Tulasi represents her music box in blocks

A friend wrote to me about her daughter:
"Tulasi, age five and a half, has greatly enjoyed playing with a music box over the past few weeks, and so I wasn't surprised when she recently told me that she was going to make a music box out of blocks. When I came into the room a few minutes later here is what I found. I love that she's actually turning the music box crank with her hand, and I was quite surprised by the music notes which she made (she is a completely self-taught reader of music notation, just as she is a self-taught reader in English). Tulasi was particular in explaining that the arrow shows the movement of the music as it floats out of the box. And no, I didn't say anything to her about it pointing TO the box."

Sydney adds: This is a beautiful example of a child who has thorough control of her medium, and can use it to express whatever she wants to say. This is what Loris Malaguzzi called a "language," as in "The Hundred Languages of Children." One of our adult goals must be to support children becoming masters of media, so they can, then, say what they wish. Hurrah for Tulasi and her blocks!

E-mail:  sydney@eceteacher.org, www.eceteacher.org • (C) Sydney Gurewitz Clemens, 2007