How does water move?

We are starting to explore the properties of water this week. The children are using tubing, funnels, turkey basters and squirt bottles to explore how water moves. 

As they explored, the children were quiet, thoughtful and focused. 

Even while discovering how far a jet of water can squirt, the researchers were able to stay calm and kept the water in the table. 

Our explorations continue!

Building and balancing

We introduced a new learning material today- Kapla blocks. These are thin and small pieces of wood that are remarkably sturdy when stacked. The magic is in the sheer number we have...1000 of them!

The children got straight to work using the success criteria of building strong and steady and making a plan. Look at the concentration in their faces!

Violet discovered that to build steps, you have to start with five and use one less on each level. She is starting to understand less, more, and subtraction. When she was done, she taught Haley and Lily how to make steps too. 

During our consolidation time today, the children learned about the importance of balance in their buildings. Not just physically balancing blocks, but also coming up with a symmetrical design to make it sturdier. 

We can't wait to see how much te children can learn with these blocks!

Lovely Fall

Autumn is truly the best time of year in our area. The air is crisp, there are no mosquitos to pester us, and usually there is lots of cool sunshine. 

We all know this year the weather is a little different...so we've been grabbing our coats whenever the sun shines and heading to the Green Classroom. 

The children are charmed by the milk weed fluff filling the air. 

We got out the trowels and did a little fall clean up in the garden beds. 

On Monday, we went looking for bugs. We discovered that most of them have gone to bed for the winter already. 

We managed to find a few slugs and worms, and this was a source of delight and wonder. 

Inquiring into the Arts

Colour is like magic to young children. Put two or more colours together and "Poof"! There's something from nothing.

We decided to encourage and provoke learning in this area by offering an experience to mix coloured water using eyedroppers.

At first, the children were tentative, but they soon were exclaiming in delight when a new colour appeared on the mixing tray.

As the teachers observed, we noticed the activity wasn't just about making new colours. The children were using fine motor control to manipulate the eye droppers, and they experimented with fast and slow drops.

They also experimented with the tray itself. Could they fill up all the compartments? How much water was needed to fill the larger areas? Some students liked the organization of the small areas, while others delighted in great big swaths of colour. Their interactions with the materials revealed aspects of their artistic personalities.

We also observed the bystander effect. The children watching also participated by asking questions, offering advice, and giving instructions. In our room, we use a philosophy called social constructivism....basically we encourage the children to teach each other. In the art studio, this was in full effect!

We are learning to be builders

Our class is suddenly in a building frenzy! After some students showed an interest in making towers, we decided to make a new learning goal for our play time:

We are learning to be builders.

The first criteria for being a good builder is: I can build strong and steady.

We talked about the importance of a good foundation and asked students to study their basements at home.

With this new knowledge, the buildings are falling down less and are more sturdy.

Our students are thinking carefully about what and how they build.

They are starting to make plans.

And they are using creative solutions to support their structures. Here, Jamie used a T support beam to hold up two blocks that formed the roof.

The towers are starting to morph into structures with roofs, walls, and rooms.

This is inquiry in action!

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Sharing a meal is a basic ritual in all societies around the world. Preparing food and breaking bread together is a powerful bonding tool. As our class begins to consolidate its new sense of community, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with a home made meal.

We started by gathering some of nature's bounty and using them to decorate our room.

Each child brought a handful of veggies to contribute to our soup pot. Inspired by the traditional tale of Stone Soup, we also added a Wishing Stone to the pot.

Some of the veggies were chopped up into smaller pieces. The children were proud of the precision and attention they needed to be successful at this task.

When we added water to the pot, some students noticed how the mushrooms, onions, and zucchini floated, while the carrots and potatoes sank.

While that bubbled away, our volunteer Sarah helped us make some delicious cheese bread. 

After setting the tables, it was time to eat. Ryan got the Wishing Stone!

After lunch, the children demonstrated responsibility and washed their own dish.

It was wonderful to celebrate Thanksgiving with our generous, kind, and loving class. Thanks for Thanksgiving!

Farewell Chemo!

Today was the special day for Maci and her family. She took her very last dose of oral chemo this morning!

We began our celebrations today by decorating the classroom and icing the cupcakes together. As we worked on the cupcakes, we chatted about how we were learning patience, fine motor control, waiting our turns, and sharing.

Once we got the party started in the afternoon, it was a lot of attention for our little Maci to handle! She was excited her Pedal For Hope officer John Townsend was there, but a little shy too. At first, she watched the dancing from behind the rocking chair.

(Sorry about the fuzzy pictures...)

After a while though, she warmed up and started celebrating with us.

Her and her mom made some yummy snacks for us to go along with the cupcakes.

At the end of the day, we were filled with happiness and pride in Maci's accomplishment. We were also proud of our class coming together to support a member of our community.

Way to go Maci!