Hi Kayla,
I love the spirit of engaging with the community. You might want the community to come to you! Our centers are often isolated, fenced environments that keep the community out. Perhaps someone from the community can come to you with many baked loaves of bread for them to investigate, or bring a cart from the library and let them explore books, or can you choose a nearby destination that has access to public transportation with a reliable time schedule so the families meet at the destination and return with you to the center or end the day there?
Walks for us are meanderings while moving in the wider community, explorations of how the various members of their community(including their peers) move and walk, sharing investigation with their community along the walk ( a house being build! A hole in the sidewalk!), and we have found that even up to 5 years of age we need one adult to 3 children! We want to encourage them to look at the world, explore the world, and often we cannot plan a destination of more than a block in mind with one adult at the end of the block in case someone runs ahead, to remind all that this is where we pause to look around before heading back. The children are connecting socially in the community, stopping to greet a neighbor, seeing someone walking their pet, talking to one another about the walk, finding interesting artifacts on the walk and a block is far enough.
Alternatively, a plaza where community members are already gathered (playing chess, sitting at benches, feeding sparrows), an enclosed park area of some sort, where you move from one part of the area to another vs a walk, allows for them to have agency in how they interact in that community. It, I am guessing, is exactly what I think you have set out to do! It is not a hurried, stressful march for adults OR children from the start to the end, but an investigation into the wonders along the way as they build and explore community within their peer group and within their larger environment.
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Carol Tatsumi
Director
Manhattan Beach Nursery School
Manhattan Beach CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-27-2021 12:01 PM
From: Karen Lefkovitz
Subject: DAP: Community Walks with Toddlers
Hi Kayla, I suspect you are struggling with walks for a good reason!
In my toddler trainings I ask teachers if they have ever observed toddlers walking of their own free will? Picture a toddler, they always run! (Or stumble, or creep)
Toddlers are working hard on developing two lesser-known senses. Body Awareness, (proprioception system) which is the sensation of the muscles and joints that enables the brain to know where each part of the body is and how it is moving, and Movement, (vestibular system) which contributes to our balance and our sense of where our body is in space.
It is critical to develop these senses early in order to feel comfortable in ones own body. Toddlers can seem very clumsy as these skills are in the early stages of development. It is important for them to have a safe, but challenging environment in which to practice all the kinds of movement that lead to mastery.
Another issue about walking from point A to point B with toddlers is that they are generally not interested in doing so. They live in the moment, and "here" is the best place to be, not "there." They can really enjoy a very small range and find meaning in small details, like cracks in sidewalks, rain running down a gutter, pipes coming out of a building or machinery working on the street.
Is there is a safe way to take the children out into the neighborhood, very close to your center, and let them experience the community by milling around, talking, and playing? I think you will find this a richer experience and there will be plenty of chances for teachers to observe what fascinates the students and follow up on these experiences in the classroom and yard.
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Karen Lefkovitz
Independent Consultant
Philadelphia PA
Original Message:
Sent: 04-26-2021 09:34 AM
From: Kayla de Groot
Subject: DAP: Community Walks with Toddlers
Hello Fellow Early Childhood Professionals,
I am curious to know: how do you manage community walks with large groups of young children? In particular, how do other toddler educators manage these outings in a way that is DAP and safe, but that also fosters the children's sense of belonging in their community.
I am struggling with the current procedures for our community walks (3 educators + 16 toddlers) and feel that our practices may not be DAP.
Thank you in advance!
Kayla
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Kayla de Groot
Early Childhood Educator
NSCECE
Halifax NS
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