The Nest

April 2016
Child led learning means following the lead of the child and focuses on
child-initiated learning. Young children need to explore, discover, and
construct their own learning and understanding, and we must allow
them opportunities to do so. Children should be able to follow through
on their own interests, try out their ideas and theories, and seek
answers to their questions.

The children spotted this nest one morning as walked out to our
outdoor play area.

Look Miss Edele, there a nest Sam said. Mmmm I wonder who lives I
that nest. I asked. A bird! Julie told me.Yeah a mommy bird, a baby
bird and a daddy bird would all live there Bayder said.
We watched our nest every day and the children were delighted when
they saw a bird sitting in the nest the very next day.
I wonder who that is in the nest its the mommy bird! Mia told me
excitedly. Maybe the mommy bird is looking after the babies she
said.Is there babies inside Miss Edele?she asked. I dont know Mia
what do you think? I think there is babies there
Maxim pointed up to the nest and said excitedly bird! .Mariam also
joined in and said Mommy bird, Miss Edele, that mommy bird
A few days later the children were still talking about the nest so I
asked them to draw what they thought was inside it.
The following day we passed the nest but the mommy bird was nowhere
to be seen. I wonder where she could be? I asked. I think she is
flying Christopher told me because birds can fly I asked Rico and he
said The mommy getting food, she getting food for the babies When
I asked Sam where he thought the mommy bird had gone he replied
maybe shes gone for coffee with all the other mommy birds!

We monitored the nest every day on our way to the outdoor play
ground and a couple of days later we saw that the nest had been
damaged. Again I asked the children what they thou8ght might have
happened. Maybe a doggie eats the nest Abdelrahman said. Sebastian
disagreed Its too high, maybe a giant got up there and took the eggs
Bayder wondered if vampires broke the nest. Serin said Maybe a
monster climb up and eat the mommy bird Zakhar told me he thought
an elephant broke the nest. Basti thought a big giant took the eggs.
Sam disagreed and said I think a giraffe went there because its so
high and giraffes have really long necks so only a giraffe could reach
that high He then added the baby birds might need to get a ladder so

they can come down from the nest because they are just tiny and they
are just learning, like my baby Kiyan. I asked Runze what he thought
and replied maybe the baby birds fly away I asked why he thought
that and he said because they will get big and they will be big birds
and then they too big for the nest
We had lots more discussions on what had happened to the nest and we
began looking at different types of birds and their nests. We watched
time lapse videos of eggs hatching and the children were just
fascinated. We built our own nests with twigs, feathers, leaves just
like real birds and even made eggs for our nests.

Areas of learning- Knowledge and understanding of the world,

exploration of science and nature, problem solving and reasoning,
communication, language, creative development.