Show description

The abundance and variety in a small space was remarkable. By sowing and nurturing plants children learn about how life is suppor ted and about the cycles and seasons involved. An excellent example of making the best use of the outdoors for growing plants was of a colleague who worked in an inner-city nursery. The children came to nursery dressed to be outdoors. They grew their own plants and harvested them. The vegetables were used in recipes which the children selected. They were encouraged to explore the flavours and textures and invent their own recipes using their own grown ingredients.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings, LLC. Not to be redistributed or modified in any way without permission. 2 The Balloon Stickies app is a quick and easy way of recording children’s talk. Harlen et al. (2003: 58, 59) list core enquiry skills that young children may be encouraged to develop as part of the pedagogy of science: • Observation • Prediction • Problem solving • Decision making • Communication. Reasoning, comparison and linking cause and effect may also be added to the list, as these are associated with the use of talk to link prior experiences to the current activity.

This has echoes of the ‘absent minded professor’, who I suggest is not so much absent minded but has a busy brain that is wandering elsewhere making connections. I am sure that most teachers can recall children who show these traits. Teachers also need time to observe the children. Unfortunately, some teachers feel compelled to teach focus groups when the other children are playing; this is understandable because of the targets they are expected to achieve. However, rich knowledge about the children can be gained by observing them over lengthy periods.