I love how the upcoming buddy visit created this buzz and excitement in the classroom for days before our trip. Since this was our first time going to our buddies' elementary school, there were also some nerves as children did not know what to expect. Aside from talking them through what the day might look like, I also thought it would be helpful to find something that could ground them and make them feel personally invested in going to the school. Typically, I make home-made cookies for our buddies but it dawned on me that is far more meaningful if the preschoolers baked for their big buddies themselves.  And, to further personalize the gift, the preschoolers would decorate bags with their buddies name on it. And, to further the learning around that… we would send home the bag of cookies (stapled as a safety precaution from any looming cookie monsters!) on Wednesday and the children were to bring them back on Friday- certainly learning around responsibility to others and working on memory skills. Of course, reminder emails were sent to parents and extra cookies were brought in case but I was so pleased that each child and parent team remembered the cookie bags!

Jordyn's decorated cookie bag.

Lined up outside the elementary school, we marched our way down the hallway; eyes scanned the cool art projects on the wall; noses smelled the unmistakable scent of hundreds of elementary school students; small hands felt the crunchiness of the paper bags in their hands; ears listened to the sounds of teacher's voices and children's laughter, we arrived at Mr Vine's classroom. The door was swung open and there was a mad dash for buddies to find each other, like a scene from Titanic. The buddies were thrilled with their cookies and equally important was the satisfaction of our preschoolers had in giving them.

Mr Vines and I had a rough outline of the shape of the day. Since it was time to clean mason bee cocoons, we decided to make this part of the day as both groups of children were doing this in their class. The preschoolers had cleaned mason bee cocoons on Monday and in doing so we ended up acting out the life cycle of the mason bee and how tubes are filled. Children pretended to be bees, pollen, nectar, and mud walls- in this they learnt the science of the mason bee and math patterning. They loved it and wanted to do it again so the class decided they wanted to show our big buddies. Emma was a bee and she had to buzz around the classroom collecting nectar, pollen and mud. I knew my preschoolers would love to re-create this activity but what I did not anticipate was the interest from the big buddies. They were shouting out to be picked, hands up so high, cheering, laughing, literally leaping with joy. Wow! Emma was brave as she navigated through these big bodies and tried to calmly choose people from this most enthusiastic crowd. It was wild! Then we settled down and we shared more information about mason bees which of course cannot help but lead to honey bees! I was surprised and impressed by the knowledge of some of the students. This conversation could have gone on for much longer but we brought it to a close, knowing we will revisit this topic in the future.

A beautiful sunny, crisp autumn day called us to go outside for snack and play at the 'big kid's playground'. Bellies filled with cookies, we went back inside to watch a clip on Andy Goldsworthy, an artist who works with natural materials in outdoor settings. The students watched intently before heading out to create their own art in the outdoor space surrounding the school. Unfortunately we did not have enough time ( do we ever?) but here is some of what they designed.

Mr Vines talked about adding garbage that may be found outside so Emma wrapped a twig with a plastic wrapper.

The word respect written in sticks.

A big buddy had his little buddy collect materials to make a nest.  Then he placed it in the tree.

We talked about circles during the Andy Goldworthy clip. One student commented that one of his creations may be representing the circle of life-is this a connection to that?

 To finish off the day, we had Genius 15. The older students had spent time throughout their week researching their topic and our preschoolers were tasked with bringing in either information or a tangible item related to their topic to share. This was a challenging activity for all but the learning was tremendous.

Jordyn and her buddies are studying Canada so she brought in a flag.

Sebastian's group is investigating playgrounds so he brought wood chips, sand and rocks to represent different materials found to cushion falls.

Matias's group is looking at letters.

One of the big buddies quickly sketches some nuts.

Time to go- big buddies helped little buddies collect items, assisted in packing bags, and zipped up coats.


We walked back to school, learning new skills as we walked. Road safety means being aware and staying on the side of the road ( oh, how the middle of the road is so tempting!)


 Some of the children got tired and plunked down to rest for a moment.


But, we did eventually make it back and every child carried their own knapsack the whole way!

After class, Bonnie and I spent a lot of time discussing the day and we poured over the Genius 15 sheets, thinking about where to take it next time. Afterwords, I brought over the copies of their work to Dixon School and Mr Vines and I had an in depth dialogue about Genius 15 as well as some planning for our next visit. I am so grateful to work with teachers that are creative, intelligent and eager to spend the time to reflect on activities and students. True collaborative work-how invigorating!

Emily

Social responsibility- a term that has now become quite common in the field of education and has the potential to lose its meaning if we are not careful. As an early childhood educator, I have always placed great importance on the need to develop this way of thinking in young children. It is for this reason that we engage in activities that benefit others, such as volunteering at our local food bank, adopting an owl, or raising money for Variety Club. With the recent catastrophe in the Philippines, my mind was suddenly thrown into its own typhoon. I found myself asking questions around social responsibility and what it really means. What does it mean to me? What does it mean to my preschoolers? How far does it extend into the world around us? Can four year old children grasp these deep and complex concepts? What can they understand about their world? How can we teach them about being socially responsible to: ones self; ones family; ones community; ones province; ones country; ones world?

I am blessed to have a good friend who listened patiently to some of my mind's wanderings and offered some insight to settle my mind. I find that as an educator I often grapple with balance and limits. I believe that children only take in information that makes sense to them at the time so I like to push the boundaries of offering them ideas to think about. And, sometimes, these ideas are big. Yesterday fit into one of those times.

While struggling through a morning cardio workout, I had a moment of pure and utter appreciation. I thought how fortunate I am to have a gym to work out in, a home with a shower and coffee maker (yes, this is something to be thankful for!), a wonderful building to teach these awesome children etc. Wow, very fortunate indeed. And, then, of course, images of the Philippines flashed through my mind. The injustice, the hardship, the turmoil. How will they get through this event? How will they re-build themselves, their community, their life? What is my role in this tragedy? And, what is my role as an educator?

With an unsettled mind, I arrived at work eager to chat to the two other teachers in the class. I wanted to know what they thought about sharing this tragedy with our children. I was quite sure our children had most likely seen glimpses of the event on tv or in a newspaper left on a counter top, so I thought it was best to bring it out in the open. As well, one of our teachers is from the Philippines so there is a connection not to be overlooked. The teachers agreed we could chat about it in group time. I quickly ran to the computer and printed some images that would reveal the darkness of the disaster without being emotionally traumatic. Images that would compel them to think about other children their age.

These were the pictures we choose:







To begin the conversation, Yvette told them about this wonderful country where she is from. Then she told them about the typhoon and its effects. We then passed the photos around:




They looked. They really looked. What did they see? What did this mean to them? We talked about what we could do to help. The following quotes are only some of the thoughts that were generated from this conversation:

Makena: They need shelter. They will be dead.
Addie: They are thirsty and hungry.
Emma: We can help them
Connor: We can get them water.
Rhyan: We have to give them milk.
Addie: She is just sad.
Jack: We need to help them to find their mommy and daddy.
Addie: They do not have washing machines.
Emma: They don't have dishwashers.
Kahlen: I would get her some clothes.
Rhys: They don't have phones.
Connor: Or Ipods.
Addie: They don't have any light.
Jack: They don't have food to eat and their mommy and daddy might have died.
Makena: We can give them food.And a blanket.

Deep thinkers these four year olds! Was it upsetting? Yes! I think we often fear sadness in our children. We want their world to be "Disneyland-like' but really is this in their best interest? We need to teach them that there is a place for sadness in our world and we can work through hardships and sadness together. This is part of social responsibility -working together towards a common goal, through the good and the bad.

So, on Monday, we will gather food items, clothing and blankets and will send a package off to the Philippines to do our small part in making the world a loving, caring place. After all, it is our responsibility.

(Parents- what did your children say at home? Did they seem to understand our discussion? What do they want to contribute to the package? I invite any feedback- would love to know what this all means to them.)

And our box adventures continue...

I have been meaning to bring boxes outside to the sandbox for a very, very long time but just never got around to actually doing it. So, when we brought the boxes back into class this week, I suddenly realized that this is a perfect opportunity to bring them outside. The children worked on them more in class-they coloured and used long strips of masking tape. Very long strips of masking tape! They loved unrolling the tape and often worked together with one person holding the roll and the other unwinding the strip.The box play was involved; cooperative and generally peaceful (with a few exceptions stemming from artistic differences or ownership).

A grey but dry day, we headed out, boxes in arms, to the sandbox. I wasn't really sure how they would use them. I thought they might turn them into castles or some type of building. In fact, they did not use them for this purpose but rather used them more as tools-diggers, shovels, rakes. They worked alone and in teams, discussing ideas, creating stories, and working towards a common goal. I found it so interesting to watch them develop a mini society. Naturally, some people became the leaders who told the others what to do. They worked in unison and with appreciation of each others role. Humans are so earmarked for order, even at a young age. Fascinating!

Throwing the boxes in the air to catch the wind became a popular activity.

I loved their ingenuity here. In the bottom of the 'bowl,' there is one small hole. They  scooped sand into the bowl and used their feet to sift the sand through. The box was used " to catch the sand."

They carried a box to the grass and filled it with grass and leaves- "a delicious soup!"

They pushed and pulled the boxes which were rather heavy from the weight of the sand.

Needless to say I am quite sure they must have slept well that night. There was a lot of large muscle work going on! Scooping, pouring, shovelling, sifting, pushing, pulling, tugging, turning, throwing- all very important movements for physical development.

The boxes became quite beat up so we decided to say goodbye to them and put them in the recycling box. I was curious to see if this would be difficult for anyone, given the time and energy they put into decorating them. Another surprise… no one made an issue out of letting the boxes go. I liked that they could use something and build a relationship with it and then be able to let it go. The experience will be with them for a while and that is enough. I want to remember this important message.

Emily

I was stopped dead in my tracks while prancing down the street the other day. There, in front of my eyes, was a most wonderful sight. A gigantic pile of cardboard boxes. Empty. Beautiful. All shapes and sizes. Unmarked. Not dog eared. Clean. Unscathed. And, free- as in available to use ( it happened to be in front of my friend's store as they unpacked their holiday shipment) and as in no cost ( always appealing to preschool teachers!). So, piled high on my arms, I left with many many many boxes to bring to school.

My mind swirling with ideas. Boxes....what can we do with boxes? Or rather what can't we do with boxes? Or what can boxes do?

Sure I had thoughts. Decorating. Puppets. Art work. Building. But I was interested what the children would do with them. Getting better each day at leaving my own visions to rest on the sidelines, I put the boxes out on the carpet without direction or words. Oh yes,  beside the boxes were a few rolls of masking tape.

A couple of children wandered over. Two children began to work together, one holding the tape roll while the other tried to tear off a piece of tape. Then more children came over. Soon, there was a focused frenzy ( yes, this IS possible) and soon there was tape, markers, chalk, crayons, glue sticks and scissors. The scissors were a game changer. First they were used to cut tape, then used to stab the boxes. I watched carefully. Very carefully indeed. We do not usually use scissors in this capacity and of course I started to wonder the question we must all wonder-is this safe? And, I decided ( and the other staff) that yes indeed it was safe. Children were being careful, in fact VERY careful. I loved that we could allow them to use this tool in a new way.

What came out of the boxes was absolutely wonderful. It became more than just the art work, the building, the creative use of the boxes. What emerged was this beautiful team of children, working together in a balanced, energetic and cohesive manner. There was a collective energy in the room. Children shared their knowledge, helped each other achieve their visions, offered advice to one another. Really it was so magical that I could not even take notes. I watched in admiration.

These holes became very important. Emma wanted to make caterpillars to go in and out of them, which provoked many others to want to do the same. In one of our recent visits to the farm we encountered many caterpillars (around 30 actually) and we grew quite fond of them. Is this Emma's way of processing these lovely creatures? Paying them homage through art perhaps?

Interestingly and not surprisingly,  children soon were wanting to own the box, even though we talked about sharing them as a class. They invested time and energy into the box and wanted to bring it home. At first I wanted them to leave them at school but then we decided they could bring it home, use it over the weekend and then bring it back.  Would they remember to bring it back? Would they become too possessive of it to bring it back?

Well, this morning, most boxes were returned, shared and used again in new and interesting ways. Let's see what happens on Wednesday!

Emily

I felt like a child on Christmas morning! I was so excited to share the farm and all its offerings with our Dixon buddies. A couple of weeks ago I met with Ian Lai, Director of the Richmond Schoolyard Society ( http://www.kidsinthegarden.org) to design the day. Kevin (the Dixon teacher), Ian and I had worked together last year so we had an idea of what we wanted to explore with the students; we also wanted to keep it fresh and do some different activities. We created a general outline of the day, knowing that depending on the students interests, some activities may be shortened or lengthened.

Two weeks ago, as I wrote on our blog, we collected our Red Fife wheat seeds and each student estimated their weight. This exercise provided a unique learning opportunity to discuss food production. It was apparent that many children had never thought about where flour came from- they thought it just appeared at the grocery store. A discussion ensued about the thought, energy and commitment it takes to grow nourishing food. As well we recognized the importance of food security.

So, with seeds in hand, we arrived at the farm where we were warmly welcomed by Mr. Lai. We waited anxiously for our buddies to arrive. This was only our second visit so we spent a lot of time in class front loading- reminding our preschoolers their buddy's names, discussing how to be polite and thinking about how to be a good conversationalist. All skills I believe to be important. Our buddies ran off the bus with great energy, enthusiasm and eagerness. Everyone said their hellos and once paired up, we began our day.

We gathered in the barn; some buddies arm in arm, some side by side, some with little buddies in front and big buddies in back. Any concerns I had of the proper buddy groupings were quickly alleviated. Children have such a beautiful ability to just be in the moment and that is what happened. We began our bread making session with grinding our seeds (which proved to actually weigh very very little!) followed by a detailed description of how to make the dough. I greatly admire Mr Lai's devotion to actually 'teaching' the students. It is important to learn to follow directions and to be able to start and finish a job with care and attention. Always developmentally appropriate and fun, the instructions push each child to perform to the best of their ability. I also believe it is important to teach them to be accountable for their work, even at fours years of age.

Weighing our wheat seeds

The Grinder- which Connor described as a making the same sound as a vacuum cleaner

We mixed the dough

We learnt how to make a "claw" with our fingers.

We helped each other get the sticky dough off our fingers.

Joban was adamant he did not want to touch the dough. But, with a little convincing, he caressed a small piece!

We cleaned our bowls and tables.

While the dough was rising, we ate a quick snack. Conversations deepened, laughter echoed into the fall air, tidbits dropped by small buddies were picked up by big buddies and energy was restored. Ready for the next activity... COMPOST! Mr Lai spread beautiful compost on a table. He probed their knowledge of compost and shared some of his expertise. They loved it! They investigated its contents, talked about worms, the benefits and the process. Some children were very squeamish but most embraced this beautiful organic mass!

A precious snail found in the pile of compost quickly became an adored creature!

Worms gained respect as we carefully watched them.

Then we moved onto mason bees. Mr Lai showed them a mason bee house and briefly talked about mason bees and their wonderful ability to pollinate.




Then we were tasked with weeding several garden beds. Large shovels, trowels and ho-mis (a Korean ground spear) were distributed and the children got to work. They picked and ate lettuce before it was brutally dug up, clawed at weeds, marvelled at worms, and joyfully found treasures like potatoes (which were then collected and washed).





While Mr Lai started to grill the dough, we went off to engage in our second Genius 15 session. Beforehand, at preschool, we had talked quite extensively to the children about their topic and brainstormed what they could bring to share with their big buddy. Some children forgot but I was impressed that most remembered. Clip boards in hand, they broke into their groups and chatted. A few themes seemed to naturally shine through their conversations. There was a keen interest in statistics- the biggest, the oldest, the most goals etc. The topics themselves were interesting- the students wanted to know more about topics that they interact with in their own daily lives- sports, how playgrounds are built, facts about swimming pools, and animals. I found this interesting- space, other cultures and countries did not emerge from these initial discussions. It made me think about how our sense of place, our own place, is so important. If children in another country were coming up with ideas for Genius 15, how different would they be? Would their topics be localized to their own lives? Another piece that resounded strongly for me is how very fortunate these children are to live in a free and safe part of the world. They have no fear of war, death on a large scale or seriously adverse living conditions. If they did, what would their Genius 15 topics look like?



Even though we were far from the grill, we began to smell the aroma of the bread which captivated us all. The children loved it- Mr Lai explained his "Yum" mixture- a variety of seeds and grains that add texture, taste and up the ante on the healthy scale. Thank yous came in abundance, some naturally, some reminded, and we all enjoyed the bread, mostly because we had made it!



Lastly, Mr Lai brought out a warre hive. The children were given a brief overview of honey bees and had a glance inside at the magical honeycomb. The topic of honey bees will most certainly come up again as there was lots of chatter around the hive.


The time came to say thank you to Mr Lai, Mr Vines and the preschool staff. Buddies hugged, shook hands or said goodbye with a subtle glance of the eyes. A rewarding day for students and teachers! What, I wondered, did the children think about that night before bed? I asked them the following class what they remembered and I was amazed at how much they could recount ( this blog is already too long so I best leave their answers alone!). What I do know is this... sharing an experience such as this will have long lasting benefits for these children and I am delighted to be a part of this journey!

Emily