When children bring something special to share, it gives us an opportunity to know more about each other. It also gives a child a chance to exercise his verbal skills as he tells the class why the shared item is important. It gives the class a highly motivating opportunity to listen to and comprehend spoken language from peers. And we learn about conversation as children attempt to form questions to get more information from the one who is sharing.
Finally, it gives us a chance to encourage and affirm one another. The children end by telling the child who is sharing what they like about the object being shared. "It is beautiful." "The glitter is cool." "I like the way you made the windows." “I like the stripes on the shell.” These observations are full of positive feedback.
- Our biggest rule is that you may only bring things that "you" made or that God made. The "you" here is the child. An art project or drawing from home works well. Something beautiful from nature (a really nice stick or rock will thrill us) or something gathered on a trip (shells, pine cones, etc.) are also perfect for sharing with the class. We like to be able to celebrate beauty when we discuss a shared object.
- Favorite books or photographs also are fine for sharing at school. We do also occasionally welcome something exciting that connects to something we are working on in class but that is not from nature or created by the child—like the coins, which were a response to our new banks in the classroom.
- If you are not sure if something is appropriate, please ask.
- For most children, once every few weeks is a fine frequency for bringing an item to share. We will only have time to share a few items each day.
