Why Does Our Breath Turn to Mist? Why Do the Leaves Fall? Let Me Wonder
The best education does not happen at a desk, but rather engaged in everyday living –
hands on, exploring, in active relationship with life.
Vince Gowmon
In a very cloudy and windy morning. When we enter the yard, the wind blows down a lot of leaves from a tree.
Jaxon: wow~ the leaves! (he stood under the tree and let the leaves fall on him)
Me: Yes, fall is coming, and that’s why the leaves are turning colours and falling. Do you see
the red and yellow ones?
Jaxon: (nodding)
Me: Every year, the trees prepare for winter by letting their leaves go. Do you want to catch one?
Jaxon: Yes! (runs around, trying to catch a leaf)
Me: Look, you got one! Let’s see if we can find a few more different colours. Maybe we can make a
leaf collection later.
It was really chilly when Penny came running up to me, her voice full of excitement.
“Look, Ai-Lun! Look at my breath!” she exclaimed as she exhaled, and a mist appeared in the cold air.
“I see it! I have it, too!” I replied, exhaling and watching the mist appear from my own breath.
Then I asked, “Do you know why that happens?”
“Because my breath is warmer!” she responded proudly, and I nodded, impressed by her answer.
“That’s right! And if you look at the ground, there’s a thin layer of frost covering the wooden floor, making it slippery!” I pointed out.
“Yeah!” Penny replied, her eyes wide with interest.
As we keeled down to explore the frost and feel the cold through our fingers, Nell came over carrying a cup full of sand.
“Nell, what are you doing?” I asked, confused.
As far as I know, sand usually stays in the sandbox, so I was curious.
“I want to use the sand… put on the ice… so people don’t fall down,” Nell explained.
“Oh, interesting!” I said.
“Do you think that will work?”
“Yes,” Maxine came and joined us. “We put sand on the ground so people won’t fall.”
“Wow, I really like how you’re thinking about everyone’s safety!” I said, feeling impressed by their thoughtfulness.
Reflect
Later, my mentor explained that they chose to use sand instead of salt to cover the icy slope two days ago because salt could damage the wooden floors. This situation made me feel appreciation for the children’s curiosity and attentiveness again as they weren’t just excited about what they noticed, like Penny’s delight in seeing her breath; they also wondered why it was happening.
What impressed me even more was their care for others and collaborative problem-solving. Nell and the other children quickly became aware of the icy ground and decided to use sand to make it safer, showing their ability to think collectively about everyone’s safety. Their actions relate to the ideas of “common worlds” pedagogy, where children’s relationships with their environment and each other foster ethical and inclusive practices (Taylor & Giugni, 2012).
Through these interactions, the children learned about their environment by observing, experimenting, and working together. This aligns with Rooney et al.’s (2021) concept of “weathering-with” pedagogies, where children engage deeply with their surroundings and experience through other senses, not only their eyes, to help them understand and learn about nature and weather change. Additionally, their collaboration and sharing of ideas are related to Kind’s (2018) article in her exploration of collective artistic practices that promote social and creative engagement.
This experience reminded me that learning for children is not merely about being told what to do but about exploring and experiencing their world. By slowing down and engaging in their interactions, I was reminded of the significance of positionality in early childhood education as being with them, feeling what they feel, and being curious about the world as they are.
References
- Kind, S. (2018). Collective Improvisations: the emergence of the early Childhood studio as an Event-Full Place. In Landscapes: the arts, aesthetics, and education (pp. 5–21). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70644-3_2
- Rooney, T., Blaise, M., & Royds, F. (2020). With shadows, dust and mud: Activating weathering-with pedagogies in early childhood education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 22(2), 109–123. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949120939202
- Taylor, A., & Giugni, M. (2012). Common Worlds: Reconceptualising inclusion in early childhood communities. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 13(2), 108–119. https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2012.13.2.108