Documentation Examples > Examples of documentation that is shared more widely

Early in the school year the children venture out of doors into a nearby meadow. The meadow is rich with possibilities for children's investigations. There is a building of relationships, listening to and reflecting on one another's point of view. The structure within a learning relationship is built on the exchange of perspectives.

Alan (3.7 yrs.) declares, "Stop here young scouts!"

A streambed filled with large rocks draws the children's attention.

Andrew (3.9 yrs.) wonders aloud, "Can we cross them?"

The children's choice to stop and cross the rocks has offered them a challenge. What can they learn about their abilities in relationship to the topography and to one another?

Three children cross the rocks easily, but Emily remains behind.

Hannah (4.11 yrs.): "What's the matter?"

Emily (3.7 yrs.): "Children like to be scared, but not too much."

Hannah: "I'll help you."

Emily: "Now I like it. We can pretend to be a family. You are the big sister, and I'm a sister too. Or the mom, Mrs. G. can be the Dad, and the boys are brothers."

When she returns to the classroom and is asked to reflect on the morning in her sketchbook, Emily draws the rocks and symbolically places herself in the middle.

Emily: "These are the rocks; that's my name; that's me hiding in there."