Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/revisiting-paper-our-unwinding-relationships-with-the-languages-of-materials/5027038/
*Photos and figures can be found in the pdf version of this article.
In fall 2020, as we returned to our work with young children, there was a void. Something had changed, there was an emptiness. The momentum that we were creating in March 2020 was extraordinary. All of our educators were thinking creatively, projects were magical, educators were thinking critically about their documentation and the work in their classrooms. Spring was coming … and then the pandemic hit. As the closure of our schools ran on and on, I began to think about how we could rebuild our community spirit and connections between educators and families, who had spent recent months worried about COVID-19 instead of our curriculum and work.
On our return, we started noticing that children were in a constant frenzy of making things, drawing on paper, creating with cardboard, wanting help with making things, cutting, painting, and more and more drawing. This beehive of work was so interesting to watch, and my question was, “Why? What happened? Were the children reacting to their time at home and being isolated while moms and dads or grandparents were busy working from home? Had they been impacted by time alone watching TV ...