It has been observed that many young children like making marks on paper and that they enjoy the activity. It is also known that children's drawings are vehicles for expression and communication. Therefore, it would be logical and reasonable for teachers to incorporate children's drawings into building science concepts. To demonstrate how drawings are utilized to help a child to acquire a science concept, the article first presents a vignette of an interaction between an adult and a 5-year-old boy, focusing on the science concept of the physical characteristics of a spider. It is then followed by several analytical explanations of how drawings build children's understandings. Not only are the introduced strategies useful for one-on-one interactive communication, but also applicable to a small group of young children. The article ends with the specifics of how these strategies were applied to a group of four children in their acquisition of the science concept of the water cycle.
Early math experiences can be challenging for young children. Although it seems that planning a lesson on solving and posing a problem for a young child is a daunting task, it is actually simple if a harmonic cycle is exercised. This harmonic cycle, in fact, embeds within in it a variety of teacher's responsibilities that can expand our understanding of what a teacher needs to attend to when it comes to planning, teaching, and evaluating a child's progress. This article will present responsibilities that a teacher has in a harmonic cycle, which is reflected through an interaction between a teacher and a child on problem posing and problem solving.
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