I found visiting the children’s school to be quite an informative and entertaining experience. It was interesting to observe kids interact with each other and their surroundings as an adult. Students were fascinated by sounds, movement, counting, colors, and anything sensory (i.e. feeling sand or water). Below are some of the actions I found particularly interesting related to autonomy, initiative, and industry:

Autonomy

When students used the juice presser, they thoroughly enjoyed it, partially because they were able to press the machine’s buttons themselves and see the results. With the Kindergarteners, many refused to work with others in building structures or playing with toys because they had their own ideas in mind and wanted to implement them.

Initiative

Children often tried to take initiatives of their own. For example, when singing the ABCs in a group, many kids exclaimed that they wanted to sing the ABCs faster, to challenge themselves. When children were playing with sand, they were extremely focused to discover and explore. They wanted to implement their ideas and see the results (i.e. finding a new item).

Industry

The children frequently tried to show off their successes to their teachers. For example, when participating in group singing or dancing, the kids tried to do their best to follow the songs and dances. They wanted to have fun but also follow their teacher’s instructions, in order to show their accomplishments.

Reflection

The visit was immensely helpful in determining a project. I realized that children are explorers. Any project made needs to invoke questions, curiosity, and some sort of discovery. The project should include different colors and movements, as children find those features to be fascinating. Some other elements that could be added are sounds and counting.