Butterfly Club

by Sonja Marquardt

 

When our whole group went on a trip, I talked to four-year-old Sarah on the way. She asked me if I could do a workgroup with her, she would wish for it. (In our two-group kindergarten there are often working groups on different topics.) First I told her that I would think about it and the next day after breakfast we could sit down again and I could give her an answer.

The fact of the matter is that there is going to be a change of teachers. Furthermore, our two groups are not in the building at the same time, but alternatingly one group is in the forest and one is in the kindergarten building. This has many advantages, but makes working across groups more difficult. The upcoming change involves me, as I am going to be working in the other group and thus not in Sarah’s group any more.

… in a nutshell…

Four-year-old Sarah likes to participate in workshops, even if they are intended for pre-school children. After a thorough observation of her development, her kindergarten teacher now gives her her own working group for the first time: It is her topic, she gets to choose the members and she feels responsible for the success of the working group. A strong performance for such a young child.

Her kindergarten teacher will guide her carefully. In the end, there is more knowledge, more self-confidence, more social competence, great satisfaction and a desire for more.

I asked the kindergarten management if I could change to the other group for the project times. They agreed that this was possible.

This is how I see Sarah

Sarah is 4 years old and has been going to kindergarten for about 9 months. Her family lives in an environmentally conscientious way, which is reflected in environmentally friendly behaviour (architecture of the house, maintenance of a large near-natural outdoor area with pond, meadows and garden, care of various animals) and in nutrition (home-grown fruit and vegetables as well as home-made bread).

Sarah has a strong imagination, she invents stories and role plays. She is also very interested in newspaper articles and nature. She is already showing very serious interest in school children’s projects and is also participating in some of them.

The observational charts „Beobachtungsschnecke“ and „Gelsenkirchener Entwicklungsbegleiter“ show:

The field of language Sarah is rather advanced. She likes to rhyme, has a correct sentence structure, is rhythmically talented and knows opposites. Cognitively, too, she is quite advanced. She is well acquainted with the terms of time, she can describe a picture scene intensively, knows general terms, organizes things by size, is interested in different professions and especially so in news (newspaper / radio).

In the social field, Sarah is developed according to her age. She hasn’t made any lasting friends. She often plays alone or with changing playmates. She can play intensively in small groups, but also in larger groups of 7 to 8 children.
In conflict situations she reacts with loud screaming and crying. She does this so loudly, intensely and credibly that people suspect that something really bad has happened to her or that she is in great pain. If Sarah has a conflict with a teacher, she reacts with rejection and ignores the person. She rarely shares, so it can happen that she hides toys from the other children.

She is good at taking her own stand and presenting herself to a large group. She can concentrate for 30 minutes on average. She can abide by rules – but in a conflict, she abandons such limitations. Rules are broken by her once in a while.

Sarah’s fine motor skills and gross motor skills are developed according to her age.

I filled out Joelle Huser’s observation sheet for Sarah.
It turns out that Sarah has a quick comprehension and curiosity. She is often interested in new learning material and is also a good contributor. She brings suitable newspaper articles or specialist books with her from home on her own initiative.

Sarah has a large vocabulary and can use it well and confidently, so she uses words that children of the same age do not yet know. She also has good expression. She can express herself grammatically correctly and also shows pleasure in it.

Sarah has a strong urge for independence and self-reliance. In circle situations, for example, she would like to implement her own ideas and decide a lot for herself. If she is not allowed to do so, she reacts with indifference and no longer participates in the circle.

Sarah deals with ecological problems. So she often asks me about environmental protection and what you have to do to make nature feel better. She also tells me a lot about people who damage the environment, natural disasters or environmental damage. She’s worried about the environment.

Sarah has a great knowledge of natural history topics. She is very interested in animals, plants, natural phenomena and climate protection.

Information for Sarah´s parents

I thought about not involving Sarah’s parents much in the project for the time being, but I will inform them about the project. I told her parents about the certificate course for the advancement of the gifted children (see: IHVO Certificate Course) and also about the practical task that I have to develop for this course.
It is important to me that my work is transparent for parents so that something as special as changing groups during the project can be explained.

Questionnaire for self-assessment of the child

So the next day I told Sarah we could do the surgery. I asked her to interview her and showed her the questionnaire. This is not entirely alien to our children, because with us every child has the right to a „talk day“ with the kindergarten teacher of his or her choice once every six months.

Sarah was very happy and motivated. We looked for a quiet, secluded and pleasant place in the forest and met me confidentially, the other children were told to leave Sarah and me alone for a little while, our children know that too. I explained the questionnaire to her. Sarah quickly understood the meaning of the smileys.

See: Children’s Questionnaire on Communication. There you will also find a printable version.

Sarah’s answers in the questionnaire – a reflection

Questions 1 – The other children are friendly to me (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 1)
and 2 – I am friendly to the other children (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 1):

I gather from Sarah’s answers that she feels good in the kindergarten group most of the time. She feels that the children are friendly to her and that she is also friendly towards them. This is consistent with my observations. Sarah may not have a close friend, but she’s popular. There is no child who would refuse Sarah as a playmate – conversely, however, Sarah always specifically chooses the play partners she needs. If she thinks a child is unfit, she says so.

Questions 3 – The others like listening to me when I say something (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 3)
and 4 – I like listening to other children, especially when … talks (because…) (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 2):

Sarah feels that no child is listening to her, I can understand this from her point of view. Sarah is very dominant and often wants to push through her playing ideas.

Does she have many good ideas?

Does she think that the other children often don’t have such good ideas?

If her playing ideas are not appreciated, she prefers to play alone. She said in her answer: „Only Anne listens to me.“ I interpret Anne’s mention as follows: „Anne only had a try-out day in the group until now, she is yet to start attending kindergarten soon. She played with Sarah and got involved with Sarah’s ideas, and says that she sometimes suggests a funny game, „but the other children prefer to dig up grass“.

Sarah says that she „sometimes“ listens to the other children, especially the girls, but also to Holger and Kalle.

I can partly agree that she is listening to the children. According to my observation, she often listens to the children for as long as she thinks this is useful for her.

Questions 5 – The other children like talking to me (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 3)
and 6 – I like talking to the other children, especially to:.. (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 1):

I also think I understand how she comes to feel that no child likes talking to her, as she  probably doesn’t attribute much importance to the conversations she does have with other children. Observation disproves, however, that no one talks to her. Many children talk to Sarah and often ask her to join them, but she rarely accepts.

That she speaks with other children can be observed regularly in the group. The fact that she mentions Tia can be interpreted in the way that her little sister can easily be guided by Sarah. Familiarity could also play a role.

Questions 7- The other children understand what I say (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 2)
and 8 – I understand what the other children say (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 1):

She feels that the others „sometimes“ understand what she wants, I could often observe this in the group. She tells children about a playing idea or something else, and the children will sometimes find it difficult to follow her – either out of lack of interest or because Sarah wants to take the lead and the other children do not always allow it. So they do not listen to Sarah for long, and I interpret this in the way that Sarah might then think the children do not understand her.

I can, int urn, see why she thinks she understands the other children well. It can be observed in the group that Sarah shows no interest in some games and ideas of the others and she, according to my own interpretation, perhaps does not want to / does not have to  or is even unable to understand this at all.

She herself says that she understands the other children well and knows what they want. She also tells me that she understands what she herself says and wants.

Questions 9 – If I need help, the others help me, for example: … (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 3):
and 10 – The other children accept my help, for example: … (
Here she ticked off Smiley No. 1):

Unfortunately, Sarah feels that she gets no help from the children, except from her little sister. I suppose Sarah sometimes feels detached. The observations made by the kindergarten in advance show something different. Sarah does gets support from the other children, but often doesn’t want it and rejects it, often in a very unfriendly way. She frequently raises her voice and gets verbally aggressive. She easily gets angry with herself when she can’t do something on her own and needs help.

It has also happened that she did not receive any help because she had not drawn any attention to herself. (Example: She got her boot stuck in a tree and could not get out by herself. She didn’t call on anybody, so she only received help when she was finally seen  by somebody.)

Sarah reports that she is helping the other children. That’s true. She is often helpful, even to strangers. She says that she is helpful when carrying a heavy box, for example. (She is big and strong for her age.)

Questions 11 – My ideas / suggestions are appreciated. For example: … (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 3)
and 12 – The other children have good ideas, too. For example: … 
(Here she ticked off Smiley No. 1)
and 13 – When I have an idea for a game, the others usually go with it and I am happy (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 3):

Sarah reports that her ideas are not being accepted. This is similar to the beginning of the questionnaire. She often wants to push through her own ideas and now has a hard time getting her ideas accepted in the kindergarten group. She tells me that she often proposes to play captain, which nobody wants.

It is often observed at the moment that the children ignore Sarah’s ideas, which could be due to the fact that she herself has been doing the same thing with the ideas of the other children for a long time.

I was surprised when Sarah said in the interview that the other children had good ideas, such as „playing horse“.
I suppose that she did not want to say clearly before me that she does not like the ideas of others. Or she doesn’t dare admit it in front of the other children, which is rather what I believe, because I have always experienced Sarah as a very sincere child. Maybe she doesn’t see her own behaviour as it is in reality.

Questions 14 – I think, most of the children in our group like me. Except for: … (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 3):
and 15 – I like most of the other children. Except for: … I especially like: …
(Here she ticked off Smiley No. 2):

The next answer made me very sad. Sarah thinks the kids in the group don’t like her, except for Jule. This was also not noticed in earlier observations. It’s nice that she called me Jule. So there is already one person in the group who is positive for her.

It could be that Sarah had a bad day at the interview and replied very negatively.

I’m not surprised she said she didn’t like the boys. There is currently a fight between girls and boys in kindergarten and vice versa. They try to „make war“ against each other and put each other in „prison“. They also tell each other off and get angry. However, all this remains within the boundaries of normal children’s play.
That she doesn’t like Ronja either could be explained by the fact that Ronja is very popular and often gives ideas for games that are accepted by the other children. She has a srong standing and she is also very intelligent, which many notice. (Children, for example, remark how clever Ronja is). Ronja also has a very close relationship with me. She visits me at midday care, which I supervise. Sarah would also like to take part there, it could be that Sarah is jealous of Ronja.

Questions 16 – The other children often ask me good questions. Example: … (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 1):
and 17 – I can ask the other children many things.
(Here she ticked off Smiley No. 3):

I think it’s nice that she feels that the other children are asking her good questions. As an example she cites: „What does Hello Kitty look like?“ And she can answer the questions well. So there is one more positive with regard to her relationship with the group.

It reflects her previous answers that she doesn’t think there is a lot she can ask the other children. Maybe she sees herself as misunderstood in general.

Questions 18 – The other children do mostly answer when I address them. (Here she ticked off Smiley No. 2)
and 19 – I usually answer, too, when they address me
(Here she ticked off Smiley No. 1):

She reports that the others do answer sometimes when she addresses them. I can understand why she thinks so, because that is the way it is.

What is remarkable, however, is that she thinks she always answers when other children address her. In observations one can see exactly the opposite. She often avoids conversations and only talks to children selected by her.
That’s probably not very nice of her, but at the same time it shows a very goal-oriented communication behavior. Perhaps she is more concerned with content than with communication for its own sake.

Debriefing

This interview really made me think. Sarah doesn’t seem to be feeling quite so comfortable in the group at the moment. I’ll pass the interview on to her group teacher. I want Sarah to continue to be observed in that direction.
It may be that she had a bad day or a bad week and that is why she answered so negatively – but there is also the possibility that Sarah has been feeling misunderstood and disliked for a long time.

Also her perception of her own behaviour and that of the other children seems to differ in some respects from what I have observed. It should be examined whether this divergence  is due to the observer’s own or due to Sarah’s perception, or whether there are yet other reasons.

In the following project I will always keep Sarah’s answers in mind and take them into account with regard to the aims. The questionnaire represents an occasion and a guideline for a more intensive and undisturbed conversation and has thus contributed greatly to a more precise understanding of Sarah’s situation.

This is good on the one hand, but on the other hand one also wonders why such conversations do not arise naturally, and there the focus inevitably shifts to the good old (poor) children-teacher ratio.

Comment by the course instructor:

However, you have a fairly clear finding and recognize the need to act. You also see that your interpretations require further observation in order to critically examine them.
A motif seems to crystallize throughout your account: the continuum between tendencies to dominate and a justified feeling of being misunderstood as possible causes for Sarah’s not quite satisfactory social integration in the group.

From a socio-political point of view, it is basically to be welcomed if a girl does not give in and take a step back, but rather knows how to stand up for something and make her point. In the individual case – here Sarah’s – it remains to be ensured that strong self-assertion has a constructive rather than a destructive effect on the social integration of the person.
It seems important to work out with her that she should continue to try and pursue her ideas in the group – but that she can and must learn to do this more successfully. (Example Ronja – What makes Ronja different?)

A more relaxed attitude towards her own communicative failures (which of course will inevitably materialize) can only be expected from her when she feels she has enough communicative successes „on balance“.
Maybe it also helps to take a closer look at the quality of her ideas. Are they really unattractive, or do the children reject them for other reasons?

Finding a topic for the project

Sarah and I met after the morning circle to talk about her project and to plan it. It is important to me that our meeting is undisturbed so that Sarah feels she is being taken seriously. I leave the choice of location up to her. She chooses our willow tipi, which she had designed together with me.

I ask her if she has any ideas yet. She reports that she wants to do a butterfly project. She explains that she’s already been thinking about it at home. She continues that she wants to do a unicorn club, but not now.

Because, so she explains, now there are many butterflies to watch. She also wants to know how old butterflies can get and how they have babies. I liked Sarah’s thoughts, also that she had already given the project a lot of thought and had already expressed wishes. That’s really strong. I would now like to work out a butterfly project with her.

Scheduling

Sarah and I are working out together what you can do in a butterfly company. Sarah expresses the wish that Jule should help us think. Here Sarah may also strive for a stronger bond that could become a friendship. That is another reason why it is good to involve Jule so that both can see how the cooperation between them works. I pick up the idea, because I have taken from the questionnaire that this might be beneficial for Sarah’s social behaviour and self-confidence.

The three of us are sitting on a log. I have brought some note pads to record our ideas. We are all in the forest and our log is not far away from the rest of the group, so that we can be undisturbed and still include other children any time if necessary.

I begin the conversation by mentioning that Sarah would like to know how old butterflies can get. I want to know whether the question is still important. I immediately receive a „of course“ answer and a request to write down the question, in very big letters.

Sarah already has several ideas, which she dictates to me, Jule contributes some too. A couple of boys come over, they are interested and ask what we are doing. I ask Sarah to explain it to the boys, which she does right away. The boys sit join us.

A a first thing, I just wrote down the ideas without evaluating them.

(Information about who had the ideas:
Sarah=SA, Jule=JU, Dennis=DE, Boris=BO.)

Children’s idea list

We want to find out how old butterflies get. =SA
We want to discover how butterflies have babies. =SA
We want to watch butterflies. SA and JU
We want to handcraft and paint butterflies! Best make a big one together, if possible. =SA
We want to find out whether butterflies are loud and whether they can talk to each other. =SA
We want to understand how butterflies can fly. =BO
We want to grow plants for the butterflies. =SA
We want to out about different butterflies. SA and JU
We want to listen to „The Very Hungry Caterpillar“. =JU
We want to find out whether what is written in the book „The Very Hungry Caterpillar“ is really true. =SA
We want to find out what the first butterfly looked like and what it was called. =DE
We want to visit the Klimahaus [Climate House]. =SA

I read the list back to the children and ask whether everything is correct or whether I have forgotten something. The children are happy and tell me that they prefer to find out whether the story of the Ver Hungry Caterpillar is really true or whether it doesn’t work that way.

I praise the children for their ideas and declare that we will try to find out and do a lot together. But I also honestly tell them that unfortunately we can’t go to the Klimahaus because it’s simply too far away.

Selection and description of the AG members

My idea is to include Jule and Anne (who is new in kindergarten and was positively considered by Sarah in the questionnaire) in the project group, but I would like to wait for Sarah’s ideas.

Sarah had already expressed her wishes regarding the composition of the project group at the planning stage. It is also important to me that I will strongly involve Sarah in the election of members. Before the actual start of the project I meet Sarah alone once more.

Now we decide who we want to have with us. Of course, the selected members will also be involved in this selection process it the way that if someone does not show any interest at all, they will not be forced to participate in the project. On the other hand, if someone shows strong interest and would like to participate, we will also find a fair solution.

But I have one small limitation: I don’t want the number of members to become larger than 5, so planning is easier for me, the group can find each other faster, and working intensively is easier.

Group members:

Jule
Jule was already actively involved in the planning. She wants in. She is 4;3 years old and has been attending kindergarten for a year now.
Jule is a self-confident child. In circle situations she likes to communicate. She can make up her own mind. However, if something happens that is not in Jules mind (games she doesn’t like, sudden rain, no adult has time…), then Jule gets very upset. She then expresses this through crying, refusal, insulting or rarely also through physical arguments. She doesn’t have a permanent partner at the moment, which is partly explained by the fact that she can hardly adapt or subordinate.
She wants to take the leading role in the play situation, but the other children in the group do not want this and play without Jule.
It will be exciting how Jule and Sarah will communicate with each other in the small group, since they both lead and do not want to adapt or subordinate.

Jule is generally average and age-appropriate, only in the social field should it be strengthened, and its frustration tolerance should also be strengthened. She is very independent, shows a lot of imagination and creativity. In the field of coarse and fine motor skills, Jule is very well developed. She enjoys painting and handicrafts very much and very concentrated. She likes to move, but does not like persevering movement. This can be observed during gymnastics and longer walks. In the cognitive area, jule is developed on average. She likes nature and asks a lot about animals and plants.

She is a very cheerful child, which she can show with her cheerfulness. She has a great sense of humor. She likes to make up jokes, rhyme and fool others. But she shows sensitivity and knows when the situation is no longer funny.

Anne
From the very beginning it was Sarah’s wish that Anne participate in her working group. Anne’s brand new in kindergarten. But Sarah and Anne knew each other before. On Anne’s trial days one could observe that Sarah and she played together.
Before Anne came to us in the kindergarten, she had already attended another kindergarten for one year.

Anne is 4;8 years old. She grows up bilingual. She is fluent in German and English.

I can’t say much about Anne at this time, because I only know her from the taster days and she doesn’t visit my group. However, I asked the group educators: they estimate that Anne is on average developed and shows a lot of joy in learning. She quickly got used to the new group and the kindergarten with its nature project. She is very helpful and friendly, both to adults and children.

She is cheerful and actively participates in the group. She likes to tinker and knead, she can also follow a story for a long time and concentrate and also reproduce it well.

Janette

Janette is interested in many working groups and likes to participate. She was very interested from the beginning and asked me if she could participate in the Schmetterlings AG. Sarah agreed immediately and I also liked the idea.
Janette is 5;5 years old and has been attending our nature kindergarten for over two years. (For our concept see: Our Indoors-Outdoors-Concept.)

Janette’s development is above average. Various observation aids clearly show that it is cognitively wide. On the part of the kindergarten, little would have spoken against premature enrolment. The parents have decided against it, however, they want to grant Janette another kindergarten year, so that she becomes more self-confident and self-confident.

Janette is very self-confident in everyday kindergarten life. She actively participates in circles, works well and joyfully in working groups, can defend her own opinion and is very popular in the whole group. She has a strong relationship with nature, shows great interest in this area and also has her own pet, a cat, for which she is already largely responsible.

Janette is highly developed in the field of fine and gross motor skills, she likes to tinker, climb trees, design freely with natural materials and play role-plays. It can take the leading role in the game or in a working group, but can also subordinate itself to other children and accept their ideas.

Marie
Like Janette, Marie likes to participate in working groups. I had already thought in advance that Marie would like to participate in the Schmetterlings-AG. One year earlier, she had run a small butterfly heart company herself. Although the focus there was on handicrafts of butterflies and hearts, she already showed great interest in the life of butterflies at that time.

Marie asked Sarah and me if she could „join us“. Sarah liked the idea and immediately agreed.

Marie is 5;10 years old and is now attending our kindergarten for the third year.
She is a very quiet but not shy child. Their social behaviour is very well developed. She can settle many disputes and adheres to rules. She is helpful and friendly. Marie is sporty and developed according to her age in the area of coarse and fine motor skills.

She is linguistically very talented and can express herself well. Marie is very well developed in the cognitive field and could have gone to school prematurely, only from this point of view. The parents did not consider this, however, as Marie was hardly able to prevail against other children this spring; but now in summer it looks quite different.

There are other children who want to participate in our butterfly club. So I explain to the children that only five children will participate in this working group. I give them the certainty again that they will all get the chance to run their own working group. This also solves this little problem. Sarah and I promise to keep the children up to date about our working group and to report about it in the morning circle.

Short reflection

It was important to me to put together a balanced, work-filled and active group for the working group.

The children should complement each other and there should be the possibility to strengthen friendships and possibly create new ones. I can also find many similarities in the group. An important common ground for the project is the love for nature and also the interest for it. Another advantage will be that some children already have some specialist knowledge and can contribute ideas, knowledge and suggestions.

The characters are also balanced. So there is the spirited to the calm, balanced. It was not planned that the whole group would consist of girls. On the day of grouping, the boys who were already interested in the project in advance were ill.

General objectives of the project

1.
I want to expand my knowledge about butterflies.

Aims of the children:
We want to find out how old butterflies are.
We want to discover how butterflies have babies.
We want to find out if butterflies are loud and if they can talk to each other.
We want to understand how butterflies can fly.
We want to get to know different butterflies.
We want to find out what the first butterfly looked and was called.

It is important to me that the children in the butterfly project learn something. They should be confronted with the new unknown, but also with the old. They should get to know new terms and thus expand their vocabulary. But they should also enjoy acquiring knowledge and learning. I want the children to learn a lot for themselves / find out for themselves. They should try out many things and use illustrative material.

2.
The children should act imaginatively and become creative.

Aims of the children:
We want to make and paint butterflies.
In the preliminary talk the children, especially Sarah, had already told me that she wanted to paint or do some handicrafts. I’ll take that up. Through observation I know that the whole project group is very imaginative, whether telling stories or role-playing. It is very important to me to encourage my imagination and to live out my creativity. The creative work is also up to me, so I want to pursue this goal in any case.

3.
The group’s sense of community should be encouraged!
I want the group to do a lot together. The children should acquire knowledge together, they should create and shape something together. I want them to experience a sense of achievement together and to achieve a result together. They should experience knowledge together, have fun together and find ideas together. I want them to plan together, discuss a lot and find their own solutions. I also want them to feel comfortable in the group.

Project goals I have set for Sarah

1.
I want to strengthen Sarah’s sense of community!
She should feel comfortable and accepted in a group. It should experience to achieve something together with a group. I want her to have a sense of achievement in the group. She should feel good and strong in a group. I want her to feel that she belongs. Sarah should work, play, discover and experience together with the other children.

Why?
Through observations and partly also through the questionnaire I noticed that Sarah often does not feel quite well in the kindergarten group. Often she feels that she is not noticed, that nobody accepts her ideas, listens to her and sometimes she feels unpopular. She also feels that nobody likes playing with her. She also often feels left alone and feels that the other children are not helping her. In a group you often meet them playing alone.

2.
I want Sarah’s sense of responsibility strengthened.
I want Sarah to take responsibility for the project with me.
With my support and also with the support of the other project members, she should take care of the material, the planning and (suitable for children) the well-being of the group.
Observations have shown me that Sarah has a great sense of responsibility and organizational talent. She likes to take care of tasks and planning, always participates in group projects and often brings material on the topic from home.

She also cares for other children, although sometimes selfish reasons are in the foreground, which I do not find worrying. (This could look like this, for example: I protect the little girl from the boys and I can play with her doll.
I think Sarah has a gift for taking responsibility for something I want to promote.

3.
I want to strengthen Sarah’s self-esteem and self-confidence!
I want Sarah to share her own ideas. Let her dare to speak in the group. Sarah is to take over the role of head of the working group and lead small sequences herself. Just as Sarah should share her ideas with other children, she should also give other children the chance. It should learn to accept other ideas, decisions and opinions.

Why?
I’ve noticed that Sarah thinks she’s unpopular. Which is not really the case. She also thinks that the other children have a bad opinion about her, which has not been observed in the group so far. Sometimes Sarah has self-confidence, she can often speak her mind, but in return she lacks the self-confidence to accept other ideas or opinions.

4.
I want Sarah to be friends!
This is probably the most difficult, but also one of the most important goals. I want Sarah to let the other children get to herself, that she has experiences together with them, has fun and gains trust.

It would be nice if the project made playdates for the time after breakfast or for the afternoon. I would be happy if the still very tender friendship between Anne and Sarah could grow and become a firm friendship.

Why?
Observations show that Sarah has no boyfriends. She often plays alone or only briefly in small groups. She thinks she’s unpopular and misunderstood. Anne is new to kindergarten and already knows Sarah. In the questionnaire Sarah reports that Anne is listening to her. I would like to strengthen and promote this positive bond. Both children also live close together and often meet each other, so a friendly relationship would be nice.

As an alternative to the ambitious goal, it is enough for me if Sarah gets confidence in other children and approaches them!

Comment by the course instructor:

We understand that you want to create an environment for Sarah in which she can find good experiences of cooperation and maybe even friendship. Highly gifted children often need such an environment (a small group of similarly gifted children engaged in interesting and challenging tasks) to recognize the possibility and value of interaction with other children, which they have sometimes already rejected for themselves.
All the better if they have professional, intelligent support (you) with them.

5.
I want Sarah to learn about the butterfly.

I want Sarah to know about the butterfly and keep it. It should acquire new knowledge. With my help, together with the group and alone. It should use its existing knowledge. Sarah will expand her vocabulary and make new experiences.

Why?
Sarah has decided on this topic on her own. She is motivated to expand her knowledge in this area. She shows interest and pleasure in this. In general, she shows the joy of learning that I want to keep her!

First project day

Together Sarah and I present our project to the group in the morning circle. We name the group members and report that we will meet immediately afterwards with a seat cushion in the forest church (self built from sticks and stones) after the circle.

(Self-esteem, sense of responsibility as well as self-confidence of Sarah is promoted / integration of the whole group is aimed for / the project group is motivated.

After the morning circle we walk in the „butterfly flight“ to the Waldkirche and sit down. All the children except Anne are present.
I report to the children that Sarah is the head of the working group and I am their godmother. I’ll ask Sarah if she’d like to tell you what we have planned for today. Sarah reports that I will read „The Caterpillar Nimmersatt“, that we will paint a big butterfly together and that we also want to watch butterflies.

(Relaxation after long sitting and concentration in the morning circle / Self-esteem, sense of responsibility as well as self-confidence of Sarah are promoted / invitation to verbal utterance.

Sarah gives me the book about the caterpillar Nimmersatt, and I read the story to the children. We take a close look at every page. We pay special attention to the aspects of tasting and transformation.

(Promotion of concentration / invitation to look at the picture with more detailed analysis.

I ask the children what they believe: whether the book is true or not.
After we’ve thought about it together, I’ll get out a few books with the remark that they say a lot about butterflies. I give the books to the children and ask them to look in them for what is important to us.

(Promotion of concentration / invitation to view images with precise analysis / invitation to form hypotheses.

Then let’s look at the information we found together.

After we have found out together that the picture book – except for the food – comes close to reality, I give the children a copy showing all stations from the egg to the caterpillar, then to the cocoon and the butterfly. I explain to the children that they can take them home.

(Common knowledge acquisition.)

Sarah shows the children a large sketched butterfly and asks them to paint the picture together. We consider which rules should be reconsidered when doing something together to make everyone feel good.

(Request to find your own solution / shared sense of achievement.)

I ask the children to follow me on a butterfly flight to the edge of the forest so that we can try to observe butterflies.

(Loosening up after longer sitting / looking at the animals / consolidation of the acquired knowledge.

I’ll ask the children again, is the story of the caterpillar „Nimmersatt“ realistic?

Now I ask the children to have a short round of talks. Together we think about what we would like to do on the next project day. For help, I consult the children’s wish list.
I end up asking Sarah to talk to me alone again. I ask her about her condition and ask her to collect the AG things together with me.

(Promoting a sense of community / promoting social behaviour / encouraging verbal expression and reflection / Sarah’s sense of responsibility is promoted.)

Reflection of the first project day

In general, the first project day went as I had imagined. The kids and I had fun, too.
I have achieved my goals. The children have accepted the new and partly already known knowledge about butterflies well. They participated well and interestedly and asked many questions.

Sarah and Janette could contribute a lot to the creation of the butterflies. This was also taken up attentively by the other children. I was very happy that Sarah obviously felt comfortable in the group. She shared her ideas with the group and gave her own opinion. She could also share the material with the others, accept other ideas and even settle a small dispute between Jule and Marie.

The group has accepted Sarah as head of the AG. They listened to her with interest and accepted her ideas.

This shows that Sarah has the appropriate behavioural repertoire.

Sarah’s sense of responsibility has been strengthened. She took responsibility for her working group, even reported on her project alone in the morning circle and also directed sequences alone. This worked so well that I will continue to give her responsibility in the following sequences.

There was a beautiful harmony in the group. I think I can say that everyone was comfortable, including Sarah. Everyone has dared to express themselves. Sarah was good at leading the group.

Even in the small final round, everyone dared to take part. Only positive feedback was received. The children reported that they had fun and actually wanted to go further. Unfortunately I had to explain to the children that I have to go back to my kindergarten group. But I also motivated them to go on without me.

They then decided together to play butterflies. In a one-on-one conversation Sarah told me that she really enjoys it and that she wants to check at home if she can find another book of butterflies.

She also spoke positively of the small group. She said literally, „We weren’t really bitchy at all“ and „I can do it really well with the AG, right?“ That made me very happy and I praised and motivated them again.

The joint planning with the children also went well. We want to meet next time at the edge of the forest, because we have observed that many butterflies fly there. We want to play the caterpillar Nimmersatt, or better said: our own version. We have compiled a list of what I should bring with me from kindergarten: Jewellery, cloth, silk cloths to dress up, pipe cleaners, fold-out tunnels that look like a cocoon, and much more.

Sarah suggested making a little butterfly to see exactly what it looked like. This idea was immediately accepted by the group.
I am satisfied with the first project day. I was very happy that everyone liked it so much and above all that Sarah felt so comfortable. If I did something different, I would give even more responsibility to Sarah and the other children.

Second project day (1 week later)

Again Sarah and I report together briefly about our project in the morning circle. I ask Sarah to name the group members and explain where we want to meet (on the meadow at the edge of the forest).

(Promoting Sarah’s self-awareness and sense of responsibility / Involving the entire group.

Together we go to the meadow, the children take cushions with them. Arrived there we sit down together to the circle. I’ll ask the kids what they remember from last time.
Then I’ll ask Sarah to tell us what we want to do today.

(Promoting the self-confidence and sense of responsibility of Sarah / The group management will be handed over to Sarah.

We get all the necessary objects from my car, put them in a pile and discuss how we can play the creation of a butterfly. Together we repeat the biological facts (suitable for children) and try a first presentation. It is important to me that the roles are distributed equally. I can stay in the background because the girls handle everything on their own.

(Consolidation and expansion of knowledge / equal rights of group members / stimulation of imagination and creativity.

We use the colourful bandana for a game of movement. We spread evenly around the cloth and swing it up at the same time. Then two children can fly through as butterflies.

(Loosening / movement.)

The children make a small butterfly out of thin cardboard: they cut out a butterfly and attach feelers and legs out of pipe cleaners to it. I pay special attention to the feelers and the legs. While doing handicrafts I explain technical terms and explain biological backgrounds.

(Consolidation and expansion of knowledge / vocabulary extension / promotion of fantasy / living out creativity / promotion of fine motor skills.)

Afterwards I ask the children to have another short round of talks to think about what we would like to do on the next project day.
After finishing I ask Sarah again for a little talk. I’ll ask her about her condition again.

(Request for verbal expression / reflection.)

I like this connection between
creative action and knowledge input very much –
this goes down too easily in the large group.

Reflection on the second project day

The second day also went according to plan. Anne was there for the first time. I hope for a strong bond with Sarah and a possible friendship.
We have achieved the goals we set ourselves. The children were again very interested and motivated. They asked many questions again and were sometimes able to answer them with the help of a group member.

They met the body structure of a butterfly with curiosity and developed a strong ambition to make the butterfly in detail. Especially Sarah and Marie worked very intensively on their model. Again Sarah felt comfortable in the group and could realize ideas. She was also good at accepting ideas from others.

Even with the presentation sequence she could accept and implement other ideas. Janette had many good ideas for the presentation, which were then well implemented by the group members, also by Sarah. Sarah could bear to give up her leading role for a change. But if it became necessary, she could accept it again.

Sarah took over the responsibility for her project again and I was able to stay in the background. Sarah was able to achieve a fair distribution of roles together with Janette. Despite the justice Jule felt misunderstood and reacted with verbal aggression against Janette. Anne and Sarah were able to resolve the situation. Despite all this, Jule held back for a while, but after a short time this stopped.

The children’s imagination was stimulated, which became clear to all children in the presentation and design of the butterfly.

Sarah’s self-confidence and self-esteem were further strengthened. She received a lot of praise and recognition from the other children for her working group in general, but also for her tinkered butterfly.

The movement game with the swing-cloth was made, but changed by the children. First they crawled as a caterpillar and then they flew through as a butterfly. Jule rolled under it as a little egg. Everybody wanted to try that. This little unit of movement loosened us all up.

In the final round the feedback came again that the children liked the working group and that they are looking forward to the next time. Already during the sequence the children had the idea to depict the development from egg to butterfly again, but then to take photos and a poster for the whole group, so that the other children could also learn that. The idea came from Janette and was well received by everyone.

In a familiar conversation with Sarah I could again get a very positive impression of her mood. She reported that she likes it very much and she would like to make an AG for all children when the AG is over.

I am satisfied with the second project day and had a lot of fun like the children. I was happy again that everyone liked it so much. I was very pleased that Sarah had established a relationship with Janette and that she had arranged to meet her for the afternoon. The relationship with Anne also seems to me to be getting stronger.

If I did something different, I would respond even more intensively to the butterfly’s eyes. Many questions came up and we kept them for the next meeting. Until then I will continue to learn more about the butterfly.

I would perhaps offer a wider range of pencils and materials, but in the forest you have to make compromises. On the other hand, this restriction also promotes creativity and the ability to improvise.

Third project day (again one week later)

Sarah reports again in the morning circle about our project. I ask Sarah again to name the group members and explain where we want to meet.

(Self-esteem, sense of responsibility as well as self-confidence of Sarah are promoted / integration of the entire group into the project.

We go with our cushions to the nearby meadow. There we are very lucky and can watch several butterflies dancing. Afterwards we start a small discussion circle. I ask the children to think about what we did last time and what we have planned for today.

(Request for verbal expression / repetition and consolidation of knowledge / small reflection for me: What was understood? / Promoting retentiveness.

As soon as the children have worked out the little reflection together, I ask them to plan today’s project unit. The children should independently represent the sequence from the egg to the butterfly with different materials and poses and take pictures themselves. I support the children, but I can stay in the background most of the time.

(Joint planning of the presentation „From egg to butterfly!“)

Before I start, I explain the operation of the digital camera to the children and help them to get the desired material out of my car.

(Independent work with the medium „digital camera“ and responsible use of it / Independent work of kindergarten children / Explanation of the digital camera and assistance.

The children perform their portrayal of the „egg to the butterfly“ independently and take their own photographs.

(Independent and collective presentation of the kindergarten children / practice of creativity / promotion of group membership.

Together we look at the resulting photos. We are considering which photos would be suitable for our poster. I ask the children what text they want to see under the photos. I ask the children to always think of the biological process from egg to butterfly.

(Joint experience of a result = experience of success / joint planning / consolidation of knowledge / freedom for creativity / no devaluation of ideas.)

Afterwards I try to answer the questions of the children from the last meeting with the help of pictures. Above all, I ask you to look closely at the butterfly’s eyes.

(Responding to the knowledge needs of children / expanding knowledge / expanding vocabulary.)

Now I ask the children to have another short round of talks. I try to keep myself in the background here as well, which succeeds.

Then we will continue to think together about what we will do on the next project day. I remind the children that they want to finish the poster.

(Request for verbal expression and reflection / joint planning.)

After the round of talks I ask Sarah again for a little chat. I’ll ask her about her condition again. Together we consider that we want to hand out a certificate on the last day and what it should look like.

(Requests for verbal expression and reflection / joint planning / self-esteem, sense of responsibility and self-confidence of Sarah are encouraged / opportunity for Sarah to express herself freely.

Reflection of the third project day

Also the third day went similarly as planned – with the difference that we had less time this time. The whole group went to feed sheep after the morning circle. (Currently our nature kindergarten helps with the care of a flock of sheep.) Only afterwards was time for our project. It was important to me that the children did not have to do without feeding sheep because of the project.

Nevertheless, I have achieved the goals I set myself. The children were again very motivated and inquisitive. They could easily explain the path from egg to butterfly. The children were able to plan and execute the presentation „From egg to butterfly“ together.

The independent alternation with the digital camera worked very well. I had already prepared myself to possibly have to intervene in order to achieve a fair division. That wasn’t necessary. We had discussed in advance that everyone should have the opportunity to use the camera. The group succeeded, which made me very happy.

Sarah fit in very well with the group. Despite her position as head of the working group, she was no higher than the others and did not take advantage of her position. She feels she belongs to the group. Sarah’s sense of responsibility was further strengthened. She is very good at assuming responsibility for her working group. She was actively involved in planning, made independent decisions (for example in material planning) and was very pleased to introduce the working group to the entire kindergarten group in the morning circle.
So it is clear that Sarah has found here a role appropriate to her abilities and talents.

According to Sarah’s group educator, she also reports a lot about the AG in the closing circle and on other occasions. Probably the picture of Sarah’s group will gradually change as well.

The children’s imagination was stimulated. You have thought about the representation „From egg to butterfly“ and have thought about suitable materials. They have lived out their creativity in the presentation and also in dealing with the camera. Very nice motifs have been created.

They were also able to exercise their creativity in the selection of photos for our project. They made color changes with the camera, but reversed them because they liked the original colors better.

The children were able to use the digital camera well and responsibly. Some of the children have already been used to the contact from home or from our kindergarten. They could pass on their knowledge to others. All the kids tried the camera.

I think the small final meeting of each AG unit gives Sarah a lot of pleasure and strengthens her. She feels taken seriously and takes the opportunity to have an individual conversation with me. Responsibility within the Group also strengthens them.

She gets a lot of recognition from the other children. During the last project unit, intensive questions arose about the butterfly. We were now able to answer these by looking at illustrative material and stories from my side. Thus, the children were able to expand their knowledge about butterflies again.

The children were all actively involved. They had remembered a lot of the last working day, and many technical terms also stuck with the children.

Even when planning the presentation I was able to withdraw from the group. Occasionally I had to answer questions from the children (for example: „Can we take the photos along the dirt road?“). In the actual representation I was only an assistant if any difficulties arose, for example with the disguise or the camera.

The children could quickly agree on the roles. Some sequences were also played several times so that everyone could play their desired role. I felt very comfortable on this project day because I could see how the group could work independently, fairly and creatively.

When selecting the photos, the children were able to come to a good agreement and for a long time they had to decide verbally which picture they wanted to put on the poster. Everyone also put a lot of effort into the reflections on the text. The children asked me to get our butterfly book again to see if we had forgotten anything. They stuck with the biological process and didn’t confuse it.

The children were very concentrated when I answered last time’s questions together with them. In the reflection round the children had a lot to talk about. I had to lead something here to lead them to the end. But I offered the children the opportunity to continue talking about it together over breakfast.

The children could again plan very well and also together for the next project unit. Now they not only want to design the poster, but also make caterpillars out of wooden beads.

In the small final discussion with Sarah I could experience again that she had a lot of fun. Together we thought about what the certificate should look like for the children. Sarah had many good and precise ideas.
We also talked about how we want to ask the children how they liked the project. Sarah remembered an older working group in which all children got pearls and depending on how many pearls they gave them, they liked it so much. I liked the idea, especially since we will use pearls for the last project unit anyway.

Fourth (last) project day, 1 week later

It starts as always: Sarah and I report together in the morning circle about the preceding project day, Sarah names the group members and explains where we want to meet.

(Self-esteem, sense of responsibility as well as self-confidence of Sarah are promoted / integration of the entire group.

We meet together in an extra room in the kindergarten building and take a seat at a large table. I ask the children if they still remember what we already know about the caterpillars.

(Consolidation of the learned knowledge / repetition / invitation to verbal utterance / small reflection for me: What else do the children know? / opportunity for utterance for all.)

Together with a project member, I fetch a tray containing various wooden beads, felt-tip pens and pipe cleaners. I’ll ask Sarah to explain how to make a caterpillar out of the material. All the kids can do it.

(Self-esteem, sense of responsibility as well as self-confidence of Sarah are promoted / stimulation of the fantasy as well as living out creativity / promotion of coarse and fine motor skills.

I get out the book about the caterpillar Nimmersatt and ask the children if they still remember it. We briefly discuss the book again and recall our role play „From Egg to Butterfly“ and the associated photographs.

(Consolidation of the learned knowledge / repetition / invitation to verbal expression / promotion of retentiveness.

A large poster, the photos, the texts from the last project meeting as well as writing and handicraft material are already available on the next table. I would now like to design the poster together with the children. The children think together and discuss how the poster should look at the end and are happy to go to work.

(Joint creation of a result / promotion of community feeling.)

Then we gather around the finished poster and go through the project days verbally again. I ask the children how they liked it, and Sarah gives each child four pearls. I ask the children, depending on how much they liked it, to put pearls on the table (the more pearls, the better).

Finally, together with the children, I create a corner in the kindergarten where we hang our poster and exhibit our books and handicrafts.
Sarah and I present the children with a certificate of participation and a project photo.

(Consideration of joint results / Experience of success / Joint review of the project /
Presentation of the project results, open to the whole kindergarten and community groups / remembrance of the project / praise for the participation.

I ask Sarah again for a little talk and give her the possibility to give her pearl rating. I ask her if she is satisfied with her working group and thank her for the cooperation.

(Sarah’s self-esteem, sense of responsibility and self-confidence are encouraged / opportunity for Sarah to express herself freely / praise.)

Reflection of the last project day

I was able to achieve my goals again. By repeating them together we were able to strengthen our knowledge about butterflies. The children had kept much of the previous project days and were able to give a lot back. Janette and Sarah could memorize many technical terms. Jule showed a lot of joy in the repetition and was visibly proud that she could remember a lot.

Sarah’s sense of community has been strengthened again. She felt very comfortable and accepted in the group again. The friendship with Anne is now very strong. They make regular appointments. The relationship with the other project members has also become strong. The bond to Janette is still intact, now and then they also arrange to meet.

Outside of the project, I was told by Sarah’s educator, it can be observed that the project group plays together.

Sarah’s sense of responsibility was strengthened again. She was again very well able to assume responsibility for her working group. She was actively involved in planning, making independent and responsible decisions. I have been told that Sarah informs many children and adults about her AG and introduces her group.

The children’s imagination was stimulated again. The children have thought about how they would like to design their caterpillar. The children also considered what the poster should look like. They also found the space for the poster and the small exhibition themselves.

The children were able to express their creativity by designing the caterpillar and the poster. The design of the presentation site also required creativity on the part of the children.

Sarah’s self-confidence and self-esteem was further strengthened! She feels more comfortable in the group and has reached a good level. She is popular and has become more confident in her appearance. I think the project did her very good. She makes a very happy impression on me. The team spirit of the entire project group was promoted and strengthened in this project unit.

The children have managed to repeat their knowledge. They were able to complement each other well. What one child no longer knew, another child knew. They also felt that everyone is important and that you can complement each other well in a team. They were able to plan the design of the poster together and each could contribute their own ideas.

The children were divided in the actual design. Jule was allowed to glue on everything there was to glue on. Marie took over the division of the material and the trimming, Janette, Anne and Sarah completed the poster with paintings. The photos and the knowledge texts were also selected and glued together with me, whereby I had only one role in the background. I supported the children by reading the texts.

Looking at the poster together, the children were visibly proud of their work. They took their time and laughed a lot. A place for the small presentation was also found together, whereby the basic idea came from Sarah and was well accepted by the other children. The design of the exhibition again proceeded together and in a balanced way. When the children had their own certificate, they were visibly proud and very happy.

All children were motivated and well involved in the knowledge reflection on caterpillars. Everyone was actively involved in the design of the caterpillars. They tried hard and were proud of their finished caterpillar. After everyone was finished, the children wanted to play with the caterpillars. I could see how balanced, friendly and cheerful they played together.

Every child was able to get involved in the planning of the poster. Jule had the idea to put the poster and all materials on the ground, because we had more space there. The other children and I liked their idea and implemented it. The joint viewing of the poster also took place on the floor.

The poster as visual material provided the introduction for the reflection of the entire project. The children could remember a lot of things. Sarah was proud that with my help she could guide this little reflection with the pearls.

During the evaluation the children gave almost all 4 beads. Jule, however, only had three, she could justify it well: She didn’t like the fight with Janette on the second day of the project. We talked about it again briefly, so she felt taken seriously and important. But I took care that Janette didn’t feel misunderstood, because she acted fairly at the time and Jule had a hard time dealing with how the roles were divided. However, I also made sure that this dispute was only briefly addressed, since it had already been resolved and a certain amount of time had passed.

Together the children thought about where we want to build our little presentation. Sarah had the idea of putting them up in the hall above the dressing room. The other children accepted her idea. When handing out the certificates, Sarah was very proud. The children were also very happy and, like Sarah, proud of their own documents.

The final talk with Sarah was very pleasant. She now had the chance to give away her pearls. She chose all four and told me that she had a lot of fun and she would like to do something like that again. I also thanked Sarah and told her that it gave me a lot of pleasure to do this project with her. Sarah was very proud and told me a little bit about home where she had found a butterfly.

I thought a long time in advance whether Sarah should get four pearls in the final reflection to act together with the other children. I decided, however, that she would rather moderate at this point, but also contribute verbally to the evaluation.

Final report

Was I able to achieve the goals I had set myself?

Betr.:
Goals for all project children:

1) I want to expand the children’s knowledge about butterflies.
I have achieved this goal. We have expanded and consolidated our knowledge through knowledge books, visual aids, observations and reports.

2) The children should act imaginatively and become creative.
I have also achieved this goal. The children often got the opportunity from Sarah or from me to use their imagination and act creatively.

3) To promote the group’s sense of community!
This goal was also achieved. The children did a lot together. They have gained experience together, they have created something together and have shared a sense of achievement. The group has grown together and felt like a group. They were there for each other and often continued to play in the small group after the project unit.

Despite her desire for leadership, Jule fit in well with the group and accepted Sarah’s leadership role well.

Betr.:
Targets for Sarah:

1) I want to strengthen Sarah’s sense of community.
I have achieved this goal. Sarah felt increasingly comfortable in the group. Together with the group she had a sense of achievement. She felt well looked after, recognized and belonging. One could observe that Sarah has built up a very positive relationship with the group and the individual members.

2) I want Sarah’s sense of responsibility strengthened.
I was able to achieve this goal. Sarah took responsibility from the beginning of the project. With my support, she was able to manage her project well and responsibly. She has also taken good care of the well-being of the group and has also done preparations responsibly. In general, Sarah has shown a great sense of responsibility.

3) I want to strengthen Sarah’s self-esteem and self-confidence.
I was able to achieve this. She has often acted with confidence. She has made important decisions and can justify them well. I’ve also seen her self-esteem increase. You could see that she felt important to both the children and me, she really enjoyed it. She was able to realize her ideas, which was good for her self-esteem; the children also listened to her. She has experienced recognition and even popularity in the group.

4) I want Sarah to make friends!
I am pleased to say that I have also achieved this goal. It’s nice to see how Sarah is friendly with the other children. She has already made appointments with various project children in the afternoon. She also tells me that she now has friends.
The friendship with Anne has grown stronger. They now play regularly and are friends. I can’t say that the project has done all this, maybe Sarah would have evolved like this without the project, or the conditions in general have improved – but I have already strengthened Sarah in this area. In principle it doesn’t matter, it’s just nice to see that she has friends now. When I think about the timing of the interview, I can be satisfied.

5) I want Sarah to learn about the butterfly.
As with the other children, I can consider the goal achieved.

Am I satisfied?

All in all, I am satisfied with the project. I was able to achieve my goals, gained experience and had a lot of fun. I would have found it nicer if I could accompany the project even longer. I would have liked to have observed further how the group grows in knowledge and how the group dynamics develop.
I was not able to fulfil all the children’s wishes, which was not possible due to lack of time. For me it was also nice to work across groups, so I was able to gather new experiences and gain new insights.

I would like to continue the project. The group is so motivated and interested! But due to time constraints it is not possible now.

What’s the next step?

I want to continue working on the children’s ideas and wishes. So I would like to give the task of growing plants for the butterflies to the plant company. If they cannot take it into account in their work, I will do it myself on a work assignment with the parents.

I had also thought about the climate house. We looked at newspaper articles and brochures together. I could also report about it myself, since I also visited it.

To give parents and children the opportunity to continue working on this topic after this project, I found a butterfly farm about 45 minutes drive away. Parents can visit these with the children if they are interested. I have noted the address and telephone number once again on the documents.

I really liked the opportunity to work across groups and I was able to communicate this convincingly to my colleagues. After so many positive experiences, we will work more frequently across the Group in the future.

At the appropriate time of the year I would like to observe the developmental stages of the butterfly in reality with the children. But this takes time.

Involving Sarah’s parents

When the project was underway, there were several short discussions on questions about the process or the exchange of knowledge.

Finally I had a little final talk with Sarah’s mother. I gave her another summary of the project and we talked about it.
She emphasized once again how beautiful Sarah found the project.

I was especially happy that the mother came back to my group after the conversation to say thank you. Sarah would have told her a lot more positive things and she wanted to teach me about that. She also told me how good she liked the idea of the documents. She continues to tell me that Sarah is very proud of it.

Further support for Sarah – see:
The Mountain Club (German version)

Word Club with Sarah (German version)

Newspaper Club with Sarah (German version)

 

Date of publication in German: July 2013
Translation: Arno Zucknick
Copyright © Hanna Vock, see imprint.