Documentation for the week of May 8-12, 2017
Our Field Trip to the Library
We had a great time going to the Chandler Sunset Library on Monday. All the children were so helpful and safe throughout the experience! We safely got into and out of the van, we went to a children's program with many other children, and we took a tour of the library with a librarian named Debbie. After the tour, we played and read books in the children's section. Here are some great quotes from the children to show what they took away from the trip:
Oree: "We were going to a field trip. We were reading books at the library."
Hillel: "I liked when we got to play in the children's area and then I went back when I was not at school and we got a library card. Even babies can have those."
Bayla: "We went on a tour of the library, and did you know we own it?! Do you know how? Because we could get books for free. We don't have to pay!"
Ariel S.: "I liked to play with the pull toys in the kids' area."
Eliya: "When we got there we went in and there was a program. We did a song and there was ABC's and bubbles. Then they gived us a tour, and then we played for a little bit, and then we went back to the school."
Ariel F.: "I liked in the program when she showed us the letter and it had a line and a this kind of loop and this kind also. It was A, B! She pulled from her bag out a real banana and a balloon and a bowl."
Leah: "We went to the bubbles. We saw a pretend person (a mannequin) that had a spatula, and we said goodbye after the field trip."
Imie: "I liked when me and Morah Mirele readed a book together."
Lucy: "I liked when we put the books into the book drop, and then we got to see how the librarian took it out from the other side onto the cart."
Lucy: "I liked when we put the books into the book drop, and then we got to see how the librarian took it out from the other side onto the cart."
Mother's Day Work
The children worked very hard this week to create thoughtful gifts for all of the moms of our class! Each child spoke with a morah about what kind of picture they wanted to draw for their mommy. They then decided if they wanted to look at a picture on the iPad or draw a picture on their own.They also answered questions about their mommies to make a second special gift, and the answers, as always, were so fun to hear! We hope that you enjoyed our Muffins and Moms experience this year!
Building a Safe Obstacle Course
Lucy and Ariel F. were very involved in a specific obstacle course this week. They went to the circle of palm trees and set out two tires, a chair, a table, and the slide on the ground. They put the tunnel on top of it all. Then they took turns climbing through the tunnel. This was challenging, because they could not see where the ground was or where the tires were as they climbed through. They also struggled, because the materials kept shifting beneath them. Throughout their process they were able to stay very calm when it didn't go as planned. They also focused on climbing through the obstacle course safely and worked to help each other by using their words. As Lucy went through, Ariel F. told her to place her hand where she could feel the top of the tire. At one point the structure fell apart, and they rebuilt it with such calm determination. Their focus was rewarded when they rebuilt it successfully!
On Tuesday, they were so excited to return to their work only to discover that the spot where they had built their obstacle course was muddy! They were, again, able to stay calm and find a way to solve the problem. They worked together and asked Morah Tara for help to move all of the materials up the hill to the grass. They began the process of building and climbing through again. It was clear how proud of themselves they felt as they accomplished all the challenges that they faced!
Then Eliya took a turn at running and sliding while Hillel called out, "Ready. Steady. Go!" The children took turns setting out the fabric, negotiating who was going to have the next turn running and the next turn calling out, and then running and sliding. Similar to Ariel F. and Lucy's work, this work showed the Rainbow Class friends' ability to calmly choose a task, solve problems, and work together to enjoy their work and feel an intrinsic sense of reward and accomplishment.
On Tuesday, they were so excited to return to their work only to discover that the spot where they had built their obstacle course was muddy! They were, again, able to stay calm and find a way to solve the problem. They worked together and asked Morah Tara for help to move all of the materials up the hill to the grass. They began the process of building and climbing through again. It was clear how proud of themselves they felt as they accomplished all the challenges that they faced!
Building with a Cord
The Van Horn Family donated several new loose parts to our outdoor classroom this week. The children explored a long cord for a few days. At first Eliya tried to tie it to a tree and climb up the tree using the cord as a belay. This didn't quite work, so he and Hillel tried to tie it to the Chuppah. Next they attached one end to the large play structure outside and then attached the other side to a tree at the top of the hill.
The next day, Leah, Oree, and Imie wanted to take the end of the cord attached to the tree and attach it to the other end of the shade structure. They asked the Morah to help them tie it so tightly around the other side. At this point, everyone was interested in this work. There was already a piece of PVC pipe attached in the middle. The children tried to use the PVC piece as a zip line across the cord. The cord was too rubbery to hold them up, and several friends moved on to other play.
Leah, Oree, Lucy, and Ariel F. chose to keep working with the zip line. At first they tried to use tires standing up and walk across the top. This wasn't really working either. Lucy chose to keep trying this strategy, but Oree and Ariel F. chose to lay the tires underneath the entire length of the cord. This was challenging work, because the tires were so heavy. They spaced them out as Leah helped roll them to the right spot. Eventually Lucy chose to join her friends in their work. They set up the course and then used the rope to walk along the tires. Oree added water inside each of the tires to make it seem like there was hot lava if they touched the ground. Everyone came back at this point to try out the new course. It was amazing to watch such an innovative process occur entirely based on the children's creative ideas.
Adrenaline Rush Risk Taking Exploration
We had the same building work available this week as we did last week. There were many cool structures built, but one of the main activities the children chose to do was to use the large fabrics to create something similar to an indoor slip-n-slide. Eliya and Hillel lay the fabric out making sure that it wasn't twisted at all. Eliya told everyone, "Take off their shoes and socks because if you don't do that then you just slip on the carpet and you won't slide." Once it was flat on the floor, Eliya stood at one end and told his friends to get ready. When he said, "Ready, Steady, Go!" Lucy, Hillel and Imie ran really fast and then slid on the fabric.
Then Eliya took a turn at running and sliding while Hillel called out, "Ready. Steady. Go!" The children took turns setting out the fabric, negotiating who was going to have the next turn running and the next turn calling out, and then running and sliding. Similar to Ariel F. and Lucy's work, this work showed the Rainbow Class friends' ability to calmly choose a task, solve problems, and work together to enjoy their work and feel an intrinsic sense of reward and accomplishment.
A New Vocabulary Word This Week: Manipulation
A popular way to "win" an argument in our classroom lately has been to say something like, "If you don't _____________, then I'm not going to be your friend anymore!" This is a developmentally appropriate behavior, but it is hurtful, and has started to cause problems at school. During morning meeting on Wednesday, we had a discussion about it directly. We brought up a few examples of these occurrences that happened during the week. We asked the children how they felt when a friend said something like this to them.The children reflected that it deeply hurt their feelings when a friend said to them, "I'm not going to be your friend anymore!" or, "...then I'm never going to play with you again!" or, "If you don't _____________, then you can't come to my house for a play date!"
We also asked everyone why they were motivated to make statements like this to their friends. The children were very thoughtful in this reflection activity. Imie said that she had tried and tried to get her friend to play in a different way, but her friend wouldn't listen to her words so she got very frustrated and told them that she wasn't ever going to play with them again. Eliya said that he just wanted a really long turn with a toy, so he said that he wasn't going to be their friend anymore unless they let him have what he wanted. This scenario was hurtful to the friend who brought the toy to school, because they felt obligated to let Eliya have a longer turn, and it was hurtful to the other friends who also wanted a turn. They felt like it wasn't fair and that they were missing out.
Our conversation continued to explore other options. It is hard to say exactly how you feel when you grow more and more frustrated (even for adults!), but it's still important to be truthful in your statements. It's simply not true that a child in our class won't be someone's friend anymore. What is a true statement? It's true that you might feel very angry or very frustrated or that you don't want to play with that person right now. You might also not want to play a particular game with someone, because you were hoping to play in a different way.
We also spoke about how, just like it's not okay for children to manipulate other children, it's not okay for adults to make manipulative choices either. We discussed an example: What if Morah Masha came into our classroom and saw everyone busy at work building structures, and she didn't like it. What if she told Morah Tara, "If you don't change the work in your classroom, then I'm not going to pay you!" Would this be fair to Morah Tara or helpful to solve the problem? What could Morah Masha do or say instead? Ariel S. suggested that Morah Masha could talk to Morah Tara about why she wanted to change the classroom around. Lucy suggested that Morah Masha could ask Morah Tara about why she was letting her students do the work in this way.
After our conversation, we worked to re-frame these statements as they came up in play. The children began stopping themselves mid sentence, and they were able to say something that was more accurate. It's exciting to see progress already occurring, and it is something that we are continuing to work on.
We also spoke about how, just like it's not okay for children to manipulate other children, it's not okay for adults to make manipulative choices either. We discussed an example: What if Morah Masha came into our classroom and saw everyone busy at work building structures, and she didn't like it. What if she told Morah Tara, "If you don't change the work in your classroom, then I'm not going to pay you!" Would this be fair to Morah Tara or helpful to solve the problem? What could Morah Masha do or say instead? Ariel S. suggested that Morah Masha could talk to Morah Tara about why she wanted to change the classroom around. Lucy suggested that Morah Masha could ask Morah Tara about why she was letting her students do the work in this way.
After our conversation, we worked to re-frame these statements as they came up in play. The children began stopping themselves mid sentence, and they were able to say something that was more accurate. It's exciting to see progress already occurring, and it is something that we are continuing to work on.
