As always there was great anticipation for our big buddy day. Prior to their coming, we revisited the Genius 15 topics to refresh their memories. I was very impressed that most of our preschoolers remembered their big buddies's names; even the ones who have two buddies! Our plan for Genius 15 this visit was for the groups to create a multi-dimensional representation of their topic. Our hope was that they could take the knowledge they have gathered from their research and use it to create a piece of  art. We believe children 'speak' in many languages and it is our job to invite them to use these languages to express themselves.

We collected various materials, everything from elastic bands to wire to foam to tape to fabric to cotton balls to boxes and on and on. As soon as the teams were paired up, they set to work. There was this intense and focused energy in the room as big and small buddies collected materials from the art table. Designs were discussed, debates over the 'best' way to do something transpired and soon the wheels were in motion to create their piece. The creativity and ingenuity revealed by these students was impressive. All the teachers were totally in awe of their work- these kids are smart! I especially loved the way the big buddies gently supported the little buddies, knowing the little buddies needed help to articulate their ideas. Sadly, I took loads of photos but they have faces so I cannot post them here.

We also had a plan to write Christmas stories and sing Christmas songs but time was too short! Luckily,  we managed to sneak time in for the stories the Dixon students wrote. They had worked hard on re-writing a fairytale (known as a fractured fairy tale). They brought their stories with them and read them to their little buddy. I listened to a few of them and was most impressed with their humour and ability to use sarcasm and irony. The preschoolers listened on a whole other level, one that is equally important and far less judgemental. They listened with complete admiration and even though they probably did not understand a lot of it, they enjoyed the stories anyway.

This is an exploration of playgrounds-monkey bars and a slide.

This is a robot relating to the topic of  electronics.

After Genius 15, we decorated gingerbread cookies.  Needless to say, everyone, including the teachers, had a blast decorating cookies with lots of icing and candy. Soon, they were gobbled up, fuelling us with energy to take outside to the playground.


Walking as fast their feet could walk without being accused of running, everyone bounded down the hallway to get to the playground. They rushed onto the equipment, little buddies in awe of the big buddy's ability to hang effortlessly from the money bears, jump onto swings with ease and dig deep deep holes in the sandbox. I chuckled to myself as I saw this humongous hole and knew it could not been the work of my preschoolers who try to dig holes every day but are about 1/16 the depth! What a few years can do…

It was time to part our ways and I love this moment- big buddies hugging little buddies, shouting goodbye and thank you repeatedly, knowing we all had a wonderful time being and creating together. Also, the warmth of knowing we will get to see each other next month and will deepen our friendships.

As a side note, the Dixon students had a Bollywood Dance session last week. Miele's older brother goes to the school so she got to see them all dancing, even Mr Vines!  I was so happy she connected with her buddy and this class on a level outside of our arranged visits. This is why we do these programs; to build bridges within  our community, to create long lasting relationships with those who live around us. Thank you West Richmond Community for being such a wonderful place for our children to grow up!

It was a most beautiful day to head to the farm- sunny, crisp air and no agenda. The only task we had was to harvest our rutabaga. While on the bus, I overheard one of the children say that we needed to look at 'our' apple tree. I was pleased that they remembered our investigations and initiated this interest on their own. The children could not get out of the bus fast enough to see the tree. One child thought that perhaps it had 're-grown' its apples. However, after close observation, they announced that in fact there were no apples, nor leaves.

Instead of going to our own garden plot right away I invited them to explore the front gardens where we helped weed and turn soil with our big buddies. The pathways were frosty and loud crunching sounds echoed loudly. The children ran up and down,  enjoying their 'power' over the ice.






They peered in through the window of the "Living Seat"that resides in the front gardens at Terra Nova. They convinced themselves there was a rabbit in there and then someone exclaimed that the bunny had run away. They named the bunny Shelley and proceeded to call for it like one would a dog or cat. I believe this to be directly related to their experience at our grandpals, where a rabbit lives in an outdoor courtyard. They are fascinated with that elusive rabbit named Oatmeal and were ecstatic to see it on our last visit. At the seniors' home, we all walked around calling its name until we finally saw him.    I enjoyed watching them link these experiences, even in their own imaginations. The power of belief is so strong that soon many children were looking for this imaginary rabbit. Aren't children absolutely marvellous?



In their travels, they found beans, ice, a rotted carrot  (which Miele was very fond of and insisted on washing it of its dirt), and a frozen potato.








They found sticks of all shapes and sizes; the aftermath of a wind storm.

Sebastian collected these sticks to "make a house for my bean."

Sebastian was intrigued by this piece of a hose.



They dug up lots and lots of rutabagas, which we will cook and eat on Friday!

Our kale is still growing strong and the children pleaded and begged for it!

Koltyn insisted on closing up the bag with our rutabagas so ' they wouldn't fall out!"

Balancing on our friend's deck piping.

Navigating through the 'forest' and bushwhacking; quite a skill not to get ones eyes or face scratched.

Matias worked hard at emptying his own boot and putting it back on all by himself!

Crushing ice with big stomping feet.

What a glorious day, watching the children be free to explore and invent games that make sense in a child's mind but not necessarily in an adults mind. I admire their ability to engage in this free spirited play.  Can we adults learn how to let go and play without judgement? Let's try!

In keeping with our belief that it is important to expose children to different holidays, we celebrated Hanukkah in class today.

Of course, we made potato latkes...

We squeezed out all the water- cooking becomes a gross motor activity as we use our whole body!

We cracked eggs. Three people and three eggs- phew!

We fried them in oil-yum!

Comments made while watching them frying in the pan:

Kensie: I see it getting brown a little bit.
Connor: It smells yummy. It smells like hash browns.
Miele: I think it smells good.
Connor: Hash browns, I love so much.
Miele: Me too!
Connor: There is hash browns at Great Wolf Lodge.
Miele: I have been there. We had a hot tub and a snow ball fight.
Connor: They have a scary ride.
Miele: My brother went on that. I can't go on the ride at the PNE.
Kensie: I went to the PNE. I saw the dog show.
Miele: I went to the dog show.
Kensie: Flip them (the latkes).
Connor: It smells like crab.

Everyone tried the latkes and this is what they had to say:

Rhys: I tried it and I didn't like it.
Emma: I know I liked it 'cause I ate it in the blue class.
Jack: I super like it!
Sebastian: I LOVE it!
Jack: Oh my god! That's so yummy!
Makena: I want more.
Kahlen: Mmmm, I like it.
Ryhan: I don't like it.
Jordyn: I like it. I love it!
Connor: Good (this was through a mouthful of food)
Grace: Yum! Mmm, yummy, I like it.

This conversation took place while all three children squeezed onto our little footstool. You cannot see Miele because she is in front of them. This conversation demonstrated such a great ability to listen to each other, respond appropriately and keep the dialogue moving forward. I love how they share the events in their life; it reveals the importance of having special moments with our children. Taking the time to go to little get-aways or fairs as a family makes a very strong impression.



We played dreidel, with our own set of rules. When I explained the game and where it came from I also asked them to try to make choices that would make the game fun for everyone. This meant that it was not advisable to pout, argue or say that the game wasn't fair. Games like this have the potential for some explosive moments but today the game was calm and all were content. A true Hanukkah Miracle-  how appropriate for this game!




We talked about the Menorah and I asked them why they thought there were 9 candles when the holiday was only celebrated for 8 nights. These were their answers:

Sebastian: Maybe 'cause there is an extra one.
Jack: Maybe they like it better in the middle candle.
Kahlen: If they lost one, then they have an extra one.
Emma: Maybe they think it looks nicer.
Jordyn: Maybe they just put an extra one.
Grace: Because they need candles for light.
Addie: Maybe they just make it like that.

Happy Hanukkah to all our families! 

Vampire Bats

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