Learning In Our Environment; Learning From our Environment

The 2-3s have been spending lots of time outside. The children exercise and play on our land. They commune with nature. We take Brain Breaks outside to help the mind relax and refocus for the next activity. We spend time on Friday afternoons doing Muddy Boots with the K-1s.

Being outside enlivens the whole child, raising spirits and engagement with a task. We study and explore through both structured and unstructured experiences. So far, most of our science classes have been spent outdoors. Our outdoor explorations are multidisciplinary, supporting language and literacy development, observation and hypothesizing, focused problem solving, and purposeful social interactions. 

Our time outdoors frees the imagination. Children engaged in the natural world just stop...and observe intensely. They naturally seek and discover patterns. They sort and organize. Their "noticings" are recorded, in words and pictures.They rush to each other to share their findings. Quite simply, they are fascinated. By everything.

This fall's big theme, How Our Land Changed Over Time, will keep bringing us back to nature. We are first learning from and about Parker's landscape. This study has opened with the children thinking through a recent dramatic change in our environment--the addition of our pond. They recalled what our "backyard" used to look like and processed what impact the pond has had and further changes that might be afoot as a result of it. From where we are today, we will work back in time, exploring what used to be here on our land, both in the recent and very distant past.

Our study is a perfect fit for this group of explorers. 

By the way, we're also having lots of fun!!

Early Days

Are we really only in our second full week?! It feels like I've been with this particular group for months. There's just a lot of comfort with your children. And fun. And intelligence. And high spirits. Oh yes, high spirits.

All last week, we were up to our ears in Assembly preparations. The kids huddled, composed their ideas, and practiced. We had only four days to put together this big event. Every single day, I was surrounded by positivity and can-do attitudes. In the end, they sure pulled the whole thing off with poise and good humor. So proud! 

This week, we are back to regular days and are continuing to establish routines and expectations. As we get to know each other and the group stitches itself together, we are thinking about how we want to treat each other and how we hope to be received by our classmates. I have started reading aloud tales from around the world that focus on the idea of tolerance. Our first story, Raspberries!, is an American tale of cooperation. We had a discussion about how problems are often more easily solved with the help of others. The children thought about how much they appreciate receiving care from people and each child wrote up specific ways they can assist their classmates.

Today's story, The Prince and the Rhinoceros, is an Indian tale about kindness. This prompted us to talk about the ups and downs of friendship, how unkind words will sometimes pass between friends, and that apologies and forgiveness are a part of our most important relationships. The children then worked in pairs to talk about and name what they need from a friend. My plan is to make a paper quilt, with each child contributing a decorated square that presents the qualities they most treasure in friends.

On Friday, I subbed for Darcy during P.E. while she was at Camp Chingachgook. We played a tag game called "Darcy Made It Up Tag." Like in a regular game of tag, you sit down when tagged and wait to get freed. In order to get back in the game, a classmate comes over and the duo must sit together and offer two compliments to each other. Compliments just fill us up, don't they?! I love this game.

We are just beginning together. I can't wait to see what lies ahead!

In the meantime, I have pictures to share of your animated children enjoying these early days.