The weather is changing and becoming cooler day by day. To ensure that pupils can continue to maximise their learning opportunities (indoors and outdoors) throughout the setting, I would like to ask that from Monday 23rd October pupils wear their winter uniform. Please do also ensure that all pupils have a raincoat and wellington boots as outdoor learning will continue as planned. As you know, we firmly believe that there is no such thing as the wrong weather (air quality aside), only the wrong clothing!
Why sensory learning just seems to make sense by Oscar Chambers, intern, Wellington College UK
Everything we do is guided by a certain sense. Our sight, our touch and our listening guide our physical impulses. Our sense of right and wrong delivers us a conscience that isn’t commonly exhibited in other primates or animals. Basic common sense, really. Our brain is continuously mapping the world. Often that map is distorted, but it’s a map with constant immediate sensory input. Senses give us a way of seeing and processing the world in way that is unique to every individual. The earliest memory one tends to remember is often a highly emotional and sensory-rich experience. The most vivid memories stem from an emotional valuation we associate to an experience. So how do we bring this level of awareness into education?
Senses are intrinsically important. We possess five traditional senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Each one of these senses garners an entire fraction of society’s investment in bringing pleasure - to those senses. Think of how much we invest in things that look, taste, sound and feel beautiful. You can spend very little on the bare necessities. A bowl of rice and some beans may sustain you for a day. The very fact that people are willing to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on concert tickets, food, travel and other sensory pleasures justifies the fact that our senses structure who we are and add a dimension to life that simply makes it worth living.
There are a few common misconceptions and household myths that come with the idea of general sensory perception that warrant clarification. The traditional ideology of ‘sense’ denotes that human beings possess five senses. In reality, humans have nine ‘external’ senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, temperature, kinaesthetic awareness, pain and balance) as well as a myriad of internal senses (e.g. salt and/or carbon dioxide concentration detection in blood). The notion of external organs (responsible for sensory reception) being wholly accountable for our overall perception is archaic. In truth, the organs (nose, eyes, etc.) merely offer themselves to be sense receptors. In reality, the brain is the organ responsible for information processing.
So, what relevance does sensory learning have with regards to early years education?
Social learning theory (as well as common knowledge) eludes to the understanding that children are continuously absorbing information; positive or negative. They look to role models to determine which behaviours are deemed favourable or unsavoury. All humans are flawed; we as educators aren’t in the business of shaping children to be carbon copies of the teachers who facilitate their learning. Therefore, some learning must be done out of the hands of teachers. To quote Einstein, “Play is the highest form of research” something that Wellington College Bilingual Shanghai strives to embody in early years education. The notion of learning through play is essential to autonomous development. Play-based learning allows for children to develop their own understanding of how things work, rather than being spoon-fed information. The balance between education and self-driven exploration resides in sensory learning.
So how do we learn? Or how do we want to learn?
The conventional basis of learning is reading, remembering, reciting, and regurgitating (rote learning). A model that has been predominant in teaching since the times of Proto-Sinaitic scripture, dating back to mid-19th century BC. Memories have no substance if they’re remembered as lines of words on blank pages. Senses give them texture. Senses develop a framework that structures concrete memories. For that very reason, we cannot teach for the sake of teaching and have children learning for the sake of learning. To develop the best 5-year-
olds and eventually the best 28-year-olds, we must understand what defines those age groups. 28-year-olds, 18-year-olds, 5-year-olds, aren’t necessarily demarcated by their education, economic status or ethnicity. Instead, they tend to be defined by the experiences they attain over their lifetime. The most holistic learning experiences are (by a certain measure) the most memorable. Anyone can sit and regurgitate facts if they are trained for the sole purpose of doing so. If teachers can support pupils to add their own value to learning, we afford the next step in educational evolution. Understandably, young learners are far less capable of grasping abstract concepts or theories as easily as adults or teens. Grammar and vocabulary is learnt through drilling and memorisation. In early years, understanding comes from the phonetic flow of the words and their order, followed by the configuration of letters and later, punctuation. Learning concepts associated directly with senses is crucial to early stage development. Therefore, making sensory learning a unique tool throughout the setting helps unlock the potential for holistic education.
In our day and age, where practically everything can be digitally accessed or artificially assimilated, we must ask ourselves: Where does it stop? But, more importantly: Why stop?
Sensory learning combines the future with traditional ways of learning. Our ancestors learnt what berries to eat and what animals to hunt from experience. It is only now that we package these experiences into tests, health guides and nutrition labels for people to senselessly process without genuinely understanding. Sensory learning aims to educate through experience rather than ‘alienated understanding’. The concept of alienated understanding lends itself to be the product of an education of a foreign concept without the direct interaction or application of the concept to a real-world situation. Furthermore, this notion exemplifies the reason why quantum mechanics is arguably so difficult to correctly grasp… rarely does one ever use it in a day-to-day situation! However, we do not aim to celebrate mediocrity. Nor do we have the desire to support our pupils to reach a learning plateau and develop a sense of complacency – a quality that would be ill-fitted to the current ultra-competitive academic climate. The fundamentals of excellence, whether they be academic, athletic or otherwise are based on the ability to adapt and harness one’s own innate ability to ‘excel’. Sensory awareness unlocks the potential to more effectively find these opportunities and make the most of learning that would otherwise be unattainable if it was restricted to reading from a textbook.
Why not only books?
The brain is a highly complex organ. Therefore, learning shouldn't be confined to pages and whiteboards. The theory of neuroplasticity denotes that the brain is highly responsive to environmental stimulants. The corresponding nervous signals from these stimulants are transported to the brain after being taken in by one of our sense receptors. These processes contribute to the development of localisation of function. Localisation of function occurs for the brain to better store and rehearse information. This overall process is a by-product of neuroplasticity. Sensory learning is a form of subconscious brain training that has the potential to work in parallel with learning opportunities. The purpose of capitalising on early years education, especially in a sensory-rich environment is to ensure that we can develop young learners with the ability to think with all senses and create definitive cognitive associations with each sense, independently.
So where does that leave us?
What difference does sensory learning offer pupils that traditional learning (with an extra push) can’t? The concept of personalised learning dictates that due to each individual’s unique perspective of the world, offering varied levels of sensitivity supports learners to develop unique cognitive imprints that then manifest themselves as distinguished personalities. With this knowledge of how to shape a growing mind, do we truly wish to feed our pupils through the traditional education system that aligns itself with an academic assembly line? Or do we choose to give them the tools to lead their own learning and allow them to find the inspiration to develop as a human being? With all of that in mind, it becomes difficult to find a reason to contest how sensory learning just seems to make sense.
Classroom News for week beginning Monday 18th September 2017
EY1 - Project Week
Sensory play provide meaningful ways to promote children’s learning. Piaget’s theory believes that children at the sensorimotor stage understand the world by interact the environment physically. EY1 children are going to explore the world with our eyes, ears, hands, noses, and tongues. We will play a game called “what’s missing” with teachers and find the missing block that teacher hide. We will explore different sounds around us, such as the sound of instruments. Guess what sound can children make? There will be a magic bag in our classroom this week, but what’s in the bag? Children will have to touch it to find out! We are going to make play dough with different scents. Which scent do you like? Flower? Strawberry? Chocolate? Or Coffee? Children will have opportunities to taste salty and sweet water and describe which one do they like.
We are reading:
小白兔玩颜料、我会数一数、好疼呀好疼呀
Five Little Ducks; This Is Not My Princess; The Birthday Box
We are singing:
找朋友、小白兔白又白
Five Little Ducks, Pat Your Head, Two Little Eyes
A note from the EY1 team:
Please try to arrive at setting before 8:30 every Tuesday for choir with Ms Sarah and Peihua. Thanks for your cooperation.
EY2 - Project Week
This week is project week, we will talk about concept of Autumn. We will discuss the seasonal features of Autumn. For example, we will rub leaves together to determine what effect it will have on the leaves. We will sketch the pictures of the autumn. We will also make crafts. In addition, we will also talk about colours, because Autumn is also colourful. We will engage in activities such as using different colours to mix the colours up and then will let children find out what colour will turn into. Finally, we will create an autumn leaf collage.
We are reading:
Joseph had a little overcoat
小灰鼠的秋天
奇妙的秋天
小蓝和小黄
We will also be reading stories from the library such as:
Many coloured days
Green hat, blue hat
We are singing:
四季歌、Joseph had a little over coat、Review: Rainbow song
A note from the EY2 team:
Please make sure your children have the rain coat and rain boots in the setting to support wet day play.
EY3 - Project Week
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. - Albert Einstein
This week is all about imagination. Different classes will look into different themes, which are “Aladdin’s Lamp”, “Magic Bubbles” or “Brave Leaves”. The children will mind map, role play, share ideas and show their creativity in arts and crafts while exploring their theme. Classes will be taking children on imaginary journeys to magical, far-away lands, asking them to question, dream and make wishes. Discuss with your children what it means to imagine to prepare them for our week of wonder by asking them what their favourite thing to imagine, dream or wish is.
We are reading:
《勇敢的叶子》、《神奇的梦想泡泡》、《阿拉丁神灯》、《天上掉下大蛋糕》、The Brave Leaf
We are singing:
《喝水歌》、《阿拉丁的神灯》、In the Autumn
A note from the EY3 team:
For Peacock and Flamingo class, please bring the leaves you collect to class for the imagination week project. Any children arriving before 8:30 should go directly to the playground with the slide (to your right when you enter the reception area). Children can leave any bags or belongings outside the canteen near their class logo and these will be brought up with them at 8.30 with their class TA or EYA. Only on days of bad weather or air pollution should children go directly to their classrooms before 8.30. This time is to allow teachers to set up the learning activities for the day. Your cooperation is much appreciated.
EY4 - Project Week
During the Project week, EY4 children will have some discussion about our Dreams. Children will get a better understand of themselves by recognizing their strength, interests and build up a positive attitude of future, to understand they have to be persist to achieve their own success.
Each child will explore with different materials to make an art piece to represent their own dream.
We are reading:
《大脚丫学芭蕾》、《达芬奇想飞》等、Dream giver story
We are singing:
《我把梦想挂树梢》
Music and Movement – 项目活动周
It’s Project Week and we’ll be joining in the fun during music.
EY1 – What does music look like to you? Eric Carle’s imaginative picture book
I See a Song will inspire our youngest children as they make their own art pieces inspired by three pieces of music. These works will be displayed as a permanent art piece in our setting when it is completed.
EY2 – Awesome Autumn is on its way! We’ll create a musical Autumn adventure with the children this week, full of falling leaves, trees, rain and wind.
EY3 – This week the children will use their imaginations to go on a musical adventure! Every class will create their own story and end up somewhere different. We’ll also create our own instruments.
EY4 – Music is everywhere! Inspired by the Junkyard Symphony we’ll reuse and repurpose all sorts of containers to create our own instruments and sound making items. Some of these items will be added to our Music Kitchens in the outdoor learning spaces!
We are reading:
EY 1 –
I See a Song? by Eric Carle EY 2 –
We’re Going On a Leaf Hunt by Steven Metzger
We are singing:
EY1 – I See You, 颜色歌
EY2 – 数字歌, Shake the Apple Tree, Autumn Leaves are Falling Down
EY3 – Big Blue Boat, 锤子歌
EY4 – Hello to All the Children of the World, 四季歌
Special date:
Reminder! Every week we will join together to sing and share the songs we have been learning. Please be sure your child arrives in time to participate in this very special year group activity.
EY 1 – Tuesdays 8:30 – 9:00 in the Garden Space, Building C
EY 2 – Wednesdays 8:30 – 9:00 in the Library, Building B
EY 3 – Thursdays 8:30 – 9:00, in the Gym, Building C
EY 4 – Fridays 8:30 – 9:00, in the Gym, Building C
A note from the Music team:
Sometimes creativity is a messy business! EY1 will be doing an art project using noon-washable paint this week. Please be sure your child has an old shirt or play clothes to wear during our I See a Song activity. Thank you!
