Today’s thematic
lesson went slightly “wild and enjoyable” when the child were exposed to the
usage of language in form of question and answers in their conversation.
Alicia: Can a bee
fly? Children: Yes, it can fly.
Alicia: Can an ant
fly? Children: No, it
can’t fly.
This went on till the name
of insects was individually replaced. Then I quoted name of human, for example Teacher
Zhang; to challenge the children to converse. The real fun began when the
question was posed: “Can Uncle Pang fly?”
The children, as
cheeky as they are replied by saying that “Yes, he can fly”. All teachers in
the classroom smiled quietly. I then challenged the children to ask Uncle Pang
if he can fly during their lunch.
We then invited uncle
Pang to our class to confirm if he could fly. While waiting, the children were
excited.
Kelly: You need to fly
with both legs up, not a single leg.
Uncle Pang laughed then
jump, jump, jump up in the air. The children all laughed.
Lin Xin: Uncle Pang, do
you know that if you need to fly, you need to fly very long time and not just
jump up in the air. The legs cannot be on the floor.
Uncle Pang took a
while to think. He finally took a chair and sits on it and flies, using his
hands as wings and with both legs up!
Children: Uncle Pang, bum
bum cannot be on the chair.
Uncle Pang: Ok. (He
then stands on the chair and fly).
Children: The leg
cannot be on the chair.
Uncle Pang had finally
run out of ideas on how to fly. The children, teachers and Uncle Pang all
laughed.
Kelly: Teacher Lee,
you need to write this in our communication book ok?
From this, we can see
that the children participated positively in the conversation (mixture of
Mandarin and English). Besides the engagement, they tried to apply what they
had learned in real life conversation. Learning English is not easy especially
in countries where English is not the main language.
I would conclude that
the short pretend play and conversation had not only served to reinforce
children’s learning, but it also helped the children to acquire critical
thinking skill. This is one of the essences in Montessori education which I
find still lacking in many acclaimed Montessori schools. So, why not flourish the child with joy in
learning today for a better tomorrow?
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