Over these past few weeks we, the educators in Sandstone, have been analyzing the children’s group play in varicose areas of the room. We have observed the children when they are democratically making decisions in matters that affect them. An example of this would be when a disagreement happens during play. We had a new fire/police play house in the block corner and there was one fire truck, one helicopter, and one police motorbike, this posed the perfect problem for the children to solve, how everyone was going to get a chance to play with the single items. Coming from that area you could hear George stating “I’m not done with that yet”, Audrey saying “I would like a turn” or Keegan saying “in two minutes”. These are phrases that the children have learned through problem solving and how they use them as tools to communicate their feelings and wants to others. When the children are problem solving with others they learn to express their feeling and to listen and value how other feel.

A Democratic Practice, what does that mean to our Sandstone community? In Play, Participation, and Possibilities, the Alberta curriculum framework for early learning it states that; a Democratic Practice is when “children grow in the understanding of their roles as responsible citizens as they participate in daily activities and… learn to value the contributions of others.” (PPP, Pg. 113)

We continue to analyze how the children are citizens in Sandstone room and what that looks like in our routine and play. What are some of the roles your child has at home are they the same roles they might have a daycare?

We would love to have this conversation with you so let us know what you think!

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.

Jessica, Brooke, and Paulette