Learning begins with DOING. And doing requires our hands in particular. Young children are usually constantly busy reaching for things, wanting to „have“ them and take them in their hands. And this is of crucial importance, because this is how they learn about the world.
The next stage of a child's development is to be interested in putting things into containers, taking them out, lining them up, pushing them around and trying out endless combinations and finding out what else you can do with these objects.
1. completing the task is NOT the goal
It's not about achieving a certain result or completing a certain task to fulfill an adult's educational expectations. For some of our children, this expectation has led to them refusing to repeat an activity they have already completed. But repetition and the variations that come with it are absolutely necessary for learning.
2. use materials repeatedly and in many variations
The materials are used again and again, always with small variations, e.g. the container can be tipped out again and again so that the child can put the objects in again and again, with ever new variations in space, movement, fingering or speed.
3. mistakes are our friends
Gerade wenn unerwartete Dinge passieren (sogenannte „Fehler“!), gewinnt man neue Erkenntnisse und sammelt neue Erfahrungen. Wenn man alles richtig macht, lernt man nichts Neues. Aus diesem Grund sind Fehler und unerwartete Situationen zu begrüßen, denn sie sind der Königsweg, um aus Erfahrungen zu lernen. Unser Ziel ist es daher, eine Situation zu schaffen, in der möglichst viele neue und unerwartete Erfahrungen, einschließlich Fehler, gemacht werden können. Da es nicht unser Ziel ist, ein bestimmtes Ergebnis zu erreichen, korrigieren wir Fehler in der Regel nicht. Es ist interessant abzuwarten, ob das Kind dies von selbst bemerkt, - und damit zeigt, wie sein allgemeines Verstehen wächst. Und wenn nicht: Das ist auch in Ordnung.
4. one item at a time
Da unser Ziel darin besteht, dem Kind so viele Erfahrungen wie möglich zu ermöglichen, möchten wir, dass das Kind jeweils nur einen Gegenstand aufhebt, d. h. wir verhindern, dass das Kind mehrere Gegenstände auf einmal aufhebt, um Anstrengung und Aufwand zu sparen, - da das Ziel der Anstrengungsvermeidung darin besteht, "es hinter sich zu bringen", anstatt sich in das Tun und Lernen zu vertiefen.
5. bigger is better
The larger the movement patterns that the adult encourages the child to perform, the greater the reinforcement and the more new neural connections can be created. Using larger or sometimes heavier play materials can help the child to feel their body better and focus their attention on what they are doing. In general, it is also the case that the eyes follow what the hands do.
6. focus on effort
The lesson is not about finishing something, but about the child engaging with space and their two hands. Our focus is always on extending the child's effort, grasping and physical integration without increasing the demands on the child's understanding, i.e. we might place the materials further away or higher to „prompt“ the child to grasp more effortfully or use larger/heavier materials to strengthen their grasping.
The focus is NOT on completing an activity
Since we are trying to simulate the way young children play, which is fluid and open-ended, the focus should NOT be on completing or finishing activities. Sometimes we repeat or restart a game while there are still items on the table. This can also encourage more flexibility and tolerance and avoid some children's fixation on „Done!“.
By starting the next activity before clearing up the previous one, you also convey the awareness that there is no specific goal, ensuring that the game is interesting, ongoing and ever-changing.
