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A Diverse Week- a little of this, a little of that

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:

Joban: My mom's phone.
Makena: My pink computer. My mom helped me.
Miele: My mom showed me on her phone.
Koltyn: My sister helped me. (this is very cute, since his sister is only one year older!)
Jordyn: Mommy helped me on the computer.
Connor: My brother told me how it is called. He's smarter. (also very endearing)

Clearly, the way children access information is changing. Oh, the long gone days of our World Book Encyclopedias! I loved those glossy pages! I enjoy arming the children with strategies to learn about the world around them; it is important that they fell in control of knowledge acquisition. We can seek out answers to our questions!

Quote of that sharing circle:
Kahlen: In the beaver world, do they have a hospital for babies to be born?
Yvette built a beaver lodge. We counted how many sticks would be needed to cover the top- math minds at work!


A friend and colleague of mine, Alexis, visited Paulik Park with her preschoolers. She has tauted its beauty and since I have the utmost respect for this educator, I knew it was worth visiting. We had a glorious time exploring this gem of a 'forest' within our own city. There is a very romantic and poetic feel to the park, exemplified by stones with poetic sayings and a beautiful piece of public art (created by the same artist who we are currently working with at our own centre). We wandered around on the paths, investigating trees and noting their differences. Children noticed holes, fallen trees and made me inferences about beavers as they went. "I wonder if beavers…" was heard over and over again during our time at the park.



A collection of sticks for our beaver dam.






Emma started to decorate a tree branch. I wonder if this connection came from our  natural art session with our buddies in the fall. Very cool!


The day could have needed here but we had a booked session to go visit the weaving guild as the children are also very engaged in weaving.  They were interested in seeing a carpet (especially Connor) so we went to talk to the weavers themselves and see the looms. It was a worthwhile experience as the children not only learnt about weaving but also had a chance to speak to new adults, learn how to ask questions, use our good manners, look but not touch and on and on. Each experience is such a wonderful learning opportunity. We are grateful to the weavers for letting us visit.



A full, informative and joyous week. Now to rest and re-charge!

Emily

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