Child led learing
/
Ellis, Nate, Luke, Issy, and I had a fun conversation today. Issy asked me how many Isabel(le)s I love. As always, I answered, “There are two Isabel(le)s I love.” She replied “Me and your Isabel!” So Ellis asked, “Where is your Isabel?” I answered, “Canada, the country above ours.” Ellis ran to the globe and asked me to show them. Then he pointed to the Arctic Circle.
This led us to talk of sea ice where they enthusiastically told me about the sinking of the Titanic.
I then mentioned I’m currently reading a book about a 1881-1884 polar expedition where a group of explorers stranded on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic were eventually rescued with the help of an ice breaker ship.
Which led us to consider other ice breaker ships like the one featured in one of their favorite books called, Pipaluk and the Whales, a true story about an Chukchi girl and her village coming together to free a pod of iced in beluga whales near the Bering Strait.
This led us to consider other helpful vehicles. Ellis mentioned that he is reading a book which includes the original automobile. So we researched early cars. Luke then pointed out a smooth egg shaped orange concept car during our image search. We found out it’s a 3D printed car! What?!? So Nate asked, “Can a 3D printer print a house?” We looked it up and indeed one can.
We continued to look at other 3D printing videos then Nate asked, “Can a 3D printer print a 3D printer?” And guess what… it can (mostly)!
At circle Nate and Ellis mentioned our 3D printer explorations and Annalisa added she and her friend have a 3D printer, which they use for costuming (so cool)! Annalisa then explained to the kids how 3D printers work.
…And that is a selection of how many of our conversations go at school and a delightful example of child led learning. Now we just may need a 3D printer. 😊
