child led learning

[sleepies]

hello:
i might be going back to work soon. i have a 3 year old son, that would be in an onsight daycare. the way they "teach" the children is by "child led" play and "Constructive Assistance".

Apparently, they are not ridgid with times and schedules...and follow the lead of the children for learning/activities.

Can someone that thinks this is good , please "sell" me on this? I am not so sure I like this approach, but maybe I am missing something. :

Personally, id rather see schedules, and for them to make sure to cover all their bases with different activities. I worry, if they let my child "Lead" :that he might end up doing basically "nothing".

If you understand my question... or have feedback. please reply.

[mamaduck]

At my son's preschool, this means that the child chooses an activity, and the child interacts with the activity/object as he sees fit, and the teacher sits close by and supports their exploration. The opposite approach would be to present and activity, and to tell the kids exactly how to do it. Personally, I prefer the child lead approach for a younger child. Your child is predisposed to pursue the aspects of a project that he needs to master. Why waste time doing something the teacher is pushing that he may or may not be ready or interested or needing to do?

[boongirl]

The child led approach to preschool is the developmentally appropriate way to teach young children. Preschoolers learn best by exploring and spending as much or as little time on a chosen task as they see fit. Young children are not ready for schedules. They cause anxiety and defeat the learning process. The bases that need to be covered in preschool are for children to learn about their environment and the basics through exploration. The teacher most likely has a curriculum that keeps kids flowing through what he or she wants them to learn by changing out centers and activities.

Check out the Natiional Association for the Education of Young Children website www.naeyc.org for more information.

This is the leading organization for the education of young children.

Also, talk to the teacher and ask him or her to tell you what is going on and why.

[BathrobeGoddess]

NAK....
Boongirl hit it right on the head! Rigid schedules are not developmentally appropriate for a three year old. I guess the best way to sell you is to ask if you schedule your days at home to a tee and exspect your dc to follow them. I bet not but I bet you would consider your time with your dc to be constructive??? Think of a good PS program as the same sort of thing! Product is not the goal (worksheets, teacher led pointless projects where the child does nothing but glue some pieces together) but learning is! Children construct knowlege by exsperinces NOt by instuction!

The school sounds great!

[momtokay]

Well, I may not be the best one to answer this because I believe in child led learning much beyond the preschool years, but here's a Web site with all sort of good research on "play" based learning for the younger years.

http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/projects/play/

[Ellien C]

Your 3 year old is ALWAYS learning, every moment of the day about his environment and his tribe at home. He cannot help but learn. There's SO much to learn. Can you release yourself from ascribibing adult motivations to him? That if he isn't led then he won't be productive? We have these attitudes because we haven't been empowered by our work, our tribe etc. Really, kids just aren't like that and neither are most adults if you can treat them respectfully.

[Lucky]

Scientific observation has established that education is not what the teacher gives; education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment. The task of the teacher becomes that of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity, spread over a specially prepared environment, and then refraining from obtrusive interference. Human teachers can only help the great work that is being done, as servants help the master. Doing so, they will be witnesses to the unfolding of the human soul and to the rising of a New Man who will not be a victim of events, but will have the clarity of vision to direct and shape the future of human society.

- Maria Montessori, Education for a New World

Read more about Montessori education.