Child led learing

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Ellis, Nate, Luke, Issy, and I had a fun conversation today. Issy asked me how many Isabel(le)s I love. As always, I answered, “There are two Isabel(le)s I love.” She replied “Me and your Isabel!” So Ellis asked, “Where is your Isabel?” I answered, “Canada, the country above ours.” Ellis ran to the globe and asked me to show them. Then he pointed to the Arctic Circle. 

This led us to talk of sea ice where they enthusiastically told me about the sinking of the Titanic. 

I then mentioned I’m currently reading a book about a 1881-1884 polar expedition where a group of explorers stranded on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic  were eventually rescued with the help of an ice breaker ship. 

Which led us to consider other ice breaker ships like the one featured in one of their favorite books called, Pipaluk and the Whales, a true story about an Chukchi girl and her village coming together to free a pod of iced in beluga whales near the Bering Strait. 

This led us to consider other helpful vehicles. Ellis mentioned that he is reading a book which includes the original automobile. So we researched early cars. Luke then pointed out a smooth egg shaped orange concept car during our image search. We found out it’s a 3D printed car! What?!? So Nate asked, “Can a 3D printer print a house?” We looked it up and indeed one can. 

We continued to look at other 3D printing videos then Nate asked, “Can a 3D printer print a 3D printer?” And guess what… it can (mostly)! 

At circle Nate and Ellis mentioned our 3D printer explorations and Annalisa added she and her friend have a 3D printer, which they use for costuming (so cool)! Annalisa then explained to the kids how 3D printers work. 

…And that is a selection of how many of our conversations go at school and a delightful example of child led learning. Now we just may need a 3D printer. 😊

Learing about worker's rights in conjunction with the PPS November strike

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We have many friends who have older siblings (and a few kindergarteners we are hosting) who are a part of PPS. A number of our students have been going to support the teachers during the ongoing strike. 

Today we read Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type, by Correa Cronin & Betsy Lewin. The book features Cows and Hens that go on strike (refusing to supply milk and eggs) because the barn is cold and the farmer won’t help. 

They find a typewriter to communicate the need for electric blankets. A resident duck acts as the neutral party. The other farm animals rally around and support the Cows and Hens. After a bit of negotiation, the farmer agrees to supply the electric blankets and the strike resolves. 

Friends were enamored with the idea of a strike. They came up with their own ideas about what they might strike about. One friend wants to strike for more baking time, one for more candy, and one for more digging time at home. :) 

After our discussion, our older kids were able to articulate the reasoning behind the PPS teachers strike. 

Next we read, Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1090, by Michelle Markel.

New information during lunchtime: Our kids are demanding lollipops, chocolate bars, and more inside playtime. We’ve come to an agreement on more inside time, but they are considering a strike for school day candy. However it seems the strike has been averted due to the teachers offer to bake non-candy treats with them (banana bread) next week. The children have accepted the proposal. :)

Empathy, patience, and resiliency

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Today Remy had the idea to build train tracks from the floor up onto the train table. I jumped at the chance to help make this happen, as did Ellis and Nate. Together (and eventually with the help of other friends) we used books, blocks, baskets, light table materials and even moved furniture around to create this epic train adventure.

Along with increasing their structural engineering prowess, it was wonderful to watch the three friends work out their various ideas in a supportive manner.

Inevitably some big feelings happened along the way (when tracks fell or trains collided etc.) and the three friends all supported each other with empathy. We were talking about “resiliency” yesterday and we witnessed quite a bit of it over this 45 minute project.

Other friends who were watching or helping also did so with awareness in such a collaborative spirit. What fun!

Yalda with Mary!

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Thank you, thank you Nane Sarma, for visiting us at school again for what’s become our favorite day of the year…Yalda! Our magical Teacher Mary once again shared this special Iranian holiday centered around the winter solstice bringing warmth, light, and love to the darkest night of the year. What a gift Mary gives to us to share such a gorgeous, sweet Iranian tradition. In light of the the devastating current events in Iran, sharing Yalda with Mary and the kids feels extra important and necessary…bringing hope, strength, solidarity, community, empowerment, and love. We love you to the moon and back, Mary!

Exploring emotions and working through tools for managing them

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We’ve been having some big emotions at school. So we thought we’d explore them further by putting a name to them, drawing them, reading about them, talking through them etc. Here’s a peek at what we did last week…

Anti-bias thoughts and books...

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Hi all,

Over the last few days some small discussions around anti-bias topics have come up with a few families. Specifically discussions around racial/social justice & identity and gender identity & expression. 


I feel as a community we share the opinion that these values/ideas are incredibly important. For preschool, teaching kids to think critically about these topics is the first step to creating change in our society. 


Today during circle time we talked with each other about a game that has recently resurfaced in our outdoor imaginative play around "bad guys" and "taking them to police and jail." We had lots of thoughts around what makes a person "bad." We thought about making bad choices and that doesn't necessarily make a person "bad." We also thought about our societal inequities and how people might need help rather than being taken to jail. The kids had so many thoughts. We planted these seeds today and will begin to change the narrative around "bad guy/police" play, while giving the kids space to explore their imaginative play without shame. 

Building empathy and understanding is what we do here. And because these discussions have come up over the last couple of days and the conversations have been fruitful, I thought I’d open it up to our community as a whole. I thought y’all might want to take a look at some of the books that we read here at school (see images below). While we were closed over the first part of Covid, I recorded and read many of these books and more aloud to students and also put them up on our Instagram page. So you will find them there too. 

Thanks so much,

Jen

Our town is almost complete

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We’ve been working on our town for weeks now. We think it is just about complete. Take a look!

Our Town project continues with the design of a theater

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After our conversation last week about building a town, friends decided a theater should be our first focus. Today we invited friends to draw and create a theater. We took a look at a few local theaters: Aladdin, Hollywood, Bagdad, and Laurelhurst. We talked about marquees, concessions, ticket booths, seating, stages and screens.

Some friends made tickets, a mini ticket booth, and a larger ticket booth where we could fit our heads inside and slip the ticket through a small door.

Later, friends created seating for an audience on the couch and asked others to watch a dance performance on the stage (our round rug). It was wonderful. A friend led the show, announcing the intermissions and offering concessions.

We’ll continue to ponder and create theater designs this week and consider constructing a larger theater together as a group project. To be continued…

Welcome, back to the indoor classroom!

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We were so busy having fun inside this morning, that we didn’t take any photos. Friends had great time getting reacquainted: Building, reading, and playing. We remembered the jump song at circle and what clean up time looks like. We ate snack and lunch in the courtyard and played with water, bamboo, drums, art supplies (some friends wrote and illustrated books) and construction vehicles outside. Isabel joined us for snack, outside play and lunch. We are currently having a nice rest time listening to sleep stories, drawing, and looking at books. It’s wonderful to be back!

Ladybugs visit with our neighbor, Merri!

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Our neighbor across the street, Merri offered for us to be a part of her ladybug release today. Merri has been watching ladybugs in her terrarium go through the metamorphosis process of egg, to larva, to pupa, and to adult. Today she asked if she could share her just barely adult ladybugs with us. She brought over the terrarium to our outdoor table and introduced the insects to us. It was a wonderful surprise. Friends were so gentle holding and observing the tiny creatures. Merri has allowed us to watch over the ladybugs for the next week or so until we are ready to release them into our gardens. Thank you so much, Merri!

Later in the morning friends decided to make the terrarium a “sweater” to help keep the ladybugs warm.

We also painted and thought about words that begin with T after a friend explained, “It’s a T!” on one of his creations. We came up with: Tiger, Teenager, Tall, Tower, Tree, T-Rex, and Towel.

Some of us also read a few books on gender identity and talked about the idea and word, “non-binary.” Friends were excited to relay their pronoun preferences for today.

We also got wet and muddy. :)

A lovely, rainy day for art and dancing...

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As it was steadily raining all morning, Mary and I set up a few art provocations for friends to explore under our covered space. We introduced some yarn, pipe cleaners, tape, glue and paper for sculpture and collage. We also invited friends to create  still-life flower and vegetable art with watercolor and ink. The variety of creations were so fun to see. 

We also spent time dancing to Jazzy Ash, drumming with sticks and a bucket, playing in the water, and reading This Is Sadie by Sara O’Leary and Julie Morstad. Inspired by the book, we imagined our own stories. Some ideas from friends: Imagining a story with “100 pancakes,” “100 donuts,” and “59 pizzas.” We may have been a bit hungry. ;)

Wednesday nature art, waterslides, dinosaur parties, magic keys, Triceratops families, and a racing bus built for a friend

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Hello, salam, merhaba, ohayo gozaimasu, dia dhuit, bonjour, hola!

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Today during snack we decided to think about all the various languages in which we know how to say “hello.” Friends remembered “salam” in Farsi. Then we thought of “merhaba” in Turkish, we talked about “ohayo” as an informal way to say “hi and good morning” in Japanese. A friend volunteered she knows how to say “hello” in French from a book she reads. She explained a greeting in French is “bonjour.” We mentioned “hola” as a greeting in Spanish and another friend (understanding the word) perked up and exclaimed, “hola!” with a big smile. 


We also gathered on our star blanket and read our new book, “Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race” by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, and Isabel Roxas. When we got to the activism page about standing up for unfairness and racism some friends were excited to tell us about their experiences with protesting for Black Lives Matter. One friend mentioned that his mom went to protest at night but he stayed home with his dad because is was bedtime. Another friend mentioned she protested for Black Lives Matter last year and remembered she and her mom had conversations about the idea that both her mom and I were likely protesting for Black Lives Matter in the same place at the same time (even though we didn’t see each other). 


Mary put together a fun loose parts nature project today! Friends made all sorts for creations from bay, aspen, and lemon balm leaves, lavender, moss, rocks, sticks, tape, glue and markers. We’ll continue this project all week.


We also played a “monster” chase game, had fun imagining stories around our new sea creature figures, and we created with play dough.

Hello, salam, merhaba, ohayou gozaimasu, dia dhuit!

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What fun to find what languages are spoken in our community! Please add to the list on the chalk board if you’d like. Today’s additions: Japanese, “ohayou gozaimasu” (おはようございます) and Irish Gaelic, “dia dhuit” (pronounced deeya gwitch).

Our day was full of engineering via mud, sticks, fabric, wood blocks and the giant waffle blocks. We created a lake complete with a lake house. We built another house with the wood notch blocks. Friends enjoyed snuggling themselves inside it. We also made all kinds of things with the waffle blocks including scooters, pathways, floats for a lake/pool, and Todd visited and helped friends fashion life vests.

We read a new book about race, melanin, injustice and activism called, “Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race” by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, and Isabel Roxas. We also checked in with friends about their preferred pronouns. 

Isa paid a visit and became a blueberry with a few friends. Mary and the kids surprised me with a early birthday song and treat. It was wonderful! :)

A delightful day all around. Happy weekend!

Hello, salam, merhaba!

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We are continuing our dive into the languages of our school community (one word at a time). Today we noticed our greeting chalk sign with the words “hello,” “salam” (hello in Farsi), “merhaba” (hello in Turkish) written. Mary speaks both Farsi and Turkish. Tomorrow we are going to consult with Isabel and Caden about a “hello” greeting in Japanese (they both speak the language). Yesterday, R mentioned that her dad speaks Mandarin, so we may ask if they would like to add a Mandarin greeting. If any other families would like to share languages, we would love it.

The rest of our day was full of imaginative play. We started with some yoga under the cedar tree with Mary and then moved to play dough creations. Then out of the blue some friends found themselves in a treehouse castle with a couple angry dragons circling. Luckily, two baby triceratops arrived to help the friends in the treehouse and to consider why the dragons were angry. We found out the dragons were hungry. So we offered them some fish sticks and pizza, which helped improve their moods (temporarily).

Later, a baby triceratops asked me to snuggle (as I was the mama). She told me she was newly born and all red. She also communicated she, “loves to eat grass and take baths in a lake.” R heard she was hungry, baked cookies at the mud kitchen, and offered her three cookies. Apparently, they were delicious.

Meanwhile, P and R spotted something in the baby tree which really concerned them! R explained, “I saw a monster with yellow eyes under the chair!” Parker realized it was a “chimpanzee monster!” Chaos ensued until they found a happier home for the creature.

After an early snack (recommended by Z), friends magically became pirates. Mary and P decided to make a pirate flag. Soon the other pirates joined the project. Daniel Tiger (formerly R… “I’m Daniel Tiger until I grow up.”) jumped on the little teeter-totter with P and R to sail the oceans for treasure. It turned out their boat was a bit small so they upgraded to a huge, log ship to fit all.

Daniel later decided to create a pond in the ground. He and Mary problem-solved just how to keep the water from absorbing into the ground. The bowls from the mud kitchen helped dramatically. Soon all friends were engaged in creating ponds for our play animals.

We also found a doctor’s office under the play structure. I and Daniel were the doctors. They gave Mary and me checkups. Later, doctor Daniel helped patient I heal from “home sickness.” Daniel suggested drawing family pictures to help.

The level of group engagement, thoughtful problem-solving, and empathy is pretty incredible to experience with this crew of humans. :)

Farsi, river-building, and new friends meet Isabel…

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We were busy today! Friends constructed a river with Mary complete with animal bridges. We enjoyed bringing cups of water to and fro from the hose as well as playing with our animals in the pools of water. 

Isabel joined us today for a bit. A couple friends had yet to meet her and they had a good time getting acquainted.

Mary taught us the Farsi word for “hello” which is “salam” and she also taught us how to write it, سلام! We’re excited to continue learning more words in Farsi. Mary also speaks Turkish, so we have a lot of new things to learn. :)

We also read a few of our favorite books, including Thank You, Omu! By Oge Mora. 

Friends noticed we now have a branch hanging from the classroom rafters that is on a pulley system (thanks to my friend, Jeff) that we will explore once we return to inside play.

A delightful day back at school...finally!

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We had such a wonderful morning back at school. It almost felt like no time had passed at all…almost. We welcomed two new friends, danced, constructed, shopped at a market, visited a delicious restaurant, played hide-and-seek, painted and had our first outdoor meal of the season. What a great morning!

Pronouns, self-expression and much sunny outdoor play

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We're having a delightful Friday today. We spent the first portion of the morning inside reading some of our favorite books about gender identity and self-expression. At the snack table (and lunch table yesterday), we revisited which pronouns feel good to us. And at circle time today, we re-read Neither, by Airlie Anderson. This book is beloved by friends at school. Today, we thought about what a world that only existed in blue and yellow would feel like. We thought about how much we’d miss if we lived in such a binary world of only two colors. Friends were excited to consider all of the other colors that we would miss in our world… calling out Purple! Red! Orange! etc. We then considered the idea of how we and others feel about their gender inside. We thought about the idea that some people feel like girls, some people feel like boys, and some people may feel like both or neither. We decided that the best way to know how someone feels is to ask them.

After reading Neither, we moved on to our transition Jump Song. For the last month friends have enjoyed choosing if they want to pretend to be some kind of creature/animal/superhero etc. as they jump. Today we added an additional consideration: Which pronouns feel good to you? Which pronouns best express you? We then recorded today’s pronoun choice on our dry erase board. We’ll be adding this to our jump song tradition daily.

Enjoy the weekend!

Jen, Amy and Mary

Peace Project with Teacher Amy

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This week we began a long term focus on fostering peace within ourselves and within our community. Our focus will start with finding inner peace through mindfulness and breathing practices. Next, we will build on those practices to foster community peace within the classroom by developing conflict resolution skills and paying attention to ways we care for each other. Then, we will think outside the classroom about acts of kindness we can do to foster peace to our larger communities.  

At circle time, we each took turns watering our small plants and discussed how it felt to take care of something growing. Friends shared that we need to be gentle with the plants because they are small baby plants. We thought about how we take care of our garden by paying attention to the water, sun, and soil it needs. We talked about how big and strong the plants can get with our care. 

We then practiced taking care of ourselves through breathing. We practiced taking big breaths together using feathers to help visualize our breath. Friends felt their bellies fill with air as they inhaled and then exhaled onto a feather, watching their feather float in the air from their breath. After a few deep breaths, friends shared that their bodies feel “good” and “happy.”

We are adapting parts of our focus on peace from the Kindness Curriculum written by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds. Here’s a link to the full curriculum: https://www.mindfulmomentsinedu.com/uploads/1/8/8/1/18811022/kindnesscurriculum.pdf

Black Brown Beautiful: Week 2

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Today we moved further into our Black Brown Beautiful project by beginning to think about our unique shades of brown. We took a look into the mirrors at the painting table and also viewed art by Angelica Dass who created a global look at skin tones by photographing people from every continent and matching their skin tones to Pantone shades. She calls her project: Humanae. There is a wonderful Ted talk available on youtube where she describes her vision, her project, and how others are using her project to educate. It’s stunning.

The Ted talk available here:  https://www.ted.com/talks/angelica_dass_the_beauty_of_human_skin_in_every_color?language=en

To go deeper into her project go here: https://www.angelicadass.com

Along with photos from Humane, and the mirrors, we offered watercolors and explored the idea of mixing various shades of brown with the watercolors. It was such fun to watch the kids experiment, notice, and create. 

We continued thinking about all of the unique shades of brown we have and see in others at circle time. First we thought back to last week when we read Black is Beautiful by Ann McGovern. Friends were excited to exclaim, “Black is beautiful!” Elliot remembered the “zig zag” words describing a lightning bolt in a black sky. 

We then read the poem and photo book, My People by Langston Hughes. It was fun to watch the faces of friends light up with smiles as we read and viewed closeup joyful portraits of people with glowing black and brown skin. 

This week we’ll begin to explore the science behind skin tones.