Text investigation: Consider your essential question in the context of at least two outside sources you have identified that connect to your essential question. How do these ideas resonate with or challenge your own beliefs, experiences, or practices? Be sure to give concrete and specific examples. You may want to address: ways the sources answered parts of your Essential Question, what additional questions were raised, or how your essential understanding of your project was altered or confirmed by the readings you did. 

Essential Question: How does the environment or structure of a classroom affect a child’s learning and development?

As I have continued working and interacting with children age range 4-5, I have come face to face with the wonders of a child’s imagination. They have the ability to entertain themselves for hours on end; playing solo or with a friend, drawing or playing make-believe. The classroom and teachers really takes this into consideration when formulating ways of teaching. 

Instead of long and tedious classes, there are shorter classes with fun activities included. Math might involve rolling a die or collecting information about other classmates. Literacy may include reading a short book and then solving a puzzle made up of simple words and drawings. Yardsticks by Chip Wood really makes this clear, saying how “[Five-year-olds] learn best by exploring materials such as blocks, clay, finger paints, rocks, and shells” (Wood 36). At this age, it would be pointless to use rulers or textbooks. The children wouldn’t absorb the information because they simply would be too bored with it, the information would be presented in a way they didn’t understand. However, when presenting the information in a way that engages and entertains the child, there is a greater chance of it being retained. 

Jean-Marc Eyssalet, a French doctor, makes this perfectly clear when stating “We have to let [children] dream. Dream not only when they are asleep, but give them the possibility to dream through light and sound” (The Beginning of Life 10:30 – 10:45). Dreaming and imagination are two great assets that children have, which slowly fade over time. During the years that they are still alive and thriving, dream and imagination should be incorporated into a child’s learning. Helping them grow as both a student and a person.