Friends Work Together

Our study of friends has brought up many questions.  It has been illuminating to hear the solutions that the children provide. Working together is one of the struggles we  encounter often in Pre-Kindergarten.   When the children are sitting in a group discussing possible solutions to this quandary, they quickly come up with logical, kind ideas.  However, in practice, emotions are sometimes too high to allow children to process solutions on the spot.  For this reason, we intentionally provide the class with opportunities to practice working as a small group to solve a challenge.

Below you will find a video of three children designing a way to reunite a family of pandas.  Within this clip you’ll find our children practicing a wide range of essential life skills (focus, perspective taking, communicating, making connections, and critical thinking) as well as other executive functions (planning, organizing, impulse and emotional control, and working memory).

The most exciting part for me was watching as they persisted with a challenge even in the face of failure.  Twice, their idea completely collapsed   Not once did they give up.

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