Thursday, November 6, 2014

Another elementary adventure!

On October 31st ,Tony (our elementary class’ outdoor expert), led us on an exciting journey to our very own Berkeley Park. First we found sticks and waited for the sun to come out (we were lucky to have the sun’s cooperation that day). We put our sticks in the ground on a flat surface and found the end of their shadows, then we marked that spot with a shorter stick.

Tony then talked to us about finding landmarks and telling stories to help remember where things are. The class broke into two groups and each group hid an item somewhere in the park. They each made up a story to tell the other group about where their “treasure” was hidden and then took turns finding the hidden treasure based on the story. It was a lot of fun and it got them thinking about the landmarks in the park.

About a half hour after the initial marking, we gathered back at the sticks and found the shadows again. We found that the shadows had moved to the right a couple of inches. We once again marked the end of the shadow with a different stick. Then Tony showed us how to use a fourth stick, and lay it down in a line connecting the two marker sticks. This showed us where west and east were and from there we could find north and south. We learned how to use the sun to navigate!

We then headed back to school. Along the way Tony encouraged us to look for landmarks and make up a story about how to get back to school from the park. We all worked together to notice landmarks and to use our imaginations to come up with names to describe them.

Back at school, we said good bye to Tony, sat down and worked on a story together as a group. We got a rough draft down and started on drawing a map. It was very fun and we plan to continue working on it. We renamed Berkeley Park ” Dead Wood Forest” and Puddletown School “Doug Fir Island.”

We can’t wait to learn more with Tony but for now we will have fun using the skills he taught us last Friday!

Thursday, October 30, 2014

A visit from Rory

On Wednesday, October 29th, my Mom and I went to observe at Puddletown School. It was a very interesting experience, considering I hadn’t seen the Puddletown kids in the classroom since my own graduation in 2009. Here’s a few things I noticed:

It was very hard not to interfere with the children’s work, when they were struggling. For example, one of the children was having trouble placing the slate board back into its cabinet. The child eventually left with it jammed askew, to solve later. I really wanted to do their work, but I knew that I couldn’t because they had to figure it out for themselves, in order to learn.

Some of the children gathered in groups and talked about everyone in the class being friends.

I used to like the apple cutting station and it was fun to see it again. The kids were struggling to push down the cutter through the apple, just like I used to struggle and it was tempting not to help them. After seeking help from Kimberly, she visited, and said, “When this happens, you just have to push harder.” and walked away. The child leaned in more and more and eventually the apple sliced!

When I was at Puddletown, my teacher was Emily, and this teacher was also named Emily! (editor’s note: We call her Emmy at Puddletown)

The chairs were very small and hard to sit in for an hour.

Lots of kids came up to me and waved. It was interesting because in my school, in 6th grade, no one really greets.

There were lots of dropped items from the snack table.

All in all, it was a very fun visit. I’m glad I got to come back to Lavender and see the children doing their work.

-Rory

It was great to be back in the Lavender classroom again, seeing all of the Rory’s favorite works in use by a new generation of Puddletown children. I’ve always remarked on how very special the Montessori curriculum is, by allowing each child to be taught and then letting them have free access to chose work. This clearly was giving these children purpose, focus and mastery in whatever was available to them. They were free to explore, while allowing complex social interactions to happen naturally. One instance I observed where a conflict had arisen. The child sought the Peace Rose, brought it directly to the other child and clearly stated “I didn’t like it when you pushed me.” The second child then took the Peace Rose, almost like a microphone, and stated her truth. The Rose then traveled back to the first child, and on and on, until each felt heard. The whole experience unfolded easily and without adult interference, with the Rose returning to its place once its purpose was served.

Undoubtedly, Rory’s time at Puddletown formed the foundation for who he is today. On our visit, we were able to see this same magical space created for children to be themselves. What a gift we’ve been given and for your children just the same! We look forward to our next visit to Puddletown School. Bravo for all of the great work.

-Gretchan (Rory’s mom)

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Open House Week

This week we opened the classrooms for our first round of open houses. The children were thrilled to show their families around and give them lessons on what they’ve been doing in the classrooms. The next open houses are the week of December 8th.

Thanks for coming!