West Richmond Preschool

I am amazed how the interest in beavers continues to grow. On Wednesday, the children wanted to know more about lodges since we opened the discussion on Monday. We learnt how they sometimes build two rooms within their lodge. We played with this concept, pretending we were beavers, collecting wood and bringing it back to make our lodge. We settled into our different rooms and the children loved being beavers! In a later discussion, Kensie said "It would be cool if they have a living room." and then Rhys said" Maybe they can pretend to sleep in their bedroom." Connor said "Maybe there is a bathroom." to which Makena replied "They pee in the water!" We began to talk about the beaver life cycle so for home research they were tasked with finding out the proper name of a 'baby' beaver. On Wednesday, they came back to school with their research done. When I asked them how they found out the term "kit", they answered the following:

The Stew We began our day with a cooking project. Miele had been leafing though a cookbook she borrowed on our last library visit and found a chicken stew she wanted to make. I love how excited she has been about this book- she has been leafing through and finding all sorts of delicious looking treats that have tantalized her taste buds! Since we had carrots, beets and rutabagas from the garden we decided to alter the recipe slightly. Funnily enough, her participation in this project was minimal because she was more interested in building the beaver dam.  15 out of the 16 students tried it, many had second helpings and everyone liked it. A few comments that were overheard while eating: Jack: I love it! Rhys: I tried it and I like it! Jordyn: I loooove it! Grace: Yummy! Matias: I like it. (Later he said he didn't like it but he ate his whole bowl) Makena: I like it. Connor: It's yummy and I want more. Emma: I like the chicken pieces a

After being off for two weeks, I wondered how the children would be upon their return. Would they struggle to come back to school- getting up and dressed and out the door in a hurry, missing their parents and siblings, longing for laying on the floor in their pyjamas and building lego? I know I sometimes have a hard time making the adjustment back into a schedule life. I was surprised that the children bolted in the door with great enthusiasm, quickly grabbed their name tags, chose a cubby and off they went their child's world of playing, chatting with friends and checking out materials. I was so happy that they were eager to be back and I think it speaks to their relationships that they were able to comfortably pick up where they left off. It also tells me they feel safe and secure in this place. How fortunate they are really; it is not something to take for granted as children all over the world, near and far, live in circumstances that they are not safe. We went to the librar