early childhood building +talking = engineering + design
TRANSCRIPT
Building + Talking = Engineering + Design
Gabrielle LyonVice President, Education & Experience
Chicago Architecture Foundation
Opening Minds Conference, Chicago, IL1/22/16
WHY DESIGN MATTERS
CAF inspires people to discover
CAF OVERVIEW
583,00011,000
80450
1,500180,000
annual audienceMembersstaffdocentsother volunteerssocial media followers
20,000 youth, teens & teachers
Educator Institute
CurriculumSchoolyards to Skylines, The Architecture Handbook, Discover Design.org, Architecture.org,
Mentors + VolunteersConnecting professionals with students
Professional DevelopmentContinuing Education Workshops and Resources
Teen Academy
Pursue ProgramsRodgers Teen Fellows - field-based career exploration programs for highly engaged students
Discover ProgramsSaturday Studios, Architects in Residence, E-Fest
Investigate ProgramsCompetitions, Summer Camps, Multi-week programs, After School Matters
Studio ProgramsField Trips Walking Tours + Studio Workshops
Family ProgramsCampsLego Build, Read+ Build
Family FestivalsE-Fest, Open House Chicago
FIRST – LET’S BUILD!
Structures that Matter for Learning in Early Childhood
• Curiosity• Large & small motor control• Early math
Stages of Block Play• Stage 1: Discovering blocks (very young children or
inexperienced builders)• Stage 2: Stacking blocks (rows & patterns)• Stage 3: Creating Bridges (two blocks to support a third
*technical problem solving)• Stage 4: Making Enclosures (*technical problem solving;
accessories - people, animals, food)• Stage 5: Using patterns & symmetry (complex structures,
designs, accessories)• Stage 6: Designing, planning constructing elaborate
structures (dramatic play, naming structures)
Talk
©Thirty Million Words
The Thirty Million Word Gap
Tune In• Children learn the most when you Tune In to what
they’re focused on and talk about it. • What your child is focused on is always changing.
Tune In by paying attention to what he’s focused on and change your words to match.
• Your child will learn the most when she’s engaged in what he’s hearing.
©Thirty Million Words
Talk More• When you Talk More and engage with children,
you build and strengthen connections in their brains.
• Don’t just do it; talk them through it! Talk More with your child about what you’re doing as you do it.
• Think of your child’s brain like a piggy bank. Every word you say is a penny in her bank. The more you talk now, the richer she’ll be later.
©Thirty Million Words
Take Turns• Children are never too young to engage in
conversation, or to Take Turns talking, with you. • Babies babble, cry, and make facial expressions.
Toddlers use gestures and made-up words. Preschoolers use real words. All of these are ways children communicate, or Take Turns.
• Respond with words to everything your child communicates. The more practice your child gets taking turns, the stronger talker he’ll become.
©Thirty Million Words
Say This….Not ThatTo Build Your Child’s Brain
You worked really hard
What should we do now that we’re done playing?
Will you be my helper?
You are so smart
Put the toys away.
Will you help?
©Thirty Million Words
Engineering & Design
What is Engineering?• “skillfully or artfully arranging for (an event or
situation) to occur”• Observing & testing with a purpose
Science Inquiry in Practice• Explore objects, materials, and events. • Raise questions. WONDER WHY
• Make careful observations DESCRIBE THOUGHTFULLY. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THAT?
• Engage in simple investigations TRY THINGS OUT. LET’S DO IT!
• Describe (including shape, size, number), compare, sort, classify, and order. USE SPECIFIC WORDS. HOW MANY?
• Record observations using words, pictures, charts, and graphs. DRAW IT.
• Identify patterns and relationships. WHAT IS THE SAME? WHAT IS DIFFERENT?
• Develop tentative explanations and ideas. MAKE STATEMENTS THEN WONDER. I THINK….WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF?
• Work collaboratively with others. • Share and discuss ideas and listen to new perspectives. MORE IDEAS.
WHAT ELSE?
http://oer.educ.cam.ac.uk/wiki/Teaching_Approaches/Inquiryhttp://www.discoverdesign.org/files/images/general/design_process_0.gif
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Early Childhood Science Inquiry Process vs Design Process
What’s Worth Knowing & Experiencing at the Chicago Architecture Foundation?
KNOWLEDGE/SKILLSVocabulary
ChicagoArchitectural skills
How to get to know a place, “This place"How to solve a problem; knowing there is a
process that can be usedCAF is a resource
EXPERIENCESLearning to look; seeing
Making, touching Access to experts
Design processSelf-efficacy in the built environment (“I
can affect my environment/I have agency”)Public component
©Chicago Architecture Foundation Education Design Principles
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Intentionality about what we do & how we do it
• Asking questions with intentionality: 'How would we get from here to there?" "What else might we need" "How will we know what this building is?” "What buildings does a city need?”
• When we ask specific questions we give young people the chance to define problems and practice describing what they see.
• These are critical skills not only for brain development for very young children but are the precursors to truly scientific & logical thinking for older children.
Building & building again
• "What if we try to build that again in another way? What else could we use?"
• When we encourage young people to think about testing (rebuilding, do-overs, etc) as an expectation we help them be comfortable that "making a mistake" isn't the end – it's just part of the process.
• Building again encourages invention –the heart of the thing we're after.
Say the words & say them again.
• "Vocabulary" is one of our education design principles.
• We use vocabulary that matters for building – arch, dome, column, gazebo, lintel, truss — challenge yourself to stretch the ways you incorporate architecture terms.
Building isn't just about buildings
• We value physical skill development of cutting, placing tape, tying string, or aligning a pipe cleaner into a hole.
• Gross motor development is critical for brain development.
• Sharing what they’ve built with each other helps form identity and self confidence
• Collaborating on where buildings should go and why fosters a shared shared sense of purpose, planning and community
Readings & Resources• Ballweg, J. “The 12 Stages of Block Play.” Math at Play Blog. 11/12/2013.
http://blog.mathatplay.org/2012/11/13/block-blog-12-stages-of-block-play/ • Collected Papers from the SEED (STEM in Early Education and Development) Conference,
May 2010. http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/beyond/seed/ • Hirsch, E., The Block Book, 1996.• MacDonald, Sharon, Block Play: The Complete Guide to Learning and Playing with Blocks.
2001.• Masengarb, J. Schoolyards to Skylines. Chicago Architecture Foundation. 2012.
http://shop.architecture.org/products/schoolyards-to-skylines • NAEYC Guide to Developmental Benchmarks.
https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200407/ArtsEducationPartnership.pdf. • Suskind, D. Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain. 2015. http
://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Million-Words-Building-Childs/dp/0525954872• Texas Child Care Quarterly. “Block play: Classroom essentials.” Summer 2009. Texas Child
Care. http://www.childcarequarterly.com/summer09_story2a.html 11/30/2011.• Thirty Million Words Initiative. http://www.Thirtymillionwords.org
