One of the West Wing research questions is: What will we learn alongside children and families to deepen our understanding of their capabilities and our partnership? When Spencer arrived one morning, he requested the soccer ball. He had a plan. He wanted to throw the soccer ball at the wind chimes and make the sound.
This game happened early in the morning before the morning meeting. The game initiated by Spencer served as the morning greeter to all the Dandelions who felt curious about joining the game as they were arriving that morning. For teachers, it is a window to observe growth and learning in practice. The children showed us how they see each other as community members. The initiative from Spencer invited the Dandelions to show inclusion, support, encouragement, collaboration, participation, turn taking, practicing their waiting and scaffolding one another’s learning.
All the Dandelions immediately showed interest in playing the game. The teachers facilitated chairs for them to sit and stayed present to support the flow of the game.
Eddie– encourages Emma: Throw it! Throw it!
Spencer- passes the ball to Ana: Throw it! That’s too far (inviting Ana to stand up and get closer to the wind chimes). You have to throw it here. That’s how you throw it.
He then looks at Leon and asks: Did you have a turn?
Leon nodds.
The children applauded and cheered every time one of them struck the wind chimes. After morning circle, the children returned to the wind chimes.
Ana, hearing the wind in the chimes and turning to Dana she points: Look!
Ana stretches up and up, but her arm is not long enough to reach. She jumps and jumps again.
Ana looks around and sees the ledge along the plants. She starts to climb but stops after she wobbles. She sits and looks down at the ground.
Arya: Look! She can’t reach it.
Dana: I wonder if we can support in some way?
Dana moves one of our sturdy outdoor chairs closer.
Ana, with a smile on her face, pushed the chair closer underneath the wind chime. Then she climbed up and struck the wind chimes. After she hopped down, Arya climbed up and took a turn at making a noise. Then Ana took her turn again. They continued to alternate: one making a chime, then the other making a chime. This playful musical back-and-forth caught the attention of more children playing around them. Next thing we knew, they started asking for turn taking or waiting to be next when the child stepped off the wooden chair.
The children continue to discover new ways to make music together with the wind chimes — and find different ways to reach them. As the children continued to practice jumping higher and higher, they began to see that they didn’t need such a tall chair. Leon pushed over a low stool under the wind chime. He jumped, making the wind chime sound. Then Cary came over to try. Eddie, hearing the music, brought over a second stool. At first, he stood with one foot planted on each stool. But noticing Leon wanting a turn, he shifted over so that one stool was available for a peer. The children started climbing up in pairs, allowing them to discover that one Dandelion could make music by hitting the wind chime while the other Dandelion could add a different noise when their feet landed on the ground after jumping.
The wind and the wind chimes are adding meaning to the front yard space by calling the children to have this interactive exchange of listening together to its sound every time one of them steps up, jumps off the stepping stool, and strikes it. This sound connects their energy into a collaborative action that is just one example of how our energy is flowing within our outdoor spaces.