ELC

At this time of year, the excitement and inquiry that naturally appears during morning exploration is somehow deepened into a time that carries greater bonds, interactions, and concentration. The weather allows for the opening of spaces and the children reflect in their play how their friendships, their confidence, and their interests have developed and matured throughout the year. At times, E1 and E2 children choose to explore in each other’s classrooms, to play together or side by side. Outside play increases and events such as the blooming of the roses in the park add another dimension to the explorations. Last week the E1 class was in awe of the roses on their way back from the library. The walk through the rosegarden has become a part of our Friday experience and the transformation over the course of a couple weeks from buds to a rainbow of blossoms was astounding to us all.

This week a few E1 and E2 children chose to return to the garden, taking in the many colors and smells and enjoying a time for reflective observation and drawing. The inquiry that goes through a child’s mind during play or sustained concentration can not always be known or documented, but the contentment and happiness that arises can be sensed and noticed. These are feeling that we are all familiar with, when we are with people and in an environment that we know and care about. This is the essence of the ELC and the environment that surrounds us.

The weather has changed, and with it, new explorations have been occurring in our outdoor environments: Bob has emerged from his hibernation, the snap peas have grown big enough to be eaten off the stalk, the violas and pansies have turned to seed.

With this change, both old and new spaces begin to be used in different ways. The opening of the small sand play area in the back of the ELC leads to new surprises and discoveries.

“Shall we open up the sand area in the back?”

“Yeah!”

“I want to go there!”

“Let’s bring some shovels and buckets!”

A small group of children choose to play in the back sand area, ready with shovels and buckets, yet a surprise waits for everyone.

The large white tarps are lifted and secured and below the tarp the teacher immediately notices the large plastic basket that already contains shovels and buckets.

The children, on the other hand, immediately notice something completely different: Rolly Pollies!

The conversations and careful play that ensue do not require buckets or spades: the small little woodlice, the rolly pollies, take center stage.

“Look! Look! Rolly pollies!”

“I see a baby one!” “It’s so cute!”

“I see a daddy one!”

“I like it!” (as the child lets the woodlouse crawl on her hand) “It is a little bit ouchy!”

“Ouchy? Can I try?” (the teacher follows the lead of the child to see if the woodlouse’s trek on skin might be ouchy.) “Oh, I see, a little ouchy to you, a little ticklish to me!”

“It’s dead, look look!” ( A dead woodlouse is found)

“Maybe somebody have a knife!” “Somebody go like this! (child indicates the chop of a knife)

“There are so many! Look look!”

“Do you want to try? I’ll help you.” (child encourages another child to try holding the rolly polly)

The tentative child briefly allows the woodlouse to crawl on his hand and says, “It’s ouchy.” “I scary.” The child who originally said “It’s ouchy,” now changes her position and description, “It’s not ouchy!”

The joyous conversation continues as different permutations of rolly polly locations and sizes change, and as more insects are discovered. The care with which the children cradle the rolly pollies or show them to each other is transferred to others as new children enter the space or as new insects are discovered.

“Don’t kill it”

“Be gentle!”

The original intention of the uncovering of the sand box, which was playing in the sand, receives some attention, but it is the connection to the natural world and the creatures within it, that captures the attention of all and allows the natural flow of discovery and inquiry to flow, with children sharing their knowledge about the world as well as expanding their knowledge through their conversations and interactions. Encounters such as these allow for development in so many areas: inquiry, knowledge building, respect, caring, risk taking, collaboration, communication, empathy, and tolerance, and the drive behind all of this is the enthusiasm brought on by the children, the focus brought on by surprise, and the unexplainable connections we make to the natural world and to each other.

About two months ago, our strawberry plants began to flower and then the first tiny, green strawberries appeared, followed by larger white strawberries, and finally a lone, single red and almost ripe strawberry.

This one, nearly ripe strawberry drew attention from all of the children: we soon would have a patch full of red, ripe strawberries! Within a day, however, the strawberry was prematurely picked. There was an uproar of disfavor and some sadness among the children who knew that the strawberry wasn’t quite ready. For the children who picked the strawberry, there was a sense of excitement mixed with “what is all the fuss about?” Later, a tinge of understanding mixed with a bit of remorse seemed to be apparent.

It is these types of mixed emotions that underscore the complex thinking and decision making that begins at birth, continues into childhood and develops throughout our lives. The understanding that a strawberry can be picked somehow appears naturally and in time the awareness that a “waiting period,” is necessary is learned through experience or through others. In our case, the natural consequences of a prematurely picked strawberry led to tears and anger generating discussions, signs, and announcements of “Don’t pick the strawberries!” as well as, “Don’t pick the flowers!”

The children seemed to mobilize for the advocacy of the growing strawberries and somehow the lessons learned from the injustice of the untimely picked strawberry led to the eventual harvest of 5 small, yet beautiful strawberries, happily washed, cut and divided so that 20 eager students were able to relish the delicious sliver of a truly red, ripe strawberry!

We wonder how the remaining strawberries will be harvested, and what lessons will stay with the children as they competently explore the natural world that we are all a part of.

It’s a beautiful time of year in the E1 classes when the development of the children stands out strongly as we notice each day how the children are thinking of themselves, more and more, as part of a group with words, actions and feelings that include, “Let’s play” “Do you want to?” and “I can help you!”

A few recent instances stand out with regard to how the children are using words that suggest not only that they are part of a group, but that they care about each other. The words are simple, yet important for each child and interaction:

At the message table:

Child 1: “I got a message!”

Child 2: (…looking in her message box, finding none…) “I don’t have a message, would you make me a message?”

Child 1: OK!

Child 2: (Happily and eagerly watches her friend write a message to her, anticipating the excitement of finding a new message in her box.) 

At the shoe cubby:

Child 3: (in tears, doesn’t want to go home early with her mother)

Child 4: “I can make you a message!”

Child 5: “I can make you a message too!”

(The children make a message with hearts and flowers and give them to their crying friend. Immediately the child who receives the message stops crying, hugs her mother, and is now ready to leave early from school, receiving comfort by messages from her friends.)

After quiet time, when folding up the blankets and mats:

Child 6: “Who can help me?”

Child 7: “I can help you!”

(Pairs and trios of children proceed to take the ends of the blankets in order to fold the blankets together. They successfully fold the blankets and are proud of their joint efforts.)

The language is simple, yet it says so much. It shows how the children are changing and growing, how they look to each other for support and comfort and how they spontaneously offer support or help. Either way, the importance of a friend is felt and the comfort of being a part of this E1 group is tangible.

It just so happened that this week, the High School IB Art Exhibition came back to the auditorium and the environment of the ELC was transformed once again.

Although our location is separate from the main YIS campus, there are times throughout the year that “the big kids” come to the auditorium, and a sense of being connected to the bigger environment of YIS is felt.

Such was the case this week when the ELC children felt very special to quietly venture up to the auditorium to see the transformation of their auditorium space into an art space. Having just used the space for our ELC assembly, there were murmurs of “This is different!”, “Shhh!” and “Wow!”

Of all the expressions, however, “Look, look!” and quiet wide eyes were among the most pronounced.

There is something about quiet and precious spacious and beautifully displayed items that attracts us all, but everything appears a bit more magical when seen through the eyes of a child…”Look, look!”

The term ‘Hundred Languages’ is a metaphor used by the educators of Reggio Emilia, for the many varied forms of symbolic and poetic expressions we observe in the children.  In the ELC we endeavor to give value to all the ‘languages’ or forms of expression and provide the children with countless opportunities to express themselves every day.  In preparation for the ELC Spring Assembly, as part of our How We Express Ourselves Unit of Inquiry; Humans use their ‘Hundred Languages’ to express themselves the children were engaged in inquiries into; different media, reviewing ways to express themselves and ended by, presenting our ‘Hundred Languages’ to an audience.    The Spring Assembly provides an opportunity for the children to present a chosen form or forms of expression to their parents, peers and teachers at the ELC.

It is a challenging task for the teachers to design a question to pose to the children that will provoke thought without leading them or influence their ideas. After much consideration, we came up with the question; What is beautiful to you?

Alexander:  Birds
Atena:   A dress
Ava:  Princess, Ariel
Benthe:  A summer’s day
Caren:  Mommy Princess, Baby Princess
Kimi:  Flowers
Haruki:  The elephant
Heidi:  Flowers
Hiro:  Flowers
Jasraj:  Lina
Jessica:  Shiny stones
Lina:  Photos
Mabel:  A book
Miranda:  A collage
Noe:  Flowers
Owen:  Flowers
Reina:  Flowers
Sara:  A dress
Serafina: Princess
Shino:  Tinkerbell, Princess
Vivi:  Pictures
Wesley:  Flowers

Next we asked the children, How can you show that?

Drawing upon the experiences that the children have had throughout the year, each child chose a media that they wanted to use to present their ‘something beautiful’.  Please enjoy the video of their process.

How we express ourselves 2013 from YIS ELC on Vimeo.

The natural environment around the ELC is full of inspiration and changes, and the inquiries arise constantly: blossoms arrive, bugs appear, and new inquiries begin. Sometimes these inquiries are unspoken yet can be seen in the child’s new interest in a crawling creature or a new blossom. At other times an encounter or comment from another may encourage the inquiry through dialogue or through observation. Sometimes the excitement of the discovery is shouted for everyone to hear, and if someone visits the ELC at such a time, it is minutes before they too hear about the latest happenings.

Such was the case recently when one morning the children discover that something is changing with the snap peas. This change is very important to the children as the snap peas were broken and eaten and there seemed to be little hope for their recovery. Then suddenly, the new growth started to show itself.

The excitement starts when a child shouts, “They are growing!,” “Look, look!” A teacher nearby is summoned to come and see. Before long, other children are drawn to the garden and they too see not only the recovering and growing peas, but the beginnings of soon-to-blossom daffodils.

One child’s interest moves from the peas to the flowers and back again to the peas. It is the subtle change in the snap peas that he chooses to share when the headmaster passes by.

“They are changing!” At first the headmaster notices the daffodil buds and comments on the change of the flowers, but the child insists on drawing attention to the snap peas, for it is the snap peas that have made a remarkable recovery, and it is this change that the child wants others to notice and appreciate. It is also this change that we will all be watching in the weeks to come.

Open-ended questions and statements such as “What do you think?” and “I want to hear your ideas,” are common within the dialogues of our daily interactions in the ELC. When a child does not yet have the English to respond, a set of replies are offered so that the child might nod at a choice that resonates with them. These questions can range from the simple and closed “Would you like to take this home or put it on your board?” to the more complex, “Where do you think this ladybug would be happiest….why do you think that?”

This approach to teaching and learning is based upon the philosophy that children can and do make their own theories about life constantly, and when we respect the ideas and thinking of children, and of all individuals, we validate their thinking and encourage it to expand through dialogue and interactions with others and the environment that surrounds them. Theories need to be shared in order to be questioned both internally and externally. Carla Rindini, a Reggio Emilia educator and pedagogista, says this very succinctly, as she explains, “Sharing theories is a response to uncertainty. This is the reason why any theory, to exist at all, needs to be expressed, communicated, and listened to.”

Not long ago, the E1 children were challenged in their thinking and their theory-building with regards to what had happened to our once beautifully growing snap peas.

The catalyst of inquiry began when one morning the evidence of broken and missing leaves and stems was noticed and responded to in this way:

“What do you notice? What could have happened?”

“It’s the cat! (for a cat suddenly ran through the ELC playground) ”The cat ate our plants!”

The children are encouraged to share their ideas when more evidence is found: unusual animal droppings are found next to the eaten plants.

Some children feel it looks like “cat poo,” others think not. ”It’s big! It’s a jaguar!”

“A tiger!”

“A spider!”

Other ideas come from the E2 children:”No…spiders don’t poo.”

“Spiders don’t poo that big!”‘

The inquiry continues with photographs of the broken plants and the animal droppings. The children listen to each other and some children change their theories depending on what they hear.

Some theories are driven by the idea of size: “A Rhino! A Rhino has big poo!” Other theories are driven by connections, “Insy, winsy spider!” Others are driven by previous knowledge, books, or encounters, “A caterpillar!”

The inquiry of the plants continues…perhaps if you come to the ELC to see the remaining plants and the photographic evidence, you too might create your own theory to share with us…What do you think?

All photos taken by E1 children

The journey to the house at 111 Yamate started with great anticipation. We were going to a “quiet house,” where we would see beautiful things, fragile place settings, and children’s art from YIS. The journey began with lots of running and skipping through the park, with children thrilled to see the water cascading down from the fountain and happy to run up the slopes.

Once we got to Yamate 111, we left our shoes outside and our coats on the bench and within seconds the E1 children and teachers were in a new space, a quiet space, a space where suddenly there was a sense and atmosphere of great respect: respect for the building, for the objects within, respect for the children and the teachers.

We entered the room and quietly sat before the delicate display of hina dolls, and suddenly an atmosphere of listening ensued. The listening was not just from our ears, but from all of our senses. The teacher brought attention to the very quiet classical music that was playing, but it was the response of a child that heightened our attention to the beauty of the room and set the tone for what was to follow.

“It’s beautiful!” she said.

At first the teacher thought the child was speaking of the soft music that was barely audible, but then, with a look at the child, with her face looking up at the ceiling, another object of her listening was apparent: the beautiful, sparkling crystal chandelier surrounded by a rich brown balcony.

We all brought our attention to the beauty of the ceiling and that respect continued throughout our visit. The children quietly moved in small groups from room to room, appreciating the delicate place settings with their eyes, aweing at the hina dolls, smiling and gazing at the displayed artwork.The children and the teachers were in a special space, and everyone knew it, carefully looking, gazing, and thinking. It was beautiful.

It has been over a month since our big snow day, and the topic of snow has been interspersed naturally, off and on, through the children’s stories, conversations, play, and inquiries. Snow puzzles and stories of snow and snowmen have emerged and talk of “it’s cold,” can be heard.

Both E1 classes wanted to preserve the first snowfall in some way, with both classes collecting the snow in different containers.

For both classes, the children discovered that the next day, things had changed with the snow. “It melted!” “It’s the sun!” “Because it’s hot!” E1C decides to take their melted snow to an outside cold place to see if it will change back to snow. E1B chooses to keep the melted snow in the classroom, to see what happens. Both classes discover different transformations

For E1C, the first visit to the snow bucket by a couple children produces great excitement when a layer of ice is found on top of melted water. “It’s turned back into snow!”

For E1B, there is periodic observations of the melted snow with comments such as “It’s going away!” “It’s dirty!”

This past week, the inquiry of the snow is revisited and the children have different theories as to what has happened to the snow.

E1C:

“The sun came out and snow melted… the sun…”

“It’s going to snow tomorrow…I can pick up some snow…”

“Maybe when it snow again…”

E1B:

“It’s all gone!”

“It’s dirty! The snow was dirty!”

“Like insy winsy spider!”

“The sun!”

The children are curious about the transformation of the snow and at the same time, they show a sense of contentment, with an understanding that snow changes.

“What shall we do with our container?”

“Throw it away!” and E1C decides to dump out their water.

E1B decides to wait until the whole class is present to then decide what to do with their container, now lined with fine dirt and dust.

And although the snow is now gone, there remains a feeling of hope among many, with the thoughts and comments of, ”We can get some new snow!” and the cycle and the hope of the seasons is somehow transpired.