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 can leave it there (pointing to the cubbies). You don’t have to stand it up. You can just leave it flat on top so they can look down and see it.
Keaton: We can hang them on the branch.
Golda: We can try to find a hole on the bottom cubby in this classroom and slide it under.
Rufus: I have an idea. We can put it under that door and push it under the door and inside the classroom.
Cynthia: Remember, the space outside of this door is for the Cilantro group so we cannot go outside of this door.
Tallulah: Maybe when Adriana and the kids that she is with are gone, we can go to the door they come through and we can put the notes for Adriana and the other kids next to the door. And when they get here, she will come in and open the notes.
Mira: We can all make it and when the coronavirus is over, we can give it to them.
Penny: What I was going to say, Mia showed me two pictures and taped those pictures together and she sent me those two pictures. Mia sended it to me. She said, “What is your favorite color?” on this one. It came in the mail. From the mail it came to my cubby. Susan told me that it was in my cubby. The mail can really help.
Keaton: When I mailed a note to a kid at a different school, he sent the note back. That means they will send the note back to us. That will happen!
Mars: Maybe we can send it through the computer.
Rufus: You can send it through a cell phone.
Keaton: Maybe you can send it through the phone and iPad or camera.
Mars: We can throw it over the glass over there (the plexi wall in the front yard).
Rufus: We can throw it to the Dandelions and they can throw it to Cilantros, and they can throw it to the persons in the Aloe group.
Cynthia: I can see that looking out the window is making you think and you got an idea. Maybe when you are playing today, you can look out the windows and look around the classroom to see if that space would work.
Keaton: We can drill the (plexi)glass, and we can throw it to the table without going in that classroom. Another idea is we can go outside that door and go to the wood chips and where all the plants grow and we can climb it and throw it and put it in the sandpit so somebody notices it and they will get it.
Everly: Yeah, we can go through the wood chips and go through the side garden and walk through the garden where it has the diamonds and squish it in. The kids and Adriana will get the note and Adriana will read it to the children.
Tallulah: What if we spray the notes and we put the notes we want to give to them in the garden. Then when they walk over there, they get it.
Susan: Are you thinking we can leave our messages there and they can leave their messages in the garden too?
Mars: I have an idea of how to send a message. We can find an owl and it can give it to the Aloe Vera group. It will fly to them.
Asher: For my birthday, my dad is going to get me a plane that has a grabber and we can put the message on the grabber and I can fly it to someone else’s house.
Cynthia: Are you thinking about a drone?
Asher: Yeah!
Everly: I have a helicopter thing, and I can make a small basket and use tape to stick it on and zoom it. I don’t have a remote control, so I can zoom it.
Keaton: I have a race car and you can put a little thing like a note in it and there’s a remote control and you can see where it’s going and I can make it turn wherever I want because it has a little short stick and it can send it to NSW.
Sharing notes from Jack and Rufus at Aloe Vera reflection meeting:
Presley: I want to make them a note.
August: I want to make a note for Keaton.
Poppy: We can make them a rainbow.
Mia: I made one for Penny. But I don’t know how she got it.
Aloe Reflection Meeting about Notes and missing Basil friends:
Adriana: Anyone you are thinking about?
August: Keaton, I wish I could play with him.
Presley: Maybe he can draw what he wants to play with him.
August: Maybe we could send a picture to them (the Basils).
Uma: I miss Mira.
Levi: If somebody writes a note, it can go to the other person.
Adriana: How can we get the note to the other person?
Presley: Maybe we can mail it to them. We can make a mailbox.
Levi: What a great idea.
Mia: Then we can send them mail!
When we invited the children to think about how they could deliver messages to their friends, we saw their imaginations run wild. In Reggio, educators speak about the contagious quality of an idea – how one idea can become a catalyst for new ideas. Just like the multitude of ideas formed, we recognize that there are multiple contexts connecting our relationships. While some of our friends are at NSW, others are not here yet or will not be back. We see these different contexts as opportunities to test the many ideas the children imagined. As we move forward, we wonder what challenges and advantages they will discover in each medium, and how these discoveries will inform the messages they send.