frustrated and asked me to help them, but with a little guidance they would always figure it out in the end.

3/9/10

Today I observed the preschoolers at the SNC children's center. I watched them on the play on the playground. Many of the kids stayed by the slide and took turns sliding down it. They were having a great time outside and it was hard to keep them out of the puddles. Some of the other children were playing tag or having races. The children were very active and full of energy outside. Their voices became louder when they were outdoors. They were also free to do what they wanted. The children who were on the slide got into a couple arguments about whose turn it was next. An adult had to interfere with this and help them to solve the problem. One thing I noticed is that children play differently outside than they do inside. They seem to use more energy and enjoy just running around and being loud. I think that this type of play is very important, especially in the early stages of a child's life. They are developing motor skills by climbing, running, and going down the slide. They are also burning energy and interacting with their environment. Recess should a very important and key part of every students school day.

3/8/10

Today I observed at Notre Dame for guided reading. I was in Mr. Six's classroom, he is a 2nd grade teacher and their are 15 children in his classroom. But I observed what the other children were doing while the guided reading group was up with the teacher. He takes about 3 or 4 kids at a time for the guided reading group for 15 minutes. The other children are supposed to be working on something quietly or playing a game with a partner quietly. I observed two children playing hang mouse on the smart board. They were very engaged in the game. Hang mouse is just like hang man. They had to guess the letters to figure out the word but they only get so many guesses before their turn is over. The two girls who were playing the game seemed excited and assisted each other in figuring out the word by using problem solving skills. This type of play would not be structured because they were free to choose their own activity as long as they were quiet. The game made spelling fun and exciting for the girls, versus using pencil and paper to write words. I believe that this interactive game was a great way for children to explore with technology and improve their problem solving and spelling skills.

3/5/10

Today was my first day in Melissa Messengers classroom. She has 21 students in her class and includes a lot of play based learning. I thought that her classroom was set up in a great way. The time when I observe the children are in centers. I would say that this type of play would be considered structured. Today I sat in the station called "How to Build a Log Cabin". In this station the children had to make a model to show how to make a log cabin using pretzels, peanut butter, and a graham cracker. The children had a choice to either copy the words on the example or draw pictures. I think that it was a great idea to give the children choices on whether to write, draw, or do both. Some of the children were very into the project and perfected it while others just drew scribbles on their paper. The children who just scribbled did not seem to enjoy the activity as much and were more concerned with talking to me or what was going on at the next station. At one of the other stations the children were listening to "Duck rides a Bike" on tape and following along with their own copy of the book. The children were engaged in reading at this station and seemed to follow the book well. I really liked how Melissa rotated her students through the station and how each station was structured but targeted different skills so the children were not doing the same thing over and over again. I believe that new activities keeps children engaged and excited about play. It is important for kids to have some choices though even in structured play, for example being able to draw pictures, write, or do both. I really enjoyed observing today and am excited to go again.