Color is all around us. It adds emotion to our lives and connects us to the world. Look around and, for a moment, imagine a world without color. As humans, color helps us categorize and make meaning and order in our lives. We feel that this categorizing and order needs to be more deeply examined.…
Journals
Delivery, Delivery! – Wiley
Dramatic Play describes the type of play that often happens in the House Area. It may seem like they’re playing simple games when they pretend they’re doctors or pirates or when they create their own characters using dolls but when children use their imaginations and pretend it’s actually very complex. Children make sense of the…
WW thanks and updates 9/25/20
Thanks to Dot’s and Leon’s family for providing flowers this past week! Reminder: Street work has us searching long and hard for places to park and we have opened the parking spots in the alley for all the pods. Please add time to find parking and be considerate of our neighbors when parking for pick-up…
EW “It’s going to be a together card.” – Keaton
Once the mystery of the East Wing mailboxes had been solved, the children’s excitement shifted into creating messages for their friends. The first batch of mail included birthday cards and notes that engaged the entire group. The ones that followed were more individualized. Checking the mailbox in a group setting created a context for the…
“The Lines are Blending.”-Marcel
In “The Pedagogy of Listening”, Carlina Rinaldi reminds us, “From the beginning, children demonstrate that they have a voice, know how to listen and want to be listened to by others. Sociability is not taught to children; they are social beings.” Here at New School-West, we support the children’s natural ability to speak and to…
EW day in the life photos
Aloes Basils Enjoy a peak into school this week! – The East Wing Team
WW updates 9/18
Here is a DAY IN THE LIFE of the Cilantros and Dandelions this week: There’s a strong culture around the words we use at The New School-West. It’s in our handbooks and it’s collected and curated throughout the years to help children learn participation and responsibility without shame, blame or privilege. We are always happy…
WW explorations 9/18
As we begin each school year, we reflect on our values and continue to be inspired by this poem “The Hundred Languages of Children” by Loris Malaguzzi. As educators, we believe that children come to us full of rich intelligences. Our responsibility is to offer experiences that foster an avenue for them to make their…
“We got to see a feeling.” – Levi
The children brainstormed different ways to exchange messages between the Aloe Vera and Basil groups. Once formulated, we not only challenged the children to test their ideas, but also noticed their initiative to put those ideas into practice and to spontaneously develop creative ways to communicate. In the Aloe Vera group, Presley shared with her…
East Wing Messages
When the teachers delivered the children’s first set of notes, we reflected how our actions interrupted an opportunity for dialogue and imagination with the children. With the intention of slowing down, we invited them to brainstorm the multiple ways in which we can deliver messages to the other group. Jack: I have an idea. You…