Last week I was part of a group of parents and preschool kids who went on a field trip to their local library. I had managed to get myself invited because my Rotary club supports family literacy initiatives and we have started working with this group.
It was a wonderful visit. There were over 25 children, all under five years old, and about 18 parents, mainly mums but there were a few dads too. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen but the kids immediately sat on the mats that had been placed in front of a chair while the parents sat on benches where they could see their kids.
Then a librarian appeared with a guitar, recorders and a hand puppet. He had never met the children before, many of them did not speak English, they were not used to sitting still, and some of the children might even have been a little afraid of him.
He kept those children enthralled for nearly half an hour. No one left, no one made a fuss, everyone was having a good time. Quite a feat.
How did he do it? He showed the children – and the parents – what he wanted them to do. He modeled the behaviors he wanted. He did use some words but mainly he used actions to keep the children in order and to help them understand the songs he was singing.
The children lapped it up. They couldn’t get enough and they were quickly interacting with the librarian, asking him questions, telling him about themselves, having fun.
i noticed that only a few of the parents joined in the action songs. I wish more had understood the importance of showing young children what to do rather than trying to tell them what to do. This librarian had harnessed the power of showing and had kept 25 very young children enthralled and entertained for a long time. He had taught them many things, new actions, new songs, how to count, how to interact with others. It was wonderful to see the learning that was taking place.
I just wish that all the parents had learned something too. I wish that they had all learned the power of ’showing’, of modeling as a way of helping children learn.
Maybe next time.
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