"In order for children to read, write, and spell, they must be developmentally ready. Some are ready at the age of four or five, some not for many more years. This readiness includes complex neurological pathways and kinesthetic awareness. Such readiness isn’t created by workbooks or computer programs.It’s the result of brain maturation as well as rich experiences found in bodily sensation and movement."
Climb, Swing, and Snuggle: Reading Readiness Involves the Whole Body, August 2011
-Mothering Magazine
Our Family Tree
We discussed the uniqueness of our different families. Some said their families were big, some small, some quiet, some noisy. :) Using the branches from our nature walk this week, the children created their own branch of their family tree. Lora was the parent assistant this week and she focused on Family with the children, read books, had conversations, and helped the children work collaboratively on the family tree.
While on our walk, we discovered a skeleton! We brought it back to the schoolhouse for further investigation.
Collective ideas of what type of skeleton this may be:
bird
dinosaur
mouse
rat
lizard
iguana
Violet: Maybe it's a bird because there are some feathers around it.
Alaira: Maybe it's an iguana. There are lots of iguanas in Costa Rica and they are good climbers. Or a lizard.
Corbin: It may be a bird because a lizard's skeleton is smaller.
Damon: Or maybe it's a dinosaur.
Corbin: It's definitely not a dinosaur because a dinosaur could eat this skeleton.
Alaira: Dinosaurs can have feathers too!
::
During our small groups, I've been working closely with the children, learning about their interests and observing their learning styles. We're focusing on handwriting so they develop good habits. Using dough has been fun for the children since they love to roll, squeeze, and pinch. All of this helps develop the small muscles in their hands. More on handwriting soon. Project read has been launched and is underway too.
-Indian Charm, by Alaira
Coiled up snake, by Liam
The children were introduced to spell tabs this week to build words. I think next to the dough, this was their next favorite activity.
Alaira made puppets for our puppet theater.
Clay, how we LOVE thee...
Some of these photos were snapped with my iphone.
A big thank you to Lora for all her work in the atelier as well. She dove right in and did some clay exploration with the children, which was a wonderful way to end our week together.
We continued our camp this week and we're falling into a nice flow of the day. We still had a small group this week, and in addition to welcoming two new friends, we also scored a cool ship for our play yard, which the children love. Lots of exciting things happening. We continue to build community, explore our space, and create materials for our schoolhouse. The majority of the photos below are courtesy of Melanie, mama to Damon.
I'm excited about our handwriting program, and to prepare, we're rolling dough snakes to form capital letters.
The children are helping make our calendar because it's important to me that there's as much child generated materials vs. commercially made materials in our space because it brings ownership to the schoolhouse and a feeling of respect for the children and their work. Once it's all finished, I'll take a photo of it!
"Children should have an opportunity to play outside every day that weather permits. This play should never be sacrificed for more instructional time." - Signs of a Good Kindergarten Classroom, NAEYC
This big guy came by to say hello this week.
One friend celebrated his birthday this week! Happy Birthday Corbin!
PLAYSILKS
Melanie brought in materials to dye playsilks with Kool-Aid and vinegar.
Quote of the Day:
C: "Um, what is Kool-Aid??? Does Kool-Aid make you feel cooooool?"
I feel incredibly grateful to have this opportunity for our children to learn in this environment.
