Parent Plans

PARENT PLANS: An Observation is Made

AM joined us at the very end of our planning time after an appointment last Wednesday, but she still wanted to include her plans for the day. AM had her mom wait and watch her as she drew and shared her plans. When AM finished, she turned and asked her mom what her plans for the day were. AM then asked her mom to draw them, and watched while she did. It was interesting to hear AM tell her mom the rules for writing the plans -- that she needed to do them on the clipboard and use the black marker.

In observing this simple, ordinary moment, we found how powerful this morning ritual has become. We also realized that throughout the day children wonder and think about what their parents are doing. They wonder if their parents miss them. Are their parents thinking about them? Are their parents wondering what they are doing at school? At the same time, the parents are wondering what their children are doing at school. Are the children thinking about them? Are they worried or anxious? The wondering and thinking about each other that parents and children do is a significant part of life that we often forget to acknowledge and value.

Extending the Plans:

In thinking about the powerful moment shared between AM and her mom, we wondered about a new provocation for the plans that could connect home and school in this ritual. Will this new provocation validate for the child the whole ritual of the plans? Will this be an extension or link between home and school? We were excited to find out!

The Provocation: Parent Plans

Each parent was to make a plan that reflected what they were going to do that day and then send it in with their child on Monday. Each child would then share their mom and/or dad’s plan for the day during the Group Meeting.

Each parent was given a planning card. They were asked to think about how best to prepare their plan by considering their child’s strengths. Is the child reading graphics or pictures (symbolic representations)? If so, then drawing their plan might be best. If their child is beginning to recognize words, then a combination of words and pictures might be best.

During the course of the next several days, the parents' plans were shared by the children with their friends. The children then made their own plans for the day. It was interesting to see if any shifts in thinking arose from this joint experience. In a few cases, there was a huge shift in thinking.

REFLECTION:

Our provocation was shared with you as a way to allow you to think about and experience a piece of your child's daily learning process. As each of you created your plan, you had to make many decisions while you reflected on your day and how best to communicate it. What should you include?  How best could you depict the plan - in words, graphics, or both?  How could you express it in a way that accommodated the constraint of having to having it fit on an index card? All of this caused you to edit your thoughts. This process is very much in line with the early steps in literacy, yes? This is the process that each child is going through daily with their planning.

With these thoughts in mind, please take a few moments to think about and answer the following questions:

1. What were your first reactions to this provocation? What were your concerns or fears (e.g., some of you mentioned that you couldn't draw)?

2. As you thought about your day and your plan for the day, what process did you use in selecting the individual plan or representations that you used?

3. If you shared your plans or your child was with you as you made your plan, what were their reactions?

4. What aha! moment did you have while preparing the plan? What did you come to realize about
the importance of this planning process?

Posted on September 25, 2007 9:58 PM | Permalink