Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Museum Moment
Trying to control myself to not play with all of the awesome things in the museum, I witnessed something that made me think. While watching the kids play in the grocery store I watched as a little girl probably 7 or 8 was checking out her customers. Without any hesitation she took on the persona of an annoyed grocery store checker. Barely speaking to her customers and flinging the groceries to the end of the stand while grabbing the next item in the cart. She then accidentally rang up an item that beeped twice and mimicked voiding the item out on the register. This really showed me how much kids learn from imitation and repetition. This little girl had probably been to the grocery store with her parents a million times and she absorbed a sort of grocery store norm. I also noticed that the majority of the kids playing in the grocery store quietly gathered their preferred items, checked out, then put the items back where they belonged without being told to do so. I related this back to what we read about Montessori's method of teaching. Having an area that was kid sized with the items accessible and given the responsibility, they acted responsibly and cleaned up after themselves for the most part. I would definitely expect an area like the museum to be in complete mayhem but was surprised to see that it stayed in order in the designated areas.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
All I wanted to do while at the Children's Museum was play at that Grocery Store! I think that its very interesting that you not only captured a moment showing Montessori Theory but you also showed the social/emotional learned behavior - Vygotsky, Erickson. While going to the grocery store with her parents she was able to not only look at the role of the clerk in checking out items but she also picked up the interactions of the costumer/clerk and was able to portray that relationship (annoyance) while she intimidated it at the children's museum. Fascinating!
ReplyDeleteErin, Your example made me think about how little instruction there is throughout the museum! The kids didn't have to be told specifically how to interact with the grocery store and that they needed to put stuff away, they just got it. This gives me hope for contructivist teaching, if you can set up an environment where kids can engage on an authentic level with their surrounding and each other they can work through situations and problems with just guidance from adults.
ReplyDelete