A Good Old Waiata - with a touch of technology

This old man.... he played one....he played knick knack on my drum.... with a knick knack paddy whack give the dog a bone.... this old man came rolling home!  All together now J  That is the common sound in our infant and toddler room, a sing-a-long with all the children as they read the popular book as a group.  But it doesn’t stop there.

The children have been extremely interested in reading and books.  We created a more reading friendly area for the children to spend time doing what they love, the space being quiet with areas to read together and areas to read on our own.  There are pillows, child sized arm chairs and couches and a little reading loft.  This extended the interest further and now there is no stopping them.  We have a set of sing-a-long nursery rhyme books that have been a hit with the children.  If these books are not out on the shelf or accessible to the children they go to the resource room door and ask for it.  One little boy in particular is crazy about the song book ‘this old man.’  One day when he came in with his mother she was saying that he hadn’t stopped talking about “Tina, man” all morning.  We weren’t sure what he was trying to say and it wasn’t until later that morning at it all made sense.  He was at the resource room door, “Tina!” he exclaimed.  “Tina, man.”  Ding dong, now it all made sense, he was asking for the book, ‘this old man.’  We got the book out and read it over and over ............... and over again, as you do!  Lunchtime came, the boy had already managed to take time out for a nappy change, however he was not going to put the book down for lunch.  After a lot of convincing he had lunch and a sleep.  Then when he woke up, his first words were, “man, man, man.”  I was working on the computer at the time of his request so I suggested we could try and find it on the computer.  I went to the You Tube site on the internet and searched for this old man.  Pictures popped up of different video clips and the boy pointed at the screen, “man.”  I showed him the cursor arrow on the screen.  We moved it together using the mouse pad and then I showed him what button to click and tad da! We were watching the video clip.

It was only a matter of moments before majority of the children were gathered around the table trying to get a look at the video clips we were playing on the laptop screen.  We moved the laptop to a more user friendly space, in the reading area.  The children sat down on pillows and made themselves comfortable.  As we watched and the other activities in the room were taking place, the sound was hard to hear.  So the children watched as I pushed buttons to turn the sound up.  Eyes widened as they could hear it clearer.  Before long we were looking and listening to a range of video clips.  We looked at Thomas the tank engine because a picture of it showed up on the screen in between clips and the children wanted to watch Thomas!

I was rather excited about using the computer to extend the children’s interest in singing and reading.  After using the computer for the research and learning of crickets and bugs, the children were familiar with the process.  In this experience I let my own insecurities go (a little, but it is a start) and allowed the child to interact with the equipment.  Smorti (1999) explains the importance of educators broadening their understanding in technology to be able to scaffold the children’s learning in this area.  I felt that I was comfortable enough in this area, using the laptop and the internet, to be able to scaffold the children in extending their interest.  I feel that it was a fun experience for the children, adding a variety of learning tools to their everyday learning.  In this experience, of following the children’s interest in reading and books, the children’s learning was facilitated through the environment and resources.  “A supportive and helpful learning environment will make it more likely that these goals can be achieved and that children will be self-motivated learners” (MacNaughton & Williams, (2009), p83).

MacNaughton.G & Williams.G. (2009). Techniques for Teaching Young Children: Choices for Theory and Practice. N.S.W, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autum 1999

Cricket Mania!

Over time the children have shown their curiosity in the crickets and other bugs found around the centre.  What has this got to do with technology you ask?  Well, the interest in crickets has led to the children experiencing use of technology in the centre.

It all started in the garage.  While getting the equipment out of the garage a child spotted a cricket in the corner when the climbing box was moved.  As the child investigated the cricket other children showed interest too.  After poking and prodding at the cricket, it moved about and kept hiding.  I captured the poor cricket in a container.  This allowed the children to get a better look at the creature.  The children saw the different body parts of the cricket and this sparked conversation and questions.  Where do crickets come from?  Where do they live?  What do they eat?  Over the next few days the children began noticing more crickets around the centre.  Some of the crickets weren’t moving much, which added more curiosity.  Were they dead or alive?  We got the laptop out and did a search on the internet to find the answers.  Using Google we looked at images and read information on sites about crickets.  We found out that an adult cricket has the life span of 3 months.   We also discovered that crickets liked to eat fruit.  One child wanted to feed the crickets some fruit, so we found some fruit in the kitchen, chopped it up and placed it out in the garden for the crickets to come and eat.  Again we revisited the images using Google again.  This time we printed and laminated the pictures and the children put them on the wall to look at.  The pictures were rather popular and the children began finding more bugs around the centre.  From this interest leading into bugs, together we looked at Google images again, finding a range of bug pictures.  We printed the pictures and displayed them.   The pictures were very popular so using the power point programme on the computer we made a book.  The children helped to laminate the pages and then binded the pages together to make a book for the library.  This was allowing the children to begin developing research skills and the ability to take responsibility in their own learning.  “Children experience an environment where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking and reasoning” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p88).

 Through the children’s interest of crickets and bugs the children became exposed to learning through technology available.  As the children used the laptop they learnt how to use the computer carefully and safely.  As a teacher I was very wary of the children using the laptop.  I felt myself doing most of the work and limiting the children’s use.  This barrier made me aware of my insecurities of children using technology in the centre.  Am I afraid that they will damage it?  Am I questioning their capabilities? And underestimating their ability?  Tsantis, Bewick and Thouvenelle (2003) discussed the myths of using computers impacting on how teachers implement these as learning tools in the curriculum.  I feel that perhaps with my lack of knowledge in computers, I am projecting my insecurity of using computers onto the children.  I now aim to steer away from this and allow my knowledge to expand through the children’s use of computers.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington: Learning Media.

Tsantiis, L.A., Benwick, C.J., & Thouvenelle, S. (2003).  Examing some common Myths about computer use in the early years.  Young Children. Vol 58 (1), pp.1-9