Tuesday, December 10, 2019

12/10/2019

Collaboration and the Sharing of Ideas

"I will help you...that's what friends do."

Throughout the different experiences offered in KW today, children worked together sharing ideas for problem solving, creative ideas, and collaboration on tasks. The children have been referring to this as "copying" in a positive, playful tone, showing the joy they find in the shared experience.

While working on the collaborative light project children wondered together about materials and methods for attaching items to the light's frame. Here's some of what they said:

Alexandra holding up some copper brillo-type material she chose to work with: "I have a question: how will I get this to stay?"
Austin & Alexandra (answering her own question): "Wire!"
Alexandra holding wire up to the brillo at the frame: "Can someone help me bend this wire?"
Sam: "Use wire benders." (He hands pliers to Alexandra.)

Sally: "I have wire. What could I use with it?" She looks around at the materials out at the table.
Sam offers a few suggestions including: "We have beads..."

Later, when Sally was helping Louise and Alexandra try to attach some materials to the frame: "I will help you...that's what friends do."

When children were making holiday messages relationships were at the forefront of children's decisions and interactions.

Louise began drawing a tree. Joslin and Lou Lou liked her technique and drew similar trees. Austin later drew a similar tree in his own style.

Variations of the Tree

Joslin and Lou Lou collaborated on a message for Joslin's brother, Lochie. While delivering the message to Lochie's mailbox, Elyse pointed out to the children that Jane didn't have any messages. Joslin and Lou Lou made Jane a message. Then they noticed Giacomo did not have a message in his box, so they made one for him as well.

Austin worked on a detailed message for Jack including a tree, baseball, and baseball players; all things he knows Jack would like.

Children's Workshop