Our neighborhood walks continue to support the dialogues that open the world of interconnectedness we are trying to accomplish as a community of caring and curious individuals. We came across a butterfly on the ground. Eliotte: I know about Monarch butterflies. Aiden: So do I. Zelda: How did the butterfly die? Aiden: Once they get…
As the children developed deeper-connections with the vertical garden, they realized that our living garden was missing a sign that would communicate its importance. We decided to create a “Community Garden” sign in the woodworking space. As we spent many days working on the sign, we decided to pause and reflect. I wondered what the children…
The children were appearing stuck in representing their ideas of the boy and girl masks and the teachers were wondering how they might support them with materials beyond paints. Following a West Coast Collaborative tour with Clarissa Esguerra of the LACMA exhibit on the work of artist Marc Chagall, the teachers were inspired to share with…
The West Wing is continuing their exploration of non-verbal communication that started in November. In viewing their photos in a shared binder, the teachers noticed a limited amount of emotional descriptors beyond happy, sad, scared, mad, and silly. We also began to see the children becoming more attached to who is in the picture rather…
In the Front Yard, our Garden Team of parents have been working on designing a vertical garden. Paki (Olive, EW) and Kelly (Eliotte, EW) working on the pavers and vertical garden. The children were part of this process and teacher Katherine has been meeting with the children and parents to continue developing the idea. After…
Reflecting together with the children in their everyday experiences is part of our daily routine. In the Front Yard, we began to talk about the meaning of the word “community”. The children immediately became excited to share their ideas of what a community means to them and how they practice their ideas. Palmer: A community is…
Our neighborhood walks are filled with moments of discovery and learning. The streets may be the same, however, the experience is never the same for each group of children. This time, believe it or not, rain in LA had given us a break. Having being indoors the previous day, the children were eager to step…
For young children, clay holds no preconceived ideas about what it is or how it is supposed to be used. Knowing this, the teachers offer an open-ended, whole body exploration using multiple blocks of clay varying in texture and color. In the beginning of the school year, the West Wing children spent weeks exploring clay.…
Yesterday, Gabriel (Luscia, EW) and Barton (Leah, EW) sat in the front yard with the children to spread holiday cheer. We all sang along and raised our spirits with the talented and generous musicians in our midst. Thank you for being involved in the magic that makes New School-West a warm and welcoming, extraordinarily rich,…
In the front yard, there are multiple building materials for construction and the teachers predict they will observe children building a relationship with each other and the tools. The teachers noticed that the children enjoyed building but recognized there was something missing and wanted to offer a social challenge to their building. We decided the…