Learning & Development: Schemas - part 4 - Observing ... Leon

I first met Leon on a home visit in August 2008, when he was almost three years old and about to join the nursery. His parents, Kinga and Szymon, had moved to England from Poland in 2004 and Kinga, at that time, was offering language support in the Pen Green nursery.

Kinga told me that Leon loved to play with cars, blocks and trains, enjoyed sand and water play and was interested in watching the moving parts of machinery, in particular looking at the printing machinery at his Grandma's office and using real tools to help his Daddy. I wondered if Leon could have an interest in a rotation schema.

EARLY OBSERVATIONS

Following Leon's interests, I ensured that there were plenty of opportunities for him to explore his interests in various ways.

Three years: One of my earliest observations of Leon was while he was playing with the Superstructs construction. I noticed that he was interested in turning the handle to make the interlocking cogs rotate (possibly a rotation schema) but was particularly interested in threading the cogs on to a pole to create a tower. He continued until he could fit on no more cogs. Although the cogs did not move, he seemed to be enjoying the tall, straight construction he was creating.

In subsequent observations, I saw more and more signs of his having an interest in a vertical schema, and I could see developing a very definite interest in trajectory behaviours.

Leon's particular fascination was for building, connecting and creating a straight line. He used a wide range of resources and experiences to continue and develop his interest.

When exploring a particular schema, children have a heightened sensitivity to that 'form' or action.

Leon's curiosity has led him to explore his interest in an amazing variety of ways both in the nursery and at home over the last 12 months.

Three years one month: Leon found and carried around a long stick before deciding that he wanted to ride a tricycle. He was unable to ride and hold the stick at the same time, but was also not prepared to abandon his stick. He then noticed on the back of his tricycle a hole of the right diameter for his stick. He inserted the stick in the hole, thereby enabling to keep the stick and ride his tricycle.

Three years two months: Leon became deeply involved in experimenting with the turkey baster in the water tray and very interested in the jet of water that came out of the tube (a trajectory). He discovered he could expel the water from the turkey baster by putting it in his mouth and biting the rubber bulb. This made me laugh and I said it made him look like an elephant; Leon laughed too and repeated the action. Here, he was discovering that squirting the water was functionally dependent on squeezing the rubber bulb by biting (fig 1).

We planned a trip for Leon to the local fire station, where he loved the opportunity to squirt the water from the fire hose, creating a very satisfactory horizontal trajectory.

We also visited the Snoezelon - a small multi-sensory room - where the shapes of the bubble tubes and the movement of the bubbles within the tubes really appealed to Leon. He loved experimenting with the interactive panels and discovering that by pressing the various buttons his actions affected the performance of the equipment (functional dependency).

Three years three months: One day in December, I noticed that Leon had broken off small amounts of playdough, had squashed them along the edge of the table to create a continuous line, and was adding more pieces to increase the length. He was using his knowledge of the properties of the dough and experimenting with it to create a straight line with static intervals, like a ruler.

Three years four months: After Christmas, Leon showed an interest in rockets, planets and outer space. One day he took a cardboard tube, which he had found and been carrying around, to the playdough table. He placed it in the middle of a piece of dough and began to press the dough around the sides to stop it falling over.

He saw me watching him and said 'Rocket'. Then, making a noise like an engine, he lifted it off the table in an upwards trajectory and flew his rocket around the room. Leon was using symbolic representation - using his tube to stand for a rocket. He also enjoyed making larger-scale models of rockets from boxes big enough for him to sit in.

We subsequently shared Whatever Next, Jill Murphy's book about a little bear who flies to the moon in a rocket that he has made, and this became a favourite of Leon's.

Three years five months: Leon was videoed transporting water across the garden in order to pour it down a length of guttering, which had been positioned at an incline. He was interested in the flow of the water from his bucket and its course along the oblique line of the guttering.

As he repeated his actions, he began to notice the trail of water from the end of the guttering across the patio towards the drain. When asked, 'Where is it going?', he replied 'Look, it's here, it's going there.' When the adult asked 'Is it going down the drain?', he was quite cross and insisted 'No, in there, in there!', indicating that the water was flowing into the grating, then following the line of the drain horizontally across the garden (figs 2 and 3).

Shortly afterwards, Leon and his parents visited Foxton Locks, a steep series of staircase locks on the Grand Union Canal. Leon had been fascinated, curious about how the locks worked and eager to help the boaters to open the locks using the long arm of the gate. The next time Leon went to our Discovery Area, where a water run and gates allow children to dam water, he told his mother he was making locks for his boat like the ones he had seen at Foxton.

Three years six months: Leon created a different texture when mixing cornflour and water and displayed a high level of interest when exploring the properties of the mixture.

First, he enjoyed experiencing it change from solid into liquid and watched carefully as it dripped in a line from his fingers. Then he slapped his hands on to the mixture, splashing his face, and dragged his fingers through the cornflour, watching lines form, then gradually disappear. Finally, he watched the mixture as he poured it from the pan, trying out the same action with a larger amount.

Three years eight months: Leon felt exhilaration as he whizzed down the nursery garden on the zip line (using himself as an oblique trajectory) and repeated this experience many times.

AT PRESENT

Now, three years 11 months: Leon continues using his interest in trajectories and lines, assimilating different content into his experiences and learning from the outcomes of his actions. He is currently very interested in building with the maple blocks and hollow blocks.

We arranged a visit to nearby Kirby Hall (a ruin of an Elizabethan house) to provide a different experience and support his learning. When we returned to nursery, we displayed photographs showing different aspects of the building in the block area and Leon returned to the building blocks many times to create his own models of Kirby Hall (fig 4).

WHAT IS LEON LEARNING?

These observations illustrate aspects of Leon's trajectory schema as he explores at the different levels of sensori-motor, functional dependency symbolic representation and thought.

Kinga says that Leon continues his interests at home, often creating a line of objects through the house leading to his bedroom. Through his investigations, he is progressing his learning by discovering early mathematical and scientific concepts such as:

- adding on to increase length and height

- problem-solving when he wanted to carry a stick and ride a tricycle

- fitting units into a space

- building up pressure by containing and releasing water

- experiencing the properties of cornflour which forms a solid when under stress and becomes a liquid when released from stress

- creating a symbolic representation of Kirby Hall

DEFINITIONS

'A schema is a pattern of repeated actions. Clusters of schemas develop into later concepts' (Athey, 2003)

Schemas explored by Leon in this article are:

Trajectory - Moving in or representing straight lines, arcs or curves

Line - Lining up objects or materials vertically or horizontally

Rotation - An interest in turning, twisting or rolling oneself or objects in the environment

Transporting - Carrying objects or being carried from one place to another

Connecting - Connecting themselves to objects and objects to each other

Other Terms

Symbolic Representation - Making his building of Kirby Hall stand for his experience of Kirby Hall

Involvement - 'When children are intensely engaged in an activity' (Laevers, 1997)

VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL

Leon is interested in constructing horizontal lines representing roads and tracks. He works with very definite ideas of his own, finding out about fitting things together and experiencing length and space. He is interested in making sure that the units within the line fit the space across the room.

He also loves to experience his interest in the vertical possibly at a sensory level. At group times he likes to climb the tower at Pen Green and enjoy the different perspective of the local environment, as well as enjoying the experience of climbing high and spotting local landmarks.