Entry Two - Social Studies

Currently my centre has been developing our programming and planning wall in our preschool room directed towards becoming a diverse centre and educating the children on their own and different cultures in the centre. Parents are encouraged to come in to the centre to share knowledge about their culture during a mat time and prepare an activity that they children can engage in. By doing this the children are able to hear from the people they know and care about as to where they came from and their cultural background. The children are able to develop their individuality as well as find was as to relate and learn about the cultures of their peers. By linking the knowledge to the past the children are able to learn that New Zealand was once a diverse country and has now become a multicultural country and through that change I believe that the children would greatly benefit from this change.

The way that we support children’s understanding in the economic world is educating them about purchases. An activity that we do together is playing shop. The children are given a set amount of play money and they move around the centre collecting their products. When it is time to come to the checkout some children realise that they don’t have enough money and so they children must make the decision of what items are essential to them. This helps children relate to the real world because I think that it prepares them for situations that they will face when they are out in the community.

By getting the children out exploring the community is we take weekly to monthly trips around the community. Since I have started working in my centre we have been to the local park with other centres to attend a reading, the children have played on the equipment, we have been on a bus ride to the Papatoetoe library to learn about different cultures, and the children go on school visits every second week. We have also been visited by the police who came to speak with the children and had a fire truck come and park in the carpark. Our children are learning about the places and environment around them and have on numerous occasions had discussions with teachers and parents about what they experienced and their enthusiasm about wanting to do it again. The school visits are preparing them for their next step in life. At the schools they are able to learn the routine and the placement of materials in the classroom.

By educating the children about the past we have done science experiences with volcanoes and explained what processes were happening and what became of these events. On Anzac day the children made poppies and were given a brief explanation by the teachers as to why this day was celebrated. The children were also given the opportunity to make Anzac biscuits which they shared with others and their parents. Through these experiences as they were done with other children, the children are able to learn together and how to work positively as a team.

In relation to the well-being of a child (Ministry of Education, 1996), the impact that social studies has on the children’s learning is being able to respect others and work as a team. Understanding that their own culture is being respected and included give children the sense of belonging. Children know where they fit in in society and what role they need to play when interacting with others shows their contribution in the centre and in society. Children are able to communicate positively with their peers. Exploration is the child’s way of finding out how things work and the impact that they have in order to keep things working in the environment and in the relationships that they share with others.

Entry One - People, Places, Things and Events

When I think about an event that had a big impact in my life, the first thing that comes to mind in the birth of my niece. I was eight years old when she was born and she became my first constant interaction with a young child. It was from this event that inspired me to become an early childhood teacher. It is because of my niece and my love of children that influences the choices that I make towards my future.

I believe that people, places, things and events and affect everything you do and every choice you make. People could be family members, friends or strangers that you walk past or make a comment. The first thing that I think of when I am asked to think of a place I imagine home because my family and all of the closeness and events that have taken place has made me who I am today. Things to a child may be their favourite blanket or toy that gives them comfort or reassurance. I imagine a thing as being something significant and came to be because of your past or what could be a part of your future. An event could be positive or negative.  A birth or death, a successful job interview or a disaster, making a new friend or not being able to see your family because they are stuck in another country.

“In early childhood, children are developing more elaborate and useful working theories about themselves and about the people, places, and things in their lives. These working theories contain a combination of knowledge about the world, skills and strategies, attitudes, and expectations” (Ministry of Education, 1996).

A situation that a child is facing in my centre is that her sister moved to India and didn’t come back. Since the move she has been telling me that she gets to see her sister on the computer and draws pictures for her at day care. When I ask her if she will see her again she will say that no she won’t because she won’t be coming back. This was evident when her aunty came to visit because the child would ask her not to leave because she was afraid that she wouldn’t see her again. I think this is because a big event in her life was the loss of her family either by death or leaving her and not coming back.

I have not yet meet a child that was affected by the earthquakes in Christchurch but I can imagine that moving anywhere else at a young age would impact on how aware they are in their environment. Being paced in an unfamiliar environment filled with strangers and the constant fear that something could go wrong I how I feel the child would be reacting. The most important people in their live would be the family they are with and how safe they would feel with the people that they know and have been in their situation before. This is their people, place, thing and event. It is because of the event that happened in Christchurch involving the people that the child was with that lead the child to where they are now and the choices that they will make in the future.