Curriculum in our studio follows an experiential learning model. This is a fancy way of saying that human beings learn by doing real stuff. Play is real stuff.
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Recently we have been discussing the phrase WELCOME HOME. An reminded me of this on Friday morning by handwriting the message 'WELCOME PARENTS' during a writing or drawing provocation.
I asked the children for more information during Friday April 27, 2018 Morning Meeting: Joe- "What does WELCOME mean?" An- "It means to welcome somebody to, to, to your place you need to go to. H- "Um, somf'ing you give to your mom an' dad an' grandma an' grandpa dats SPECIAL... Like, rainbow flowers." C- "Somp'ing if you have to bring dem to children... Ice cream." Ae- "I means I love you. It also means rainbow." X- I love my mom an' dad. And my tablet." S- "Want to come to my house, Xander?" X- "Yes." Joe- "That's very welcoming, Solomon!" An- "It means that someone can come to your house or have a playdate with you." Tyleena- "To me, being welcoming means saying 'I'm glad you are here'!" H- "Um, I love you, Tyleena." Al- "Rainbows are pretty. An' treasure." Joe- "To me, welcome means 'you can be here, because you belong'. Part of the way we show that is by saying 'I'm glad you are here.' That's why we say it, almost every day, at the start of Morning Meetings... We want you to know that you are welcome, that you belong here. This place is for you!" From Morning Meeting on Monday April 30, 2018: Joe- "Often I overhear children saying- 'that's my WORK!' This made me wonder... What is your work? What do you mean when you talk about your work??" Ae (smiling)- "It means... Al (name of friend)." Joe- "Your work is Al (name of friend)?" Ae- " Mmm hmm." H- "Um, um, after I swallow I can tell you." Joe- "Thank you for keeping yourself safe by swallowing your food before you speak." H- "When you build special work somebody will maybe come and dey won't watch out for your feet and you might be mad. Uh huh, so you better watch out for your feet. I choose... my best friend C" C- "You have to watch out for your work or your work might get broken." Joe- "Can we say,'look out for each other's work'?" C- "Yeah. Yeah." Joe- "Well, what is the work we should look out for? What are you talking about when you say work?" C- "Yeah, the work is a ship." Joe- "Can we say, 'your work is something you made'?" C-"Yeah." Joe- "Interesting. So, if work is something we made, then I'm wondering, who does our work belong to? I'll ask that question during our next Morning Meeting." After transitioning outside, the children discovered a web filled with newly hatched, garden orb weaver spiders. Garden orb weavers are the variety of spider represented in the E. B. White's famous children's book- Charlotte's Web. These babies will climb as high as possible, then ‘balloon’ in the breeze, finding new homes. Sp- "Why are they not falling? Oh, I know... there's a web. I couldn't see the web but now I can. My eyes are so good." H- "Der's so many of dem! Let's go see da baby spiders... over here!" M- "X! Look at the baby spiders!" C- "Oh! Baby spiders!" M- "Where's the mommy? Where's the mom?" H- "Maybe the mommy went to get food..." X- "Some of dem are falling." Ae- "Joe, what does LIFE mean?" Joe- "Does anyone have any ideas?" H- "I know what dat means. You take care of life." Joe- "How can you know if something is alive?" M- "It's moving!" Ae- "A cow moves (or moos??) so it is alive." Joe- "Does a mushroom move?" Sp and M, together- "No..." Joe- "Well, is a mushroom alive?" Sp- "Yeah! They grow, so they're alive!" During Open Studio Time, outside, we offered the children balls of aluminum foil, lengths of pipe, and drums. My idea was that children might aim the balled foil at the drums, or pass them through the tubes, striking the drums... My intention was to meet the need that has been driving the recent behavior of throwing materials over the fence. This went on for a brief time, then M introduced a new game. He hid the balls of foil, now elongated into egg-like shapes, around the yard. Sp, H, Ae, C, X, C and So all enthusiastically searched for the hidden 'treasures'. Meanwhile, Trevor drew on an outside stump with chalk and L played the drum in a consistent pattern, five beats then a pause, five beats then a pause... This went on for several minutes. |
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