Cooperatives groups, a way to make him or her feel well about him or herself.

In kinder garden it is important to provide our pupils some strategies to get information. In fact, between teachers it is very common to talk about learn to learn. How can we teach to learn? In kindergarten we just put the basis, do you remember?

One way to teach our little pupils strategies to learn for themselves is cooperative work.

Before to start to work in this way we have to allow children work in pairs, in groups of three or four persons, on his or her own, in pairs again,… It’s very important than the kids know well the others and themselves.

We must take into account that little pupils are self-centred, and it is for this reason that to work in groups is very difficult for them. But it is very beneficial both subjects learns and self-confidence.

It’s a good idea to distribute workmates in tables with no more than six children in each one. The work teams have to be members of his/her table. It’s necessary to change the table partners from time to time.

When pupils have been at ease among them, we can think about to introduce the cooperatives work from this moment on.

To work in cooperatives groups it is interesting that children choose which group they want to be a member of, because to reach an agreement isn’t easy at all.

When they know their classmates and themselves, they could decide to belong to a cooperative group with responsibility.

When kids work in groups they learn early the importance of being a member of a great group. Then this work methodology forces them to work well, because they need to be chosen.

Always that the little pupils change their work-team, teachers have to plan some first very easy works in order they feel well and relaxed in the new group. Step by step we could introduce them in mosaic work, the most difficult way of work in kindergarten, but the top way to learn to learn.

It consist in to divide the different parts of the assignments between the different teams. For example, if we are studying an artist, one group could work about his childhood, another about his maturity years, a third group about his pictures, another one about his sculptures,… When each group has finished its investigation, they should practice how to put forward. It’s important that the members of every group assign each person a part of the presentation, but it’s absolutely necessary that they work as a team. Sometimes one or more of them have to help a member in the group, in the same way that some workmate will have to help him or her. It allows them to get closer.

Teachers have to keep an eye on every child to guarantee everybody is ok. This kind of work is very open and often kids feel too much responsibility in themselves, which it is very stressing. It is essential that teachers pay special attention to pupils feeling.

But the role of the teacher isn’t only to take care of children emotions. We have to do a hard work to prepare very well a lot of didactic material, because world recourses aren’t adapted for little pupils. We have to research information with them and almost immediately we have to give them in converted form.

It is hard, but it is a good way to teach to learn and it is a way too to make him or her feel well about him or herself.