2015/03/27

家一軒をそのまま保育所にしたのが、このChildren’s Alleyという保育所です。２人の学生が、ここで実習をしました。庭にある遊具が去年より新しく増えていました。砂場もその一つで、学生たちも子どもたちと一緒に砂のボールをつくって、感触を楽しんでいました。

Two students had their internships at Children’s Alley. A whole house has been turned into a wonderful daycare. Jim, co-owner with his wife Mary Jo, used to be a former director of Cabrillo Children’s Center. Some of outdoor toys were made by him. This year we found new toys, a sandbox and a house, in the backyard. The students were good at ball making with the sand and had fun discovering the wonderful texture of sand with children.

2015/03/27

居間の一部です。子どもたちはブロックを積んだり、つなげたりと集中して遊んでいました。ブロック遊びはどこでも人気です。この子たちは、おしゃべりをしながら思い思いにブロックで何かを作っていたのですが、話に入っていくのは難しいですね。自分から新しい話題で入っていくしかないようですよ！　ディレクターのジムがこの後、ここにやってきて、この子たちに自分のはいている靴下をみせながら、新しい話題に巻き込んでいましたね。

This is a living room. We watched a toddler in the block area and saw them carrying blocks around, piling them, collecting them, and putting them in and out of containers. Blocks are universal play materials popular in all ages. These children were having fun talking to each other during block play, but it was hard for this student to participate in their conversation. She should join the conversation with a new topic, just like Jim did. He came over here and started talking about socks a boy wearing. The students might say this is easier said than done! 

2015/03/27

最後の４人は、Cabrillo Children’s Centerのトドラークラスとプリスクールクラスに、それぞれ２人ずつ行かせもらいました。先週、観察室からだけしか見ていなかった子どもたちの様子が、近くでよくわかったのではないでしょうか。カブリヨ大学の実習生もたくさん入っていて、一日の最後は清掃やミーティングにも参加させてもらったようです。このトドラークラスでは、一週間に一回、ボランティアの音楽の先生がこのように来ていました。子どもたちは歌に合わせて、太鼓でリズムを取って楽しそうでした。

The last 4 students did their internships at Cabrillo Children’s Center. Last week the students observed physical setting of the classroom and student-teacher interaction from the observation room, but these students in the toddler classroom were lucky in taking a closer look at the classroom environment. They discovered more details of the classroom; for instance, there are places for children who want to be alone. A music teacher was there today. The children were enjoying the drums.
 

2015/03/27

子どもたちと一緒になって行動しながら、時々、自分の気づいたことを書きとめておくのも大事なことですね。子どもたちは「Old MacDonald had a farm」「 Wheels on the bus」をドラムのリズムに合わせて歌っていました。音楽は世界に通じる言語のひとつのようです。学生たちも一緒にうたえる歌があると、音楽をとおして気持ちを伝えることもできていいですね。

It is important to take notes on what you observe, while interacting with children. The children are now singing some songs such as “Old MacDonald had a farm” and “Wheels on the bus” with the beat of a drum. Music is the universal language, so the students could express their emotions and feelings through music. We hope they know some of the songs the children were singing.

2015/03/27

こちらのプリスクールに入った２人は、予定では紙コップでお雛様を作って、それを糸電話にして遊ぶはずでしたが、やり方の変更により、お雛様づくりはカットし、ちぎり絵を紙コップにしてそれを糸電話で遊ぶ、という内容に変更したのだそうです。現場ではいろんなことが起こります。予定通りにいかなくても、冷静に考えて変更できる柔軟性が必要ですね。３歳児でやってみると、紙をちぎる動作ができないことがわかりました。引っ張ることはできるのですが、横に引っ張るだけでは、なかなかちぎれません！　左の子は辛抱強くずっとここでやっているうちに、うまくできるようになっていました。個人差は大きいですね。

These students were in the preschool classroom. This is a table where they did their project. They planned to teach children how to make paper-cup objects including more steps to complete but realized it was too difficult to do all together. So they changed their plans. Anything could happen in the field so teachers should be flexible enough to change their ways to fit into constantly changing circumstances. They found 3-year-olds had a hard time tearing pieces of paper with finger tips and pasting them onto the paper cup. They can pull it out but not tear it off.  However, the girl in the photo was staying at this table for a long time and just kept doing the same process.  And she was getting better and better!  The students learned that individual differences in the ability among preschool-age children were big.