ELC

In reading Innovations, a quarterly periodical of the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance, I came across a quote written by philosopher, Remo Bodei:  “Suspend obviousness, and keep alive the ability to discover the fact that there is always a surplus of meanings.” Obviousness is based upon assumptions, so that if we are able to suspend obviousness, we have the possibility to open up our curiosity to something that we did not realize before.  Listening closely to the children’s voices and ways of expression, we are constantly reminded to suspend our obviousness.  In both the E1 blog and the E2 blog, the concept of ‘change’ was approached from different perspectives – change as in the awareness that the younger E1 children will be in the E2 class, physical change for the E2 children to move to the main school, or change as in the realization of having different teachers. Suspending our obviousness, we realized a surplus of underlying meanings, interestingly, where the focus of both the E1 and E2 children remained with the teachers, the wish to continue to be together, as expressed through the questions posed by the E2 children to the K teachers, and the E1 children’s straightforward query on why the teacher cannot be with them the following year.  In the Atelier blog, the suspension of the obvious, where a child’s approach to learning is sustained and different to the usual disposition, reminds us and be well advised to listen closely and to observe with patience to the potentials of each and every child.

The children explore and create many different things in the Atelier, and their approach toward their creations is also not always the same. Their approach could be determined by the mood they are in or which friends they interact with in the Atelier. Or some other factors could possibly influence their approach.An experience of an E2 child on a particular day helps me make this statement.

On his previous visits to the Atelier, he came to the Atelier with his friend during free exploration time. He explored the light table with sand for a while. Then, he followed his friend by making and mixing colors then painted afterwards. He would generally spend about 15 minutes in the Atelier. It was natural for me to see him spend short spurts of time exploring in the Atelier.

He is verbally expressive when he wants to share his ideas and imagination but it seems it is more challenging for him to communicate his thoughts through his creations. Oftentimes, it appears as if he is in a rush and expects to have an instant outcome. I wonder if he becomes frustrated or disappointed because his creation does not reflect precisely what he sees in his mind.

However, recently there was a memorable day when he demonstrated a different approach through his drawing. On this particular day, he decided to visit the Atelier by himself during free exploration time. He chose to draw on a big sheet of paper with crayons. First, he selected a red crayon and drew the outline. Then he gradually drew more and more details inside of it. From time to time he stopped his hand and paused, and sat up as he checked the entirety of his drawing. He was very focused on his drawing and was not distracted. When he finished, he told me in detail his drawing. “It’s a hotel. This is a vending machine. This is a changing place and you can go to a pool. This is attic. This is a slide and this is a playground. This is flower, TV and this is a table.”

I appreciate his concentration and the effort he had put into his drawing. He told me about the hotel in Thailand where he stayed. Perhaps he was seeing it vividly in his mind while he was drawing. Then his red hotel reminded me of the spider web with the red yarn that an E1 child made before. Like the representation of the spider web, the color red possibly best represents his impression and emotion about the hotel. His memorable experience in Thailand might have influenced how he approached his drawing that day.

This week we began discussing how our E1 class group will change next school year, with some of the children moving on to E2, some of the children staying in E1 and welcoming new friends and a new teacher, and some of the  children and also Ms Emma going to live in a new country.  The children began to think about how these changes would be . . .

“Are you (Ms Emma) going with me?  I want you to stay in E2″.

“I know the E2 teacher, Ms Clair”.

“I like E2 because I like E2, like this (swinging on the monkey bars)”.

“Why you are in another country?  You finish in your country, then you come back to E2.  We go to Sweden for holiday and then come back to E2″.

“No!  Not E1, I want Elly-Grace, E2!”

“But when we go outside, that’s when we will still see each other.  The E1 and the E2″.

The children that will be moving to the E2 class in August decided that they would like to visit the classroom so they could learn more about what E2 is like.  They wrote messages and took them to the E2 class to ask if they could come and visit.  The following day these children spent time in the E2 class with the E2 children.  The E2 children were great leaders in helping the E1 children to get to know the E2 classroom.  The E1 children had an enjoyable time an asked if they could visit again another day.

In the coming weeks we will continue to think about how the class group will change after the school year ends.

This week we have started our fourth and final Unit of Inquiry, “Where We Are in Place and Time”. We are inquiring into “orientation in place and time, personal histories and discoveries.”  The central idea is “change is inevitable and affects our lives.” As the teachers discussed how to approach this unit in E2, Ms. Emma from E1 mentioned that some of the children had expressed an interest in seeing what goes on in E2. Recognizing that this would be a wonderful way to introduce the unit, Ms. Emma brought the transitioning E1 children to ask if they could come and visit the E2 classroom and children. Initially, E2 was curious about why the E1 children wanted to visit but it soon became clear that these were the  children who would be moving up to E2 and probably had a lot of questions about what it would be like.

The visit motivated the E2 children to start thinking about their transition into Kindergarten in August. During our meeting time they listened to and shared a number of questions they all had about the “big school”. It was decided that letters would be written to each of the Kindergarten teachers to inquire about this unfamiliar place and new people.

“Hello Ms. Natasha and Ms. Zoe,

Jaiden – This message is from E2.

Jacob – What are the big children like? 

Jacob – What do you look like?  Scarlett – Do you have short hair or long hair?   Jacob – Do you have a nice face?

Ruby – Or a smiley face?  Scarlett – Are you kind?  Sofia – Are you friendly?

Angus – What do you like to wear?  Kieran – Do you like to wear spots?  Scarlett – Or stripes?  Sofia – Do you wear beautiful dresses?

Jacob – What do you do?  Ruby – Do you just play with kids?  Jacob – Do you do work and looking what’s happening?

Ray – Do you have a computer?  Jacob – Do you do like emails?

Jaiden – Like on the computer?  Ruby – On her computer, writing stuff.

Jacob – What is the food like there? Do you go outside?

Kieran – Can we visit you for one day and also when is a good time to visit you for one day? We would like to see what it is like.”

A small group of children delivered the letters and the Kindergarten teachers, Ms. Zoe and Ms. Tasha, were only too happy to answer all their questions while some of the E2 children recorded their answers, drew pictures of the teachers and took photographs to share the information with the rest of their class. Ms. Zoe and Ms. Tasha agreed to discuss a future visit with the entire E2 class and Kindergarten children and invited E2 to write any further questions they might have in an email.

Over the next few weeks the children will be investigating the changes that they have gone through since last August when they started in E2 and how these are affecting their lives. We will be visiting the Kindergarten classes in the near future to help the children prepare for their transition and the many changes that await them.

The image of the child that we hold at the ELC is a child who is capable and competent, a child who is resourceful and full of potential, who constantly interacts with the surrounding world to find and give meaning of what we do, say and think.

If we, as adults, think in this way, then we realize that as teachers, we have the responsibility to provide contexts for the children to discover, to learn, to understand with each and every encounter. What contexts have we provided for the children? In the E2 blog, the teachers have provided an authentic context for writing, sending a message to a dear friend who will not be returning to their class. We discover with much delight the children’s choice to send messages rendered by pencils, markers, drawings, as opposed to a digital interface, signifying perhaps ‘a gift’ for their friend which can be opened by the very own hands of the receiver. In the Atelier blog, the teacher’s intentional work provides a context for the children to develop the sensibility and awareness of the relationship between the languages of music and drawing. In the E1 blog, the context of cooking with an intention to share the food with an extended group of children has equally extended the children’s learning and understanding on what it means to share with not only their close friends, but with others who show appreciation for their efforts and acts of inclusion.

What are our ways of seeing to continue to provide contexts, through the physical environment and intelligent materials for further encounters with the children offering a balance between the things of the world with what we know and what we don’t know?

It happens quite naturally and spontaneously that children sing different kinds of melodies while they explore in the Atelier. They can very easily find connections and create relationships with what they are doing and with music, as they hum and sing while they work. It appears that their ideas and processes of their creations in the Atelier inspire them to sing or hum a certain type of song or melody.

From this observation, I then wondered what would happen if they listened to music first? What image or feeling would music give to the children? What would they create after listening to a particular type of music?

In our recent E1 Small Group Work, I decided to have the children listen to a piece of classical music, Canon in D by Bach. I provided them with paper and colored pencils to draw after listening to the music.The children were asked to close their eyes and listen to the music. Some children had smiles on their faces while listening. Some were swaying their heads and bodies in tune with the melody. Some were seriously focused on listening. The children listened in their own different ways.Then they shared the images and feelings that they received from their listening to the music by Bach.

“I felt soft, not sad.”   “Happy.”  “Feels like falling asleep.”

 “I like it. It’s comfy.”

"Blanket and Pillow"

Some children demonstrated their thoughts about the music by making different lines and strokes with their pencils.

Some children had clearer images and stories in their minds and expressed these thoughts by drawing with colored pencils and colored paper that they personally selected.

“Cinderella is climbing a tree and coming to the water and falling down.”

“Princess and king. Princess is happy. The king says ‘Princess and boy dance together!’ Then they dance and happy together!”

 Just as one object can provide many different points of view and ways of seeing, the impressions that the children received from one piece of music were varied. One piece of music provoked different images and emotions in the children.

I wonder if they were to listen to a different type of music, what feelings and images might occur?

We recently discovered that a member of the class, who had been absent for some time, was not going to return to the ELC. The children were saddened by this news, as they did not have the opportunity to say goodbye to their dear friend.

The children were invited to consider ways in which they could say farewell. The teachers anticipated that this context would provoke a response suited for using technology through a Skype call, a video message or email communication.

“Or we can just think about sending him a message to say good-bye to Hyeon-Jo. We can send it to Hyeon-Jo. A poster. The postman will pick it up and put it in his mail bag and take it.”

“We can say good-bye, we can write something on the letter and write good-bye in Korean and put it in a note card and tape it and put a stamp and that says go to Korea and then it gets to Korea and it will go and they put it in his mailbox.” 

“I like those ideas, that’s a good idea.”

“I agree. I like, I agree writing a message and send it to them. But this is the problem with that because we don’t know how to write Korea.”

Despite various problems identified and theories about how the letter will reach Hyeon-Jo, the children persisted with their ideas.

The children agreed that they would prefer to send a letter to Hyeon-Jo in the post. The teachers wondered what is so appealing about letters,

“Because you can draw on it.”

“We love drawing.” 

“You can say something to him even though he’s not in your country. I wrote a letter to my old friend Oliver. I wrote something to say thank you for letting us stay there at your house.”

“My Auntie gave me sparkle letters. I did like it.”

“That’s what my Grandma gives me. Sparkles in different colours and a watch.”

Perhaps a letter symbolizes friendship and love?

Perhaps it is the importance attached to making something special for another person?

Perhaps it is the element of surprise and delight when a letter arrives?

Perhaps learning to read and write is a fascinating and extraordinary adventure which letters are a part of?

The children re-focussed and embarked on a journey of writing messages with sensitive affinity towards their absent friend. The messages became a way to create, reinforce and re-establish a bond.

All agree that Hyeon-Jo will be delighted to receive their letter. Even though the children are separated from their friend by a huge distance the messages created a situation for dialogue and communication and represented the exchange of gestures of friendship. The magic of the traditional letter lives on to enchant the children’s hearts filling them with joy.

We began a new round of Small Group Work this week and decided to continue having one of the groups engage in cooking.  This week’s group worked together to make strawberry pikelets (mini pancakes).  As always, this experience framed a context for the children to come together as a group and consider each other through the need to take turns throughout the process.  Further to this is the notion of sharing their cooking with their peers and teachers.  In their time together as a class, the E1 children have forged close relationships with each other and very much see themselves as a group.  They are conscious of how their choices and actions affect others and have discovered why and how to share.  Therefore they not only accept but take pleasure in a context such as cooking, to be able to share with their E1 peers and teachers.

We decided to add a new layer to the concept of sharing by suggesting that the children who made the pikelets also offer some to the E2 children.  The E1 children are aware of the E2s and have had some experience with forging relationships with them on occasions when both classes are having Outdoor Exploration at the same time.  However they certainly do not have the same connection with the E2 children as they do with their E1 friends so naturally when it was suggested that they share the children questioned, “Why?”  or even detested, “No, I don’t like that, only E1!”  The teacher explained that like the E1 children, the E2 children might also like to eat a pikelet so the children agreed that they could share.  The experience of presenting the pikelets to the E2 children helped the E1 children build further meaning around sharing as they were greeted with many forms of gratitude from the E2 children, provoking the following reflection from one E1 child,

“We give the pikelets to the E2 and E2 is so, so happy!”

We see things around us everyday, but not necessarily pay attention or ‘listen’ to them closely. Ordinary moments or things can transform into extraordinary experiences for the children, if we as adults are also able to listen to those moments with care and sensitivity to scaffold the children’s learning. It’s fascinating.

It was still wintertime. The E2 children had an opportunity to share their thoughts about the bulbs they had planted in our garden during our rotation of Small Group Work. “What’s happening underground?” “What’s going to happen to the bulbs?” The children showed and transferred their theories and thoughts about their questions through drawing. Some of the children offered to explain in further detail their ideas when finished with their drawings.

“It (the bulb) is pushing, pushing, and pushing it up.  It’s going to be a sunflower because it is made from the sun.”

“Inside (of the bulb) is ants’ home, maybe baby bugs home.”

“…Up and up and it grows like that. Then it makes a flower… like rose.”

 After the spring break, we revisited their previous drawings and comments once again and searched for the bulbs in our garden. “It’s here! It’s here!”, one child exclaimed, then other children gathered around. They discovered that the bulbs grew and turned out to be tulips. They looked for tulips everywhere in our garden. They smelled them and touched them. The tulips have actually been blooming for a while, but they looked and appreciated them with so much fascination as if they were seeing these flowers for the first time. The transformation of the bulbs into tulips offered a beautiful provocation for the children into their awareness of appreciating the beauty of spring.  I decided to offer the children an opportunity to create still-life portraits. We carefully chose one tulip, brought it back to the Atelier and put it in a vase. I provided the same medium that we had used when they drew persimmons/Kaki in their previous still-life portraits experience so that they would feel more confident about this experience. The shape and color of the tulip is more complex than the persimmons they had drawn before. The children tried to pay close attention to the tulip. I observed that children drew it from different points of view. Some children developed empathy for the tulip through their drawings. One child said,” It’s tulip. I worked so hard. I feel very sad if people rip it.”

As children transfer their ideas into drawing with intent focus, we find how they modify and enrich their thinking, establishing a deeper relationship and understanding of the object. The other day, a child called me when the E2 children had their outdoor exploration. “Ms.Yuka, Look! I found a purple tulip!” Possibly for the children, the ‘ordinary’ flower has now transformed into an ‘extraordinary’ flower.

Over the past two weeks the children have been eagerly engaged in a project whose roots were planted well before our spring holiday. It seems an idea that they had at that time has stuck with them and their enthusiasm and interest on the subject had not waned. Therefore, we find ourselves in the midst of authoring our stories of The Rainbow Castle.

Looking back, their initial desire to express themselves and share their story in an assembly had two possibilities. The children were equally interested in writing a book, as well as, performing a play. After the performance of the play the topic of the book was raised again and their individual ideas and wishes were shared.

Throughout the year the children have been aware and shown understanding for the need to communicate in all the languages spoken in the classroom, so that all the Mommies and Daddies could understand. Writing the story in “English, Japanese, Korean, Dutch and Australian” was important to them.

The point was raised that some of us don’t know how to make a book. Some children with previous experience promised to show everyone how they created their books. “We have to draw picture or take the photos on the computer and paste them into here.” This got others thinking and additional suggestions were made: “I have an idea. We can draw the pictures in this book and then put it on this book on a line and then I’ll work on a double picture, one by one, that’s attached and put it in the big one.”

To help the children remember the story they took turns retelling their tale once again, something they never tire of. We posted the story map that was created early in the project and through the writing process they continuously referred to it for characters, settings and sequencing of events.

The question was raised “How will we write it?” Once again the children had a number of solutions to help them record their story.  “The teacher to write it with a pencil. Write it on the computer. I want my mommy to write it. I’m writing 6, 10 pages by myself.”

It is such a joy to witness the children so genuinely engaged in this creative process, drawing, creating, writing and communicating in such a supportive team manner. They are clearly demonstrating so much wonderful individual growth and development.