Several children were scurrying around it, placing wooden blocks on top of the stumps, and gathering sticks. They climbed on, and climbed in. One child at the rear of the train yelled, “All aboard!” The next thing I knew, the children climbed out, ran around the yard, and hopped onto…

Last week, while I was watching a group of children outside on the play yard, I witnessed something amazing. A small group of children noticed the basketball hoop at the far end of the yard. They began taking turns trying to throw colored balls into the basket. They kept missing. The children persisted and spent a good amount of time attempting to make a shot. At one point, one child said she needed something to make her taller. She looked around for something and found a crate. …

It would be so much easier (and save time) if we did it for them. In the preschool classroom, when a child says “I can’t do it,” the teachers take that as an opportunity to support building independence and confidence, as well as to scaffold on existing knowledge to build new skills. …