How many times do we ask children what they wish to be when they grow up? And when does that begin? I have noticed that very young children many times do not have any concept of what their grownups do for work! When asked what dad/mom/auntie/grandpa does many times they say "go to work." Or "work on the computer" but it doesn't go farther. So I had the idea to do a career day for preschool. And the result was spectacular! Were they too young?
Absolutely not!
Did they learn heaps about what grown ups do for work?
Absolutely yes!
Did I love every minute of this experiment?
Definitely.
Oh and it evolved from career day to career month!
One of the things I did was rearrange our environment. We have a dramatic play area all the time. But for this unit, we moved the block area around and made the dramatic area more prominent. For 3 weeks we had a grocery store.
For the following 2 weeks we had a hospital/doctor's office.
Of course, not all of the careers we touched on had to do with the medical field or the retail field but these were the two that I had the props for and also the two that I thought the children would enjoy acting out in the dramatic play area. And goodness did they enjoy it! Innate, creative play lasted for hours with these center changes.
I have a new philosophy of just asking if I want something. The worst thing that could happen is that someone can say no. So I requested that the parents of my students come to speak to my class about their occupations and careers if they were able. I received an amazing response! Watch!
Fire Chief
Nurse Practitioner
Pilot
Manufacturing Company
Nurse
Real Estate Agent
The children learned so much about what the adults in their lives do. And what warmed my heart was they all saw firsthand examples of what they might do when they grow up.
Comments