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Posts Tagged ‘teacher aaron’

Nov
10

Learning Empathy in the Preschool Years

Posted in Child Development, parenting

“Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other – it doesn’t matter who it is – and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.” – Mother Teresa

A 3 year old child is playing a game of tag on the playground. She trips and falls down and then begins to cry. A neighboring peer comes by and he says “are you ok? I’ll get you a band-aid so you feel better.”

I saw this last week at school and it reminded me how truly wonderful it is to see children show signs of an emerging empathetic personality. We all want our children to be caring, loving individuals who have empathy for others.

Empathy truly is the skill of taking the perspective of others and thinking about it before acting. Children who have this skill are usually very aware of their own emotions and are aware that others experience the same emotions they do.  A child who is empathetic knows the appropriate response to an emotion, whether that emotion is seen by adults as positive (e.g. excited) or negative (e.g. angry). Empathetic responses are actions responding to caring feelings of another individual.

Before the preschool years, we know from observation and well-known developmentalists such as Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson, that toddlers are primarily egocentric. “This is my toy.” “I want to go here right now.” “That is mine.” The egocentricity is so evident throughout even infancy because children are discovering themselves and are showing signs of expressing their needs. The primary use of emerging language skills is quite often to express need, so it’s no wonder toddlers are all about themselves.

The preschool years however, mark the move from egocentricity to empathy – at least the potential for it anyway. Children become more helpful and caring during these years, although it can be a struggle. She is still wondering whether to be egocentric or helpful to others in problem situations.

There are many reasons why we want her to understand that empathy is important.  In particular, empathy is vital for children to form healthy long-lasting friendships. Healthy peer relationships give a child not only a sense of safety and security, but a higher self-esteem. Also, a child who shows signs of empathy typically does well to prevent bullying throughout the school years.  In fact, children who self-report empathic feelings for victims of bullies have been shown to be 64% more likely to play a role as a defender or to intervene when bullying occurs. Research also shows that if she develops good empathy skills now, she’ll have better emotional regulation during her school years. One study even indicated that scores of young children on an empathy measure were positively correlated with scores on standardized tests of reading, spelling, and math at age 10 and 11.

So how can we help? As adults, we can promote empathy by (1) helping children to recognize their own feelings, and (2) help children to recognize the feelings of others. Ask questions like “where in your body do you feel angry, sad, happy? Recognize and verbally label if they have clenched teeth, red faces, big smiles, tears, open bodies, or closed bodies. “You are smiling, this means you are happy.” Then help them see the difference. “Now you are jumping up and down, so you’re excited. Earlier you were clenching your fists, when you were angry.” Then, provide children with opportunities to talk about their feelings. “When that coffee shop closed early, we couldn’t get our hot chocolate. That made me frustrated. How did that make you feel?”

Help children to recognize the feelings of others by observation. “Susie is frowning because she is upset.” Or “Jason is running around outside because he is ecstatic.” Use both observations of both facial and body expressions. Even in story books, help children to recognize the emotions of the characters in the story.

Then, help children to develop appropriate problem solving skills. Show them exactly how to solve problems. As parents, we can do this by recognizing the problem (“she took the streamer out of your hand”). Discuss the choices available (I can get help from an adult, I can get more streamers, or I can ask for them back). Then, talk about what the consequence is of each choice (If I ask for them back, she may say no). When they choose, ask them if it was a good choice or not and support positive instances of problem solving whenever you see it.

Make sure that apologies are genuine. Research and good evidence based practice says that forcing apologies leads to shame and guilt instead of genuine remorse. Instead, promote the sharing of feelings. “He is very sad, I wonder what would help him feel better? What could we say or do? You could say you’re sorry or give him a hug. Maybe he wants a drink of water. Let’s ask him.” This helps children understand that when others are hurt or even when they are feeling happy, that it’s our actions which can have a positive effect.

Finally, good empathy skills develop in healthy, warm, safe environments. Research shows that children who grow up with warm, caring parents versus those who don’t, is correlated with high levels of empathy.  However, be sure to make rules and expectations clear. Be supportive, but be consistent. This makes it easier for children to understand and follow rules. “I cannot let you use your body that way. This is how we use our bodies.” Or “when you gave her the pitcher of water when she asked for it, that was a good way to eat at the table.”

Most importantly, be a good role model for your child. Children model adult behavior, so reflect on what kind of emotional responses you want your child to do. Research shows that parents who have positive responses to problem situations have children who develop positive behaviors during school years.

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -Bonnie Jean Wasmund

-posted by Teacher Aaron, who is so empathetic he still cries every time he watches Beauty and the Beast.

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Jun
24

Reflections on My Kindermusik Year

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Child Development, Music and the brain

Just like many of you, I am now beginning to reflect on this year in Kindermusik. I am reflecting on what kind of person and teacher I was before the year started, and I am reflecting on what kind of person and teacher I am now. A Chinese proverb comes to mind: “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

What I have come to love about Kindermusik is that now, at the end of the year, as I look into your faces and I look into the faces of your children, I know deep down that what you all take with you as you continue on is something that you’ll never forget. It comes from the foundation of how we teach: through play. Every day we get to play with our children, and in the classroom, I know that as a teacher, it is my goal to help you as caregivers and teachers of your children, to show you what you already do so well, and build on it even more. Take for example:

-          A richer vocabulary
-          Better verbalization
-          Higher language level
-          Better problem-solving strategies
-          More curiosity
-          Better peer cooperation
-          Higher mathematics skills
-          Empathy
-          Prediction of other’s preferences and desires
-          Control of impulsive actions
-          Increased motor control

These are all examples of skills we want our children to learn so they can have everything they need to be happy and healthy. Now pick two or three of these things. Think of an example from this past year in Kindermusik where you saw these skills emerge while you were playing and singing and dancing with the children. Reflect on what happened, what you were doing, what kind of play it was, what the children said, what you said, where you were, etc. What did you notice? What do you notice now that you didn’t notice then? Sometimes when we play with children or see children playing together, we don’t always make the connection that their play is helping them learn important skills, but it happens every day.

Learning happens in many different forms. When we get older, there is more time spent on formal and structured learning. We sit down in a desk, we learn from books, and lectures, and so on. However, to truly learn and absorb a concept, there must be structure and chaos. Everything that we learn during structured parts of our day is processed and absorbed into our long-term memory during the unstructured and more chaotic times. We see this every day. A dance with specific steps to follow on the beat is an example of structured learning. Open music play during a steady beat is an example of a more free and open learning. Both are equally essential for learning experiences to happen.

This is why play is so essential to learning and is the foundation of everything we teach. But I am hardly the first to think so. In the 1970s, Israeli psychologist Sara Smilansky conducted research on the role of dramatic and sociodramatic play (dramatic play with others) in cognitive and socio-emotional development. These long-term studies were among the first of many that link children’s ability to engage in dramatic and sociodramatic play to their later academic success.

For example, I was not alive during the Civil War. I know, big surprise. But I am a huge history buff. I can vividly recall most everything I learned in a history or literature class. Problem solving in schools requires a great deal of make-believe. We have to imagine conceptual constructs all the time. Imagining a story and writing it down, solving arithmetic problems, finding a variable in calculus, determining what will come next are all things that require an imagination and a sense of make-believe.

There are many things in education we learn about that we never directly experience, like my anecdote about the Civil War.  Having this ability to make these constructs and imagine these concepts is a learned skill. It emerges in play. That is why children with a strong foundation in play so very clearly have the skills they need to be successful in their education, and can confidently make their own choices.

As I look back over the year, I think about everything we have learned. Each concept in we address in class, all the songs we’ve learned and skills we’ve seen our children develop, and I see that at the heart of all of it, is play. Education should always be this fun I think. In my book, school should never be boring, and play should always be at the heart of everything we do with our children.

-posted by Teacher Aaron, who leaves you with a quote from Ignacio Estrada: “If a child cannot learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.”

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Apr
26

The Scientific Method… before Kindergarten

Posted in Child Development, parenting

When I think of science, I usually recall my attempts at chemistry, physics, and biology. While I did thoroughly enjoy the subject matter, to this day I still vividly remember how unbearably hard I had to work because it was so rigorous. Most likely because it require a whole other side of my brain that was dominated by the artistic conceptualizing side.

However, science isn’t about memorizing data or facts, it’s about learning how to use a method of inquiry. It is a way to organize curiosity. We do this at a very young age. Infancy, in fact. When babies come into the world, they learn through their senses. Touch, taste, smell, sounds are all data that helps infants organize their physical world around them. Children continue to learn through their senses in their lives, in fact, we as adults do too.  As early as toddlerhood, children begin showing that they receive data and organize it. It could be a child stacking lids, or arranging toys by color or by size.

That is science! In order to be scientific, one must do science! This is when we ask questions, conduct investigations, collect data, and look for answers.

With young children, the best way to conduct science is to use natural phenomena. Why? Because children learn best when they can use their own knowledge as a stepping stone to new knowledge. Children need to have a chance to ask questions, do investigations, and use problem-solving skills. As adults, the best way to make this happen is to create or use an environment that naturally creates problems we have to solve.

For example:
David: “What is swimming in there?”
Teacher: “That’s a tadpole! Someday it’ll be a frog”
David: “But how does it become a frog?” (asking questions)
Teacher: “Let’s find out together”

The teacher and David could take out a book that has information about how tadpoles grow legs and lose their tails and develop lungs. Or the teacher could take out models of tadpoles at different stages of development. As adults, we help children to gather the information. Then together, the teacher and David could make a chart of different stages of frog development to help organize the information and then draw conclusions.

Presto! That is using the scientific method. In fact, children use so many skills when they conduct science. One-to-One Correspondence is a good example. Children could be counting the number of tomato seeds they will plant and then record it on a chart. Classifying is another skill children use all the time such as classifying all the seeds, either by type (fruit or vegetable) or by size, or by color, etc.  Measuring happens at school and outside school all the time. We could be pouring and measuring in the sensory table with sand, or measuring rainfall outside over time.

Using an organized method of inquiry not only helps children to develop the basics of science, but helps them to learn how to process new information. When we learn something new, our brains must process the information to put it into long term memory and thus increase the retention rate. We can teach children how to do this by using naturalistic experiences, or experiences where children naturally use their senses to absorb and process new information.

-posted by Teacher Aaron, who was stung by a bee at preschool and turned it into a teachable moment for the children. (But it still hurt!)

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Feb
1

Building Routines

Posted in Child Development, Our Time, parenting

It’s Our Time to drive in our cars
It’s Our Time to play the jingle bells
It’s Our Time to snuggle together

Every time children and caregivers in Our Time come into the classroom, they are greeted with their peers and a fun activity at Gathering Time. Maybe it’s puzzles, blocks, or builders. When the teacher sings the toys away, the children know that when the sticks come out, it’s time to sing hello. They’ll get to tap, thunk, scrape, click, and roll hello to each other. Then they’ll sing about their day with the bars, bounce on their grown-ups laps, play instruments, dance, and in my classes, we always end with a snuggle.

This is a part of a routine that children learn and look forward to every week. But why do we work so hard in Kindermusik to build this routine?

 In short, optimal learning for a child happens in a classroom where he feels most comfortable. Think back to one of your best educational experiences. It could be a wacky funny teacher you had in high school, or a fun environment at work with people you enjoy being with.  Do you remember how comfortable it felt to be in that place on a regular basis? How much did you learn when you were there? 

For me, it was my course at UW in early childhood social/emotional behavior. Every time I walked into that classroom, I was greeted warmly by my professor, Gail Joseph, and was delighted to see what sort of snacks she brought for us. It was “food for thought”. J I always knew what to expect and that made me feel comfortable and happy to be there. Looking back on that experience, I realized that I retained more from that class than almost any other at UW. And now I use what I learned there in my professional life every day.

In Our Time, children develop this same comfort when they learn a good sense of self-esteem from the familiarity of their environment.  They know that after the sticks are put away, they get out the bars. When the bars come out, the teacher sings to them what will happen in class. The best part is, when we sing about cars, jingle bells, and snuggling, we actually do those activities in class. That may sound like a simple concept, but try and think about all those checklists you’ve made, either mental or on paper, and how good it feels to check those items off when you complete them. Children get to make their checklist when they sing with the bars every day in Our Time.

You may have your own way of building a routine at home with your child. Maybe you both sit down at breakfast and go over what will happen in your day. Maybe you and your child draw a picture together to go over the fun things you did. The more ways you can discuss and recap a routine with your child, the better.  Not only does this bring them immense joy and self-esteem to know that their expectations are being fulfilled, but it helps them to build memory retention.

 Quite often, a toddler will look out the window and see that it’s raining. Then they’ll go outside, feel the rain, and go back in and say “Mommy, I need a coat.” She won’t see the rain and connect that she needs a coat right away until she builds a temporal sense of cause and effect. Routines are one of the best ways to build this skill.

This developing sense of routine is one of the many reasons why Kindermusik is so beneficial for a child’s development. And it’s important to provide for our children a consistent learning environment. In fact, some children are still developing their sense of the classroom routine in the second or third semester.  So every day when you come in with your child and bounce, sing, dance, and play, know that it is just another vital component to your child’s learning.

-posted by Teacher Aaron, who looks forward to his routine everyday!

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Feb
15

What you didn’t know… about Teacher Aaron

Posted in Bits and Pieces

aaron-headshotYou might know that Teacher Aaron is our first (and much beloved by his families), male teacher. And you might know that he is about to graduate from UW with a degree in Early Childhood Development and Family Studies. You even may have discovered that he played the trombone and euphonium in high school.

However, you probably are completely unaware that when he was 6 years old, he devised a plan for finding a wife. Teacher Aaron believed that when you were ready to get married, you went knocking door to door. If the woman was already married, you had to try the next house. If she was unmarried, you could marry her. (Makes sense, sorta…) We probably don’t need to point out the break-down of his oh so practical logical thinking.

Here’s some other tidbits about Teacher Aaron:

1.   If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
 Turquoise

2.  What was your favorite toy as a child?
Legos! Lots and lots of legos. 

3.  Which cartoon/children’s TV show character are you most like and why?
I am a huge fan of Beaker from the Muppets. I’d like to think I’m most like him because I get extremely excited about my work and that’s when I talk too fast and only my best friend can understand me.

4.  What is your favorite Children’s book?
Giraffes Can’t Dance. (It’s my favorite book that addresses emotion regulation and individuality)

5.  What was your favorite cartoon or children’s TV show as a child?
I absolutely love the Muppets. Not so much the cartoon but the Jim Henson original one is best. (big surprise, right?)

6.  What is your favorite kid staple  – macaroni, pizza, chicken nuggets or hot dogs?
Mac and Cheese. Hands down. With extra cheese… and butter.
 
7.  If you were a flavor of ice cream, what would you be?
Well my favorite flavor to eat is Cherry Choclate Chip. YUM. That’s what I would be.

8.  What was (or perhaps is) your favorite play structure at the park?
The tether ball. I should’ve gone professional.

9.  What was your favorite dinner as a kid?
Beef roast made in the croc pot. mmmmmm. With potatoes and carrots and onions. That’s how my parents got me to eat my vegetables.

10. What is your favorite Kindermusik instrument/manipulative to use with kids?
The parachute. It can be anything you want it to be.

-posted on behalf of Teacher Aaron, whose door-knocking was apparantly not successful. At least not yet.

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