Lunchtime Conversations

I'm really going to miss listening to our little friends conversations. I just love what these children have to say. Always have.







This last snippet, I had asked the children how their Mother's Day weekend was. I snuck the video on toward the end, but what I captured, was priceless. :)

Snippets from El Jardin

Our gardens are flourishing beautifully and the children LOVE to harvest. This week, we harvested "zunicchinis" and carrots (even a purple carrot was ready!). The carrots were all consumed before we made it inside. :)

Free Exploration

Free exploration means we have no goal in mind, we're just seeing what this material can do and what we can do with it. Give children plenty of free exploration. And Time. Time to play and explore and experiment.

More Video Footage

When we think about it, what these children do in their play is remarkable. Children often use fantasy to make sense out of reality, and that's demonstrated here with our little friends making an example of reality that works.

Part I


Part II (ends with a sweet fruity discovery)

Recently, at Terra Luz (Krista)

This week, we began talking about our bodies.

I asked, "What is a body?"

Jalie: "Our bodies are ourselves."

Damon: "It's our skin."

Gwen: :"We need our bodies to live."

Allie: "Our bodies are really growing"

Mia Gleinser: "Our bodies are GREAT! My muscles are SO STRONG, I eat food to keep my body strong!!"

Corbin: "We have muscles and connective tissue in there."

I asked, "What is your favorite part of your body?"

Mia S: "These things that make my fingers bend (knuckles), but usually it's my skeleton."

Alaira: "My tongue because I use it to taste."

Natalie: "My skeleton."

Corbin: "My brain because I use it to think."

McKenna: "My mouth AND my hands!"

Allie: "My muscles and my teeth...my abuela can take her teeth out!!!"

Body Tracing:

I traced the children's bodies, cut them out and then offered the opportunity to add their features. I encouraged them to use the mirror as a reference. Everyone narrated as they drew, and most returned to the mirror repeatedly.

Corbin: "Oooh, I can draw in my brain!"

Natalie: "And stomach! Food goes down down down into the tummy and that's really a stomach!"

Alaira: "I want to draw the things that make my fingers bend...what are those?"

Anika: "I am drawing my fur and here are my teeth and here is more nail polish and here is my brain..."

Lucca: "These are my ribs in my body. They're pink"

Sophia: "I want to do this, I want to draw hair." (Mia G. helped her draw in her hair after a careful assessment)

Mia G: (Returning to the mirror repeatedly as she filled in her organs and features) "And HERE are my chongos (pigtails) and HERE are my eyes--they're blue and nice, and HERE are my toes...what are these called? Oh yes! toenails!"

Jalie: "It's important to get my cheeks just right or everything won't look right on my face"

Damon: "This is my mask and here is my skin and that's my foot."

Jason: (Observing himself in the mirror) "I've got black hair and black eyes."

Atticus; "Here is my body, right guys?"

Eddie, "This is MY body too, and LOOK! It's my hair...I got a hair cut, it's part of my body, too."

The Benefits of Being Outdoors

The California-based State Education and Environmental Roundtable, a national effort to study environment-based education, found that schools that use outdoor classrooms, among other techniques, produce student gains in social studies, science, language arts and math; improved standardized test scores and grade-point averages; and enhanced skills in problem-solving, critical thinking and decision-making. In addition, anecdotal evidence suggests that time in natural surroundings also stimulates children's creativity.
— Richard Louv

It never ceases to amaze me how far pebbles, sticks, mud, and water will go with these little ones.

Garden as Project Based Learning

First, there's the composting that has been going on all year round. The children enjoy the opportunity to take buckets of scraps to the compost (thanks to the mamas for bringing them in!).

The garden attracts bugs, birds, and butterflies to watch, photograph and ask questions about. Then we bring the learning experience into the school and home when we harvest and eat our produce. The children have been witnessing the cycle of life first hand. It's an amazing experience that offers new learning every year as we've expanded and improved our gardening skills and garden. The garden (a.k.a. el jardin) is one of the most valuable learning experiences we have here.

I recently figured out that I could record using my phone and just started using it to capture the [unsuspecting] children while they play and explore outside. Here are a couple from today. :)

Recently, at Terra Luz (Krista)

Hello my friends!

Ocean Exploration:

As you know, last week, we concluded our exploration of ocean life and sea animals. This short-term project evolved over the course of a couple of weeks, and was the basis for lots of learning such as: vocabulary building, sharing of personal experiences(community building), great conversation and imaginative play.

Day 1-3: Ocean animal categorization. McKenna's mama donated loads of great ocean animals to Terra Luz, and our first step was to categorize them. I offered the children a plastic bin filled with an assortment of sea animals and they sorted the animals by type and size on the light table. They used my Animal Encyclopedia as a reference. Throughout the project, we read books about ocean life and ocean animals, listened to whale songs and recorded ourselves imitating whale songs...ask me and I'll play the tape for you!

McKenna: I saw the ocean at California. Sharks have sharp teeth.

Damon: This octopus has suction cups on his legs.

Jalie: Those legs are tentacles.

Corbin: Whales filter the fish and water.

Mia Gleinser: Walruses have tooths that are long and that's why they aren't seals.

Mia S: I want to do more categorizing!

Allie J: We're discovering things that live in the ocean.

Jason: The shark eats up everything!

Atticus: The whale needs water!

Anika: Squids squirt ink.

Natalie: Hey! I have a movie called, Monsters Inc. at home!

Days 4-7: The children made seashell impressions in clay and collaborated on a large-scale mural of an ocean habitat.

Day 8: The children munched on nori wrappers as they created ocean habitats using sand from the sandbox, water, sea salt, sea shells and the plastic ocean animals.

Days 9-11: We poured the 3 ocean habitats into the large sensory table and let the children explore and play to their hearts' content!

Earth Day: The children had such a great time painting and 'glitterizing' boxes and egg cartons from our stash of recyclables. Some of the boxes and cartons were used in a construction project, and we used the rest to create 'mobiles'(I use the term loosely ;)) that are now hanging on the patio. We read lots of books about the importance of taking care of our Mother Earth, and composted peels and leftovers from snacks and lunches. I think that it's wonderful that such young children understand the importance of caring for our planet and feel empowered to do so!

Looking Ahead: Christine and I have been talking a lot about what the next few weeks might look like. We are, of course, always listening to the children's interests and looking for common fascinations to expand upon ...AND, at the same time, we have been talking about the fact that we have an Atelier full of great creative expression materials, so, we plan to make the best use of the great resources that we have. We plan to offer more creative expression opportunities every day, both indoors and out, so please dress your children in clothing that can be enhanced with paint, glitter and glue, and please pack extra extra-clothes in their backpacks ;)!

happy weekend! xoxo

Colores, Numeros, and Emergent Literacy

Long before children begin to decode printed words, they're developing literacy skills. Emergent Literacy is the process of developing an awareness and control of print language, which occurs before young children begin reading and writing conventionally. Young children in the stage of emergent literacy discover concepts about print which is necessary for being successful in later stages of literacy, and learn how pleasurable reading books and being read to is.

We all know that research indicates that literacy-enriched environments can increase the number of literacy activities and events happening in the classroom. Preschoolers can construct their knowledge about literacy better in an environment where they can do some practices, observations, explorations, and experiments with literacy.

Emergent Literacy has been co-constructed at multiple places at multiple times at school. In small groups, I’ve been exploring with the children their names on the overhead, and they've had opportunities to feel the shape of the letters that make up their names; we used the sandpaper letters to trace each letter of their name (adding the tactile component). We've also enjoyed searching for letters in pictures of common outdoor objects.











Another way is to encourage children to tell stories, which Krista has been working on with the children (stories are being posted in the foyer as they're constructed). Stories not only provide an outlet for imagination, they help children understand how narrative text is structured. As children make up stories they are building expectations about what they will find when they learn to read. Children also use stories to process information and to make sense of their lives‚ something that will help them develop socially and emotionally.

It is also important to encourage children child to *write* and scribble. Attempting to write builds awareness of the shapes of letters and words. In the atelier, the children have been writing and drawing with Christine. These are just some of the ways the environment facilitates emergent literacy education.
::

Español

I've been able to do some small group work with spanish. Some words we've been learning are colors and more recently, numbers.

Here's a list

rojo.....red
anaranjado.....orange
azul.....blue
amarillo.....yellow
verde.....green
negro.....black
blanco.....white
rosa.....pink
morado.....purple
brown.....café (also called marrón, although I never heard that version growing up)

uno.....one
dos..... two
tres.....three
cuatro.....four
cinco.....five
seis.....six
siete.....seven
ocho.....eight
nueve.....nine
diez.....ten

Other Fun Snippets

"I LOVE my name!"-Mia G.






Christine playing the guitar for the children. Did you know she can play not only the guitar, but also the piano?

Recently, in the Garden

Evidence of spring is here. The garden is sprouting, the trees are growing leaves, and our newly planted citrus trees are blossoming. While outside, the children often inspect the blackberry bushes, the blueberry bush, and the citrus trees for any new growth. Mia and Eddie discovered one of the citrus trees had early stage grapefruit. "Look, Ms. Andrea! Little Limes!" It will be exciting to watch the fruit grow and change. Tending to the garden is another way we spend part of our mornings.

Compost Happens

Today, Christine brought from home a small tub full of what appeared to be food scraps for the trash. The children eagerly inspected the mystery items in the tub.  It was scraps for our compost.

Every year, tons of organic materials are thrown away, needlessly filling up landfills. By composting materials, we can make a difference. Compost to plants is like a healthy gourmet dinner to us. Compared to preparing a snazzy dinner however, making compost is easy! Compost is not limited to tossing leaves and grass clippings into a pile.

Here is a list of things that can be composted (and yes, this is an invite to bring it in to school!)



From the Kitchen
Coffee grounds and filters
Tea bags
Used paper napkins
Pizza boxes, ripped into smaller pieces
Paper bags, either ripped or balled up
The crumbs you sweep off of the counters and floors
Plain cooked pasta
Plain cooked rice
Stale bread
Paper towel rolls
Stale saltine crackers
Stale cereal
Used paper plates (as long as they don't have a waxy coating)
Cellophane bags (be sure it's really Cellophane and not just clear plastic—there's a difference.)
Nut shells (except for walnut shells, which can be toxic to plants)
Old herbs and spices
Stale pretzels
Pizza crusts
Cereal boxes (tear them into smaller pieces first)
Wine corks
Moldy cheese
Melted ice cream
Old jelly, jam, or preserves
Stale beer and wine
Paper egg cartons
Toothpicks
Bamboo skewers
Paper cupcake or muffin cups

From the Bathroom (you may want to skip a few things from here. Just sayin')  ;)
Used facial tissues
Hair from your hairbrush
Toilet paper rolls
Old loofahs
Nail clippings
100% Cotton cotton balls
Cotton swabs made from 100% cotton and cardboard (not plastic) sticks

From the Laundry Room
Dryer lint
Old/stained cotton clothing—rip or cut it into smaller pieces
Old wool clothing—rip or cut it into smaller pieces
From the Office
Bills and other documents you've shredded
Envelopes (minus the plastic window)
Pencil shavings
Sticky notes
Business cards (as long as they're not glossy)
Receipt
Around the House
Contents of your vacuum cleaner bag or canister
Newspapers (shredded or torn into smaller pieces)
Subscription cards from magazines
Leaves trimmed from houseplants
Dead houseplants and their soil
Flowers from floral arrangements
Natural potpourri
Used matches
Ashes from the fireplace, barbecue grill, or outdoor fire pit

Party and Holiday Supplies
Wrapping paper rolls
Paper table cloths
Crepe paper streamers
Latex balloons
Raffia
Excelsior
Jack o' Lanterns
Those hay bales you used as part of your outdoor fall decor
Natural holiday wreaths
Your Christmas tree. Chop it up with some pruners first (or use a wood chipper, if you have one...)
Evergreen garlands

Pet-Related
Fur from the dog or cat brush
Newspaper/droppings from the bottom of the bird cage
Feathers
Alfalfa hay or pellets (usually fed to rabbits)
Rawhide dog chews
Fish food
Dry dog or cat food

So the next time you take a second look at something you're preparing to throw in the trash, ask yourself "Hmmm. Can I compost this?" And, as you can see, it's surprising how often you can answer "Yes!" And send it on in to school so the children can compost it!

oceanography and a sick computer (Krista)

friends,

my computer is sick. i am dropping it off at the apple store this afternoon, so in lieu of a blog post, i wanted to let you know (quickly before my battery dies) that i've been doing a little study of ocean life with the children this week. we separated ocean animals into categories and cataloged them on the light table. this prompted quite a discussion about about similarities and differences. i've got lots of great photos and quotes to go with a more detailed description of our exploration, and i'll add them as soon as possible, but it may be next week.

next week, we will return to our paper- making project.

happy friday everyone!

Class Photos

Photos courtesy of Mama Tanya
Handmade frame courtesy of Mama Jasmine

Group photos will be in by early next week. They are quite amusing. Getting a dozen children together for a group shot was not an easy feat. ;) Tanya was incredibly patient, thank you!

Photos are a fundraiser for Terra Luz. Price: $12 for an 8x10. Please let me know if you'd like one (or two). :)

New Property Prospect!

Families, we have something that looks promising! I'm shocked, that in one week, we were able to find something that's available. My realtor and I viewed two properties today, one was scary, but the other, I have a GREAT feeling about! We both do.

Oh and even the landlord's broker mentioned we would need to file for a permit to change the use to childcare (which is what the last property's landlord and broker insisted we didn't need, and tried to make us look like the bad guys for "bringing up issues that don't exist"). Anyway, this broker said that process takes between 2 days to 2 weeks.  It also helps that the broker representing the landlord knows what he's talking about! So far, from what we can tell, the landlord is reasonable. We're waiting on the paperwork to come over with the exact square footage of the current layout, and lease figures, but here are some details.

Standalone building (nothing exciting, but we can make it work!), zoned LO (and more), 2700 sq ft, lots of natural light, 2 restrooms, kitchenette, walls aren't load bearing, which means we can change the rooms if needed, corner lot with great parking, reasonable rent, North Central Austin, off Burnet (don't fret northies, it's only 12 miles from my house, took me only 15min in morning traffic). Prime area! The landlord is willing to put in a play yard in the back with an 8ft privacy fence and pull up some of the asphalt, but he'll want a long lease term in return. Am going to do some research on "urban preschools" to see how they make their spaces work for outdoor area.

I've mentioned that a 5 year lease makes me nervous--I'd feel better about a 3 year lease, but if he's going to pull up asphalt and move walls, 5 years is understandable. Gonna crunch numbers to see if its viable, and to make sure I can do this for the long haul, and hope to have something moving on this pronto.

Eeeee...!! =)

[Property Search] Open Thread for Discussion

During my final checklist and going over things with a fine-toothed comb on the Parmer/Metric property, I reviewed my notes from last year’s childcare center training. I had questions on zoning, and if a permit, or a certificate of occupancy would be required from the City of Austin (certificate of occupancy was mentioned during licensing orientation, and also from a peer who moved her in-home program offsite last year). After calling the city, they confirmed that the property is zoned LO (light office) which will allow for a daycare, however, based on the permit history, they had never obtained permits for a daycare. According to the city, although the current zoning allows for a daycare, in order to establish that use legally, there are permit requirements to change the use (this addresses building code, fire code, etc.) The process to get the permit is 2 steps, and I was ready to start it over spring break.

When our realtor brought this to the landlord’s attention, he and his broker insisted no other permits are required by the city, that it’s zoned LO. Our realtor asked his broker to forward the written ordinance, she said she would. An hour later, she called our realtor back to inform us the owner did not want to lease to us because we were raising an issue they say did not exist. Our realtor told them he would not, in good conscious, advise us not to do due diligence on any possible jurisdiction that might later show up and say we are in violation. The broker told our realtor, they had made up their minds. We were all shocked, and I, heartbroken.

Over spring break, we’ve been scouring the area for properties, and did come across a new prospect. There were children and staff present so I couldn’t take photos of the inside. We’re unsure about this one, but I thought I’d share the details below:

There’s a daycare at Lake Creek Village shopping center, the corner of 620 and Lake Creek Pkwy, about 1/4 mile west of Lakeline Mall on 620 (ironically, about one minute from our house, where the Roaster’s coffeehouse is). The space is 3500 sf and has an outdoor play area. The current tenant has been there over 10 years and is now marketing to WIC clients, and in the landlord’s words, “very low-end clientele”. Landlord is not fond of what they are doing, the current day care is really struggling, so they are now on a “month to month basis”. The landlord wants this to be a unique shopping center, not really a retail type shopping center, as several of the tenants appeal to more high-end clientele. It has some unique high-end businesses from downtown Austin like Vivo and Grapevine Salon.

The space is similar to the Parmer/Metric in that it needs major updating and cleaning, but the landlord is willing to do some finishing out as he wants his space updated. There are 6 (small) classrooms, with a restroom in 5 of them, a small kitchen, a middle gathering area, and a director’s office. Some of the rooms are small, so we talked about knocking some walls down on one side to make the classrooms bigger, and there is space for an Atelier.

The pros: the landlord is willing to do a couple months free rent since we won’t be able to bring in revenue until we’re licensed there (which takes about 2 months), and then offer reduced rent while we build our business; it’s been childcare for 10 years, so it’s already set up, and it’s roomy. Currently licensed for 80 kids, which translates to about 30-40 for us.

The cons: well, it’s in a shopping center, and they are definitely going to want a 5 year lease, with triple net and 3% increase each year. The base rent is reasonable, it's the triple net that adds to cost, and I’m not sure if I want to be locked into a shopping center for 5 years.

We sat down with the realtor, did some number crunching, and we all basically came to the realization, that we need more cash on hand in order to start out of a place like that. Since we’ve never looked at this type of property (shopping center) there were costs we weren’t aware of. (i.e. commercial electric deposit: $2000; signage $4500; letter of credit or min 3 months up front of rent; cash in reserves, etc). He’ll still tell the landlord we’re open to considering it, but will let him know we are not quite in the financial position to start out as big as the place is.

This week, my brother told me about this nature-esque property that he has driven by for months that he thought would be perfect for Terra Luz, it’s only 3 miles from my house on the way to Volente.  I drove by it, called on it, and it’s about to go under contract.

So, this is where we are now. What we need is an investor, or a business loan for what I’m trying to do, and the latter is extremely hard to come by right now with the economy.

We will continue aggressively on the search, but I want families to be aware of the shrinking timeline for our Terra Luz.

Warmest,
Andrea

What does it feel like? (Krista)

Gratitude:

This week at Terra Luz, I am grateful for: the warm sunshine, the joy of playing in the mud (and the fact that the mud is drying up), newly budding leaves on trees, discovering bird's nests, watering the plants and citrus trees, yoga practice outside, bare arms and legs, picture day(s), the return of the sand babies, paper- making and shadow drawing, donated paper-making materials and recycled treasures, reading books outside and doing handstands against the fence...

Paper-Making:

This week, we added water and glitter( also, we accidentally added crushed eggshells, but we won't talk about that) to our container of torn paper.

Over the course of several days, the children used their hands, spatulas, melon-ballers, large kitchen spoons and pie servers to mix the ingredients into pulp.

As you can imagine, the children delighted in this sensory experience.

I asked: What does it feel like?

Damon: It's like wet carpet

Jalie: It's like a soft cricket chirping in there

Jason: Like food

Mia Gleinser: It feels like squishy on my hands

Alaira: It feels like mud

Lucca: It's like grass

Atticus: It feels like jelly

Eddie: It feels like wet

Mia S: It feels like color

The children formed the mixture into 'snowballs' and flattened it into 'pancakes' and sculpted it into 'volcanoes' and 'gardens'.

Corbin said, "I'm making a big ball like on Shawn the Sheep."

As Jalie was pouring water onto the paper, she said, "Paper just loves water!"

When I asked what they thought the next step should be, Allie suggested, "Let's put it in the oven so it can get bakeded."

Natalie thought we should put it in the washing machine for a' longlonglonglonglong' time!

Spring Time Reminders:

Friends, the Texas sun is hot, and it's time for sunscreen. If possible, please put sunscreen on your children before school.

Also, the warm weather means that socks are coming off. We often find socks strewn about the yard or buried in the sandbox, or stuffed into a corner. Would you mind writing your child's initials on their socks? It would help us get them back to you at the end of the day.

Thanks so much for being the wonderful parents that you are, and for arriving each morning with a smile on your face--it's nice to see each and every one of you! Happy Spring Break!

xo

What skills and tools could help us further our shadow exploration?

As I pondered directions to go for our shadow work, I had the idea to have children begin drawing shadows. Many things I love about drawing:

- it helps us examine things with more detail
- it helps us clarify our ideas, creating something concrete and tangible from thoughts that may be a little more nebulous in our heads
- it helps us convey our ideas to others
- it helps us revisit our ideas, inspect them and revise them as necessary

I wanted to see where the children were at, in regards to representational drawing. I offered small groups of children a piece of white paper and I sharpened pencils with them so they could work and rework their drawing if they wanted to. I also set out a few objects on the table if they wanted to use them for inspiration. This is what I noticed:





Though I was interested in their representational drawing skills, I noticed, first, how their grips on the pencil were different. Different grips help and hinder different techniques. They make us use different muscles that affect how much pressure we use, the angle of the pencil, as well as the control and precision of our marks.

I decided to take a step back and look at how we could nurture each of the children's skills, where they were at. What is it about the environment that I can change? What is it about the activity that I can change that would make it more developmentally appropriate? How might these changes help the children to be more successful?

When I think about the basics of drawing (and writing, for that matter), all they really consist of are straight and curved lines. We set out to find straight lines in our environment, tracing our fingers over the line, and then worked on creating straight lines on paper.















The children didn't seem to have much difficulty finding lines in the environment. However, I noticed that there weren't as many "stand alone" curved lines in the environment. They were mainly part of an object (ex. the side of a leaf). It makes me wonder if they would have such an easy time finding curved lines. Another thing that I noticed was that Jason used a different grip when using a pencil and when using a crayon. In reflecting on what I've observed in these two provocations, I think about new questions to move us forward.

What writing/drawing tools can I offer to encourage more precision in their marks? How can we work on looking closer at objects and breaking them down into manageable parts?

As I was talking to Melanie (Damon's mom), she mentioned that some of the basics of drawing start with negative spaces. I don't have all the answers and expertise, but I love that in a community, we are all equipped with different skills, knowledge and expertise that we can draw from!

Stories in Photos

Step One of Papermaking Project



Christine brainstorming with the children ideas about how we can mark the garden paths.



What Gorilla pose looks like (if only you could HEAR it!). Krista is THE master at Gorilla.



Jason LOVING Gorilla pose.


Helping with lunch setup.



"Ms. Andrea, look, I'm a good helper-er!"
-Allie


Christine working with a small group in Atelier





Tea Party Offering, cake included.
by Sophia


Puzzle work. After trial and error, puzzles are completed!





Just a photo I liked. The way the sun warms up the front room makes me feel warm and happy.

What does it sound like? (Krista)

This week, we took the first step in our paper making project: We tore paper.

Each day, the children spent some time tearing paper into small pieces. The goal was to fill a large plastic tub with shredded paper, and after a week of focused effort, the tub is filled to the brim.

We tore (recycled and re-used) construction paper, tissue paper, newspaper, wrapping paper, pages from magazines, and notebook paper.

Together, we noted the similarities and differences between types of paper. We paid particular attention to the sound of paper tearing. We took turns holding strips of paper close to one another's ear and, while our friend was listening, we practiced tearing the paper quickly and then, s-l-o-w-l-y.

I asked, "What does it sound like?"

Alaira: A pig snorting

Lucca: A hungry goat

Jalie: A fire crackling in the sky

Allie: A monster crashing on the floor

Damon: Like toilet paper

Mckenna: Like 'snap'

Corbin: Rocks rubbing together

Sophia: Like a scary noise

Natalie: Like yelling

Mia S: Like mowing the grass

Atticus: Like paper

Next week, we will mix the shredded paper with water and glue...

Conversation between Alaira and Corbin:

Corbin: Orca whales are really big.

Alaira: Yes, they might even be bigger than Ms. Krista!

More conflict resolution (Christine)

One of the things I love about the Reggio philosophy is that they esteem children as equal citizens. They respect their development, skill, and work, even displaying their work alongside their adult counterparts throughout the city. I am often reminded how children are really not so different from us adults.

Today, as we were cleaning up the classroom to prepare for lunch, I overheard Corbin and Jalie arguing. They were pulling the hexogonal puzzle (that the children often pretend to be cake) back and forth, neither child willing to let go.

Corbin: I want to put it away!
Jalie: I want to put it away.
Corbin: No, I want to put it away!

Christine: It looks like you both have ideas about this cake. Can you tell me what your ideas are?
Corbin: I want to put this cake away!
Christine: Jalie, what's your idea?
Jalie: Well, I want to put this cake away.

Christine: So it sounds like Jalie wants to put this cake away and Corbin also wants to put this cake away. You both want to put it away. Is there a way that you can both put it away?

Corbin and Jalie resume expressing their desires to put the cake away.

Christine: So I was wondering if there was a way that you could both put it away. Do you have any ideas?

... (pause)

Corbin: Well, maaaybe, we can put it away TOGETHER!

Corbin and Jalie, still both holding the "cake," walk together to the shelf and put it gently on the top shelf. They looked at each other with wide grins on their face. They turned and grinned at me too. They quickly ran to Ms. Krista and told her the good news that they put the cake away together!

When we're angry, it's hard to think about anything else besides our own needs. It's hard to think about another person when we're in an emotionally charged situation and it's often hard to listen - really listen - to another person and their needs. As Jalie and Corbin demonstrated, sometimes there is a solution where you can meet your own needs AND someone else's needs. What I also noticed was how proud they seemed after they came up with a solution themselves. This was definitely not the solution I would have come up with, but with a little guidance and a little space, the children were able to have pride in accomplishing difficult tasks - reigning in their emotions, and solving their predicament on their own!

Golden Moments

You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by.
Yes, but some of them are golden only because we let them slip.

— James M. Barrier, Author

story boards and a plan for next week (krista)

This week, we continued our work with story boards. Almost everyone has asked to dictate and illustrate a story....some friends have created 4 or 5 story boards.

Alaira has been particularly interested in the process and today, she decided that her story should have a title. She also chose to tell a story about two characters, instead of one central character.

Sophia and Alaira collaborated on a story board today, as well. It was important to the girls that both of their names were credited. I really enjoyed watching them work together in such a respectful way on this creative process.

The children now proudly refer to themselves as authors and illustrators ;).

Looking ahead:

We're going to make paper next week, with the goal of producing enough paper for each friend to make their own book. I've got a paper-making frame and some complicated directions for using it...does anyone have suggestions or a simple guide to making paper? I'm going to look around at crafty blogs this weekend, as well.

Overheard at the lunch table:

Allie: I just cover up my vegetables so I don't have to taste them.

Jalie: You can also try pinching your nose...that really works, too.

Happy Weekend, Happy Sunshine!

xo

Conflicts Resolved, and more...(Krista)

Conflict Resolution at its finest:

Alaira and Natalie got into a heated conflict over the silver teapot this morning. They both wanted to use it, and neither was willing to give an inch. The scene quickly escalated into a teapot tug-o-war with Natalie on the floor, still holding onto the teapot spout and Alaira standing over her, with a death grip on the teapot handle.

Further investigation determined that the REAL issue was that Natalie wanted to serve coffee but Alaira wanted to serve tea.

I assured everyone that we could pretend to serve ANYTHING that we wanted....there was silence as our friends took this in, and THEN in one of those golden moments, a breakthrough occurred.

Mia S.(who, along with McKenna, had been observing this scene with great interest) said, "Yes, we can pretend whatever we want. I can pretend it's MILK!"

McKenna: "And I can pretend it's WATER!"

The conflict was resolved. Alaira began serving cake, and Natalie poured unnamed liquid into cups. The girls went on with their tea party as if nothing had happened.

As I was moving away to work with another child, I heard Natalie say under her breath, "You drink tea with sugar and sugar is bad for your teeth...so this is coffee."

Getting Bigger:

This morning, Allie J said: " I don't want to play, I just want to talk about how I'm getting bigger!"

Thoughts about Spring:

Corbin: It's warm and I like it! In just about one more day Spring will be here!

Jalie: Spring means it's a beautiful day all the time.

Mia Gleinser: We can play hide and seek allllllllll the time!

Sophia: Yes, it's Spring and we garden.

Storytime Deconstructed (Krista)

This week, I offered the children the opportunity to create a "story board".

Jalie, Allie, Damon, Alaira, Jason and Mia Gleinser (she's made a request that I refer to her as Mia Gleinser, instead of Mia G, which I totally understand ;)) were interested in the activity.

Inspiration:

I offered the children a small story board that is divided into 3 sections, an array of markers, pens and colored pencils, the wooden box of sandpaper letters and a basket of various animals and insects for inspiration.

Process:

The creative process was different for each child.

Jalie sorted through the box of letters before choosing the sandpaper letter 'a'. Together we came up with a list of words starting with the letter 'a'.

Here is our list:

apple ant anteater

apple juice Alaira Anika

Allie alligator

After reviewing the list, she decided to tell a story about an ant. She dictated the story to me, and then carefully chose the colors that she would use to illustrate the story. She laid the markers out in a row and worked methodically.

Mia picked 2 frogs out of the basket and set them next to her story board. She tested several colored pencils and markers before finding the ones that matched the color of the frogs exactly. It was important to her that her drawing look like the frogs. She took a lot of time with her illustrations.

Damon referred to his story as a comic book. He said that it was his first comic book and he was incredibly proud of it.

Jason grabbed the markers and began excitedly dictating to me as he drew. He took my finger and placed it on one of his drawings, "This is the plane, right here. Write plane!"

Allie told me several stories before finally letting me write one down. It was important to her that the story ended with everyone's dream coming true.

Alaira asked to do two story boards. She told her stories quickly and with a lot of enthusiasm. She re-told the stories as she illustrated them. Twice, she said that she was finished, and then returned to add some more. She chose to dictate two stories because she thought that the first story was too mean.

The story boards are displayed in the foyer, and the children are quite proud of them, so please take a moment to read their stories next week.

Happy Weekend Everyone! xo

An investigation of shadows (Christine)

The children had begun to do work with shadows right before I joined Terra Luz. Their silhouettes decorate the nap room door. After a long cold and rainy stretch, the sun is finally showing itself, the ground is drying up, and the air is beginning to warm up a bit. We took the opportunity to go outside and explore our shadows again.

In order to move this work forward, I first needed to know where the children were at. What did they know about shadows? I knew that they had associated it with their bodies since their shadows were outlined and we have read a few books about groundhogs and their shadows. I wondered: What kinds of things did the children think had shadows? What were their ideas about shadows? What were their theories about how shadows worked?

On Monday, I went out with Anika, Jalie, Damon, Eddie and Lucca. We first searched for shadows on the covered patio. After a little while without success, Anika ran to the grass, beyond the house's shadow. Eddie followed, and said, "Look! My shadow!" Anika said, "We need to be in the sun!"

I asked if anybody could find any other shadows.

Jalie: I found a shadow!
Christine: Whose shadow did you find?
Jalie: It's a log shadow!
Christine: How did you know it was a log shadow?
Jalie: Because the log was standing right there.

Damon: I chopped the shadow with my boot!
Christine: Which shadow?
Damon: The plant shadow.

Damon: I found a shadow! A slide shadow!
Eddie: I step on it!

Eddie and Lucca were happy to spend much of their time chasing each other's shadows and making their shadows jump.

Damon: Look everyone! It's a house shadow!

I asked if we could make our shadows disappear. Damon, while watching his shadow, backed up until his shadow was enveloped by the house's shadow. "It's gone guys! Can't find it!" I asked where the shadow went. Jalie said, "In the darkness." Damon agreed.

Tuesday, at morning gathering, Andrea asked the children what a shadow was. Here is what they came up with:

Anika: I saw shadows of a lion.
Mia G.: Is black
Jalie: It comes inside when you come inside and it goes outside when you go outside.
Alaira: They are black and so dark.

Later that morning, I went out with Alaira, Corbin, Natalie, Allie and Jason. We first looked on the patio.

Alaira: I don't see any.
Corbin and Allie echoed Alaira's thoughts.
Allie: There's no shadows. Oh! I see a little tiny shadow. A mouse shadow. (pointing to a space underneath the picnic table)

As we were running over to the playhouse to look for some shadows, Natalie shouted, "There's mine!"
Alaira: I see my shadow!
Corbin: I see my shadow!
We looked in the playhouse and Alaira told us, "I don't see any."

I wondered aloud whether we were the only ones with shadows. Did plants have shadows? Or trees?

Alaira: I see one! (pointing to the tree's shadow)
Allie: A tree!
Alaira: A tree shadow!
Allie: Oh! I see one! It's right here! It's a biiig shadow! (standing in the house's shadow)
Jason: My house!

Christine: Can you make your shadow hide? Can you make it disappear?
Alaira: You go into another shadow! (running into the house's shadow)

As Alaira and Jason were both standing next to each other on a slide, Alaira noticed: "Jason's a little bigger than me." Shortly after, she commented, "My shadow's littler than his!"

It appears that the children have a spectrum of understanding. Eddie knows he can make his shadow jump if he jumps. Anika understands that the sun makes shadows. Some of the children understand that shadows are matched to an object. Jalie seems to understand that a shadow follows someone. Alaira knows that shadows can be covered by another shadow, making it disappear.

Many of the children have also been talking about darkness and hiding as well - concepts that are related to shadow exploration. Although I am continuing to discover what the children know about shadows, I also want to figure out what they want to know about shadows. What are they interested in that may drive their investigation forward? Who has similar interests that I can group together to sustain their exploration?

[Quote] Sir Ken Robinson

"Education is about developing human beings, and human development is not mechanical or linear. It is organic and dynamic".

— Sir Ken Robinson, How schools stifle creativity writing on CNN about reaction to his famous TED talk.

Letters, Stories and Yoga (Krista)

This week, we continued our focus on early literacy. In addition to our letter and sound exploration, we explored the different ways to tell a story.

This week, we celebrated the letter ‘D’.

Here is the list of ‘D’ words the children came up with:

Damon Dress Drip

Daddy Dark Drop

Dip Don’t Doll

Drink Dinner Down

(Chef) Dan Dandelion

The children told a tag-team story about a duck and a dog:

(Alaira, Mia G, Jalie, Anika)

Alaira began:

Some ducks were there and they love to swim so so so much!

Mia G:

One duck really liked his friends at school and he played and he swimmed.

Jalie:

Then one duck walked off down the path. He was lonely.

Anika:

Then he was walking around like a little fool, and a monster came and the duck was very scared.

Jalie:

Then a dog came walking down the sidewalk and he was very tired.

Alaira:

Then he laid down and him didn’t take a nap though.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar:

(Corbin, Mia G, Jalie, Lucca, Gwen)

The Process:

First, we read the story together. Then, the children worked together to re-tell the story from memory. Next we re-told the story using special stickers and fold-out scenes from the story. Finally, the children told the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar with yoga poses and body language.

Next week, the children will have the opportunity to create and illustrate a story of their own.

Yoga:

We’re learning a new yoga song that you may be hearing at home. Here it is:

“Om Gwen, celebrate Gwen! Sing it with an open and a joyful heart!

Om Ryland, celebrate Ryland, sing it with an open heart!”

-we repeat until all of the children have been named...try it at home, it'll make you feel happy, i promise!-

Scenes from the classroom:

Lucca and Mia G. taking turns caring for the plants, using a sponge to clean each leaf and talking about the plant's feelings.

Corbin thinking and talking about sea urchins and jellyfish and sharing stories about when he and his momma where swimming in the ocean dodging jellyfish stingers.

Allie and Alaira acting out the story of the three little pigs, ‘puffing and huffing’ until they were red in the face.

Alaira and Corbin discussing whales in the ocean:

Alaira: “ I know what whales sound like. Them say, “woooo-wooooo-woooo” to everybody and that means I love you and I'm really hungry.

Corbin: “Yep, they do, I heard them before. Especially humpback whales are hungry.”

**We said see you later to Ava today. On Monday, she will be going to another school. We're gonna miss her and we send her lots and lots and LOTS of love! We can't wait to hear about all of her new adventures ;).

Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo