01/08/2021
When it comes to the word "process", we hear the most about process art, and that art for young children should be all about the process.
In reality, learning lives in the process of getting to all sorts of end products. The learning is not in the product, it is truly in the process.
It is during the process that we try, we fail, we persevere and try again; we use determination and independent thinking to try another technique; we work through frustrations; we collaborate with others; we make sense of the world around us; we figure out how our muscles work together; we feel empowered and we get to experience the sweet taste of success, or learn how to handle defeat. All of that LEARNING is found in the process.
Learning isn't just about the measurable and braggable ABC's, 123's, writing a name and who can read first....
Take off your kindergarten-readiness blinders and see the big picture.
Let children learn through play, let them own processes to products of their imaginations. Give children time to test different techniques in order to get to the end product. That is where true, valuable, life-long learning lives.
(About this photo: this was taken in 2013. This child was new in my then family child care, and had observed the other children solve the problem of getting this light switch on. He learned this technique by simply being allowed the freedom to BE and watch.
The light switch is up high because it turns on the light to the fort space under my steps, and I did not want it to become a temptation for children to flicker it on and off....so when we built this space, we put the switch up high. Through the years this simple switch has become a source of much empowerment for children)
