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    Jump into Science: Active Learning for Preschool Children
    Jump into Science: Active Learning for Preschool Children
    Jump into Science: Active Learning for Preschool Children
    Ebook215 pages1 hour

    Jump into Science: Active Learning for Preschool Children

    By Rae Pica

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Teachers and caregivers of children ages 3-6
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGryphon House Inc.
    Release dateApr 1, 2009
    ISBN9780876596678
    Jump into Science: Active Learning for Preschool Children
    Author

    Rae Pica

    Rae Pica has been a children's movement specialist since 1980. She is the founder/director of Moving and Learning, a company offering services and materials related to physical activity for children from birth to age eight. A popular speaker and workshop leader, she is also co-creator and host of the radio program "Body, Mind, and Child."

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      Book preview

      Jump into Science - Rae Pica

      2013

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Pica, Rae, 1953-

      Jump into science : active learning for preschool children / by Rae Pica.

      p. cm.

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 978-0-87659-056-0

      1. Science--Study and teaching (Early childhood) 2. Early childhood

      education--Activity programs. I. Title.

      LB1139.5.S35P53 2009

      372.35’044--dc22

      2008040912

      Bulk purchase

      Gryphon House books are available for special premiums and sales promotions as well as for fund-raising use. Special editions or book excerpts also can be created to specification. For details, contact the Director of Marketing at Gryphon House.

      Disclaimer

      Gryphon House, Inc. and the author cannot be held responsible for damage, mishap, or injury incurred during the use of or because of activities in this book. Appropriate and reasonable caution and adult supervision of children involved in activities and corresponding to the age and capability of each child involved is recommended at all times. Do not leave children unattended at any time. Observe safety and caution at all times.

      Introduction

      As a movement specialist for nearly 30 years, I’ve seen the response to my topic wax and wane. At first, no one wanted to hear that children should be more active because they imagined the chaos that would result. Watching early childhood professionals recoil at my suggestion that children learn with their whole bodies, I felt the way a dentist must when approaching a patient with drill in hand!

      Gradually, the early childhood field accepted the reality that children are active learners. Teachers realized that children were going to be active regardless. They could either fight children’s need for movement or use it. (It was the educational equivalent of If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.)

      Today I find that most early childhood professionals are fully aware of the many benefits of physical activity and play, including how they contribute to the cognitive domain. They understand that young children are experiential learners, and that the more senses used in the learning process, the more children retain (Fauth, 1990). Moreover, Gardner’s (1993) recognition of the bodily/kinesthetic intelligence has validated the use of the body and parts of the body as a way of learning and knowing. Brain research also confirms that the mind and body are not separate entities—that the functions of the body contribute to the functions of the mind (Hannaford, 2005; Jensen, 2000).

      However, with the clamor for more accountability and testing, seatwork is once again threatening to supplant active learning. Even physical education and recess are being eliminated in favor of more academic time (ironically, in an age when there’s never been greater concern about childhood obesity). As a result, teachers are feeling pressured to teach young children in ways they know are developmentally inappropriate.

      But children haven’t changed. To understand concepts fully, children still need to explore the meaning of concepts with their bodies, and that includes science concepts. Teachers, having accepted that children are active learners, are frustrated at being asked to teach science with drills and worksheets.

      Science in Early Childhood

      The word science may bring to mind men and women in lab coats, working with beakers, burners, and microscopes. It may prompt memories of concepts learned in chemistry, physics, or biology classes, or bring to mind such topics as botany or astronomy. But that clearly is an adult perception of science. And if that’s your only perception of science, you might wonder—rightly—what place the subject has in the early childhood curriculum.

      Science for young children, however, is not about concoctions in test tubes. It doesn’t involve technical terms and scientific formulas. Rather, because science is about exploration, discovery, investigation, and problem solving, it can be said that every young child is a scientist—because their early lives are all about exploring and investigating the world around them! Everything children encounter is a mystery or a problem to be solved—a discovery waiting to be made.

      More specifically, children first discover the workings of their own bodies. There are different ways to move—first while remaining in one place and eventually while traveling through the surrounding space. There are body parts to be discovered. Where are they, and what do they do? What are they called? Children learn that their bodies are something that must be cared for through good nutrition and hygiene. Thus, the study of the human body, which falls under the heading of health science, is one of the themes commonly explored in early childhood classrooms, and is the starting point for the activities in this book.

      As children become increasingly aware of the world around them, they encounter animals, birds, and bugs in their own homes, outdoors, and, perhaps, through such venues as zoos and their preschool classroom. While zoology and other animal sciences are beyond their scope, young children are anxious to learn more about how these creatures move, the sounds they make, and how they are alike and different. Because young children are fascinated by creatures that are not other people, the theme of animals is one of the most popular in the early childhood curriculum. This theme is part of life science.

      Of course, as young children mature and are exposed to life beyond the insides of their homes, they become aware of the elements of weather and seasonal changes. They’re intrigued by rain, snow, wind, and the discovery of shadows, seeds, and falling leaves. Plants and animals are part of life science, while the elements of weather are components of Earth and space science.

      Finally, there are simple scientific concepts which young children can and should explore: flotation, electricity, gravity, balance, sound, air, evaporation and absorption, magnetism, and machinery (all falling under physical science). Naturally, it’s inappropriate to try to explain how electricity works or to define the force of gravity. You may never even use such words as gravity and evaporation with the children, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be introduced to the concepts through simple, developmentally appropriate experiences.

      Science process skills are categorized as basic, intermediate, and advanced. Preschoolers can—and should—experience the basic process skills: observing, comparing, classifying, measuring, and communicating (Charlesworth & Lind, 2003). Behind these skills and most important to science learning, according to Charlesworth and Lind, is curiosity. They contend that curiosity is one of the most important attitudes anyone can have because curiosity inspires new perspectives and questions, which are essential to scientific exploration. They write: This approach that is basic to science is natural to young children. They use all their senses and energies to find out about the world around them (p.65).

      The Rationale for Active Learning in Science

      Because young children are concrete thinkers and experiential learners, they need to explore science concepts with appropriate activities. For instance, gravity is the concept involved when children jump into the air and return to the ground. Evaporation is what occurs when children paint an outside wall with water and the water gradually disappears. Although young children may not understand how these things work, they can witness and feel them. Young children acquire so much information through their senses; the more senses involved in their learning process, the more children learn.

      For too long, people have believed that the mind and body are separate entities and that the functions of the mind are superior to the functions of the body. That belief led to the popular notion that children must sit still in school in order to learn. Unfortunately, although early childhood education was once the exception to this mandate, even preschoolers are now being asked to do increasingly more seatwork and paperwork.

      Research, in particular the latest brain research, has demonstrated that the mind and body are not separate entities. In fact, the functions of the body make a considerable contribution to the functions of the mind. For example, lessons that are physically experienced have a more immediate and longer-lasting impact. In addition, integrating body systems enables optimal learning to occur (Jensen, 2000). Studies have also shown that more of the brain is activated during physical activity than while doing seatwork (Jensen, 2000). But perhaps the most important fact for us to know is that young children prefer to learn through movement!

      Of course, it’s easy to imagine that children learn more from time spent with computer programs, or being drilled with flashcards and test questions. They can recognize letters or shapes, recite their ABCs, and count to 50. But this and similar feats represent rote learning—the result of sheer memorization. Authentic learning involves comprehension. And until the information has some relevance to the child’s life, there’ll be no comprehension.

      Rote learning has its place, of course; it’s how most of us learned the multiplication tables and the state capitals. However, unless a child is going to

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