Ours is heavier.

Blog Number: Three

11th April 2011

Today when we went outside the children ran to out feijoa tree and were excited to see so many ‘massive’ feijoas had fallen off the tree over the week end, I unlocked the shed and got out four buckets for them to share and collect all the feijoas. As we were collecting them I heard the children discussing how heavy their buckets were and who had the heaviest bucket.

This got me thinking, so I ran inside to get the bathroom scales. I took them back out to the children and we got ready to see whose bucket was the heaviest, but as we all know with technology it can be unreliable at the best of times and the batteries were flat, so to compromise. I decided to get the bucket scales the children were eager to put their buckets on the scales to see whose was heaviest. This quick thinking was reflection in action where teachers think on their feet to provide children with beneficial learning experiences. (O’Connor & Diggins,  2002).

Through discussion and observation we came to an exclusive decision about whose bucket was the heaviest but then children started tipping more feijoas into the opposing bucket which made the scales tip the other way. This then became more of an experiment as the children worked together to balance the scales making them even. The children revisited the scales many time during the day, and used a range of different mediums. This is supported by Te whāriki as it states that “children experience an environment where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking, and reasoning (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 88).

Smorti (1999) Stated “the simplest definition of technology I found was that technology is about helping people and solving problems” there for although the bucket scales are not electronic I have come to appreciate them as technology as they were helping the children to figure out who had the heaviest bucket. This is also furthering the children’s problem solving skills.

To extend on the children’s interest in scales and weight, I asked for a colleague to get some batteries in the groceries which she happily got, and at our four year old mat time I brought out the bathroom scales. We found a range of materials to weigh, and then children suggested weighing themselves. The children then documented their finding and wrote their name and their weight on a piece of paper.

 

 

Through providing opportunities such as using the scales I am demonstrating to children that there are a variety of different technologies for different purposes (Ministry of Education, 1996). It is also furthering their understanding of weight, and helping them with their early mathematical concepts and language. Through getting the children to document their findings i am also encouraging literacy skills. During this experience i also witnessed great turn taking and sharing skills from all children.

The children found it interesting that the younger children weighed less while older bigger children weighed more. We all so have twins who weighed themselves and found it highly amusing that they weighed the exact same.

During this activity the children were learning skills that helped extend their knowledge of technology for everyday use. Arthur, Beecher, Death, Docket & Farmer (2008) explain that with the ever changing technologies it has resulted in children now experiencing a range of technologies as part of their everyday life. They were also able to make links between home and the community as they mentioned that they have used bathroom scales similar to ours at home and at the doctors.

References,

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett., & Farmer, S. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings. (4^th ed.). Victoria: Thompson.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he Whāriki mātauranga mo ngā    mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: learning media.

O’Connor, A., & Diggins, K. (2002). On reflection: Reflective practice for early childhood educators. Lower Hutt: Open Mind Publishing

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, 19, Autumn