Chapter Three: Learning Experiences

CHAPTER THREE

Learning Experiences

Learning experiences are the interactions and experiences in which learning takes place. It’s the moment when something familiar meets curiosity; presenting you with the opportunity to act as a facilitator of children’s learning. Your role in this moment is to respond to and nurture that curiosity in a way that invites investigation. These opportunities for learning occur all day throughout the day. Here are some everyday opportunities for learning experiences:

• Two-year-old Peggy tilts her head up towards the wind as the breeze dances across her face. • Five-year-old Scott gently holds a tadpole in his hand while fishing with his family. • Cecilia, a kitchen manager, invites the preschool class to help her pick vegetables from the program’s garden. • Brian, a program director, sits quietly and observes

Kathy, a teacher of two-year-olds. He takes a photo to share with her later. • Quasha, a three-year-old claps her hands as her friend,

Tamara taps the drum in beat. • 6-month-old Donje pumps his legs in excitement when he hears the sound the ball makes when his foot connects with it. Learning is a process not a product.

Learning is a process of building new and deeper understanding about the world and, acquiring and refining skills. (Bickart 1999) Optimal learning experiences promote children’s ability to construct knowledge through exploration and investigation with time to tinker and ponder. They honor and foster children’s interest by engaging them in learning that is active rather than passive. Read the following vignette and notice the process of learning.

Anthony and Sherri wanted to begin introducing letters to their class of three-year-olds. They brought in apples of all colors and sizes for snack time. They asked, “Who can tell me what we’re having for snack today?” “Apples” several of the children responded. The teachers sat in small groups with the children and said, “Let’s explore the apples.” They had a rich discussion around the word apple and the sound an A makes, the fact that apples come in different shapes and colors and why that might be. The children cut an apple and described the inside of it which led to a conversation about seeds and textures. Finally, they ate the apples.

TAKe A mINUTe To ReFlecT.

As you read about learning experiences — what’s resonating for you?

Adults and children benefit when learning experiences build on existing knowledge or experiences and invite them to extend their thinking in a way that is the perfect balance of safety and risk. Learning experiences that are meaningful, exploratory, and actionable activate curiosity and invite the learner to tap into existing wisdom and take a small stretch to extend learning. These experiences make learning enjoyable which make adults and children want to learn more! Optimal learning experiences can be intentional or spontaneous. When you are present and in the moment, you are able to notice things that activate curiosity, create spontaneous learning experiences, and make meaningful connections. Think of yourself as being the trellis and students as being the tomato plant. Your roles as the trellis is to support and guide partnership during learning experiences until they are ready to independently continue to explore and construct knowledge and understanding.

SIMPLE RULE #1 meaningful

Meaningful learning experiences invite the learner to connect something new to the familiar. For example, Hannah has baby dolls in her dramatic play center so that children can: • Practice using gentle touches with others • Engage in back and forth conversations • Experience what it’s like to care for someone else • Cultivate self-help skills as they play

relevant empowering

sensitive context

equity

diverse familiar comfortable

High-quality learning experiences invite the learner to explore and construct by connecting the familiar with something new that the person can use purposefully.

When a learning experience is meaningful, the learner finds value in it. Why is this important? Learning new skills and knowledge is easier when the new connects to something we already know a little about. We can find a connection with our own experiences, interests, and goals. Prior knowledge builds a bridge between what we know and new ideas and concepts. The new learning is a small stretch rather than a huge leap beyond the learner’s capability.

When creating meaningful learning experiences, here are a few things for you to consider:

• Has the learner seen it before? Learning experiences should invite and support learners to stretch their understanding in a way that is achievable. It is much easier to stretch when it’s something the learner has seen before. • Is it accessible in their personal space? Concepts and skills develop over time as learners have the opportunity to explore and interact with materials.

Learners benefit when they can access learning concepts and/or materials outside of the “classroom.”

When learners have the opportunity to touch materials and connect with them, it shifts the learning from mundane to meaningful. What words come to mind when you think of meaningful? Take a moment to reflect. The word cloud above was created by your Wyoming colleagues in the Quality Learning Network.

What words come to mind for you?

Stories from the Field

Here are some stories from the field. Notice the ways in which the learning experiences are meaningful.

Mescha and Kim want to create a learning experience that invites children to strengthen the muscles in their fingers to enhance fine motor skills and encourage creativity. They decide to add playdough, cookie cutters, scissors, paper of different textures, etc. into the manipulative center. While discussing this they wonder if all of the children have access to playdough in their home. To ensure the children could continue to explore the materials in their home, they decide to extend the experience by making homemade playdough with the children and sharing the recipe with families, incorporating photos of the children making and using the playdough.

Jess, a teacher of 5-year-olds, wants to introduce children to letters. In the curriculum she was given, there were letter charts to hang on the wall. While she understands the importance of early literacy skills, the letter charts don’t align with her philosophy about how children learn. After pondering, she decides that she will have the children create alphabet charts in the art center using letters and drawings. As the children create, she invites them to hang their pictures around the classroom. Four-year-old Jacob visits the zoo with his mother. While at the Lion exhibit, she notices that Jacob is captivated. He leans towards the glass cage and his eyes continue to follow the moves of the lion. She kneels down and says, “Jacob your eyes are following the lion — I can tell you’re curious about him.” Jacob nods his head. “Hmm,” says mom, “I wonder how we can learn more about lions.” “I know,” says Jacob, “we can read a book about them.” His mother responds, “That’s a brilliant idea. Would you like to stop by the gift shop to see if we can find one?” Later that evening they read a book about lions and learn together about lions’ natural habitats — the places they live.

Meaningful learning experiences are relevant to the learner’s interest and curiosity; conveying the message nurturing your curiosity is rewarding.

WHAT Do YoU NoTIce IN THe SToRIeS FRom THe FIelD?

examples from Wyoming

Here are some examples of meaningful learning experiences from Wyoming.

As the child experiences helping his grandmother make the cookies, he feels the trust she has in his ability and competence. This helps him to trust himself as he continues to grow and learn. Notice how she allows him to independently scoop and place the cookies on the sheet and how he is fully concentrated on his work.

Notice how the teacher incorporated snow, a frequent part of the children’s environment. Her decision to offer the snow as a medium for exploration results in children learning in partnership.

WHAT Do YoU NoTIce IN THe eXAmPleS?

We invite you to notice the decisions you make to create meaningful learning experiences for children and adults. Use the picture frame to add your own example, using words or photos.

SIMPLE RULE #2 exploratory

Exploratory learning experiences are those that engage children in hands-on investigation and exploration of materials, ideas, and concepts. During exploratory learning experiences, children are their own best resource. They use what is familiar to them and their physical senses to figure out the questions they’ve constructed. What is this? What can I do with it? How can I use it? This curiosity and opportunity to explore is imperative in the learning process.

intriguing investigation

curiosity open-ended

hands-on

child-led explore imagination

Exploratory learning experiences spark curiosity, invite

investigation, and nurture learning. Children are born ready to learn! Think about it. What’s the first thing an infant does when you hand them something? Put it in their mouth to explore how it feels. Toddlers often bang items to explore how they sound. That desire to actively explores follows us from infancy into adulthood if it’s nurtured. When you plan experiences that create space for creativity and support the exploration of ideas or materials, you set the stage for self-directed learning. You invite the learner to begin to ask question and investigate to find answers. Here are a few examples

• What will happen if I…? Two-year-old Michael is sitting on the floor as his mother is cooking. He reaches into the cabinet and gets two pans. After looking in them, he begins to bang them together. • How does this work? Lacy, a four-year-old, is playing in the science center with a scale. She furrows her brow as she notices that when she adds marbles to the left side of the scale, the right-side lifts. She’s curious and begins to try to figure out what makes that happen. • Why does it work that way? Kerri, a teacher of two-year-olds, is preparing for family conferences.

Last quarter, she noticed that conferences seemed to be more effective when they were held in one of the lounge areas. She begins to wonder what it was about the environment that created a more inviting environment for families. What words come to mind when you think of exploratory? Take a moment to reflect. The word cloud above was created by your Wyoming colleagues in the Quality Learning Network.

What words come to mind for you?

Stories from the Field

Here are some stories from the field. Notice the ways in which the learning experiences are exploratory.

Tia, a teacher of 3-year-olds, is sitting in the middle of a small group of children telling a story. “There was an old woman who swallowed a fly, I don’t know why she swallowed the fly.” All the children throw their hands up while laughing and say, “she won’t say why.” Tia puts her finger to her temple and says, “Hmmm, why and fly sound alike-they rhyme. What are some other words that rhyme?” The children then begin to excitedly say words that rhyme.

Gina sits on the ground in her backyard with her toddler, Edward. A burst of wind blows sending a cascade of leaves into the air. Edward claps and laugh as he chases them. Once the last leaf falls he says, “Again!” Gina laughs and says, “How can we make the leaves go up again?” Eddie grabs a handful and tosses them in the air. “You did it, you made the leaves go high in the air” she replies. “I wonder if I can do it, too.”

Exploratory learning experiences invite the learner to experiment, invent, and create; conveying the message it’s ok to try and learn new things.

WHAT Do YoU NoTIce IN THe SToRIeS FRom THe FIelD?

examples from Wyoming

Here are some examples of exploratory learning experiences from Wyoming.

The children love being outdoors. Notice how the home-based caregiver and educator creates an opportunity for them to explore nature around them. Their eyes are focused on the plants and trees around them. Being able to examine nature up close sparks their curiosity and learning. Notice how the adults learn in together with a shared focus on the photos they’re studying. Together, they are engaging in conversations that spark each other’s curiosity and promote collective investigation leading to a shared understanding.

Notice how the home-based childcare professional created multiple opportunities for children to explore materials in the outdoor learning environment. Her use of natural materials to aesthetically display materials invite children to explore and investigate them.

WHAT Do YoU NoTIce IN THe eXAmPleS?

We invite you to notice the ways in which you invite children and adults to explore. Use the picture frame to add your own example, using words or photos.

SIMPLE RULE #3 actionable

Actionable means the learner can easily use what was learned for a purpose. The skills and/or knowledge they can will serve them now and in the future. Here are a few examples of actionable learning: • When Christina plays peek-a-boo with her baby, he is learning object permanence. • When five-year-old Khateem is putting a puzzle together, he’s learning one to one correspondence and spatial recognition. • When Samuel, an Education Coordinator, wedges a folded piece of paper under the leg of his desk to keep it stable, he is recalling balancing concepts likely learned as a young child.

Learning should serve a purpose.

Think about a time you learned something new. Your curiosity was sparked and you enjoyed yourself. How would you describe your experience? Did it feel like it was connected to something of interest to you? Will you be able to use what you learned?

We learn by doing, and strengthen learning by doing.

useable intentional

purposeful connections understanding replicable deepen

lasting

What words come to mind when you think of actionable? Take a moment to reflect. The word cloud above was created by your Wyoming colleagues in the Quality Learning Network.

What words come to mind for you?

Stories from the Field

Here are some stories from the field. Notice the ways in which the learning experiences are actionable.

Four-month-old Leah is grasps for her rattle. When she moves her hand, she hears the sound it makes. Her eyes light up as she repeats the movement again. Noticing her excitement, her teacher Zaniah picks up a rattle and begins to mimic Leah’s movements.

Miss Debbie approaches two 4-year-olds Luis and Carson who are arguing over the use of a firetruck. She gets down on their level and facilitates a conversation offering problem solving strategies like the use of a timer so that both of them can have time with the fire truck.

3-year-old Kisha is playing with the sorting bears. Using her prongs, she carefully picks them up one by one. Once she’s transferred them all from the bin to the table, she sits and looks at them for a couple of minutes. Then, she leans forward and begins to group them by color.

WHAT Do YoU NoTIce IN THe SToRIeS FRom THe FIelD?

Actionable learning experiences invite the learner to actively construct knowledge in way that help them experience success; conveying the message you are smart and capable.

examples from Wyoming

Here are some examples of actionable learning experiences from Wyoming.

Notice how the teacher has engaged the children in learning that is collaborative and actionable. During this activity they are learning mathematical concepts such as measurement and spatial relationships. When adults have the opportunity to engage in open ended play, they gain a deeper understanding of the learning process and can use this to support children’s learning. Notice how this teacher has made two ramps, one that extends straight down and another that has a bend. As she watches the red and green boxes move down the ramps, she’ll notice how they move similarly or differently. Her observations will help her decide what to do next.

Notice how the child’s family created a learning experience using natural materials. They are giving her the opportunity to learn independence, while gaining mathematical concepts such as how object move and spatial directions such as swing up. She’s also learning scientific concepts such as using tools or objects to make something happen.

WHAT Do YoU NoTIce IN THe eXAmPleS?

We invite you to notice the ways in which you invite children and adults to engage in learning that is actionable. Use the picture frame to add your own example, using words or photos.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Questions for Reflection

• How do you support both individual and collective interests of children? • Are learning opportunities connected to a children’s needs, interests, questions or curiosities? • Think of a recent learning experiences you engaged in with children. In what ways did you nurture their curiosity? • Are children able to use materials in the environment in various ways? Tips for creating optimal learning experiences from your Learning Network members:

• Allow ample time for children to explore and engage with materials and follow their curiosity. • Show children you respect them as learners.

For example-allowing children to label and leave materials if they aren’t done with them. • Trust the process of learning. • Think of lesson plans as “planning for possibilities” to allow flexibility on the journey of discovery together.