West Richmond Preschool

We were all looking forward to heading to the farm. We had not been in two whole weeks so we were all experiencing farm deprivation disorder! We craved outdoor time, running on the paths, and checking out our favourite spots. We had no particular agenda- nothing to plant, nothing to weed, nothing to harvest and literally nothing to do! Perfect!!  Actually, we did have one special thing happening there but I will get to that in a moment. The children could not get off the bus fast enough, bounding down the tall stairs. Jackets on, zipped up, hats and mitts on, ready to face the chill of December. The children tossed their knapsacks onto the picnic table with abandon, and began to run around the courtyard area, obediently staying on the paths  ( finally, four months later they have learnt to stay out of the garden beds). They shouted, they chased and fell down! Once our initial burst of energy was out (only slightly), we walked over to the compost to see what the worms w...

Dollhouse It was an interesting day as I had lots of time to observe the children at play and listen carefully to their conversations. I was particularly intrigued by a conversation between two boys playing with the dollhouse. I heard Cole say to Nico " Where are the boys for this house? I need a boy." True, for some reason, only the female doll house figures were put out. He repeated the question and Nico said "I don't know but I need a boy too." They sat for a while, picked up some furniture and the dog, banged the items on the dollhouse roof and then stopped. They sat. And sat. And sat. I was so curious... why is it that they felt they needed a male to connect to? Our gender identity is clearly very strong at such a young age. I have seen this before when we act out stories in class. Generally boys want to play boys and girls want to play boys. The notion of pretending to be another character can be unappealing for some. Why is this? Should I, as a teacher, ...