“Let’s build an airport, we need wire.” Rocco “What would you like wire for?” Teacher Cindy “Electricity.” Rocco Kian places black tubes under the platform. “These are the pipes.” Recognizing some knowledge of construction, Cindy asks the group if there are pipes and electricity in this building. “Nope.” They answer, looking around and not seeing…
West Wing
“It’s another hexagon!” -Sophia
Noticing an interest in shapes and photography, Yoli read the book Architecture Shapes by Michael Crosbie and went on a photography walk with Cindy and the children. When they came upon a stone path, Cindy mentioned it had six sides and was called a hexagon. Sophia noticed a stop sign – “It’s another hexagon!” she…
The Line Game
Noticing that the children were working in separately defined spaces on the same canvas, the West Wing teachers thought of a game to facilitate conversation and a sense of collaboration with their peers. Yoli: “The line game is played by watching where your friend draws, then starting your line where they stop.” Offering oil pastels…
“I want to know if he has seen a real dragon.” Jake
Staying Connected Sometimes life pulls us away from our everyday routines. Jasper’s family works on documentaries and they traveled recently to Switzerland for over three weeks. They had established a tradition where they create a book from their travels, naming it :______ is Beautiful. Switzerland is Beautiful was made from Jasper’s first trip to the country during his infancy…
“I like how Miles plays.” -Lola
Flora observed that when the children talked about birthdays, they found a common ground and shared excitement and a sense of anticipation. It became a way to share personal experiences and have someone stop, even for a few minutes, and listen, because everyone could relate to birthdays. Traditionally, the class recognizes birthdays at circle time…
“What game are you playing?” -Liv
Dashiell, Imonie, and Sasha are all playing a family game in the quiet space in the front yard. They have roles established, and have been engaged in their game for about 20 minutes. Liv, who finished her first appointment, sat down next to the quiet space and began observing the game. Dashiell: “Can I read…
Refelctions on Ilaan’s work with the children.
West Wing There are many ways to express ideas and it’s a personal joy to discover a group passionate about movement as a form of expression. This highly kinetic group met with Sam and Ilaan and moved in a full body way while simultaneously being able to safely negotiate the space between them. The work we do together…
“Celery, celery, celery song….” -Maddox & Micah
Ivana and Kris took Maddox, Micah, Sadie C. and Leo to the Ocean View Farms plot on the bus today. These children had expressed great interest in cooking with Ivana and there was an interest in creating a stepping stone in mosaics for the plot. We talked about the focus of our visit on the…
Did You Know?
DID YOU KNOW that the WW and EW are working on opening a Post Office? The children are debating on (1) Mailbox for the school or ( 2) one for each wing. They will also be able to ask questions of a real postman (Sage’s grandfather) via Ichat or Skype. They are exploring different ideas of sorting the…
“Again!” – Easton
Some children are hesitant when assigned to areas where they will get themselves dirty. Flora observed a group of children who’d expressed a dislike of dirty things. She intentionally assigned them to the mud pit – a very dirty place. Wondering how they would approach their concern and discomfort with getting dirty, Flora observed. Initially, Felix, Imonie, Morgan and Easton walked…