Melysa
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Laura: Welcome to this episode. I have Melysa Mei here with me, founder of Pre K Spot. And she and I became instant friends when we realized that we were both public school teachers. Pushing our play based agenda. And I have her here today and we're gonna talk about what it's like to be a public school teacher in a setting that has a box curriculum and how we adapt and modify that to allow for play and stories to unfold in the classroom.
So I'm going to let Melysa introduce herself, tell us a little bit about who you are, what brought you to where you are in your career and life now.
Melysa: Hey, Laura, how are you? So yeah, I'm Melysa. I am a New York city public school pre K teacher where, as Laura said, I practice a play based play based philosophy in a factory model setting.
And , I have had a lot of experience in play based settings, been very, very lucky. So undergrad was definitely taught in the. stick chart, whole child, center, teacher standing in the front of the room, style, but then grad school gave me the hey, step back, just see what the kids are doing, just kind of stand there and let them play and let them come to you style, and it was very new and very different, but then from there had a lot of Reggio child centered experiences, which really changed my outlook and kind of made me take this turn towards play and starting to understand that side of teaching and, and learning and Led me down this path in this direction, and it's been really, really lovely and luckily landed in the school that I'm in now where I have an admin who at least understands that and really allows us to be able to step into that despite having public school requirements.
So, of course, we'd have to balance the two, right? We do have a boxed curriculum. We do have to show evidence of using it, right? But we are allowed to kind of buck the system, if you want to say, a little bit. So we are trying to do that. And in the city, we have space and parental belief. With that, so we have support in doing so, and so I'm here with my family doing that and trying to spread the play based love.
Laura: Yeah, I think you really touched on two of the most, Critical things that we as play based educators need, especially when we're in a setting that isn't made for us to be teaching in developmentally appropriate ways, is having administrative support and family support. Because It takes so much effort to be quote unquote convincing your director or your admin and getting your families on board that that's like half the job, in addition to the time that you're actually showing up with the children and all the work that we're doing in the classroom.
So I think that's really beautiful that you have those two supports that allow you to. Just trust the children, and trust yourself, and go with it, and it makes things a little bit easier, I think it can.
Melysa: Absolutely, I have to say, I am very lucky with that. Not to say that I'm not doing the work in that, there are definitely a few parents that you have to kind of either hold their hand, or walk them through it, or, and I definitely spend a lot of my time in the beginning of the year, Being very transparent about that, so that parents do know where I'm coming from.
Just so that they know from the beginning. So that if anybody has any questions, they can ask them from the forefront. Yeah. And they always do. There's always a couple who are asking, but they ask them from the beginning. They get it out of the way, and they're usually on board. Yeah.
Laura: And I know you, I think it was this year, right?
Adopted creative curriculum. Yes. Right? And so that's. Yes, and that's what I was using the last two years when I was in my pre k classroom as well. And one of the pros I do feel about creative curriculum is even if you're following it to a tee, nothing is going home like worksheets. Nothing, there's nothing in there that's like, that actually is calendar time.
Or sit, I mean the longest that they're inviting you to sit children on the rug is kind of that. initial inquiry into your unit studies and then those conversations which you can definitely, definitely fill in. But I do feel there's large parts of it that are developmentally appropriate and so it can be a good stepping stone.
there's so many other curricula we know that are out there that are just the watered down first grade to kindergarten to pre k. So at least I think we've both had the experience that creative can be that, that step for us to follow and modify a ton, which is fine. And for those that maybe are doing a lot of traditional developmentally inappropriate practice, it forces them to make some real mindset shifts in the way kind of children learn, right?
Melysa: Yeah. As I was going through it and getting to know it, I did find that It does lean itself towards a project based style of teaching. Really, the biggest issue that I found with it, and as speaking to other teachers, is that, in and of itself, it kind of contradicts itself. In the, just in the way that the digital resource And the I guess you want to say packaged or the physical resource.
So if you read all of the foundational resources and you read everything about it, it is very project based, child led. It tells you to listen to the children, see what they have to say. And if you follow what it says in the foundational resources, It asks you to ask the children what they want to learn.
Here's, present them with the topic, take their ideas, and run with it. Great. That's what, I mean, that's what I used to do all the time when I was doing more project based learning. Fantastic. But if then you pop up their digital resources, It kind of leads you in a different direction.
Laura: Yeah.
Melysa: But their ideas in there kind of follow that project based idea.
So you kind of have to pick, you kind of have to sort through it. Yeah. Which is great if you're a new teacher.
Laura: Yes. Right? What happens is it's, it's, it's foundationally there. And if it was that in itself, And then was like, go run free with it, right? And we know there are some that, educators that feel, I need to be told what to do to teach the children, right?
And so I did always find that as well. It was like, okay, we're gonna do the ball study, and you're telling me which concepts or things to explore within, Balls on week one on week two on week three and there's like a little, fine print that says this is just an idea of where you could go follow the children's lead.
But a lot of us are just, kind of going. It's such a fast pace, right? So yeah, it is a It's a skill, it's a real skill that we have to use to, to find the pieces in it that work and the pieces that, that don't and what to kind of leave behind.
Melysa: I feel like it's like any curriculum, like,
we're also, our, the DOE is making K through 5 adopt a new curriculum.
And it's
literally been just this whole year of getting to know the curriculum and then just adjusting it. And part of the problem too, I feel like is when you have. admin or higher ups above the admin, which is what I feel like New York City is going through at the moment. Yeah. Breathing down your neck and telling you different things about how to use the curriculum is part of the problem, right?
So I have freedom because our admin will stand up for us and say, we trust our teachers. We're going to let them take this curriculum and adjust it to the needs of their children, but not all of Our pre k counterparts across the city have that ability because not all of their admin are allowing them to do that because they have these departmental people coming in and saying, Oh, you have to do this, this, this, this, and this and follow it because the city is telling you to do this, this, this, this, and this.
And so they are, like you said, saying, Hey, the curriculum says do this, this, this, this, and this and do it like this, this, this, this, and this.
Laura: Yeah.
Melysa: So yeah, I mean, there lies a problem with the box curriculum, right?
Laura: Yeah. And, and with public school, the challenges that you and I both come into, right, is the red tape and the really politics behind it.
And so what it does come down to so much is Are you as the teacher able to shut your door and do what you know is best and then defend it as needed or show the learning that's unfolding? Right? Right. The evidence.
Melysa: That's the one thing I feel like I learned in grad school. Mm
Laura: hmm.
Melysa: Because They knew, I feel like, how to teach us, this is play theory, but hey, we are in New York City.
Laura: Yeah.
Melysa: Well, of course, it was a private university, but they knew they were sending us out to the jungle of the city. And they were like, this is how you're gonna show evidence. Yeah. And they really, really taught us how to justify everything that we were doing. Because I feel like that's what I keep leaning back on.
I'm always like, I'm gonna, this is how I justify what I'm doing. Here's learning. Here's evidence, here's documentation, here is learning. And I feel like that's what I keep leaning back on, and I've been, I've done this throughout my entire career. Always, no matter what, and I feel like I'm just sort of, as I've Start a pre k spot, and as I've been sharing what I, what I do over on social media, it's been always about documentation.
Because this is, this is the one skill I feel like I pulled from grad school, because now I'm realizing, as I'm kind of even just talking about it right now, this is what they taught us to do. Because this is the only way you can justify play within the factory model. Is literally by
Laura: making it known. Yes, yeah.
And so much when it boils down to the literacy, it can be so easy to have this closed minded picture of what pre literacy is and pre K when somebody says, here, give this to me. letter recognition and name writing assessment and show me what they know. But early literacy is so much more than just identifying letters and writing their name.
But that's a super easy concrete thing that your TA could do that you can sit down and bang out during rest time and then give to whoever, right? And that's the measure that they're looking at, which is not to say that. Knowing how to write their name and identifying some letters we do know is, something that factors into their success in reading and writing later.
However, when It's not the only thing. Right, right. And when that pressure comes to the teacher who then gives something like that in March and is like, oh crap, most of my students don't know 18 uppercase letters, then you start quote unquote teaching to the test and you start doing Developmentally inappropriate things where you think I just have to drill them, I just have to get them to memorize it, let me put out tracing sheets, and you start shifting your practice because you feel that, that, that pressure is what's so And the only way to show real learning that's happening in play is by capturing those moments, whether it's a photo and then literally breaking it down and look at this, this is the learning that's happening.
And I'm actually in my play based masterclass that I've done my play based literacy masterclass right now. I was just doing that. I had like, One photo, and I was like, this is the play scenario that was unfolding, and here are six key literacy skills, and I'm going to tell you in this five second interaction, how all these pre literacy skills were being developed with this one child in this one moment.
And, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.
Melysa: I did, I did the same thing. I literally, as I'm putting together all of my Elevate in person presentations. I have been walking around my classroom going, oh, here's 10 seconds. Yeah, like 10 seconds of like, oh, look, this person, this child is like, this child is reading. Oh, it's like, oh, this child is making a sign for her adoption center.
Here's this child doing this. I was like, I know this is what I'm going to talk about. I was like, oh, here's evidence of this. I was like, I want to show everybody this.
I was like, yeah, quick picture. I was like, 10 second video here, 10 second video here. Yep. I was like, this is evidence of this. I was like, there you go. Yeah. Right there. I was like, I can show everybody this. And like, literally, in 10 seconds. I mean, I think about this when I'm thinking, throwing up what to put up on, you know, an Instagram reel.
I'm like, here's 10 seconds of like, 60 skills right here, that we can just show people. I mean, the other day I put that, like, all my kids, they literally took out all of their mats. All of our sleep mats. And I mean, how many people are going to let the kids take out their sleep mats and play with them? No.
And I was like, I couldn't, I mean, I couldn't stop them if I wanted to. Yeah. I literally could not have stopped them if I wanted to. I'm like, why would I? Yeah. They took out all of their sleep mats and set them up. And I can tell you, there was a scenario in every single one of those things. And that's what was really beautiful about it because I haven't actually gotten.
fantasy play like that from my kids this year, which was really interesting. Because I don't know why I haven't gotten such deep fantasy play out of them this year, but like this one scenario and I got like I only had 10 kids that day. So
Laura: hang on, let me pause you just because I, I saw what it was, but do you want to just explain like what the play was that was unfolding because people listening maybe
Melysa: don't know.
Yeah. So I was going to try it, but like, I'll try it. I'll do it before I talk about what happened. Yes. So what the kids did was they took out, I only had 10 kids because it was the last day before this like four day break, right? Cause people always go away. So I only had 10 kids. So they took out all.
18 sleep mats that we have because we don't have the cots because we don't have space. So they took them all out and then they started enclosure play. They just started setting them all up standing up on their sides and kind of folding them and setting them up so that they could make houses. I mean some of them were houses, some of them were other things, but they were basically standing them up on their side.
And then they were draping scarves over them, putting you know, the square cushions for sitting on top of them, and then some of them were just setting them up just to stand them up, basically. So, throughout all of this, some of the kids were playing together cooperatively, and they had like a whole sleeping and like house scenario going on.
And. Like I said, what was awesome was, I don't know why I haven't gotten deep fantasy play out of my kids like this, or like deep elongated fantasy play, right? Like, the kids have definitely gotten into some scenarios, but nothing that lasted a long time, or throughout more than like a ten minute period, or that lasted for like a whole work time.
And throughout this one, this one did. I had three little girls that were just like setting up the whole time. They set up the mats, and then they had, they were cooking inside, and they were sleeping inside, and they told me I had to go to sleep, and then suddenly I was like a giant, and they wanted me to like knock the mats over, but then they didn't like that whole thing.
I had a little girl who was like, Productive struggle the whole time. But like awesome productive struggle because she was getting so frustrated that she couldn't get the mats to stand up the way she wanted them to stand up. And she kept like pulling blocks over to make them stay, but then they wouldn't stay.
And she was getting frustrated, but she never cried. She never got mad. She asked for a little help. She continually tried a bunch of different things. And it was this really awesome, Time because kids kept floating in and out to some kids were interested and they weren't interested and they came back and they tried and they helped other kids because the little girl that was struggling to like, tried to pull somebody else in.
And then the other little girls that were doing their, their house play just continued into the house play and like adding things and taking things out and playing and then setting up some more and planning and they just kept going through the cycle and it lasted. such a long time and it was so awesome because it was just this like moment of time that like was different from all the rest of the play they've had all year.
We were forced inside because of the rain, because our rooftop gets really, really slippery, so we're not allowed to go outside, even though I would love to go outside in the rain, but we're just not allowed to. So, we had even more Wait, side note,
Laura: your outdoor time is on the roof?
Melysa: Yes, so our like, outside space is on the rooftop.
It's on the sixth floor, it's just like this big, open Fair. It's weird because like, typical New York City, it's like caged in, but like not caged in. And so it's got the like, play, like that soft Yeah. stuff. I don't even know how to describe it. So it gets really slippery. Yeah. And then we also have equipment.
And so like the kids get on the equipment, they just like slip. So our principal doesn't allow them to go outside sometimes if it's too wet.
And it has been like raining here for months. I just want to three inches of rain everywhere. And so we were forced inside for longer than normal. So they just had, I don't know, like two hours straight of play, which was really awesome.
And they continued this play. The whole time. And it was really awesome. Cause then they, they just. They played really differently, played really together, and they just had this awesome fantasy play and the story within it. I was gonna say, yeah, that's the cool thing. And this was on Thursday, you said? This was on Thursday, yeah.
Yeah, so, you
Laura: know, you and me were like, okay, when they go in tomorrow, are they gonna recreate it? Because I'm sure that was so impactful for them, and that novelty, of course, And then if they were engrossed in it for this extended period of time, even just those three children, they that stuck with them that was enjoyable and they're going to want to probably recreate that right and now what will it look like when they revisit that play revisit that story, how fun that will be what so What kind of play have you been seeing, like, I imagine when you say you haven't seen elongated fantasy play like that, you've seen snippets of.
They're in blocks and they're pretending to care for the animals, or they're doing something in the sensory table and they're pretending they made you food, right? You're seeing, like, small
Melysa: moments? Right, they're seeing little bits and pieces, right? So the thing, the funny thing is, too, I even said to my para, I was like, oh, well, there was no pet play there, oh well, create a curriculum, like, but the thing is, I'm not gonna stop that, I'm not gonna force it, and here was the question, the question was, Was there no pet play there?
Because I didn't have a ton of quote unquote pet stuff out. I mean we had pet things. I've had donation from the parents, so we have some, like, pet things out. And they did play with them, but it wasn't, like, full on pet play. Now, the question was, is it because there wasn't pet things there, or because they weren't totally interested?
I wasn't gonna force it, but,
Laura: like Right, because the unit of study you're doing right now, you just started on pets, right? And so
Melysa: the question
Laura: is,
Melysa: like, if they have tons of pet stuff out, are we leading the play too much? Yeah. Or, because we don't have a ton of pet stuff out, do we just, like, let it Unfold. I mean, I lean towards the later, right?
Let it unfold. If they talk about pets, they talk about pets. we have the conversations. We have the stuff. Yep, and these and my kids this year love to learn content. They really do. They constantly ask me about stuff They love to take the things home and talk to their parents But they have been showing little signs of setting up the mats like earlier in the week one child was keeping the mats out from rest time and setting up a house.
It's only just this one this one child Yeah, my letter And then in the afternoon on Thursday, they did keep a couple of mats out and continue the play. They just didn't have a ton of time because they only have like 20 minutes by the time they wake up. And we leave. So it just didn't get as deep.
So I'm hoping when we come back tomorrow, it will continue. But we'll see, because the schedule will be different. They're not going to have two hours again. 15 minutes, because that's just the way our schedule works. Right.
Laura: So I'm curious, when this play was unfolding, did it happen? In the middle of that two hour block at the beginning towards the end.
When did that happen? It happened
Melysa: sort of more towards the beginning. It was like the very first things they did. Because
Laura: the
Melysa: one little girl who had been doing the mat all week. Yep. Was it was the first thing she wanted to do. She started it. She wanted to go straight for it. She took the mat out right away.
And then it took a few other kids a little bit to kind of. get into it with her. Yeah. But then once the couple of kids got into it with her, the other kids kind of jumped into it too. Yeah. So it took them a little bit, but it was still towards the beginning.
Laura: Yep. So interestingly, this reminds me of a play scenario that was unfolding in my home that, again, like I think you kind of started it with like, This really rich fantasy play was happening.
It was extended play. It was a different type of play than I've seen in a while. And the children were super engaged and it wouldn't have happened if teacher hat said, no, you can't take out the rest mats. Right. Right. So the other day I was working cause I work from home and I kind of heard my children And they were talking about going camping.
And we had just gone camping the weekend before. So I was like, okay, that tracks. And I kind of heard a little bit more and whatever. And then I peeked around the corner and they were packing for camping. And what this looked like was taking handfuls of books from the shelf and putting them on the couch.
Huh. And it ended in all the books. hundred of my books that are organized by size and color, all of my children's books on the couch, in addition to the dogs toys, anything in the living room, our bags of games, candles, the remote, like everything. And it was really hard for me to let that go on.
But it was imaginative play that they were both engaged in. There was a ton of language happening and it probably spanned over like 25 to 30 minutes. And my children are three and a half and six and a half. So for there to be play that they're both engaged in with one another for an extended period of time is not typical.
And for my son, who doesn't do as much imaginative play, there was something about this. It was probably the heavy work. It was probably also the like novelty of taking the books off. Noticing the shelves going to bare and then being like, wow, look at this huge pile, right? And they just kind of kept the story going that they were camping.
And it went and it was awesome. And they, they, you know, they packed for camping. And then I think they pretended to camp a little bit. They drove to the campsite and then they, went on from it. They actually didn't revisit that play. And of course, part of me wanted to leave it.
And see if they'd revisit it the next day, but it's our living room, it's our couch, it's 200 books, like, we didn't. And I was a little surprised that the next day, they only took some of the books off, and they actually didn't, like, revisit the camping scenario. And it may have been due to some of the language I was probably using with my partner when he got home about the books and whatever, kids are intuitive.
But just now, when I was coming up here, I was like, all right, I'm going up to record my podcast. My youngest said, hey, let's play going camping. And I was like,
Melysa: like,
Laura: are you going to come down to a pile of books again? I don't want to unfold. And also this could entertain them. This could engage them.
They could take it to a different level. So I was like, you could, and it's not raining like right now, which it has been We have like our pop up pretend tents. Like you could take that outside. Daddy already has a fire going. You could play pretend camping outside and pack for camping with Things outside and that's kind of how I left it.
So I'm curious what's unfolding right now, but that moment of where we have to step back as a teacher as an adult and want to say no to something just for what the sake of saying no, because that's using a material in an unconventional way, but the story that unfolds the play that unfolds is what's really powerful, right?
And I know something you do is allowing children to To save and leave things and then what that looks like when they return to it and can expand on it. So, sometimes you can, right? Leave the materials. And I don't know, I'm curious just to hear a bit about that. Like, let's hear about what saving and leaving play.
Like, if you could have had the children save those mats up in the way that they were and revisit it.
Melysa: Yeah, so I was just, so listening to you talk, right, it was your living room. Yeah. These are your books. Yeah. Like, sometimes, you have to kind of, you have to look at it. Right. And your job as a teacher, as a parent, in these situations, you have to feel it out and you have to feel out, like, what is actually, and have those conversations.
Right. Right? You know, we couldn't save the mats because the children need to use the mats. Right. And in the situation we were in on Thursday, we have these conversations with the children about saving. Right? Depending on what it is and how they're using it and the time frame is usually what we look at and what we talk about.
I talk to the children when we are saving things. We tell them that they can save things because we want them to go back to it. And, you know, when they are saving things, Everybody is allowed to use them. This is a hard concept for children. There are 13 other, 14 other, 17 other children in the classroom.
maybe in upper grades, 25 other children in the classroom. Just because you built something, especially the bigger things, like the big hollow blocks when it's in the middle of the room. Especially the big hollow blocks. When you build something, it is for everybody. Now, you are the builder. If you're playing with it, you do have some right in saying what it is, why you built it,
you have some rights to say, hey, this is a pet adoption center. This is how we're using it right now. you don't have the right to come in and destroy it. And turn it into a pirate ship, or things like that. We, this is where we teach the communication and the negotiation and all that natural things in play.
But then, as a teacher, you have to think, Hey, it's Friday, it's been two weeks. This thing is not really looking like a pet adoption center anymore. Like, hey guys, it's Friday. Guess what? It's time to clean it up because the custodian needs to clean our carpet, right? So I kind of just look at things and talk to them about it and say, Hey, you guys have changed this a whole bunch.
It's kind of falling apart. The things are falling off of it. I don't really see you guys playing with it anymore. I think it's time to start fresh. And then we have a cleanup day. , sometimes things last a week. Sometimes they last three weeks. I kind of look at it block area too. If the block area is kind of looking like in shambles, , I don't let them just make a mess of it.
Always, loose blocks get cleaned up. Structures stay, loose blocks get cleaned up, any loose parts they add to their structures must look like they are a part of a structure. If they're just like laying in a pile on the side, that gets cleaned up. Yeah. Right? But we do this so that the children, one, we're honoring their work.
Right? Because who wants just, I mean, I understand that not everybody has space to do this. I get it. Because even in my, my room, we do have a decently sized room, especially for New York City. Your room is huge! We're very lucky because our school was only built in 2015. Yeah. So it is fairly new. I mean, at this point it's almost 10 years old, but that's still pretty new.
But, we're taking up sleep space.
Laura: Yeah.
Melysa: So, I mean, once we start to start, start saving things, I mean, the kids are getting kind of squished together. We're like sleeping between tables. But, you know, once it starts to fall apart and once it starts to look like they're not continuing to go back to it once we're, it looks like we're not really honoring their work and they're not continuing to go back and they're not really continuing scenarios anymore, that's when we clean up.
But we do it to do that, right? We want them to continue their stories. Because who wants to just like, do work, and then forget about it? Right.
Laura: Well, the other thing I always think of is like drafts of something, right? If we're writing an email, we're kind of maybe typing it out, and then rereading it, making some changes, and then sending it.
If we're writing a book, you are writing it, revising it, writing it, revising it. I never thought about
Melysa: it like that, but
Laura: exactly. You know? And, With children, especially with structure play, where they're creating something to then be the setting for their play, that's the piece that was always so important to me.
Because I know with you, you, your children use hollow blocks to create that. grocery store to create that pet adoption center. So it's like they have to do the, the quote unquote, work in the play to build the structure. They're building the tower that's the tallest tower that they can then be the characters that live in it, right?
Maybe you don't have a doll house, but they have to build the house. And so the work for some of them is totally enjoyable to build with the mats or to build with the blocks or the magnet tiles or whatever it might be to create their scene and that's the play for them. They're done. But there are those other children that want to be able to do that kind of small world play or that imaginative play and they want the setting.
So they have to create the setting and if you only have an hour, an hour and a half and for whatever reason you don't get into that play until the tail end. You finally built your structure and now you get out your little fairy people or animals and you're about to, tell your story that you've been waiting for and then it's like, everybody, you don't want to go back to that tomorrow.
You don't want to create that whole structure again and act out that story that you had in your mind
Melysa: because, oh. That was one of the reasons for starting to save, right? I mean, it really started for me with, I don't know, I forget about, I think there was some kind of PD or I was having a conversation with somebody.
And it was kind of like, why don't you save? And I was kind of like, yeah, why not? Yeah. Like, and it started small. It started small with like Lego structures or something. And I was kind of like, why can't I save this? Like, why wouldn't I save their Lego structure? Like it was, it was just like some conversation.
And I was like, yeah, why would I make them put their Lego structure away? Because I was watching and it was something similar to like what you said. I was watching some child just constantly rebuild their Lego structure. And. They wanted the same one that they had, and I was like, why am I forcing this child to try to remember their Lego structure?
And then, somebody had suggested like, taking a picture or something, but then they were struggling through looking at the picture and trying to rebuild it exactly, and I was like, why can't they just save exactly what they had? And I had this like, epiphany moment, like in my first year of teaching in this classroom, and I was like, Why not?
And so it started with that. And it started with like a magnet tile structure. And I think it was a child and it was one of my children who had autism, actually. And I was like, why, why am I forcing this poor child to go through this every single time? And then it just kind of like snowballed from there.
We would save like magnet tile structures. We used to build them on the big boards. Yeah. And like, ever so carefully try to carry them over to the shelf. And, we don't, we don't really get to save magnet tile structures as much anymore because we always forget to build them on the boards.
But there's a tip. If you remember to build them on a board or you have a child who, like, loves to save magnet tile structures, try to build them on the big boards if you have them. Or, like, say, or,, save some cardboard pieces that are strong and you can try to lift them up. Yep. Cookie sheets.
Yeah, cookie sheets. Yeah. And it started with that. It started with LEGO structures and we just had a space on our windowsill that I kept clear all the time. Yep. And we would just put them over there. And then the kids would just go back to those LEGO structures. And it started with that. And we just started saving block structures from there.
And now it's like all of our hollow block structures. Even though they take up our our meeting space. Yep. We just sit around them because we don't sit in a perfect circle. We don't, we don't worry about any of that kind of stuff. We just have the rule. It is a little distracting. It depends on the group.
Yeah. , like my group last year couldn't really handle that. We kind of had to make sure we had a separate meeting space, but this group, they can kind of handle it. We just have to set up. We say, you are not allowed to sit on the block structure. Make sure you're sitting away from it. Can't touch it.
Yep. Right. And they can
Laura: handle that. Yeah. I think that that's a great first. step if you are not allowing children to save things for whatever reason, right? Sometimes you don't have enough magnet tiles, you don't have enough Legos, like whatever the things are. If you can start in some way a, keep shelf, like just a space where you do allow children to save things, once they start, once they start to get this concept and understand, and also understand, okay, if I'm saving this magnet tile structure, There may be no other magnet house for any other type of play or for any other type of children.
And that's just negotiating critical thinking problem solving there. But if you start on this small scale where you're saving and revisiting, allowing children to revisit items that they're going to then use in their play to tell their story. If we think about a lot of what they're creating for some again, it is That is their play, the creating, the connecting, they're in that schema.
But for others, the, it's the imaginative play. It's the storytelling. It's the using those things in their play, right? Whether it be that, or like right now, my children are super into sticks. There are like six sticks that stay in my car. Each one is a different stick. And they know like, this is the sword, this is the gun, this is the bow and arrow, whatever it is.
And. They don't want me to throw them out of the car, they don't want to find another just right stick, this stick is the stick. And now I can use it, and I can pretend to be Link, or you can be Zelda, or I'm gonna whatever. The play is unfolding, it's, we're saving it, we're honoring their story, and we're not making them start from zero.
Because when we're cleaning up the entire room, and putting away all their play, An artwork or whatever, the next day, that's what we're basically asking them to do, is to start from zero.
Melysa: Well, and we're honoring their play personalities. I've been doing a lot of research like I said, putting together some of these presentations, and I've been going back to Dr.
Stuart Brown's play personalities. And a lot of kids are collectors, and even if, , sometimes you run into these problems, but it's really, it really is rare that you have these kids who save and then don't ever go back to it. Every once in a while, you have that one kid who, like, makes a bunch of things, puts it away, and never goes back to it.
Some, but some kids are collectors. They like to have those sticks. maybe they have them, they don't use them for like a week, but they might go back, like, at the end of the week. Or they go back, or they like to just know that they're there because they're a collector. Right, they just like have all of those things, and then they'll end up using them later, or they just feel better because they know they're there.
Yep. Right, and of course you might have to have conversations if they end up collecting too much because nobody else has something to play with. Right, but those are, that's just all part of the play, it's all part of understanding how to be in a group and coexist with others and, It's just, it's just part of being a pre K, or part of being this age.
Right. And it's, but you're honoring their play personality, you're honoring who they are. And, I don't know, it's just, I feel like it's the best thing to do to help children understand that you're there for them.
Laura: We're going to have to chat again because a couple of things came up that I really want us to dive into more. All this talk made me also think about how cool it is when children revisit artwork.
And I'm sure you have tons of experiences with that. I need to be better at it. I always try to think about that. Yeah. The other thing I was thinking about is that idea of. I mean, for lack of better words, like themes, right? But like when we're doing project based teaching and learning and the theme of pets or simple machines or ocean animals infiltrates into kind of every space, what is right?
How much is that us? nudging or guiding the play a little too much and directing where children are going to go and then boxing them in and limiting it, right? And look, what's that fine balance to allow those that are really invested and interested and want to explore that theme and that topic in depth.
And those that are just not interested and don't want to, I would love to chat that out more with you. Yeah, I
Melysa: would, because I definitely have solutions for that, because I know there are some people that do that brilliantly. Like, there's a school that does that brilliantly here that I always try to emulate, but I never really can, because they just have, like, more people.
Yeah, yeah. But there is, there's just a solution that I've always wanted to try and basically what they do is they just they do it in groups. They have enough people. Like inquiry groups. Yup. Inquiry groups, exactly. Yup. And they just like, they, kids get to study whatever they want to study and they just study it in small groups.
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah.
Laura: . Well, this was awesome. Is there anything you want to tell us about or where can people find you and see cool play unfolding in your classroom?
Melysa: Yeah. So you can find me at pre k. spot on Instagram and I have a website pre kspot. com and I'm always happy to chat via DMs.
I love to hear what people have to say about play and that's basically it. I don't know what else can I say to like wrap that up nicely. You can find me on Instagram. Love to chat about. Bye. Perfect.
Laura: . Alright, I'll put those links into the show notes so people can find you and follow you. And definitely get on your newsletter because I love getting your little updates there.
The end. But really, that's it for today's episode of Stories That Stick. Inspiring and captivating minds, young and old. Remember, stories have the incredible ability to spark conversations, ignite imagination, and create lasting connections. If you loved what you heard, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a five star review.
It really does make a difference. And, if you have a story to share or a topic you want me to explore, reach out to me on Instagram at LittleStoriesThatStick. Until next time, keep working that storytelling muscle and tell stories every day.
