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With our inspirations and past experiences with planning and executing a project, there were many questions and considerations as we began planning for the first one. These were a few we started with:
After much discussion, we came to a few decisions which we decided that we would like a group of six children with ages varying from three to six years of age. This is because we wanted to provide an environment where the children were able to learn and support each other during the sessions. It was also important for us to provide support to the children as we engage in conversations and interact with one another, we decided that there should be two adult mentors during each session with a 1:3 adult to child ratio. At our starting point, we were unsure if children had been exposed to project work before as not all the children were enrolled in formal school. Thus, we wanted to start each project season to six sessions with each session about one and half hour long. This is to accommodate for time to engage with each other and explore with materials provided.  With a frame in mind that children are capable of affecting change and creating an impact, we are choosing to believe that the child’s world is full of possibilities, not limitations. Project approach allows learners to interact with others and the world around to conduct in-depth investigations into questions about the topic of choice. This process builds an accumulation of knowledge, skills and dispositions, enabling self-motivated learners who are empowered to be decision makers. Those involved in a project would be able to construct meaning together, allowing them to integrate their discoveries with their perceptions of the world. It would also allow the children to apply their skills and learn new ones like asking questions, finding out the answers (research) then converging towards the same point (conclusion). As we embark on our Mobile classroom journey, we hope to continuously explore framing projects to create various experiences based on the topic of interest, roles that adult facilitators play, children's responses and documenting them and other observations and reflections in each project season we have. Because we do not have all the answers, it is the continuous learning processes through these projects that we are looking to immerse ourselves in. In the next blog post, we will be sharing about our first project with the children and how we planned the project with the three phases cited by Judy Helm and Lilian Katz (2011) to guide our learning process. Reference: Helm, J. H. & Katz, L. G. (2011). Young investigators: The project approach in the early years (2nd ed). New York: Teachers College Press; Washington, D. C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
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 There are so many things happening in the daily lives of children, especially interactions which occur constantly with the members of their community. The world is a dynamic space that permeates possibilities; an ecological setting where the environment becomes a resource for us to observe and support the children. The challenge is that the community has predefined goals regarding children’s abilities and what their viewpoints and understanding of the world “should be”. Do we as guardians allow time and space for children to be the driving force in their own learning and constructors of knowledge? To do this, we need to understand our children not only as individuals but dynamic members of society. In the community, they are a force that can potentially make change through interactions they have with objects and others in the environment. We need to accept them as catalysts of change through exchanges that are positive and full of energy, where they have the opportunity to develop new ideas and shape their perceptions and thinking about the world. Extending it further, we use this lens to understand different members of our community who each have the ability to affect change and contribute to make the learning environment for children become more positive, spirited and active. If the community believes the child is able to shift their perception of our world to see a place of limitless possibilities, there would be exchanges that are rich and valuable as each individual would be motivated to share their thoughts and ideas to enrich each other’s lives. Learning is then not about imparting knowledge, but about growing our understanding of the world by being driven and interested to find out and learn together about the things around us.
These thoughts and ideas were the basis that sparked the concept for Mobile Classroom; to create a safe space for children to learn and explore possibilities in various settings through engagement with others in the world. It began in a homeschool setting with passionate parents and a teacher who believed in the idea of forming a community of learners. We adopted the project approach as a structure for the session as it allowed the children and facilitators to indulge in the joy of playing with different ideas, questioning and challenging their understanding of the world and acquiring new knowledge to share with others. We started with a group of six children to learn from each other with the guidance of two mentors. The small group size created more opportunities for the teachers to observe the children’s interactions and provide support or extend their conversations and questions. We are currently on our sixth project as we had to take a little break during the 2020 pandemic last year. Each and every session we try to build on the children’s past experiences, skills and how we approach and deepen the processes that happen during the sessions. 'The Amazing Sarong', by Quek Hong Shin, is a cultural local story which brings us through a typical day of a Malay girl from the past. During the day, her family's sarong was used in different ways; from wrapping it into a turban to block out the sun to folding it into a blindfold for a game of Blindman's Bluff. This story reading experience provided an opportunity for the children to think about the uses of the sarong shared in the story. They also participated in drama activities where they were to use a sarong as an instrument of exploration to communicate their thoughts and ideas. When an idea was being presented by a friend, the group would try it out and give suggestions of how that idea could be improved. From the experimentation of ideas and movement with the sarong, the group created a story. ‘Everybody’s Rainbow Sarong’ is a tale of friendship and adventure where a group of friends comprising of two leopards and a penguin used their magic sarong to help Princess Elsa find her way back to her castle. Throughout the sessions, children were provided with opportunities to cultivate the skills necessary for collaboration, focusing on listening to their peers in various discussions, making suggestions, providing feedback and building on each other’s ideas. This also encouraged them to take others' perspectives into consideration as they created shared understanding of the tasks that were set and the goal the group was working towards. By the end of the six sessions, collaboration skills were cultivated through a storyboard creation, painting two sarongs to be used in their film as well as acting out their story for the film. To celebrate, we had a film screening of 'Everybody's Rainbow Sarong’ for their families to enjoy. To find out more about other projects we have been involved in, click here. Interested in creating a collaborative experience with a group of friends? Drop us an email at [email protected]! Sarong 1  Sarong 2  Colleciety’s success with Storyworld opened up an opportunity for us to share our experiences with storytelling. On a Saturday morning after breakfast, we gathered for a session online with teachers from Carpe Diem Starlets Sparkle. During the session, we shared about the difference between storytelling vs story reading, benefits of reading to children, common challenges faced by teachers during storytelling and how we could overcome those challenges. It was heartening to see the participation of all the members of the school as they read stories, playing with the intonation of their voices, and reflected on their practices with their children. To find out more about other projects we have been involved in, click here. If you would like to have a conversation with us about storytelling, do drop us an email at [email protected]! Brainstorming Session  Reflection  Storyworld was a project where our passion for stories and the craving to engage merged during the circuit breaker period in the challenging year of 2020. Each week, families would gather on zoom to delve into the world of stories with Uni the Unicorn and The Queen of Hearts! It started out with a simple storytelling session where the two storytellers used a book to share a story with the families. As the weeks progressed, we were keen to have activities children could do during the week with their parents that would be used during the storytelling session. In preparation for each session, we brainstormed ways the children could be involved. This required us to develop ourselves into the “Zen Zoom Masters”, familiarizing and adapting ourselves to the few ways of social interaction during this period. We started with 12 participants of friends and families to close to 50 families at the end of the 7 weeks circuit breaker. It was heartwarming to see the children’s reactions and responses each week as we sought to get to know each child better as their families would share feedback with use about each session. As we learn to live with the pandemic, it is also a necessity to learn how to reconnect with each other. Storyworld is being kept dormant for the moment as we move on with our daily activities and daily lives but we hope that we will be able to share our passion and joy for stories with many more families in the near future. To find out more about other projects we have been involved in, click here. Past Storytelling Sessions 'Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!' by Mo Willems |
