wildlilaccdclupine

[wildlilaccdclupine]

This morning I offered a light & drawing provocation. It was interesting to see the ways it branched out.

Everett and Hannah were really interested in the projector itself and all the buttons on it. After some investigating, I found out they wanted to transform the image coming out of it - which is why they were exploring the buttons. I asked them to draw what they'd like to be projected on the wall! They drew rainbow jelly blobs. We did some Youtube research and were able to find something close enough!

Making art then transformed into this discovery of blank paper perfectly capturing the image projected. They invented a game where you move the paper around to catch the blobs.

It was cool to see how dynamic a space could become when using media and light. It created a new dimension that sparked creativity in art, dramatic play, and game developing.

#light provocation

[wildlilaccdclupine]

Preschool Movie Night and Pizza Party - Friday, August 13th 2021

On Friday, our two oldest Preschool classrooms had parties to celebrate students who will soon graduate and go off to Kindergarten.

This has always been a very special occasion at Wild Lilac, where children get dropped off in their pjs to get cozy in their classrooms, eat pizza and watch a movie they voted on earlier in the week.

We usually make the pizza together, but, being socked in this hazy, smokey heat wave for the last week has had me thinking up lunch ideas that use as little heating elements as possible. So we ordered the 'abeetz.

I wanted dessert to feel really special so I made three-layer hummingbird cakes and iced them with cream cheese frosting. Presenting the blank canvas of cake to the students, plus a bowl of thick coconut flakes and a foraging of edible blooms from the garden, they collaborated to create cakescapes so stunningly beautiful, we were all completely bedazzled by them.

It felt meaningful to share in the experience of spending time together, creating something that made us all feel happy. The plants we used, we've watched grow and helped nurture over the last year, and it all reminded me of the growth we have experienced this last year, both as individuals and as a community... a community I am very grateful to be a part of.

[wildlilaccdclupine]

August inquiries

As we dive into rocks, plants, and wildlife - we mirror a "big idea" we've dove into a lot this year; zooming in. As Christine Chaillé says, "this big idea capitalizes on something that children find fascinating - changing perspective".

Using our microscope one morning, we zoom into details of life around us. We take a walk around campus to find bugs, plants, ordinary objects, hair follicles. As we zoom into a piece of hair, Anna says 'it looks like a rope up close'. Then we use loupes to look up close at rocks, crystals, petrified wood. Kieran notices "there's dirt stuck in this rock' while Morgan zooms in and notices paint on another rock. This act of slowing down is a subtle way we engage in emotional regulation as well.

One way we take big ideas and learning with us is by jumping into symbolic play / role-play. Piaget says that "pretend play is a way that children assimilate concepts and ideas, practicing and expanding their ideas about how things are 'supposed to work'". We add props to support these scripts and interests. As our wildlife and rocks study continues, we noticed more collaborative play around animals - studying what 'pacts' and 'herds' are - seeing some risky play surrounding these ideas, and then moving into our social-emotional curriculum within the context of these role playing games.

Some games persist over weeks, like the wolf pack in our class, the bears that climb, the unicorns that have elaborate parties. Within our social-emotional curriculum, we notice these skills emerging: cooperative play, emotional awareness, conflict resolution, bargaining, communicating ideas, etc. Most of these skills emerge through peer to peer interaction through play. There are challenging moments, scary moments, tricky-to-navigate moments... and we always work through them. Growth is not rapid or linear.

We explore transformation with natural materials. We offer invitations such as painting gems and crystals, creating a kaleidoscope with rocks, painting wood outside, mixing rocks with clay, other multi-media projects.

Literature and storytelling are huge parts of how we learn and communicate as well. We introduces stories around rocks and wildlife - some from an indigenous lens-talking about cultural meaning of stones, some stories about magical stones, some about worry stones / the peaceful qualities of rocks.

We weave in elements of storytelling to scaffold new ideas about friendship, problem solving, and concepts that are directly related to our class. The other day we offered a story about a dragon who learned to harness their fire breath by carrying a worry stone. We then read about about a friendship where two friends can't live without each other, but learn to recognize when they need space, and it strengthen their friendship.

All these big ideas and threads of inquiry we have followed all relate to the potpourri of learning going on within the class. Learning is so embedded into every part of children's days, within stories/art/play/hard times/transitions/drama.

[wildlilaccdclupine]

Wednesday, July 28th 2021

Hi everyone! I am happy to be back with the Lupines. A lot of the stories I told them about my time away were about rocks and minerals / wildlife in Texas and Louisiana. I got to see some awesome museums - one with a magical cave of crystals (some bigger than my body!), being near swamps with alligators and snapping turtles, a very dry desert biome, lots of cool wildlife. It sparked Lupines talking about what they love and know around them, or maybe a lake they visited on vacation, going to the coast, mining, crystal collections at home, and revisiting the very magical qualities of minerals and plant life.

We started today with a walk to collect plants and rocks around the neighborhood. We taped them to paper and will spend some time trying to identify them. We even found a couple feathers.

Then we took a good look at some stones, petrified wood, other neat items with powerful magnifying eye glasses. We moved into representational drawings afterwards. Anna was proud of her rainbow rock, which she noticed was a bit translucent when you hold it up to the sun.

Many of the stories we tell feature a magical object from the natural world. Naturally, they place a lot of power in these objects. It is no wonder why tiny gems are the most popular item in the classroom all year. The coming weeks we will be weaving elements of storytelling into our studies of the natural world.

Do you have any stories about discovering a cool piece of the natural world? Any cool collections in a shoebox at home?

[wildlilaccdclupine]

June 25th, 2021: Nature Print, Family Invitation

What a beautiful summer morning to create artwork together.

We set up open ended materials and blank paper and saw some lovely creations being made! With just paint, flowers, leaves, paper, and lace, it was so interesting to see all the ways art can be created.

Caregivers are a central part of learning on a daily basis. You are the child's first teacher! We love to work together with you and collaborate on how best to support your children.

Lennon and Taryn create parallel paintings. Morgan and Nicolle make paintings with natural materials and use folding to get a symmetrical look.

Gulshan and Raiahna use leaves and roses to print on art. Then Raihana uses her hands.

Jamie and Anna also create parallel artwork. Anna says "mom you can make your own!" and they both used leaves to paint. Nico works on covering the entire paper with purple.

Danica and Aliyah paint the tops of roses and use them as stamps. Tilda works on painting over lace and lifting it up to see what happens.

Some folks make an second or third!

Thanks for spending the morning together :)

[wildlilaccdclupine]

More scenes from the studio today.

"I'm gonna pour the paint in. I wonder what's gonna happen? Let's see." Anna, age 5

[wildlilaccdclupine]

Skills we are working on...

Collaborating. Power play. Negotiating turns.

Now that sensory tables are back, we've been able to practice social skills, regulating techniques, creativity, multi-sensory learning, and experimenting! In the water table, we see many elements in math and scientific thinking woven into play. The Lupines build elaborate water contraptions and wonder... if I move these materials here what will happen? What sounds? What movement? They play 'sink or swim' and build theories. Ton's of schemas are at work here (link embedded on schema theory!)

Power play is an umbrella term for the many ways children explore being in power and exploring safety. With attentive adults and agreement setting as a baseline... lupines are free to explore the complex negotiation and social skills that come from power play. We explore important feelings and concepts like 'bad guys' 'jail' 'fighting' 'good and bad dynamics' through social stories, in our morning meetings, and in small group settings.

We've also added some classroom tools and strategies for more nuanced negotiating. We added sand timers, either 1-3-5 minutes long. We encourage children to set times for turns amongst themselves. When a teacher sets a timer for them, power struggles can occur as usually it feels imbalanced. Lupines might say 'but my turn isn't over?'. With a bright visual cue like our large sandtimers, they feel more at ease saying '2 more minutes' versus relying on an adults phone...

We've also added 'saving ropes' which helps the lupines save work, structures, or materials they are using. We have been working on the idea that even when you set something down, you can still be using it. A lot of hurt feelings and conflicts arise when a child takes a toy they thought someone wasn't using.. only to find out they had just walked away. With that being said, we have had some growing pains moving into a new train of thought around this. It is getting easier and easier to check in and say 'are you done with this?' before hand.

In small groups, we've been developing a curriculum around certain words we've been hearing. You may have heard 'boyfriend or girlfriend' or 'kissing' at home. We're using an age appropriate guide from this website to guide conversations around bodies / relationships / friendships. Preschool aged children are: curious and exploring differences. They are also acting out different themes they have heard in their own life or through dramatic play with peers. We have defined the words we heard from the Lupines to gather what everyone knows. We want children to feel safe, good about their friendships, and empowered. We focus on consent and body language. "If someone doesn't say YES, they don't want to be hugged". We've been verbally checking in with people too.. "Is it okay if they hug you right now? I see you're smiling but didn't hear a yes". And that gives them a chance to reply.

Other things we've been up to...

Storytelling. Costume making. Theatre club. Lego club. Tasty Tuesdays. Larping. Making food. Hobgoblins. ensory bins. City building. Play play play!

[wildlilaccdclupine]

Friday, May 28th

Today Ashlynn invited a group of Lupines to participate in a literacy activity. She began by reading "Chicka Chicka Boom boom" at morning meeting. Because it's familiar, the Lupines were able to quote it as she read it.

A couple friends notice one of the letters is missing a tooth. They talk about how they just lost teeth too!

Another Lupine wonders... "shouldn't they go one at a time in the tree?"

After breakfast, Ashlynn invites her group outside. They are 'digging for literacy"! There's a mystery... someone has planted your names in the garden. Can you find your name? Can you find the letters that make up your name too?

As they find the letters and names, they sound out each letter. "L... that goes "LAH-LAH" and Hannah guesses, this must be Lennon's name!

Silas says, "q.... r...." and makes the sounds.

As they discover their friends names, they go give their friend the plant they pulled up.

After everything is found, they line up all the letters and make words. They spell 'cat' and 'rat' .. and 'Lacey' and 'Silas'!

[wildlilaccdclupine]

Benny tells a circle story today about a mythical creature's journey to accepting that things didn't quite go their way. It was to follow up an emotional time during lunch while the Lupines were disappointed they didn't get the color cups they wanted! They expressed empathy and curiosity alongside the creature's tale.

Today, Lupines were noticing trash on the play yard (remnants of granola bars, hidden snacking areas, plastic, broken toys). Frances wonders... "I bet it was Tiamat [a 5-headed-dragon], she got hungry and ate these snacks". Aliyah says "well, Tiamat is an adult and should know to throw her trash away and not litter". I suggested we start a clean up party. Noble asked for gloves. We all put gloves on and did a round on campus. We filled an entire bucket up with trash and they asked if we could go around the neighborhood! Maybe another time... Those messy dragons...

Wally and Lennon build a staircase to climb to the roof. They work on their computers and books with a good view.

We had an epic and long game of hide and seek! We tried all variations. First: class-wide hide and seek. Then we tried sardines. I went and hid behind a tree, and slowly as the Lupines found me, they quietly joined me. The last one looking was Benny so the Lupines laughed and laughed at how long we could hide quietly in a pile.

Then we played ghost in the graveyard, which pivoted into spooky stories.

Wally works on a board game and needs help numbering it. Frances writes down all the numbers she knows. Wally points at 10 "ten! that's the number I was trying to write" then slowly copies. Frances says "it's a line from top to bottom, then a circle, you can do it!".

Peers teaching peers <3

Anna and Elliot spend time with "Buddha Boards" which are for painting on... with water! You paint with water on a blank slate and the image turns black. As the water dries, the image disappears. It's a great way to self-regulate and practice mindfulness (and a great way to save paper). Elliot says "I painted the whole thing black, so it will take a LONG time to dry" as it dries, he gets excited and covers it again. Anna draws flowers and bees and also thinks it's hilarious when they disappear.

We also added some ambient star lighting in the class. In the background you can see Hannah and Morgan going :O !!! as they notice the spinning galaxy on the ceiling. Leo uses this as a chance to enhance his storytelling. At one point, Caspar puts the light in a box and told stories in the box.

That's it and it's only Wednesday!

[wildlilaccdclupine]

Monday, May 21st 2021

"Hey Lupines, want to join me for a walking tour through the Sensory Circle?"

"Sure!"

We explored a large variety of plants, many of which are blooming or are about to bloom.

We noticed:

Valerian -flowers, pungent, earthy smell

Bee Balm -no flowers

Sweet Sicily-flowers and seed pods, faint licorice scent

Violette Artichoke- currently flowering!

Spearmint- so much mint! (We are going to harvest and dry for tea on Wednesday)

Oregano- spicy

Lavender- lots of lavender plants here, both English and Spanish varieties. We noticed one in full bloom, and someone pointed across the circle at another big bush, "LAVENDER!" A third bush had yet to flower...

Snap Dragon- red flowers that smell like apples

Chives- "I love chives!" onion, spice, sweet

I will be ordering steel plant tags this week for all of our perennials so we could visit these plants and get to know them and their uses and abilities! Lots of project work comes out of the sensory circle in the summer, from drying and bundling herbs, to making teas and salves and potpourris and other colorful mixtures. Our greenhouse known as the Conservatory will be equipped with materials to guide this learning!

[wildlilaccdclupine]

A few candids from last week. Love these Lupines!

Caspar splashes around a pot of water and laughs uncontrollably.

Caspar and Everett make robots out of Lego.

Wally and Lennon bring bookmaking outside.

The lupines ask me to kick exercise balls at them.

We watch a rolleeepolleeolleee (pill bug) crawl to safety.

[wildlilaccdclupine]

It might not sound like a big deal, but collective sensory tables are back!

As a late afternoon provocation I set up some dried flowers, a couple gems, a pitcher for water, containers and some sand. Naturally they were inquisitive and immediately began experimenting. It started off as… What can adding one thing to another lead to? Then the experimentation process quickly turned into… What happens if we add a lot? It was a lot like alchemy.

Noble ran inside to grab some magnifying glasses to check out plants. Anna was adding water to make mud and then covering rocks with it. She would rinse it off to see if they changes colors. Then she used a strainer and poured water over flowers and called it tea. As she added water, Casper thought, this is like cooking a bit. So the science experiment ended up turning into some cooking experiments!

#science #preschool #inquiry #sensory fun

[wildlilaccdclupine]

sloooowwwwwwmooooo

[wildlilaccdclupine]

We spent the last hour of the day telling stories with natural materials in the sandbox: Dungeons an Dragons style! Collaborative adventuring. We defeated a big dragon and rescued a magic book. They broke off into small groups for alternative endings.

#storytelling

[wildlilaccdclupine]

Today we’re doing research on transportation in the neighborhood.

We started with a survey: mark a Talley anytime you see a bike, a car, a bus, someone walking. We went to ‘the busiest part of the neighborhood’ again and observed.

Of course we wanted to go through the alley again as a nice hike.

We discovered KERN PARK at the end!!!

‘I cant believe I got this much data!!!’ - Aliyah

[wildlilaccdclupine]

May 11th, 2021: We took a vote on neighborhood landmarks that we wanted to study. 4/5 said... cemetery! After rest time’s spooky stories, this wasn’t surprising. We walked to the cemetery on Holgate. We stopped to talk about agreements we would uphold: quiet voices, look with eyes not hands, walk not run, and to leave flowers where they are.

We took a moment to document this area. Aliyah drew: “this is a gravestone. There’s two people on it. Were they buried together?”

(On right) They all line up in front of a gravestone with a picture of a young boy on it. “Wow, do you think he was sick?” Lennon wonders. Hannah says “we wish you would come to life and we would play with you!” And we move on.

After I read the gravestone aloud, Lennon wonders: “the 1900’s... didn’t people not wear clothes then? And everyone was sick!”

We end our time by blowing out dandelions and making wishes for everyone here.

Some questions they had, that we will do research on:

Why are there flowers on some gravestones?

Why are some bigger than others?

Why are people buried here?

Why are there kids here?

Since we set out to document important parts of the neighborhood as we develop our own in the class, this was a good opportunity for perspective taking and sharing experiences from our own lives.

And tomorrow, we study the library!

#neighborhood #inquiry

[wildlilaccdclupine]

We were inspired by a book written by children from Reggio Emelia: their guide to the city!

So we went out to document important parts of our neighborhood.

First, we stopped at 72nd and Center which is a four way crosswalk. It’s ‘the busiest street’ (Aliyah). It also has ‘beautiful purple flowers’ (Hannah) ‘lots of archways’ (Aliyah) and ‘fire hydrants and construction signs’ (Kieran).

Then we stopped by a beautiful lush alleyway that connects between the neighborhood. The overgrown plants, the butterflies, the backs of houses, the peculiar fruits everywhere.. was a magical place to study. “This is like a desert hike!!” Aliyah and Hannah discovered. Kieran said “we can see into houses. Look at those cats!”. Silas wondered if cars even drive back here anymore. Then he pointed out a hummingbird.

We’re planning to use this inspiration to continue developing our model city/neighborhood this week.

I’ll post their drawings later!