Happy Friday!
After the professional development opportunity that we had last weekend, different philosophies have been running through my head all week! One that I personally identify with and enjoy learning more about is Lev Vygotskys ‘Zone of Proximal Development’. For those of you who aren’t familiar, it basically means the difference between what a children can accomplish with help (from teachers, fellow students, parents, etc.) and what he or she can do alone without help.
Vygotsky believed in learning through assisted performance such as “look do” teaching methods where the child imitates something the teacher has done.
What made me think of this is the log house in the backyard. Every child is at a different individual level in all aspects of their development. Tate accomplished climbing the log house last week while a few of our friends are attempting it for the first time. If I were to lift them up to the top of the house, they’d be missing all of the necessary steps by not doing it themselves. Scaffolding, or giving help, is crucial but we must respect the process. No need to rush! 
Our toddlers are quite independent and determined lately. Our outside environment is a great place to observe that. Friends push themselves a little past their comfort zone everyday which ultimately allows them to learn about themselves through play.
It’s important to know each child and what they bring to the table: their likes, dislikes, habits, etc. so we know how to nurture everything that they have to offer!
Enough with theory.. .
We gathered down by the teeter totters and friends worked together to rock back and forth. Friends found out that it was a little challenging if all three seats were taken but they made it work!
A couple children headed to the garden where they showed interest in the pinwheels. Since there was a light wind, friends noticed the pinwheels were spinning. Each friend took a pinwheel and blew into it to see what would happen. Lucy said, “Look, spin!”
Most of us ended up in the sandbox where we worked on dumping the sand along with filling buckets all the way to the top! Rosemary enjoyed using the bucket as a hat!
For breakfast, children had toast with butter and cinnamon along with banana. Lunch consisted of English muffins with melted cheddar cheese, applesauce, and peas. PM snack was applesauce/banana muffins and string cheese.
Have a lovely weekend!
