Halloween provides us with a unique opportunity to look into the emotions surrounding fear and into the children’s understanding of what is real and what is fantasy. In preparation for our Halloween parade, the children explore the neighborhood in small groups. These walks provide us with opportunities to practice safely navigating sidewalks and roads as…
Annie Tlusty (Lucy, EW) came to cook with the children today. She gathered NUT FREE ingredients for ‘no bake pumpkin cookies’. It was a hands on, ooey gooey, perfectly pumpkin’y’ delight. Georgios: Smell this! Lucy: Smells like vanilla. Philippos: Smells like chocolate. Jillian: Smells like pumpkin! The pumpkin balls were done in no time. The…
The West Wing has started to introduce American Sign Language to the children. At first it was used as a tool to support the meetings; teachers would sign to children little reminders like “sit down” and “listen”. But as we noticed the children sign these same ‘reminders’ to their peers, we realized there was a…
Designed to include a variety of loose parts, the EW Exploration Room offers these open-ended materials to welcome children to collaborate, invent, construct, evaluate and modify. Such an event transpired when Sol combined a tube, wooden board, washers and clothespins to invent a game and then invited Quinn to join him. Sol: Hey Quinn, want…
Today, Laz’s mom Jess came to make snack with the children. She brought a selection of seeds, zucchini, pasta, kale, and ingredients for pesto. The children tasted the seeds. Some of them were reluctant. And many tasted the variations offered: plain pumpkin…
We are delighted to share the news that Teacher Cynthia is pregnant with a girl! Her due date is April 2nd, 2017. When we told the children – they cheered with delight!
[Show slideshow] Reflections: Eva – You are exemplifying constructivism. Everything is made from scratch. No agenda but to support learning and interests. Intentional and developed creations, so detailed, more so than what adults are often capable of. So inspiring. Kate – My 5th year, every back to school night is so different. It’s amazing to see the…
The Mo Willems’ Gerald and Piggie book, A Big Guy Took My Ball, is a favorite of the West Wing children. During a clay exploration, I referred to this story in order to engage the group in a figure investigation in the exploration space. Zelda: Look at this! (Holding up a clay coil) Teacher Jess: It…
Looking at two vials of blue colored water, the children started a dialogue on what names to give them: Aiden: This can be called Sky. Teacher Cindy: You called this one Sky, too. Aiden: That can be Night Sky. Isla: And this Daytime Sky. We later noticed another vial of blue. Cindy: Look. There is a…
While working with Charcoal at the West Wing Mini Studio, Teacher Amy observed pragmatics in action: Olive: I’m making my family. That’s me, and daddy, and sister, and grandpa. I can’t make mommy. I can’t do it. MJ: (overhearing): I can help. Both girls stared at each other. It seemed Olive was waiting for MJ…