Predict, Observe, Explain

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Annie June 23, 2010 at 6:19 am

I find it can be really powerful to let the kids come up with their own explanation, and we discuss that a bit, and then I’ll give my own explanation, usually I start with ‘I think it might be because….’ and then we discuss my explanation and its really fascinating to see which bits of it they take on board, and which bits of their own they hang on to. I don’t worry about the fact that they’ve got it ‘wrong’ cos I know they will continue to develop their understanding of what’s going on as they continue to experiment (and find that their original explanation doesn’t quite work) and also I know that if they don’t understand what I’m telling them they won’t change their minds about how they think it works anyway. Its a really great way to see exactly where their understanding is at and can suggest to me what kind of experimenting we need to do next to continue to develop their understanding.

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Deb June 23, 2010 at 9:06 am

Exactly. I sometimes feel like a mean Mummy because I’m always asking “what do you think?” But continuous repetition and experience helps them modify their own world view.

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Annie September 3, 2010 at 9:14 pm

I also find the ‘what do you think?’ question brings an end to the endless ‘why?’ questioning of a 2 or 3yo – I realised that they really are trying to make sense of the world, and I’ll answer them for as long as I can do so patiently, then I ask what they think and they normally come up with something – then we can work on it form there

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