The hundred languages of childhood

No Way. The Hundred is there

The child

http://www.thewonderoflearning.com/history/?lang=en_GB

is made of one hundred.
The child has
A hundred languages
A hundred hands
A hundred thoughts
A hundred ways of thinking
Of playing, of speaking.
A hundred always a hundred
Ways of listening of marveling of loving
A hundred joys
For singing and understanding
A hundred worlds
To discover
A hundred worlds
To invent
A hundred worlds
To dream
The child has
A hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
But they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
Separate the head from the body.
They tell the child;
To think without hands
To do without head
To listen and not to speak
To understand without joy
To love and to marvel
Only at Easter and Christmas
They tell the child:
To discover the world already there
And of the hundred
They steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child:
That work and play
Reality and fantasy
Science and imagination
Sky and earth
Reason and dream
Are things
That do not belong together
And thus they tell the child
That the hundred is not there
The child says: NO WAY the hundred is there--

by Loris Malaguzzi
traslated by: Lella Gandini

Documentation: Changing the flow, July 2010

The experiences of speed, distance, movement, measurement and sound of the water engaged the children. The addition of huckleberries a current interest, presented a venue for social interaction and problem solving when a huckleberry became lodged in the funnel.

The huckleberry is stuck, stopping the flow of water: These are the children 's observation, actions and language.

Isabel: “It's stuck. Put more water”.

Zoe: “It puck”

Isabel: “It gets stuck and a water down and can't get out.” (Isabel is responding to the outcome of her request to “Put more water in”). “Not again”.

Isabel and Felix hold cups under the funnel awaiting the occasional drips.

Zoe holds the water table and moves it back and forth many times.

How does a teacher develop and cultivate the art of listening to children? It is easy to hear a child verbally expresses themselves and write it down word for word. But the meaning becomes lost. This is only one way that a teacher must use his or her skills to truly listen to the children.

Zoe says “It puck”.

Zoe is standing on a step stool next to the water table. She observes the huckleberry getting stuck in the funnel. Zoe puts her hand in the funnel with the water and the huckleberry lodged inside and exclaims: “It puck”. She pulls out her hand and places it on the top rails of the water table. Zoe then starts to move the water table back and forth. My first reaction is to say “Gentle Zoe”. Then I listen to what she is saying “It puck”, “It puck”. I realize that she is teaching me something. She is trying to shake the huckleberry out of the funnel by moving the table back and forth. I say “ Zoe are you telling me that the huckleberry is stuck and you're trying to get it out? Zoe says: “It puck”.

“ The challenge is to notice the details of how the children are communicating their thinking as they play and sing... Sometimes this involves introducing a related idea in a conversation with children about what they are exploring.”(Curtis & Carter 2008, p. 139).

*the children 's names have been changed to respect their privacy.

References

Curtis, D.; Carter, M. (2008). Learning Together with young children. St. Paul, Minnesota: Redleaf Press.

The language of technology

This week in my advanced child development class we were asked to think about the idea of "...engaging children with technology" (B.Mathieson, personal communication, October 18, 2010). I am very new to this realm of technology myself and I find it challenging to think of how I would communicate coherently. The world is changing rapidly and I am a witness and active participant to this as I write my thoughts and post on this blog. I have learned to use a web based tutorial, post and respond to discussion forums, use voice threads, create a wiki, and access pod casts.

In reading some of the resources presented this week I am filled with many questions. How would we as educators begin the dialogue of engaging children with technology? How much should we be bringing into the classroom? What methods or mediums of communication will we explore? For instance, there are computers which are present in many classrooms. What about the addition of video cameras, iPod's, iTouch's, MP 3 Players, and scanners? In examining this from a socio-cultural context what web pages or applications would we subscribe to? Will we use Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Wiki's, blogs and websites?

It is clear there are so many mediums and methods in which to communicate surrounding technology. We must be aware and use caution when using technology in early childhood settings if it decreases social interaction, participation and making meaning together. We must be aware of what it is used for, and have limits around safety and security. As teachers we can facilitate the co-construction of ideas and knowledge with technology. Technology has the potential to create a richness for children that enhances their ways to communicate amongst themselves and within the wider world that surrounds them.

"...if we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow"

John Dewey (Cassidy, 2010, www.plan4tech.wikispaces.com/The+Slides)


References

Cassidy, K. (2010). Let's Do It! Planning for Tech in Early Childhood Classrooms. Retrieved from: www.plan4tech.wikispaces.com/The+Slide