I will start this blog with a great lesson I learned from a professor during my undergraduate studies. We had an assignment in which we had to show a child under three years old some wooden puppies that came in different sizes. The instruction was simple: you had to ask the child to sort the puppies. I remember that my two-year-old niece at the time was my guinea pig for all the practical activities I had to do for my studies, and this would be no exception. I showed her the puppies and asked her to sort them.
My niece started creating a story about the puppies: she put them to sleep, built a tower, did everything except sort them. I started to panic because everything was being recorded and I hadn’t managed to get her to do what the instruction said.
When I presented my work to the class, I remember that even before pressing play, I said: “She didn’t do anything.” After the video, my professor listed countless learnings that she had observed in the footage, things that at that moment, I was not able to notice.
From that day on, I learned that when observing —especially young children— we must see beyond the obvious or the objective we have in mind, and appreciate that there are extraordinary learnings happening in everyday life that go unnoticed because they don’t follow a specific prompt or instruction.
With that in mind, I want to share excerpts from a regular day at Explorer, using a technique we practice at Tinkuy: Behavioral Observations. I invite you to use your own observation skills to appreciate all the learning that is happening through these seemingly small, unscripted moments.
Micaela (2y 9m) arrives excited. Nico (2y 5m) is already in the studio. He runs out to meet her and opens his arms. Micaela receives the hug, a little surprised and wobbly. Nico claps while watching her take off her shoes. While Mica still has her shoes still on, Nico looks for her Crocs and brings them to her. He points at them with his right hand, raising his eyebrows and smiling. Micaela says, “No, Nico, they’re mine.” Nico steps back and watches her. Micaela takes the Crocs and hugs them. Nico laughs and claps. Micaela says, “Oh, Nico,” and laughs.
After putting on her Crocs, she hangs her backpack next to Nico’s. Nico holds out his hand, Micaela takes it, and they run off laughing toward the play kitchen.
Paz (2y 2m) arrives a little later. I welcome her, greet her, and sit her on the tatami. “Paz?!” shouts Micaela, as she rushes through the sliding door. “It’s Paz!” Nico comes behind her shouting, “Pazhhh!” Nico crouches and gently places his hand on Paz’s head, to which she responds with a smile.
“Nico, Paz did this!” —Mica shouts while imitating Paz’s smile— “Nico is a monster!” Mica shouts again, while Nico comes growling and taking big, slow steps, imitating a fierce gesture. Mica runs, and Nico chases after her, fast enough to almost catch her but never quite. This looks thrilling to them. Mica places cushions on the floor, being mindful not to throw them. Nico reaches the cushions, lies down laughing, and then gets up again to keep chasing Micaela.
Meanwhile, Paz is taking things out of a basket. She picks them up, looks at them, and sets them aside. She is sitting very close to one of the wooden shelves.
Nico and Mica keep playing the monster game. Nico takes a different path and comes across Paz. He stops before bumping into her and softly goes through behind her, staying in his monster character. Mica waits for him with the wooden rocking horse, ready to run. Nico loops around and finds Paz in the same spot.
Paz has thrown some small toys and is pointing at them with her outstretched hand. Nico (still in monster mode) slowly picks up the toy and hands it to her. Paz looks at it and claps. Nico smiles and touches her head affectionately.
It’s snack time. Mica runs for her backpack, takes it from the hook, and goes outside. She leaves the backpack on the floor, rolls up her sleeves, and before heading to the sink, runs back shouting, “Nico, snack!” Nico, while taking Paz’s backpack, brings it to her and says, “Come, come,” waving at her with his hand to come with him. Paz looks at him and smiles. I come over and mirror Nico’s gestures. Paz smiles and follows him, crawling to where he is. Nico stops next to the table and leaves the backpack on the floor, then goes back into the studio to get his own.
Here the story ends, and with it, I invite you to ask yourselves: What would you consider valuable learning? And what do you think fosters that learning? Share your insights in the comments below.
