Skip to main content

A Sense of Freedom

A most special week in school. Maybe it is the spring air, maybe it was the time off, maybe it is because we are all growing... but we had so much fun this week.

Wednesday
We went to the farm with a big planting agenda. I am happy to report that we did get everything planted but not before we..

ran
jumped
picked dandelions and made bouquets and rings
dug in the mud
picked up worms
looked at birds
noticed buds on trees
tripped on the paths
looked for mushrooms
hoped to see the coyote
shared sea shells from the depths of our pockets
looked at the developing play area
walked backwards and sideways
made up songs
felt the wind

We then got down to business and put in lettuce, spinach, peas, carrots, yu choi sum, and beets. Seeds went in rows, seeds were dropped who knows where and we all had a glorious time. We also worked on our bee books, ate lunch and gobbled up delicious purple sprouting broccoli that was generously gifted to us by Chef Ian Lai from the Richmond Schoolyard Society. Kids begging for broccoli and kale- now that is truly a gift!!







Friday
We painted our mason bee houses today and enjoyed mixing colours and carefully planned designs that might attract the bees. We will put the houses at the farm next week and we are all hoping those little tubes get filled!



Before class, I went into our closet to get a basket and came out with our projector! Go figure! The day appeared to be sort of dark and gloomy so it seemed appropriate to play with light. We placed a variety of objects next to the table for the children to freely explore. The following conversation was generated from one interaction:

Zev: Rocks can be in a treasure chest
Loreli: Yeah, and we can make a whole jungle
Zev: Treasure is in here. Goody, goody, right? That's enough
Loreli: We can make it bigger
Zev: Oh no, there's crashing rocks. Breaking rocks
Loreli: Let's put them in a gem case. Gems need cases so they don't fall out
Zev: Hmmm. Stones. Monkeys. Jungles need monkeys, right?
Loreili: Yea, let's make some
Zev: Monkeys climb in the tree. Hey, look, the jungle shows up on the door 9 he moves the projector). it shows up on the ceiling and the floor.
Loreli: Maybe we can draw it on paper to show our mom and dad. Isn't that a good idea?
Zev: Yeah!
Loreli: Then they can see it too.
Zev: Barrels of water. We need water.

I enjoyed this conversation on many levels. Firstly, this is a relatively new friendship forming. Secondly, they investigated the light and seemed intrigued with the shadows and they also developed a story along with it. The story evolved very naturally with each child building on one another's ideas. Ideas were accepted and not negated. There was a sense of openness in this conversation. I like that they can let a conversation flow into a whole new dimension without care of its continuity or logic. How can we sustain this sense of freedom in our thoughts and conversations? Should we?



We did a fire drill (boring but necessary). We emptied our compost and fought about who got to stir it first.

We ran all the way around the turf, holding hands, cheering each other on. We played Star Wars, fairies, animal kingdom and wrestled.



We brainstormed a list of words that start with the letter "P".


We worked on our bee books. Today we drew the life cycle of the honey bee.





Other snippets of conversation:

At lunch:

Chloe ( to 3 boys): Guys, guys, guys...don't tell anybody, don't tell the girls but I want it to be a secret. I am going to have a fairy birthday party.

Cole: I am invincible. If you are invincible guns cannot hurt me.
Nico:Yes it can
Cole: No. Invincible means no people can get hurt
Nico: If you trip and you are invincible and you are on the road and the car hits you, you get dead

I am not sure how this conversation began but I enjoyed hearing their ideas on this subject. They are fascinated with guns, death, how to protect oneself. Where does this stem from? How can we direct this conversation into something healthy and meaningful?

An excellent week indeed!

Emily

Comments

Nicky B said…
What fun preschool days and what a talented group of educators to navigate it all and offer such rich experiences.
11 April 2013 at 21:07
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mosaic Garden Stones

Today our children had an amazing opportunity to work with Glen Anderson, a local artist specializing in mosaics. You can see his work at http://www.mosaicplanet.net . I met Glen last year at Urban Weavers Studio in Strathcona. I asked him many, many questions about mosaics, all of which he patiently answered with expertise. I was gearing up for an art project in our preschool class so I really wanted to get any pointers I could from him. The plan was to have our students make mosaic tiles to place along our fence at the garden plot at Terra Nova Farm. They worked out very well, thanks to Glen's great advice and it was a beautiful moment when child and parent hung the stones at the farm on our last day of school. It was a moment of great pride for all of us. The garden that they cared for with their own hands- tended to its needs in sunshine and in rain. They will always remain part of that space, that land and their stone will remind them of this connection. Even though they turne...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Love for Cabbage

Another day of working with cabbage-our prized cabbage that I babied throughout the summer. The cabbage that I saved from the demise of cabbage worms, watered, and surrounded with copper to scare away slugs. So, yes, babied. After all that care and love I was hoping the children would enjoy working with this gorgeous vegetable and like the taste of it. The coleslaw was a hit last week but would cooked cabbage get the same positive response? We assembled our ingredients for cabbage rolls and showed all the children. They smelled all the spices that were in the recipe and many of them loved the smell of the fresh garlic! They took great pride in recognizing onion, salt, pepper, tomato sauce and ground beef. I wanted to introduce them to another herb so we passed around marjoram, which many agreed smelled sweet. We pre-cooked the meat just so the children could work with the food without any cause for concern. The smell of the onions and meat simmering sparked the interest of many ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Volunteering at Richmond Food Bank

Today was our last day volunteering at the Richmond Food Bank. I am so grateful we had this opportunity– it has been an extraordinary experience for all of us. I, myself, have been very lucky to work in a community where I have seen dedicated volunteers working countless hours for people and projects they believe in. In my own community centre, the staff devote extra hours for many events, all to help strengthen our community. From these experiences grew a desire within me to try to share this with our children. How can we make them generous with their time and energy for the good of others? How can we teach them to be giving people– people that think of others? Are they too young for these concepts? In my need to answer these questions, I sought to find a volunteer opportunity for them. I thought about many different ideas but the food bank always came out ahead. I was lucky enough to come across an open-minded and risk-taking individual– let's face it, preschoolers gett...
Post a Comment
Read more