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Children with questions, answers, observations

We had a very interesting yet relaxed day. Right away the children were so completely engaged with the materials in the classroom that we decided not to do our typical morning circle so that they could continue to build on the play that was already established. We had a lot of activities on the go today: making cauliflower soup for our upcoming dinner (cauliflower from our garden), making centrepiece for our Farm to Table dinner,  play dough, 2 types of building, drawing and cutting, a play arc with scarves and alphabet bean bags. Since we just got all new books from the library, the children were really immersed in the literature area. Luca had chosen a book on penguins because he has a stuffed animal at home named Penguino that he adores and speaks of with great frequency and fondness. This book sparked an amazing conversation later during our circle.  The book talked about how penguins use the sound of eachother's cries to recognise family members. We discussed hearing and sound recognition in humans too, which developed into a game about recognising the voices in our classroom. This game prompted lots of laughter! And questions..."What if the other penguin's babies all sound the same? How will they know who is their baby?" (Chloe).  Cole said " I don't sound the same as Nico". How do children process sound? How do sounds make them feel? What sounds do they like? What sounds bother their ears? I think further investigation is in order!

Later in the book, we learnt that the daddy penguins look after the eggs. This discovery then lead to questions on which animals lay eggs. We asked the children what animals lay eggs. The responses were interesting:


Chloe: Giraffe
Emily: Zebra
Bryn: Elephant
Sidney: Chicken
Cole: Rooster
Luca: Penguin
Cyanna: Hen
Cash: Dog
Alexa: Crocodile & Dinosaur
Loreli: Turtle
Brooke: Cat
Zev: Shark
Niko: Shark

It seems like this might be a good area to study further. The children were very interested in this discussion and then proceeded to wonder about humans. It was time to say goodbye so we got cut off from our conversation...cannot wait to continue!

Several children wanted to help make the soup.  Some worked long and hard (Alexa- to the bitter end!) and others picked apart only a couple of florets and then went back to building. But, together we got the job done!



 As it was cooking Luca said " I love the smell of onion". I must agree with him; the room smelled delicious!

Almost everyone helped make the centrepieces and Sidney said " This is going to be the best dinner ever" and Alexa said " We have to leave space for the candle". Bryn informed me that you have to break the stick before you are able to glue it onto the plate.

We played outside for a long time- sunshine, warm weather in November! How lucky. The sandbox has been stellar for building as the water makes the sand very malleable and easy to work with to create structures. Cyanna played a lot with her brother Koltyn as she was instructing him on how to pull the upside down bucket off the castle. With a firm but gentle tone she repeatedly said " Slowly and gently". He listened and was thrilled with his creation.


While in line to wash hands for lunch ( which was quite late since we played outside for so long) I heard the following conversation, which I am sure you will agree, is a gem.

Bryn: "That's a beautiful shirt"
Little Emily: " It's not a shirt, it's a dress."
Bryn: "That's a beautiful dress."

At lunch today, the children began calling out, with no prompting whatsoever, about their packaging. Alexa began this conversation by exclaiming with pride " I have no garbage today!". Cyanna then said " I have no garbage too.". Niko said  "I only have one garbage." Zev said " Nico has a plastic spoon and that is garbage". Niko responded quickly with " But I am going to keep it!.  Are these children ready for tiffins or what? I am so proud of them for thinking about their snack containers and becoming aware of reducing their garbage. And, thank you parents for your support! Soon we will get our worm compost going again.

As you can tell, I marvelled at the children today. What a fun and rewarding day!

Emily

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