The sun was shining, the air was warm and there was a lightness in everyone's step. The buddies arrival was different this time- there was a familiarity that was underlying this visit. They entered the room with confidence and a knowledge of what was to come. This is always an interesting point in relationships when the unfamiliar becomes familiar- not boring just comfortable. I believe that once relationships enter this phase, there is an ability to be true to oneself and express oneself freely. We let our guards down slightly and feel able to take risks within the relationship. In listening to the conversations between the big and small buddies, it was apparent they had come to this place in their relationship.

Anticipating  it to be a sunny day, we decided it was a perfect opportunity to make sun prints. Sun prints produce such dramatic effects. It is amazing to watch the colour transformation occur right before your eyes! The buddies were so helpful- finding letters to write the little buddies's names, encouraging them to make designs, exposing the print to the sun and then giving it a water bath. I was so busy with the project that I didn't have time to take photos!


The buddies also had a great time playing outside on the deck with rainbow blocks and large wooden blocks. We have just recently started using our balcony for activities that are 'nontraditional' for this space. The response has been very positive and I am encouraged to keep adding to the idea of the 'outdoor classroom'.

After re-fueling ourselves with healthy snacks as well as the 'once in a while' Timbits, we geared up for our next activity. Mr Vines wanted to try to implement a new game called the Food Chain Game. The game was slightly complicated but I was quite sure our preschoolers would be happy to play along anyway. Surprisingly, I think several of them actually understood the complex rules of the game. Each team was given pinnies and we marched out to the turf. As soon as they set foot on the turf, they ran and ran. Jackets flung off, sweat dripping off their brows, flushed cheeks and laboured breathing, all pointed to the fact that they were loving this game- regardless of the actual rules. Mr Vines was the "Sun" and handed out new life cards. Our preschoolers loved running up to him and asking for new cards. The big buddies were great sports and during our circle debriefing, they seemed to really get the point of the game.











We were all sad to say goodbye, we could have played all day!

When our buddies left, I asked the children what they enjoyed about our morning. These were their thoughts-

Connor: I like playing outside. It was fun.
Addie: We had fun playing with the 3D blocks outside.
Kensie: I liked it when we did the art painting and going outside.
Miele: My favorite part with the buddies was doing the sun prints.
Sebastian: When we are building blocks outside and doing sun prints.
Grace: I like to play tag game.
Rhys: When we did the game outside.I was a red guy!
Ryhan: I love having snack with my buddy.
Jack: My favorite part of the game was when I was the grass.
Emma: I liked having snack with them and playing outside with that game.
Jordyn: I like playing the game. I was blue.
Kahlen: Ryhan spent almost the whole day with my buddy. I liked the art. Kate didn't know what to do.
Koltyn: I liked playing outside on the deck. We played hide n' seek.
Matias: I liked running and I even got points.
Joban: I liked snack, the game and building rainbow blocks.
Makena: I liked doing sun prints and the game outside. I like getting life from Mr Vines.

Another rewarding day:)

Emily

This is a photo of our current documentation board that is home to pictures and stories of our latest inquiry on Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I am so elated about the excitement this board has been generating that I had to blog about it!

Previously Bonnie had been posting some documentation on a board inside the classroom but it did not seem to get noticed. I believe it was due to its location as one must go out of their way to look at it. I have always felt strongly that documentation must be easily accessible to parents (like this blog) otherwise it is shared only among staff and a few parents. Documentation has many functions but primarily it is about sharing a child's educational experiences with parents and teachers so that we can support their learning.

In order to achieve the goal of accessibility, we decided to move the documentation to the outside bulletin board, which is right outside the classroom and gets a lot of foot traffic. Wow, does product placement ever work! Suddenly, the documentation is generating lots of discussion- and not just between adults but with the children themselves. When we walk by the board I gently point out their art work and read back to them the ideas they had formulated. They love hearing their own voices and I have noticed that now they will initiate the investigation of the board.

Before and after class I have been witnessing children pulling their parents and caregivers over to the board to show them the work they have done. I find this very exciting, dynamic and immensely rewarding! For me, this is at the core of our work as educators and parents. We can rejoice together in knowing that we are creating a respectful environment that sends our children the message that they matter; their words and pictures reveal their deep thinking skills. The power of documentation!

And, because we all love pictures, a few snapshots of the spontaneous work done by the children at the art table.

Rhys started the art attack by making this cd player, complete with a cd that fits inside and a power cord!

Makena focused for a long while on making her paper chain.

Grace made a paper chain which she later wore around her neck.

Sebastian made a police phone.

Emma also made a police phone.

Joban made a map to "go where the police station is."

Jordyn worked on making a fish-all by herself, except for a little help with the holes in the center of the plate.

Enjoy a restful and fun long weekend!

Emily

When I was in our storage cupboard, it suddenly dawned on me that we have not used our standard blocks in a long, long while. Well, it seems the children felt that way too as they were so excited when they saw them in the classroom.


A flurry of children ran over to the carpet once free play began. They frantically began to pull out the blocks, no matter the size or shape. There was a sense of urgency in their movements almost as if they were frightened that if they didn't take them out fast enough, they would be taken away.

The following conversation took place during building:

Rhys: We are making a house.
Emma: Yes, we are.
Rhys: Excuse me, Connor, the road is in the way.
Connor: The road is getting bigger.
Matias: Make this here.
Connor: Look at this big house. I made a big, big, big house.
Rhys: No Connor, I am making a road.
Sebastian (entering the play area): Is this a volcano or something? Who built that?
Connor: We are making a house.
Emma: We are making a house.
Jack (coming over to the block area): How did you make that?










Emma: We can try again. We just broke it. We can make it fancier. OK, that will be gooder. Don't worry, we can fix it up.
Jack: Oh, no, my thing just fell.
Sebastian: Beep, beep...I got more boxes.
Jack: This tower is getting really big.
Sebastian: Boxes, more boxes.
Emma: Thank you, bud.
Jack: This town is getting wrecked.
Miele: We need a Statue of Liberty. Or a statue of a penguin ( she laughed at her idea)
Connor: (Laughed loudly at Miele's comment)
Makena: (coming over): Can I play with you?
Emma: Our town is destroyed.

A few things I found of particular interest:

• The children are now working together, towards a common goal. And yet, they still have an ability to parallel play, even when working towards this goal. They weave in and out through their own ideas and self-talk into the ideas of the group. I think this is different from adults and I have an appreciation of this ability. 

• The children are quick to anger but also so very quick to forgive (mostly). A few times I overheard a child use an unfriendly tone to tell a friend something. Of course, part of me wanted to jump in and remind them to use a kinder, gentler voice. And, yet, I also felt it was important for them to have a chance to work these moments out on their own, even if it meant not the 'perfect' expression of feelings. 

• Many children were able to ignore potentially annoying behaviours. There was one boy who kept touching a girl on her shoulder, pushing a block into her leg and making odd sounds close to her ear. She just kept on playing; I am not sure whether she was so engaged in her own play that she did not notice or whether she just didn't care. This made me realize that what we adults might deem 'unacceptable' may in fact be 'acceptable' for children.

• The children celebrated the destruction of the structure as much as the building. They began to build and purposely knock down the blocks. This became a very bonding experience as they all began to smash down blocks, making eye contact with each other and saying things like "Ohhhhhhh" in unison. It was loud, very loud as the large blocks tumbled to the floor. Children learned to get out of the way pretty fast! For the record, no injuries were sustained during the crashing of these blocks! 

I am curious to see what they do with the blocks tomorrow.

Other moments from our day:

Jordyn enjoyed piling the cards in one tall heap and then sweeping them down into a staircase with her hand. She said "I didn't know it could do that!"

Koltyn spend quite a while at the art table making his flower collage.

Rhyan took over from Joban's work on the hammering  activity.

Pie day tomorrow! The children voted to make two pies- apple and chocolate; it may not be the flakiest crust in town but it will be made from scratch!

Emily

It had been years since I personally went to Burkeville and we had never been with our preschool class. It is such a lovely community of people revealed by their attention to their homes-gardens, innovative fences,  rocks, and artistic shrubbery are just some of the ways it is apparent people like living here and take pride in their abodes. There is a playground, which truthfully could be updated but still works well enough. At the end of the road, a very cool new place called The Larry Bird Flight Path Park was recently built.

Our time together was magical. I had taken lots of notes… lots of snippets of conversations and when I re-read them later that day and looked at our pictures, I realized that the day really was about trust and friendship.

The tire swing was a wonderful example of friendship. Children worked together to get on the swing and to maintain its momentum.

Treasures were found.

I was fed 'popcorn' at the 'movie' we watched.

We walked in the ditch. Rhys loved loved loved the ditch!

An odd object found that spring boarded many a story as to why it was there.

Some children noticed this path was like the runway at the airport.

Playing on the Earth!

Joban and Matias had so much fun sliding down together. Joban, much bigger than Matias, was always on top. This worked for them both.

We were all looking forward to visiting Paulik Park again, a hidden little gem within our own city. Last time, we had a lot of fun exploring and seeing things for the first time. I wondered what the children would remember. What made an impression? Was it Jeanette Lee's art? Was it the garden stones inlaid with poetry? The unique and diverse forest of trees? Was it the playground?

Our team discussed ways to make the trip go a bit deeper, perhaps setting out with an intention. Many ideas were tossed around and then Bonnie came up with a great idea. She took photos of park elements to create a sort of "scavenger hunt". Children would be put into pairs and tasked to find the 'real' item. We thought this would support learning around the idea of 'looking closely' as well as create new friendships.


The teams sat together on the bus and it was a really great choice. The bonding started immediately and teams were secure before the game even commenced. The teams were as follows and upon looking at their photos, this is what they said they were looking for:

Emma & Matias: a birdhouse
Kahlen & Koltyn: flowers
Joban & Makena: bench
Connor & Miele: a tangly tree
Kensie & Grace: golf thingy
Rhys & Addie: pokey plants
Jack & Sebastian: bird nest
Rhyan & Jordyn: cut down tree

We walked amongst the trails together trying to find our picture clues. This activity proved to be mostly successful but not entirely. Sometimes they were very attentive, other times they seemed disinterested and just wanted to do their own thing. I wonder if we had divided into smaller groups if the focus might have been different. Or perhaps we should have played freely first and then tried to focus on the game. I think it is important to reflect on our programming and come to terms with the fact that not all our plans work out as we hope.









However, what did come out of this activity was very interesting. Some of the teams bonded in very new ways and created a seemingly instantaneous friendship. For example, Miele and Connor played together the whole rest of the day, laughing, holding hands, sliding down the slide with their bodies tangled. It really was very, very lovely.

There were so many wonderful comments and conversation made throughout the day. I will try to share a few snippets of them.


They discovered some logs piled up and then Rhyan shouted "We found a beaver dam!"  to which  Addie exclaimed proudly "We are making a beaver dam!" I love this connection to our last inquiry!

And then a new idea about the logs–

Jack: It's kinda like camping.
Emma: I've been camping before.
Miele: Me too.
Sebastian: I went camping in a motor home.
Emma: I was a little scared of the dark.
Miele: I love dark.

Connor looked up and saw a shoe, dangling by its lace, from a tall branch.


The shoe instigated the following comments:

Connor: Someone died.
Makena: A shoe, a shoe ( telling everyone)
Rhys: Or maybe somebody got burnt by a fire and jumped up there.

Emma found a piece from a pair of sunglasses. She commented on it catching the light.

Children made music on the tree- did this connect to our music making at snack the other day?

Sebastian said "This is like rosemary."- how cool!

Makena cleverly connected this orange painted leaf to an orange painted X we saw last time we  came.

The X. She ran over to show us the link between the two.

Loving the mud. Quite slippery one might say… slippery enough for two children to fall in!

We found a "fairy house". Children made up a short story and Addie said that Jeanette made it.

They spied these animals through a fence. They live in a  backyard in the house next door.

We ended our day at the playground and we enjoyed watching the children as their energy exploded. It really was something! They all seemed to be playing a pirate game with sharks and snow queens. I am amazed at their ability to work together in a  game and yet also be able to have their own agenda. I think this is a fascinating skill- they find ways to hold their own place, character and yet somehow relate to the game. It was so nice to see that everyone was included in their own way. They are a tight group indeed.