Development stars - visualize learning successes of children

Development stars - often called master stars - are designed to encourage children in their abilities and motivate them to continue. The basic idea of ​​the psychologist Fridolin Sickinger was used for preschool children to illustrate their previous learning successes. This method of self-confidence becomes particularly successful when the child decides in which direction it is already really good.

The star of development or master star is a child-friendly method, in which the child may develop his own ideas of success. Each idea represents a spike of the star, the spike then paints the child - completely, if it already feels good, only in part, if it wants to improve the skill or ability mentioned.

Self-assessment in dialogue

The special feature of the development star is that a child in dialogue with an adult - for example, the kindergarten teacher, but also a parent - speaks about his own ideas of possible and necessary goals and graphically implements them. This approach leads away from the expectations that parents often place on their children and their own awareness of what is important to a child as social and intellectual competence. Unlike the awarding of "bees" or notes, this is not a rigid assessment of performance. The child evaluates itself - in the points that are of interest and which it judges to be valuable and important from its previously acquired life experience.

Work with the development star

The work with the development star takes place in several steps. Required is a sheet of paper, a pencil and crayons for coloring. The starting point is a circle on the sheet of paper.

Step 1

At the beginning there is a question, for example: What do you think, what you have to learn in the day care center? This opens a conversation about the child's ideas, every ability that it considers important, is drawn at the circle with a jag. The meaning of the serration is illustrated with a symbol.

2nd step

Subsequently, the child is asked the question how it assesses itself for each individual spike. According to his assessment, the child paints completely or only partially with a color of his own choosing.

3rd step

Now the question follows: If you could choose that a spike would get bigger overnight, which one would you choose? The answer shows the child's own important learning goals, the selected points are painted in a different color.

It is suitable to work with the development star for children from the age of 5 years and is a useful tool for the transition from kindergarten to school.

What do parents expect?

It becomes especially interesting when the parents receive the star created by the children and describe it as their child assesses their own abilities (not how the parents rate their child!). The comparison often shows that there are large deviations - in both directions. In the subsequent conversation with the accompanying educator or psychologist, the results are discussed.

What the star of development is not

When working with the star of development, the idea in the background is by no means the one to somehow test the child for its level of development or to manipulate the expectation steps. It's about helping the child with self-reflection. This requires a conscious educator who is genuinely and honestly interested in the child and his view of himself. The basis of the method is the knowledge of the child's learning behavior: It intuitively develops its own learning impulses in infancy. From the age of about 5 years, this intuition subsides and the children need support to play an active role in learning.

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