This document discusses approaches to fostering self-expression and creative thinking in children. It advocates for using the emergent approach, where a topic develops as children and teachers investigate it together based on the children's interests. Principles for using this approach include generating children's ideas, keeping the curriculum child-centered, and using questions to provoke thinking. The document also discusses using self-expressive materials and conventional activities to develop thinking skills like matching, grouping, ordering, and conserving.

1. Fostering Self- expression and
Creative thinking: using the
Emergent Approach

2. Most Valuable Priorities
A. Maintain the child’s sense of wonder and
curiosity.
B. Let cognitive learning be a source if genuine
pleasure for children and teacher.
1. Keep it age appropriate
2. Keep curriculum real and relevant
3. Keep cognitive learning brief and unstressful
4. Enjoy the experience with children

3. Most Valuable Priorities
C. Bind cognitive learning to affective
experience whenever possible
D. Accompany Cognitive learning with
language whenever possible

4. Emergent Approach
- A topic takes develop as the children and
teachers investigates it together
- Each contributing his/her own ideas
- Teachers make plans in advance and have
ideas for possible topics

5. Principles when using Emergent
Approach
1. Generate children’s own creative ideas;
2. Base the curriculum on the interests of the
children;
3. Keep the pathway focused;
4. The teacher should recognize their values
and responds to them in a positive way;
5. Use language consistently;

6. Principles when using Emergent
Approach
6. Use questions in ways “provoke” the children
into thinking for themselves as ideas emerge.
7. Wait for answers and ask only a few
questions at a time.
8. Encourage to produce more than one answer.
9. Translate their ideas into concrete tangible
experiences.
10.Use some form of expressive medium.

7. Importance of creativity
Enhances the child’s feelings of self-esteem
and self-worth
Provides opportunities for expressing
emotions
Gaining relief and understanding

8. Self-Expressive Materials to foster the
creative self
1. Interfere as little as possible.
2. Never provide a model for the children to
copy.
3. Understand that the process, not the product,
matters most.
4. Allow plenty of time and opportunity for the
child to use materials.

9. Self-Expressive Materials to foster the
creative self
5.Provide enough materials;
6. Variety in materials is crucial;
7. Foster an appreciation of beauty.

10. Developing thinking and reasoning
skills using: Conventional Approach
Conventional Approach
- The teacher prepares activities in advance for
the specific learnings she’d like the children
to experience.

11. Piagetian Categories of Knowledge
• Social-conventional knowledge- direct social
transmission
• Physical knowledge- acting on objects on the
real world
• Logico-mathematical knowledge- the ability
to reason

12. How to provide opportunities for
practicing concept formation skills
1. Develop needed materials
2. Provide consistent opportunities for practice
3. Make the activities fun

13. Practical suggestions about
presenting midlevel thinking and
reasoning skills in the curriculum
1. Matching
- The ability to perceive the two items are
identical
2. Grouping/classification
-”to teach groupings … use materials that
posses common properties but are not
identical.”

14. Practical suggestions about
presenting midlevel thinking and
reasoning skills in the curriculum
3. Perceiving common relations
- To identify and pair items that are usually
associated together but not identical.
4.The relationship between cause and effect
5. Ordering
-arranging objects or events in logical order

15. Practical suggestions about
presenting midlevel thinking and
reasoning skills in the curriculum
6. Spatial seriated ordering
7. Temporal ordering
-recalling or anticipating the orders of event
8. Conserving
-able to recognize that the amount of substance
remains the same despite the changes in its
appearance.