A watch, a mobile phone, a set of keys, a laptop computer. What do these things have in common? Give up? At NHI Preschool the answer is that they are all made of paper. It all began a couple weeks ago when one child wore a real watch to school and another child wanted to have one too. Since there was no way to get a real watch then and there, he made one out of paper. I wish we still had that watch to measure the technological progress since that time, but as I recall it was just a pencil-drawn watch face on a strip of paper taped to his wrist.
But technology does progress and now we have paper watches in many colors with working buckles. Watch hands haven't begun moving yet, but times with special meaning are drawn on the faces--10:00 when preschool starts, 8:30 for bedtime, and or course 12:00 for lunch. Mobile phones are taking off too. First, students asked us to draw the phones for them; then they began saying, "Hey, I could do that. Let me try by myself." Like the watches, phones are advancing with straps, folding parts, images on the screen, and vibrant colors. I could write about the laptop computers and keys too, but by now you get the drift.
Children are improving their fine motor skills, time-telling ability, sense of design, number sequencing, pattern following, and imagination. All it took was some paper, crayons, scissors, tape and a little encouragement. A month or so ago I was shopping and saw a bin full of old demo phones on sale for 100 yen each. I almost bought a few for the preschool. I'm so glad I didn't. Sometimes less really is more.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Creative Listening
I love working in an international preschool. The students' various English levels and personalities come out in such fun ways. Here's a story from today.
A fifth-grade friend of ours donated several dozen of her "little kid books" to the preschool library on the weekend. Seeing the books today, our students were overjoyed and decided to write a thank you card. One boy heard "thank you car" and asked if he could write a "thank you truck" instead. Another boy, when it was his turn to sign his name, drew a big picture of a sports car (because what's a thank you car without a picture, right?).
Maybe you had to be there, but Mrs. Hiroko and I had a good chuckle over it.
A fifth-grade friend of ours donated several dozen of her "little kid books" to the preschool library on the weekend. Seeing the books today, our students were overjoyed and decided to write a thank you card. One boy heard "thank you car" and asked if he could write a "thank you truck" instead. Another boy, when it was his turn to sign his name, drew a big picture of a sports car (because what's a thank you car without a picture, right?).
Maybe you had to be there, but Mrs. Hiroko and I had a good chuckle over it.
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