We are doing earlier and earlier to children what we shouldn’t do later.
When a teacher tries to teach something to the entire class at the same time, chances are, one-third of the kids already know it; one-third will get it; and the remaining third won’t. So two-thirds of the children are wasting their time.
Provide lots of opportunities for children’s natural curiosity to manifest itself. With very young children, our role is one of supporter and guide.
Curriculum should help children gain a deeper and fuller understanding of their own experiences.
Children involved in project work are encouraged to serve the group needs and share responsibility for what’s accomplished.
Learning to deal with setbacks, and maintaining the persistence and optimism necessary for childhood’s long road to mastery are the real foundations of lasting self-esteem.
All children, are born with the disposition to make sense of their experiences.
When children are truly involved in the scientific process they gain understanding, knowledge, and life skills. They deepen their awareness of what’s going on around them and how others contribute to their well-being.
Communicative skills develop when there’s something meaningful for children to communicate about-when they are taking an active role.
In both cooperative learning and project work, the teacher encourages children to talk to one another. This helps them pay attention to each other’s efforts and ideas. Children take to these kinds of exchanges very readily, but the teacher really needs to encourage this interaction.
Of course children benefit from positive feedback. But praise and rewards are not the only methods of reinforcement. More emphasisshould be place on appreciation – reinforcement related explicitly and directly to the content of the child’s interest and efforts.
In cooperative learning, you have a purposeful, meaningful, and authentic context in which children can sharpen their communicative skills.
Science is a particular way of thinking about things.