When we started music with Stuart on Wednesday mornings, we observed learning surge forth from the children. So far, Stuart has brought a guitar and has sung songs with the children in the West Wing. When more instruments were explored and the routine became established, their curiosity took off. Capitalizing on their interest in the…
We’ve collected extensive artifacts in our quest to better understand non-verbal communication and emotions. Together we review photography, line drawings, keywords, watercolor paintings, and scenarios introduced by the children that have evoked or elicited a feeling. Jake creates a watercolor painting with a representation of a person experiencing an emotion. This is the first time…
The children have being sending “Get well soon” wishes to Roleen at circle time and to support them in processing their questions, we invited the children to make notes or drawings for Roleen. The children immediately responded to this invitation and got to work in different parts of our school. Henry: How do you spell…
The children and teachers have been recycling some of our old paper to reuse it and make new paper with the children. This process supports to develop a deeper understanding of what it means to recycle. In the last two weeks, we’ve involved the children in brainstorming ideas of what recycling means. Ozzie: Recycling means…
In the front yard, we noticed that our “Big Tree” has many branches that aren’t giving new leaves as Spring approaches. We invited the children to deeply observe our tree and they began to wonder what was happening. The teachers let the children know that Roleen shared her concerns about the tree and she mentioned…
While the EW children were observing the Loveland map, they focused in on the school. Teacher Jen: Which school do we already have (on the map)? Some children said that it was New School-West and others said it was not. Some shared their reasonings. Eliotte: It’s not because Loveland is far away. Henry: It is…
As the West Wing children continue to explore representing feelings through watercolors, new keywords for feelings are expressed. We discuss the possible meanings of these new words and continue to delve into the shared understanding we are trying to convey and the feelings we are trying to express. Jacob: It is going to take a…
During a morning drop-off time, Teacher Jen and Zoe Foxley (Gus, EW) engaged in a short discussion about the documentation and progression of Loveland. They reviewed the children’s words about “bad guys” and the jail that was on the outskirts of Loveland. Zoe began to share her perspective from a much bigger lens. As it was…
We’ve talked about feelings, named them, defined them… but then we wondered: What does a feeling look like? We’ve explored photography, tracing, and then we introduced watercolors. The draw of choosing their favorite colors revealed how children quickly confronted that an intention can get lost in expression. Our meaning can be misread, misinterpreted, misunderstood. Color can mean different…
Reflecting on our work is one of our values in our philosophy. We practice approaching the same idea over and over together when developing a classroom culture that honors community. Questioning each other’s thinking supports children in finding ways to explore and articulate their ideas and to listen deeply to the suggestions of others. In…