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Fun and learning at the grocery store
Linda Loop | January 25, 2010 | Comment
Can grocery shopping with children be fun and educational? You bet! Grocery stores are literally stocked with learning opportunities children of all ages will enjoy. Here are just a few math and literacy activities you may want to add to your list, next time you and your child go shopping together.
Math Activities for Younger Children
• Opportunities for number recognition and counting are everywhere! How many wheels are on your grocery cart? How many aisles are in the store? How many people are in the aisles? How many grocery-store workers does your child see? How many items are in your cart? How many people are in the checkout lines? Have your child look for numbers—on signs above each aisle, on signs at the ends of aisles, on price tags on shelves, and on the cash-register screen as your items are scanned.
• Compare the different sizes of similar items, such as the different sizes of cereal boxes, milk cartons, and yogurt containers, using words such as big, bigger, and biggest.
• Weigh different items in the produce department. Which weighs more, a potato or an apple? Do two potatoes weigh more than a bunch of grapes?
Literacy Activities for Younger Children
• To enhance vocabulary development, tell your young child what items you are looking for. Name the items as you put them in the cart or ask whether your child sees them on the shelf. Discuss what you will make with the items in your cart.
• Ask your child to look for the letters in his or her name.
• In the produce department, ask your child to look for different colors, for example, red apples, yellow bananas, green broccoli, and orange carrots.
Math Activities for Older Children
• Ask your child to count how many different kinds of the same items there are in various sections of the store. For example, in the bakery section, how many different types of breads or cookies does your child see? In the canned goods section, how many different kinds of soups are there?
• Discuss why certain items, such as boxes of cereal, are priced differently. Does the size of a box of cereal determine its cost? Does the type or brand of cereal determine its cost? Which type of cereal is a better bargain? Why?
• Weigh different items in the produce department to determine how many apples are in a pound or how many heads of lettuce equal a pound. Or challenge your child with simple addition problems. For example, if one pound of oranges costs $3.75, how much does two pounds of oranges cost?
Literacy Activities for Older Children
• Have your child keep a list in a small spiral notebook of all the new words he or she sees on signs around the store or on the items in your cart. When you get home, go over the list of new words together.
• In the produce department, have you child list the different varieties of items, such as pears and squash. What makes the varieties different? Color? Shape? Taste? Why might there be so many choices?
• Examine labels with your child. What kind of information is included on nutrition labels? Why are nutrition labels important?
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Eco Friends: intro and philosophy
Linda Loop | October 27, 2009 | Comment
Eco Friends is a science- and ecology-based curriculum strand designed to meet the content standards established by state and national boards of education for early childhood instruction, in particular children two through five years of age. The lessons in Eco Friends introduce young children to the four main fields of science – physical, life, environmental, and earth and space. Children will also learn about the scientific method and the six basic science process skills: observation, communication, comparison and classification, measurement, inference, and prediction. Through interesting, interactive, hands-on activities using multi-sensory teaching methods, young children involved in Eco Friends will explore, discover, and make sense of the world around them.
Philosophy
Teaching science to children involves teaching skills more than facts. Children learn best through experiences that interest them or that apply directly to them. They are naturally curious and want to know how things work, why things happen, and what is happening in the world around them. Science activities meet this need in children by providing them hands-on opportunities to get involved. Science in early childhood is not only about ‘doing’ science activities as an integral part of daily life, science learning should be woven into everything the children do.
There are three important areas of science that should be included in science learning: the scientific process, science knowledge, and scientific attitudes.
1. The scientific process involves asking questions and seeking the answers to those questions–-a skill that is used regularly in all aspects of life.
2. Science knowledge encompasses the basic concepts of science, or what is known about the world.
3. Scientific attitudes focus on dispositions to science, such as curiosity, imagination, and respect for doing things in a specific way to validate results. (Virginia Standards of Learning, 2002)
Learning the scientific process should command significant attention when educating young children. Just as children must learn to crawl before they walk or run, certain ‘skills’ need to be learned before children can make sense of the scientific process. These ‘skills’ are referred to as science process skills, and they form the foundation for teaching science. Most scientists recognize six science process skills. Ironically, these skills are used by children and teachers everyday in various capacities, but are not always associated with science learning. When the connection between these skills and science learning is made that children become actively involved in science.
Listed below is a brief description of each of the six science process skills included in the Eco Friends curriculum:
Observation. Using the five senses to watch things with a purpose in mind; finding out about objects or events and what makes them unique or similar.
Communication. Describing characteristics, properties, and changes in objects or events; using language (both spoken and written) to share information and ideas with others; using graphs, charts, and drawings to document information from observations.
Comparison and Classification. Noticing similarities and differences among objects or events and sorting, grouping, or ordering them based on those properties and attributes; includes recognizing and following set patterns.
Measurement. Understanding quantity, size, and volume and comparing an unknown amount with a known unit; using measurement tools.
Inference. Explaining or interpreting observations; drawing conclusions from events.
Hypothesizing and Prediction. Making an informed guess based on observations; formulating a belief of what might happen based on evidence, observations, and inferences and that can be tested through experimentation.
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Eco Friends: science and ecology
Linda Loop | October 27, 2009 | Comment
Ecology is defined as “a branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their environments.” At The Grove School, children learn to take their environment into consideration every day through the materials they use, the activities they engage in, their awareness of their surroundings, and their interactions with others.
By providing opportunities for children to explore and experience nature in appropriate ways, we instill in them a caring and respect for their environment. Environmentalist Carol Petrash sums this up by saying, “Environmental awareness will come naturally to children when it is integrated into the early childhood classroom and home as a way of life” (Earthways, 1992).
Environmental awareness is imbedded in the Eco Friends lessons. As the children learn about animals, plants, themselves and the world around them, we are instilling in them a respect for each other and providing them with tools to care for each.
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Eco Friends: the science environment
Linda Loop | October 27, 2009 | Comment
The science environment in a young child’s world is actually the world itself–objects to look at and feel, lights that turn on at the flick of a switch, fish in an aquarium, shadows on the sidewalk, or wheels that turn on a tricycle. All of these experiences are related to scientific principles, and young children are ready to explore them.
An interesting science environment for children includes a variety of materials that are safe for them to handle and manipulate, tools to use for observation and experimentation, and writing or drawing tools for documentation. Adequate space in which to perform observations and experiments is also necessary for successful science learning.
Books and pictures that feature science subjects are used in the Eco Friends activities. Tools that are portable, such as magnifying glasses and color paddles also encourage children to use the entire classroom or outdoor spaces as their science lab, rather than limit their experiences to a table or confined space.
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Eco Friends: connecting science to learning domains
Linda Loop | October 27, 2009 | Comment
Science exploration and discovery is not limited to one area of the classroom and can take place indoors or outdoors. Children’s interests tend toward finding out what things are and how things work, and they become engaged in activities that give them opportunities to explore and learn. As children work through experiments, examine objects, and talk about what is happening they are calling upon a variety of developmental skills, such as communication, counting, identification, and comparison. They are also using their senses and bodies as they manipulate tools and materials. Science learning crosses into each of the different learning domains in the early childhood setting.
Language and Literacy Development
Science is rich in language and provides many opportunities for vocabulary development and engaging in conversations with others. As children participate in meaningful science activities, they talk about what is happening, their observations, and their predictions. They listen to others’ ideas and formulate their own based on prior experiences and knowledge. They express themselves through spoken and written communication and learn to document information using graphs, charts, journals, and drawings. Science activities can also be enriched by sharing fiction and nonfiction books and incorporating songs and fingerplays into the lessons.
Social and Emotional Development
Science experiences can be individual, small-group, or large-group oriented, meeting the social and/or emotional needs of children in different ways. For example, a science activity might have children hunting for insects with a group, chasing a partner’s shadow, or silently contemplating a spider crawling up a downspout. In each case, the child’s experience might be the same or different from others in the group, but all of the children belong to the community of learners represented by the class.
Besides learning to discuss and formulate ideas, children can use science principles to resolve conflicts that may arise. By viewing the situation as a scientific experiment, children can find answers to such questions as, “What is involved in this situation?”, “What would happen if we did…?”, and “What things can we try to make this better?”
It has also been observed that children involved in scientific endeavors become so engaged in their explorations and discovery that disruptive behavior completely diminishes (Conezio and French). Instead, cooperation increases as children work together to solve problems, reach conclusions, and document findings.
Mathematics
Science and math go hand-in-hand because they utilize many of the same principles: counting, measurement, describing attributes, shapes, colors, and textures, as well as the use of the five senses. Use of standard measurement tools such as rulers and balance scales is commonplace in science activities, and both math and science share vocabulary words such as volume, dimension, and set.
Artistic Expression
Children involved in science exploration can use artistic renditions, such as drawings and collages, to document what they are learning about a concept or subject. Three-dimensional art, such as sculpting or constructing, is also useful for science documentation. Expressing their science understanding in artistic ways serves to develop childrens’documentation skills as well as their creative skills.
Motor Development
Young children develop fine-and gross-motor skills through science. Using various scientific tools engages both the large muscles of the arms and legs and the small muscles of the hands and fingers. As children examine objects under a magnifying glass, for example, they are using their fingers to grip the magnifying glass and manipulate the object they are observing while also using their arm to move the magnifying glass for better viewing. The small muscles of the hands are also used when children write and draw about their science experiences.
Bibliography
Science in the Preschool Classroom: Capitalizing on Children’s Fascination with the Everyday World to Foster Language and Literacy Development, Kathleen Conezio and Lucia French, Spotlight on Young Children and Science, NAEYC item #281, 2003
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Eco Friends: evidence of science learning
Linda Loop | October 27, 2009 | Comment
Young children are “doing science” every day as they explore their environment and draw conclusions based on their experiences. The evidence of what they have learned is demonstrated in unique and different ways, based on each child’s level of understanding.
One child will represent his science learning through drawing or journaling. Another will use three-dimensional representation, such as constructing a vegetable garden with blocks to represent her learning, while still others will act out their rendition through dramatic play, puppetry, or in conversations with others.
In addition, children’s learning is episodic. Noting what children can do or what they express at a given moment in time might not give a teacher a complete picture of their overall
understanding of science concepts. Often time’s children need to digest what they are learning and fit the pieces together with what they already know before demonstrating understanding. Observing children over time enables teachers to watch the process of learning develop in each child. Therefore, the use of observation and portfolio collection is very much apart of the Eco Friends curriculum.
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- Composting ORT 03.08.10
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