Lovely Latkes

We made latkes to celebrate Hanukkah today! Thanks to Lindsay for her help.

Look at it bubble! It's getting golden brown.

Soak up the grease. Careful it's hot!

I tried it and like it!

Bey blades are beautiful

Our math centre continues to be the hub of "bey blade" action it was weeks ago. We are amazed at the sustained interest in building and testing these spinning toys.

Last week, I visited the centre with the camera and snapped an action shot:

 The boys were fascinated at how different the t-shaped toy looked in motion. Suddenly it transformed shape into a circle, and the colours became blended.

I handed the camera over the the boys to snap their own shots.

They were especially intrigued how the square "bey blades" were also transformed into a circle.

Three of the boys wanted to document their observations by painting their spinning bey blades, using the photos as a guide.

We continue to search for ways of deepening the learning happening at this centre, through oral discussions, artwork, and scientific experiments.

Beautiful Stuff

With the help of our generous families, we've begun a new inquiry: Beautiful Stuff.

The inquiry process is the basis of all science, and also plays a large role in the arts. We have been teaching the children about this process, to help them move through the cycle.

wonder => explore => plan => observe => share ideas => wonder....

For our Beautiful Stuff inquiry, we wondered what sort of objects children find interesting and attractive. We wonder what can be learned using everyday objects.

Then we started to explore.

 Here are some quotes from the children:

"Daddy gardens with this (shows seeds). Lookit! Here's some shells!" -Payton

"I put them in all by myself because they are beautiful. We can all share the stickers." -Gavin

"A necklace my mom doesn't use much anymore." - Aidan G

"I went to Daddy's workshop. He has stuff everywhere all over the basement." -Caitlyn

"Ethan! Look I found money!" -Kaden

"I'll use this to find treasure!" - Ethan

"These are goggles I think. You need this circle here." - Owen

Already, Katy and I have made some observations. The children are highly engaged in the objects, and at first they were quite possessive over them. There were a few instances where kids found an object that particularly attracted them, and they tried to take it home. (A natural extention of their magpie tendencies that inspired the project!) But since we have combined the items in a large container, they are starting to share and let go of their possesive feelings.

Now we are in the planning and observing stages, with lots of wondering and exploring still going on. We made a plan to sort the items and in the process, we're discovering new little treasures.

This will be a long-term and ongoing inquiry, so watch for more posts over the next month or two.