Chopsticks

At our kindergarten teachers can sit with children and have lunch with them, when children saw teacher M eating her lunch with chopsticks; it really interests them and aroused lot of questions in their mind.  Teacher M is a new student teacher at the kindergarten for 5 weeks. Child A asked me “why is M eating with sticks”? Child C added “I eat with fork”. I explained to the children these sticks are called chopsticks and Asian cultures usually use them to eat their food, they use it instead of knife and fork.

 Smorti (1999) says that “technology is about helping people” (p. 5) and “technology is influenced by the culture or the society in which it occurs” (p.6). Clearly use of chopsticks is technology and it is helping people to consume food and it is influenced by Asian culture.

I consulted with teacher M to gain more knowledge about chopsticks, as she is Chinese and might have more understanding about it. She told me that the English name “chopsticks” comes from Chinese word “chop chop” which means quickly (Parkinson, 2013).  She showed me her chopsticks which were made of stainless steel and explained different kind of chopsticks and shapes. After few discussions with teacher M, she suggested that she can bring 5 pair of plastic chopsticks which she has at home and children can explore them. I thought it will be a wonderful experience.

To begin with I provided children with five little bowls, as we have  five pair of chopstick. I set it up at a table and in the middle of the table I put a big tray in which different materials such as soft cotton balls, sponge pieces, wool strings and wooden Sushi were kept. The idea was to let children have a go at picking up lighter materials from the tray into their bowl and when they use it on the real food it will be easier for them. Through exploration with chopsticks children will develop fine motor skills and also develop working theories of material world (Ministry of Education, 1996). The skills that children will be using also help them to understand the physical properties of the materials (Ministry of Education, 2007).

I am not very competent using chopsticks, I asked teacher M to demonstrate the proper techniques to the children.  The technique of chopsticks is to hold both of them between the thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand and use them as an extension of your fingers to pick up food .They can be used as tongs in a sense. Through this experience I learned and polished my chopsticks skills and I can associate it with the Māori concept of AKO where I am learning and teaching at the same time (Clark & Grey, 2010).

Below you tube video clip demonstrates how to hold chopsticks.

  Through some research I also find out that the benefits of using chopsticks instead of a fork include stimulating brain development, cultivating good handwriting habits, and improving self-confidence. In using chopsticks, children need to focus and concentrate on picking up food gracefully and peacefully which helps stimulate brain development, instead of jabbing their fork at their food. Using chopsticks uses 30 joints and 50 muscles of the body and is similar to pencil holding and writing grip which will teach proper handwriting habits (Edison Chopsticks, n.d.).

Children’s experience with chopsticks (a technology from other culture) allowed children to explore and use their fine motor skills and provided children with lots of learning opportunities. During lunch time couple of children asked for the chopsticks and it was really fun to watch as the food was running away from them. I reassured children it won’t run away ones you mastered using chopsticks and we had lots of giggles at lunch time that day. We will surely revisit this wonderful experience and hopefully with real food.

References

Parkinson, R. (2013). Chopsticks. Retrieved from   

             http://chinesefood.about.com/od/restaurantdining/a/chopsticks.htm

Clark, B., & Grey, A. (Eds.). (2010). Āta kitea te pea - Scanning the horizon:   

              Perspectives on early childhood education. North Shore, New Zealand:    

              Pearson.

Edison Chopsticks. (n.d.). Welcome to edison chopsticks. Retrieved from   

              http://edisonchopsticks.com.au

Ministry of Education. (2007).The New Zealand curriculum. For English-medium   

            teaching and learning in years 1-13.

                Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki  mātauranga mō ngā  

            mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand:                   Leaning Media.

Google Images. (n.d.) Chopsticks [Photo] Retrieved from

               https://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=camera&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44342787,d.dGY&biw=1366&bih=705&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=nsNTUZ-HAZDTkgXZjIE4#um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=+chopsticks&oq=+chopsticks&gs_l=img.3..0l10.9407.10399.0.11171.14.7.0.0.0.0.252.711.4j1j2.7.0...0.0...1c.1.7.img.4AhOMsTJOTM&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=6856ad5ed2801cfd&biw=1092&bih=564&imgrc=000G6eP7orqV5M%3A%3BGD2IpUq6DGXXRM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.robsworld.org%252Fchopsticks3a.gif%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.robsworld.org%252Fchopsticks.html%3B294%3B290

You Tube. (2007) How to hold chopsticks [Vedio] Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m94My4XkZTo

CAMERA bringing people together

One day when I used some of the te reo phases with children, one of the girls asked me which language I was speaking. This child S started kindergarten not long ago and she is an immigrant from Netherlands.  I explained her about I using te reo Māori and it is a New Zealand language.  I asked S if she could speak any other language than English, S replied “I can speak Dutch as well as English”. 

Later in the day when I was taking pictures of children at the playground, S asked me if she could use camera as she is interested in photography. S went and took some awesome photos; most of the photos were of different toys. She wanted to make a book, so we printed out the photos. I scaffold her through this process (Santrock, 2009).  When S was finished with pasting photos on a bigger paper she asked me to write her thoughts about the photos. I asked S “how can we say it in Dutch?” she translated it asked me to write in Dutch as well. S was really excited as she had never done something like this before.

 It was an amazing experience not only for me but for S. When S translated a word and I spoke it wrong, S corrected me and at that time S acted like a competent peer and she scaffold me through this process of translation.  This can be related to Vygotsky’s “Zone of proximal development (ZPD)” (Santrock, 2009, p. 220). We had lot of giggles and fun writing a bilingual book.

When the book was all finished I asked S if she would like to share it with her friends on the mat time, S was really excited to show it to her friends. During mat time when she showed her book to other children everybody was amazed and S was really proud and happy about her book. Mindes (2006) says that through shared and cooperative learning discussions with peers and the teacher, the children are able to figure out how the task could be accomplished. In the beginning when we started writing book S was not sure about it but we work it out together.

We had lot of giggles on mat time that day as some of the words sound really funny for example monkey was called ‘gedragen’. At home time S showed the book to her mummy and told her about how she translated it in Dutch with me. The mum was really surprised and happy that we made a book in English as well as in Dutch.

 This whole experience was really wonderful, not only do I learn some Dutch words but forms an understanding about the child S’s family and back ground. This experience has surely increased S’s confidence and made her proud of her language and country. Smorti (1999), states that technology is also about solving problems, and S translating her thoughts from English to Dutch is surely a lot of problem solving. This experience also made S and her family feel that they have a unique place at the centre and have a sense of belonging (Ministry of education, 1996).

I believe that all this credit goes to the wonder full technology tool camera, which acted as a bridge between S, her family and the Kindergarten. Because of this particular event S stepped out and expressed herself and talked about the language which she never opened up before. McManis and Gunnewig (2012) say that children working with technology in day to day activities can be a powerful type of learning for self and social skills development. The example of S using her favourite tool camera and forming a book out of the photos she clicked is clearly an example of that.  Children learn most effectively when they are provided with time and opportunities to engage with new learning (Ministry of Education, 2007).

Reference

McManis, L. D., & Gunnewig, S. B. (2012). Finding the education in educational technology with early learners. YoungChildren, 14-24. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201205/McManis_YC0512.pdf

Mindes, G. (2006). Social studies in kindergarten: In D. Gullo (Ed.), K today: Teaching and learning in the kindergarten year (pp.107-115).Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki  mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Leaning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2007).The New Zealand curriculum. For English-medium teaching and learning in years 1-13.Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents

Santrock, J.W. (2009). Lifespan development (12th ed., International). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

 Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in early childhood. Early Education, 19, 5-10.
Google Images. (n.d.) Technology in preschool [Photo] Retrieved from
             https://www.google.co.nz/search?   
q=children+using+cameras+early+childhood&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=QaZUUcuqI8HUkwXFyIHAAw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=705#imgrc=CPlRCqeUVSCqRM%3A%3BA-Ch7XSaBsTRUM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.fisher-price.com%252Fimg%252Fproduct_shots%252FM8072_d_1.jpg%253F1225043718700%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fyainuco20.blogspot.com%252F2010%252F11%252Fearly-childhood-today-are-young.html%3B500%3B500

Use of IPad at my kindergarten

 At my kindergarten the iPad are something children are proud to use.  They feel like big kids when they get to use them and I can see how confident and delighted they feel about themselves.  After the newness wore off  after few weeks, they were saying things like, “Pam Can I practice the ABCs on the iPad today?”  “Can we play the iPad together?  I want to be player one and he wants to be player 2.”  They were also very proud to show them off to their parents and visitors at the kindergarten.  “Look, we know how to use the iPads!  Can I show you?” 

In the beginning when we first introduced iPad at kindergarten, not to our surprise a majority of children knew what it was. Some children but not all were familiar with iPad and some children even have iPad at home. When children see Objects at kindergarten which they have at home they easily form links between the home setting and have sense of continuity at the kindergarten (Ministry of Education, 1996).

I personally think iPads are very useful, in particular for children who wish to investigate special interests.  Some days children extend their interests by watching a  you tube video on sea creatures such as sharks.  Others use children's apps games that promote matching, colour recognition and number games.  The children use the iPad independently, they set the timer, write their name on the list of children who are waiting and take turns to use the iPad. I usually step back and observe children  (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009) and most of them are so socially competent that they know how to interact, negotiate, take turns and look after their peers (Epstein, 2009).

The children mentor and coach one another and remind smaller children to be gentle, this supports Tuakana- Teina relationships amongst children which provide them opportunities to learn alongside others and from one another (Clark& Grey, 2010).There are limitless possibilities not restricted to literacy but also social knowledge and social skills. When children play tea party, hair dressing and gardening games I can see children are playing alongside others and IPad doesn’t carry any notion of stereotyping equipment as boys enjoys and plays with it same as the girls.

The video clip below shows children using iPad with their younger peer.

Smorti (1999) says that “technology is about helping people and solving problem” (p.5) and I can clearly see that use of IPad by children at our kindergarten is helping them to bring the world to them and solving problems. The compact size of iPad makes it easier for children to carry and move around where they want to. I have seen the younger children who want to touch and feel it, which is something so important in those early years as Piaget theory discussed in his  sensory motor  stage (Santrock, 2009).  Children pick up things really quickly when they can touch and feel it and it is something that's practical and easy for them to do

iPads give children accessible opportunities to play with ideas and creations, and Ministry of Education Also suggested that children should get familiarise with materials and technology used to and in the creative and expressive arts (1996). I personally believe that we are preparing children for tomorrow and thus technology tools such as tablets which are huge part of our system and life should be introduced to children at the early age. Isolating children from such tools is not ideal for the future of children as they need to know “How and why the system work and operate the way they do” (Ministry of Education, 2007, P.32).

 Through ICT at kindergarten, children gain confidence in their ability to use technology and an understanding of the role of technology in communication and learning. They also start to learn about using technology responsibly and with respect and get ready for tomorrow.

References

Clark & A. Grey (Eds.), Ata kite ate pae – Scanning the horizon  (pp. 38-47).  Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson New Zealand Ltd

Epstein, A. (2009). Me, you, us: social emotional learning in preschool. Ypsilanti, MI:               HighScope Press

Google Images. (n.d.). iPad [Photo] Retrieved from        https://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=705&q=ipad&oq=ipad&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1292.1848.0.2047.4.3.0.1.1.0.202.466.1j1j1.3.0...0.0...1ac.1.7.img.yhOG-aeidLo#imgrc=IXmEAjqMB3eZgM%3A%3Bs8eIhCeCuSOk4M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fiosnova.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2012%252F10%252Fgallery2_2256.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fiosnova.com%252Fipad-mini-specs-and-information%252F%3B2256%3B1208

MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice. Frenchs Forrest NSW, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Ministry of Education (1996) Te Whariki :he whariki mataurangamo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2007).The New Zealand curriculum. For English-medium teaching and learning in years 1-13.Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents

Santrock, J.W. (2009). Lifespan development (12th ed., International). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

YouTube. (2012). Pre-K  students sharing and iPad [Video]. Retrieved from           http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=s7bCHUt-WF0