I'll Miss You

Young children spend a great deal of time trying to understand the world.  There are so many different things and so many different people out there that need to be examined, categorized, discussed, and understood.  Some things are concrete and are easy to understand - peanut butter, dogs, cars, rain.   Some things are not easily felt and observed  and are more difficult to understand - sadness, later, manners, humor.  Young children are also very egocentric, which makes understanding difficult in many circumstances.  They know that if a friend hits them, it will hurt.  They do not understand that if they hit a friend, it will hurt.

A few days ago I had a conversation with a four year old boy who was obviously trying to make sense of some abstract concepts. 

Bobby:  I am getting older.

Miss Meg:  So am I.

Bobby:  But I am not getting as old as you are.

Miss Meg:  No, you are not.

Bobby:  You will get older and then you will die.

Miss Meg:  Yes, Bobby, that is right.

Bobby:  Everyone gets older and dies someday.

Miss Meg:  Yes, everyone does.

Bobby:  Miss Meg, I will miss you when you are dead.

Death is a difficult concept for a child.  It is hard to imagine that something or someone will just stop being.  Groups of young children will often play dead.  This games involves having a child lie on the floor while several children announce, "She's dead!".  They will then go to work poking her with blocks or play spoons and then jump for joy when the dead child comes alive again.  Bobby is starting to learn that death is permanent, but it is still not completely real to him.  Verbalizing his understanding of death helps him to better understand the concept.

It is also nice to know that I will be missed.

Conversations

I love talking with children.  I enjoy their thought processes, their view of the world, and their understanding (or lack of it) of social conventions.  I find that talking with children is a joyful experience that often teaches me a great deal and makes me laugh.

Several days ago, while I was talking to two young sisters, I admired the clothing that they were wearing and asked the older one if I could have her outfit when she grew too big for it. The girls laughed (for some reason they laugh often when I am talking to them) as the conversation continued.

Alice: You can't wear this.

Meg:  Yes, I can.

A: You are too big.

M: I think that I would look pretty in it.  Why can't I wear it?

A: You can't wear it.

M: You're mean and you can't come to my birthday party.

A: You can't wear it because it is a size 8.

M: I can wear a size 8.

A: I wear a size 8 because I am 8.  You are older, so you wear a size ...

At this point Alice's father intervened and told her that she could not tell me a size.  When I told him that I did not mind, he told me that she did not realize that sizes repeat, and that someone might be offended if she came up with a very large number for a size.  He was, of course, correct.  Not everyone would think it were funny if she came up with a very large number for a size.

I do, however, really wish that I knew what size she was going to assign to me.

A quality early childhood classroom has a number of learning centers, each of which provides a different experience for the children in that classroom.  Some of the more common learning centers are dramatic play, blocks, art, writing, science, sensory, and the cozy corner.  These centers can change often, but keep the basic intent of the area.  The dramatic play area can be a home, a store, a doctor's office, a produce stand - all allow the children to pretend, imagine, and increase their understanding of the world around them.  The sensory area (or tub) may have water, soapy water, ice water, dry coffee grounds, colored rice - the list can go on and on.  No matter what the center or its contents, however, the rule in the classroom often is that "each item stays in its own center".  Fortunately, our four year old teacher does not believe that all toys are used in a vacuum and keeps some of her toys in nontraditional areas.  She even (gasp!) keeps the tools in the block area, rather than relegating them to a tool bench.  I know that it may seem logical that tools and wood go together, but many early childhood teachers do not follow that line of thinking.

Two of our boys, who love to build all kinds of amazing structures with the blocks, have enjoyed having the plastic hammers available, and spend a good share of their day happily hammering the blocks.  Yesterday they began to build with the unit blocks.  They began by laying the longest blocks side-by-side They began to hit the blocks with the hammer, but discovered that the ends weren't even.  The boys then laid on the floor and tapped the blocks with the hammers until they were in a straight line. Once the base was even, they worked to add to the structure and the base began to take shape.  With each addition they hammered until they were satisfied that it was correct.




When the base was complete, the vertical structures were added.  The two boys would each add new elements to the structure.  Again, each new piece was hammered into place, and tapped lightly with the hammer if it needed to be moved into a slightly different place.  While they built, the boys discussed other blocks that would be needed for their structure.  The new blocks were added one by one, adjusted, and hammered into place.



As the  boys worked, they discussed the structure.  One felt that it was a party boat, while the other felt that it should be a fire boat.  At the suggestion of one of the boys, they decided that it would be a party fire boat. As they built, they thought of things that the boat would need to be complete.  "These are seats for the people on the boat."  "They can climb up here to see where they are going/"  As they visualized and verbalized each item, they searched for the blocks that would be just right to for that part of the boat

After some discussion it was decided that the seats should be located under the tower so that the people on the boat could climb up quickly if necessary.

The party fire boat, when the last block was put on and the last piece was hammered, was a masterpiece.  The boys had worked together to plan and build a wonderful creation.  Along the way they had practiced the give and take of social situations and cooperation, verbalized their ideas and built their language, exercised their long arm muscles, and worked with algebra and geometry by using the unit blocks.  It seemed a shame to put the blocks away at the end of the day, but the story of the party fire boat is captured in pictures, and the next day .... there was another block masterpiece.