I was in the birth – three years room for my first observation day [that is where I will be spending my three week practical] and the room leader said “Go into the storeroom and pull out something to put on the tables.” [Note: This is not how it should be done. There should be a plan and you set the tables up accordingly.]
Though I went into the storeroom and pulled out the magnets and rainbow fish matching cards. I put these on the table aesthetically – in a way that would engage children. The children loved the magnets [as I was on my lunch break I did not see the children's initial reactions to the rainbow fish cards]. I then sat down with the children and looked at the magnets and showed how to use them. i.e. the black side goes down otherwise they don’t stick!
The children spent several minutes with me at this activity looking to see whether the magnets would fall off the board or stay. [I done this by turning the board upside down and saying 'Look they are stuck' - then together we would try with another.]
I will be writing up an observation for this and may use this for my project [which is my major assignment] and look at the ways I am able to extend their learning around magnets. I do realise they are young but that doesn’t mean they can not learn!
Just as young children love magnets – I am positive the older children do too!
