Exploring the Environment Flashcards
How does children explore their environment?
They observe:
Materials and their properties.
Patterns.
Similarities and differences.
People.
The natural world.
Places.
How things work.
Activity 1:
A 2 year old is playing with natural materials including hard materials and soft materials.
Hard materials: shell, bucket, spade.
Soft materials: sand.
Theorist 1 for Activity 1:
PIAGET- he viewed children as active learners.
The adult is providing opportunities for the child to explore different materials.
This is important for them to construct their own schemas about materials.
Theorist 2 for Activity 1:
BRUNER- he suggested adults could be play partners.
They can scaffold the child’s learning by giving them new vocabulary
(e.g ‘hard’ and ‘soft’).
This helps them to begin to understand similarities and differences in materials.
Activity 2:
A group of 6 year olds are taken out to explore the woods. They collect leaves, sticks and wood to build a den.
Theorist 1 for Activity 2:
VYGOTSKY- zone of proximal development.
It provides challenging experiences to help the children progress to the next level of thinking.
Theorist 2 for Activity 2:
BRUNER- sustained shared thinking.
They use questioning to get the children to develop their ideas to plan and use logic to build their den.
Activity 3:
Staff provides resources for the children to role play with.
Theorist 1 for Activity 3:
BRONFENBRENNER- bio-ecological systems theory.
This builds links between the child, their immediate environment and the wider community.
This influences children’s holistic development.
Theorist 2 for Activity 3:
INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH- concepts.
Visiting the wider community can help children to process new information.
Some information will be retained in their long-term memory- they can recall and communicate verbally through their play or their drawings/writing.
