As the weather changes, we watch the children changing too.
Friendships are blossoming and new skills developing.
Last week we began a partnership system during activity time. We pair two children and give them a clipboard with a ticket. The ticket is a visual list of the activities they are to visit together. All three teacher photos are on the ticket plus a space for an activity the children choose together.
As we pair children, we look for partners who can challenge each other to grow in different ways.
We pair quiet children with a kind friends who can draw them out and engage in discussion.
We pair children with strong ideas together so they can work on negotiation and conflict resolution.
We pair two children to nurture a budding friendship.
We pair children with complementary designing skills.
We pair an older and a younger child to make the best use of our multi-age classroom.
Everyone has a turn at being a partner and we switch partners often.
Now that the weather is improving, a picnic and park playdate after school is a wonderful idea. Many families enjoy a picnic lunch with friends in the park after school.
For playdates at home, set out one or two activities or games for the children to play with together. Start the playdate with these limited options to encourage children to play together and build cooperative play skills. When given many choices, children are more likely to play separately or dash from one toy to another. Later, open up other options after they have begun to feel comfortable playing together.
