In our centre we have a maintenance man who comes and repairs things in our centre. He repairs things such as the lights, doors or anything that is broken. He puts up shelves and regularly checks our heating and alarms. He has become a familiar visitor to many of the toddlers in our centre. Each time he comes in he greets the toddlers with a friendly hello, he then tells them why he has come to the centre and what he is going to do. Some of the toddlers just continue with their play while others take an interest in L and with what he has come to do. There is always a teacher that follows L and the toddlers as the repairs are done.
The other day L came in to put up a new shelf outside to put our sunscreen and tissues onto. We watched as he measured the space and then used his drill to make the holes in the wall. He used his screwdriver to finish putting the the shelf up. As he did this I was talking to the toddlers about the tools that he was using and what they each did. The toddlers covered their ears as he used the noisy drill.
After l had left I observed as two of the toddlers K and J went over to the wooden shelves. K lifted down the wooden toy tool box that was on the shelf and placed it on the floor. She then got out a screwdriver and started to turn it on a piece of the wooden shelf. J also got out a plastic drill and used it on the shelf she smiled as she held it with two hands. When K put down the screwdriver J picked it up and continued to use it. K picked up the tool box and walked around the preschool looking for her next job.
These toddlers are living what they learn. they are modelling their play on experiences that they have seen at the centre and probably at home with their mums, dads, granddads and other family members. Social studies is the exploration of peoples interactions in and with their social and physical environments. (Mindes, 2006, p.140). Through watching L, the maintenance man the toddlers are creating their own experiences where they will learn to take turns, negotiate and compromise with others. Here we are able to use "real experiences to make social studies come alive for the children". (Scholl. 2005, p1). The exploration is continued through "a natural interest in and curiosity about the world around them'. (Scholl, 2005, p.1).
Hi Catherine, sounds like your kids love watching repairs being done. We used to have a similar situation in my centre with a builder and one of our older boys. It's a great experience for the children. I think it's a great entry, but one observation is that you could have made links to children's carpentry play also as this is a big part of their learning with this kind of technology. Not much room for that in the word limit though! Also maybe a comment about safety in this entry could have been a good idea in regards to the children following L around with powertools etc. Is there a rule that they have to stand back a certain distance? Other than that, fabulous. keep up the great entries :)
ReplyDeleteGood reflecting on technology and social studies. You are very good at picking topics. how would you extend children's interests in social studies?
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