Reflecting with Early Learners

Metacognition is an attribute that some people might not associate with early learners, but given proper support, preschool-aged children are just as capable of thinking about their learning as their peers in older grades. Exposing children to their growing skills of self-reflection is an important aspect of early childhood education. Reflection offers children the opportunity to look at where they have been, where they are, and where they are going. By engaging in an understanding of their growth over time, children eventually become skilled enough to be actively participating as co-creators of their learning, taking on the responsibility and autonomy to see their goals through to fruition. This is an important value we hope to instill in every one of our learners, and it is a journey that is initiated with simple, bite-sized moments of thinking into the past. Here are a few ways to guide your young students through the reflective process:

• Celebrate Accomplishments: Sharing a child’s accomplishments helps them build confidence. This also gives adults a chance to ask probative questions. For example, while looking at a painting, consider asking the child about their process. What steps did they take, did they go back and add more details, and is there anything else they want to add? Let students know that you value their process and want to hear their thoughts.

• Celebrate Learning: Some of the most powerful learning in early childhood education doesn’t come in the form of finished projects or activities. Discussions, observations, problem solving, and conflict resolution are all important parts of school for young learners. Sharing video, images, audio recordings, or even just revisiting a class discussion with the children gives them the opportunity to think about those moments from a distance. If a child can look back at a moment when they struggled and remember how they persevered, they add a tool to their tool belt of social emotional and learning strategies. These strategies help children navigate future problems as they arise.

• Revisit and Revise: Go back with students to things that they started, but not quite finished. Was there something that was difficult? Did they run out of time? Is there another way to extend the learning? As adults we often return to work we have started, but don’t always give children those same opportunities. This is also a great opportunity to revisit or extend activities that students felt a connection to. Give students the chance to pick an activity they would like to do again. While playing and working, ask students what was different or the same this time.

It is important that as adults, we give children the space and time to take a deeper look at what they’ve accomplished and where they are going. If we compare the learning process to taking a walk, then reflection is the moment when we stop moving, turn around and take in how far we’ve traveled. Just as important as traveling is the acknowledgement of the path taken so far. By doing so, we can take stock, re-evaluate and choose the best direction to go next.