Ladybugs and the Many Pathways to Learning: How Children Build Knowledge Together

Collecting children’s words and truly listening to their ideas gives us insight into how they see the world, what matters to them, and how they process ideas about themself and others. The following  snack time conversation about a ladybug gathering highlights something we know about young children—they often understand others through the lens of their own experiences. Why are the ladybugs together? Are they families? Neighbors? What challenges do they face? Sharing, finding food, and getting along.

In subjective group learning, children bounce ideas off one another, shaping the entire group’s evolving understanding. As teachers, when we examine conversations like this, we can see both the similarities and differences in children's thinking, revealing how each child connects new ideas to their own unique past experiences. This serves as proof that there are hundreds of pathways to new learning, each informed by the child's personal context. By following and supporting these moments, we help children deepen their understanding of the world while honoring the many ways they arrive at new ideas. 

Reflect as you read the following conversation:

• If we think of learning as a process of making connections, what are some ways you have seen your child link ideas from different parts of their life?

  
  

• What deeper meaning might children be exploring beneath the surface of their play or questions?

  
  

• How can we listen for metaphors in children’s thinking—where one topic (like ladybugs) represents something more personal or social?

  
  

• What do the children’s comments reveal about how they understand relationships, fairness, or group dynamics?

  
  

• How might we follow this thread to explore community agreements or social problem-solving in a way that feels meaningful to them?

  
  

• What’s one way we can shift from reacting to a topic to pausing and observing more deeply to weave into planning?

I saw you all found a really big ladybug gathering yesterday, can you tell me about that? What was it like?

Sophie, “That there was so much, so much they were, like everywhere”

Theo, “Yeah, we couldn’t step on the ladybugs”

Gabe, “I just like picked a bunch, a bunch, a bunch of ladybugs, they tried to crawl my hand but I just shaked them off me”

Leo, “So uh… they’re a little creepy. They might like, make holes in our hand.”

Why do you think all of these ladybugs are together like that in one spot? What do you think is going on?

Leo, “Maybe they’re all neighbors. They’re together because…. Maybe they’re all getting ready for spring!”

Theo, “Maybe…. they’re all family”

Cedar, “Ha! Yeah, why are all of ‘em together?!”

Blake, “Maybe they eating something”

Hey, that's like why we're all together, huh? Right now we're all sitting together because we’re eating snack.

Ace, “Maybe this is the ladybug home”

Hunter, “Maybe all those guys gonna hunt for food?”

Gabe, “Maybe them had to all be together, because maybe their ladybug have to hide from the winter”

Theo, “Even, they don’t fly, even they don’t come in the snow time.”

Blake, “I thought the ladybugs would be fighting together”

Ah, that makes me wonder if ladybugs are able to find a way of being safe together. 

Blake, “Maybe they need to walk away and take a deep breath”

What do you think would be really important to know if a new Ladybug was coming to join the ladybug gathering, what do you think are some of the rules and agreements of being at the ladybug gathering? 

Hunter, “They wouldn’t do any killing”

Nora, “They wouldn’t be able to do hitting”

Hunter, “No hitting and kicking”

Leo, “Maybe if there was a new ladybug, they said don’t steal their homes”

Hunter, “Ladybugs have to share toys”

Theo, “Yeah! They could play together with the excavator”

Leo, “Well our playground is big, big, big and the ladybugs are small small small so ladybugs need to bring small toys

Ahh, like how babies need different kinds of toys, maybe ladybugs need different toys!  In a community its important for everyone to get what they need. Summer and Leo, you have baby Chase and Baby Lulu  at home, how are their toys different?

Summer, “Well my baby Sammy doll does!”

Leo, “Well my toys are more like this [holds hand wide] and Lulu’s are like this [holds hands closer together]”

What would a ladybug play with?

Milo, “Maybe a leaf for a toy?”

Hunter, “Maybe a ladybug gets a leaf and it gets a leaf in a pond and then it has a boat”

Arlo, “Maybe a superhero ladybug toy?”

As we reflect on this conversation, we begin to see the complexity that lives within children's seemingly simple observations. Leo may be exploring what it means to be neighbors, Theo is drawn to the idea of families and togetherness, and Blake seems to be deeply curious about conflict and emotional regulation—skills she is actively building.

These moments offer a window into the internal work children are doing to make sense of relationships, community, and themselves. When we slow down and listen with intention, we begin to understand how children use metaphor and shared dialogue to process big ideas. As Loris Malaguzzi reminds us, "It’s necessary that we believe that the child is very intelligent, that the child is strong and beautiful and has very ambitious desires." It is in these conversations—full of play, theory, and connection—that those ambitions begin to take shape.