DAY 3: Alternative Teaching

As always, with N and K it was another hectic(ly good) day. 

N

N showed me his 3D printing model he made earlier that year in school . First of all, I was so jealous and spent a good 5 minutes in awe that they now teach this as a subject! Awesome. 

A 3D city - how cool!

To probe further, I asked N to explain what 3D printing was, how it worked, what the printer looked like … and so forth. 

He ability to consult Ms Siri + google shows quality research skills. 

Also, K and I challenged him with this imaginative prompt:

“Draw us a man with a turtle (my idea) holding a gun (K’s idea)”.

(unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the final product, but I assure you it was hella good). 

Didn’t look this good - but we can always dream

K

K absolutely loves to move and play, so I encouraged her to create an obstacle course.

The goal was for her to make it, and then teach someone else (ie her mum) how to complete it. 

While K was jumping and running around, I prompted her with story-like questions. Ie:

1. Who are you?

2. Where are you running to?

3. What is the name of this place here? (while pointing to a chair).

She came up with this:

The place is called Ice-cream Land. She’s a spy and her father taught her to be a spy. Btw, her spy father is in Florida (… maybe because her real dad was).

To get a 5 year old to sit down and write a story usually requires bribery of some sort. 

So instead, get them moving! While she was running around having fun, that  made creating absurd narratives super easy!

We ended the day with a book - which I didn’t realise was so morbid…

Some observations:

1. K relies heavily on external reinforcement. When I ask her to read a word letter by letter, after each one she’ll look to me for validation. Ie “Am I correct?”. 

Also I am trying to react less when she gets something correct. Being correct shouldn’t be linked to me praising her, but to her own fulfilment from working hard. 

Next time, when she’s correct, I’ll ask “how satisfying was that, that you got it right by working it out?”. 

Focus on the process, not the outcome.