Project
When children are given ample opportunities to explore and satisfy their interests and ideas, they can make meaningful connections. “Connecting the dots” from each of these experiences can lead to amazing discoveries and insights. As teachers, we help children to explore and develop their curiosity as well as helping them to think about the connections between the dots. To make these connections possible, documentation is essential as it is the inspiration that makes projects possible. Each activity, each conversation, each collaboration can lead to something wonderful!
Project Example
Kay’s Pizza Restaurant
From Parent
1. Book project (summer school 2019)
I was so surprised and happy when Ann told me Kay started drawing things for my birthday at school, because I told her I wanted her drawings for my birthday when she asked me at home. I was even happier how Ann closely observed what Kay was doing and saying and put them altogether to make a book!
2. Scrapbooking (September 2019 - )
Scrapbooking was a great idea by Ann to further elaborate Kay's book project. Whenever she found interesting things or she was having fun outside of school, she always asked me to take pictures and send them to Ann for scrapbooking. She seemed so happy to share her findings or feelings with her teachers and friends at school.
3. Camping / Tent making (Winter 2019 - )
We started taking Kay to camping when she was 2 years old, and she seemed to be proud of her experience and knowledge about camping when her friends were also interested in outdoor activities at school. When the teachers told me Kay was acting as an expert in camping at school, I was surprised to know how she observed and remembered the details about camping techniques such as using pegs and ropes to hold the tent.
4. Cooking / Pizza making
Kay's favorite activity had always been playing shops, restaurants and cooking. She also loved writing recipes or menus too, which was probably the influence of her book making and scrapbooking project. When we started the home quarantine in April, we did lots of real cooking together. She always wanted to cook something for her family or friends.
5. Secret pocket letters
I could see her interest in writing started rising when she did the book project in summer school 2019. When we started the home quarantine, she was more interested in writing alphabets and hiragana but I was not sure if I should teach her the correct writing. Ann told me I didn't have to teach her the writing but we should enjoy writings together, so she suggested we exchange secret pocket letters which Ann and Kay was doing at school. She loved this idea and started writing more and more.
6. Pizza restaurant (May 2020)
Her favorite cooking was pizza and her favorite playing shops was always the pizza restaurant, so I suggested we do a "real pizza restaurant" in our garden during the home quarantine. She was fascinated with the idea and started working on it right away. She wrote the invitation card to her grandparents, made the menu and the signboard, planned the table layout using Lego and prepared some deserts that she wrote on her menu. On the day that the restaurant was open, she seemed a bit nervous as she knew it was a big project for her but she proudly put up her signboard at the garden entrance and set the table like we used to do in our camping. Her pizza making skill was really good as we made pizzas so many times by then. She seemed so proud and happy when her customers (her grandparents) loved her pizza and everything she prepared for the big day. I could not believe how much she could do by herself and be so creative in preparing everything in this pizza restaurant project. I realized that the accumulation of all those small projects lead to this and it made her so assure of her findings, feelings, experience and knowledge. This was exactly the kind of early childhood education I wanted Kay to have and I was so happy that TCG could offer it to her.