Songs, Stories and Vygotsky

Hi All,

Yesterday was a really fun day. My heart beat a little faster when I looked up and saw two of our new students Vivian Sh and Gary laughing heartily. Sharon has fitted in really well with the girls. It's all been great.

For show and tell, Nana brought her toy rabbit again, she must really love that one. Sophia brought her teddy bear in a nappy (or a diaper for the Americans). She tells me that her teddy bear is a baby just like her baby sister (or is it brother, I forget just now). After lunch the nappy came off because the bear didn't need it any more. Vivian Sh brought along two light emitting tops that her mother bought for her. Vivian Pan brought her doll dress cards, again, obviously another favourite.

We started the extra songs segment of our day to add to the stories I started yesterday. We listened to Dorothy the Dinosaur and sang and danced to Six Little Ducks. They were popular. We read the story I've become a fire breathing dragon, which the children found funny.

While helping some students with their phonics book, I was reminded of the ideas of a famous Russian educational theorist called Vygotsky. The idea behind his work is that everyone learners in a group. Before his ideas, people thought that learners learn. He has an idea called scaffolding were the teacher (or more knowledgeably peer) give the learner a situation where they can go from what they know to what they can know. You could think of it as the little wheels on the side of a bicycle. This what I do everyday and this is what I was doing yesterday when I thought of this. In this way, we (Teacher Jojo, Teacher Nico and myself) help your children become independant learners.

I hope we can work together to make sure your children are the best students they can possibly be.

Till tomorrow,
Glen.