Just Watch

"Just watching" in Edinburgh.


Yogi Berra was a major league baseball player. He spent most of his career playing for the New York Yankees. He was a catcher and went on to be a manager and a coach as well.

He was also known for saying some pretty unique, sometimes strange and/or confusing, things.

One quote attributed to Yogi was "You can observe a lot by just watching."
I tend to agree.  You not only can observe a lot, but often times you can learn a
lot by just watching.

One of the requirements of my former job was to observe. I observed grownups working with and teaching young children and I also observed young children playing and learning during their day at "school." 

I was called to a child care center to observe a classroom of young three year olds.  They were having some trouble with transitions (pretty common with that age group) and wanted to have some suggestions/advice about how to handle these times in a more appropriate way.

As I stood on the playground, just watching, the director of the center joined me. She didn't say anything and I wondered if she had any questions or comments. I asked her if she wanted to discuss anything and she replied, "No, I think you've already answered my questions by letting me stand here and just watch. I have never done this before."

She went on to say that she was going to give the teachers a chance to also just stand and watch as she felt they would learn from the experience. From listening to her,  I realized that I should be promoting this concept to other directors, principals, and teachers as well.

Some of the many things I have learned while "just watching" include:

- Children figuring out why the puzzle piece won't fit all by themselves.
- Children appropriately settling disputes over a toy between themselves.
- Children figuring out how many and what shape blocks are needed to complete their building.
- Children creating a "masterpiece" by using all of the paint from the container.
- Children laughing and squealing as they play "superheroes" on the playground.
- Children having some very "interesting" conversations while playing in the sandbox and water table.
- Children learning about nature by lying on the ground watching the clouds float over.
- Children learning through singing and dancing.
- Children learning responsibility by feeding the classroom pets and watering plants.
- Children learning to count and sort by using sticks, bottle caps, and buttons.
- Children developing fine motor skills by cutting and gluing materials to create collages in the art center.
- Children developing large muscles by riding trikes, carrying buckets of sand, and climbing.
- Children forming lasting friendships with their peers.

So, I encourage teachers, administrators, and parents of young children to take the time to "observe a lot by just watching."   I think you'll be glad you did!

That's it for now.
Check back later.









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