When we take walks in the neighborhood, just down May to Victoria, the children have remained consistent in their questions from their first days of school. They express that they are too far away saying, “We are far from the school!” “Do you know how to get back?” And today was no exception. We stopped to rest near some wood chips and the children began to map their location. While they worked in a linear fashion, they narrated their ideas.
Phedon: We traveled all the way here, then we’re going this way across the street.
Chase: (pointing the opposite direction) No, that way. That reaches our school.
Phedon: (reasserting his original idea) So, this is our school. We walked from our school all the way here. And then we’re coming this way. This is the whole school.
Jake: (at the other end of the map) No, this is going to be the school. So it’s like this. We traveled all the way here. Now we’re trying to go to the treasure chest so it’s that way (points to the right, in Phedon’s original direction).
Chase: (identifying Jake’s agreement on the location of school, but not the goal of the trip) Jake and I are totally right and you guys are all wrong!
Flora: You are having different ideas.
Phedon: This is where the X is going to be. So this is school. We walked all the way here.
Olivia: And how are we going to get back to school?
While it seems like a lot of disagreement and directionless pointing, we also hear that developmentally, it’s easy to put yourself in a situation, but much more challenging to envision that situation in a map, outside of your own experience. Our intention is to instill a sense of place and facilitate a common goal when out for a walk. Without these, where we stand in a moment together is all we have to connect us. In the coming weeks, we will identify landmarks on our way out and utilize them to organize a map thereby bringing perspectives together. With focus, effort, and flexible thinking, we can also define shared values which will carry with us in our hearts wherever we go. Flora and Kristin