What is new?

Two year old Frog is full of questions, and one reins supreme these days - "What is that?" Nothing new or different seems to escape her view. Often, what is new or different is purposefully planned by me - I will set out something playful for her, maybe hiding it in a special box or container first, and leave this near the spot(s) of my house that she most enjoys playing. These provocations always excite her; "what did you find for me?" she asks, "what is new?" 

In recent weeks, I have been madly culling and cleaning and rearranging my home, and this means that there have been many "new to her" things for Frog to notice. When her Nana is a newly-retired preschool teacher, the rewards are many for this youngster! I have created a writing studio for myself in my basement, setting out many of my school journals and photos as inspiration. My days with children are definitely my writing muse; my grandchildren are, as well. The basement is now also a more welcoming space for Frog to play and explore, with all my picture books on bookshelves, and a variety of toys included. We have been spending more and more time in the basement in recent weeks.

The other day, Frog pointed to something at the top of a bookshelf - "What is that?" Hmm. What had I moved there? Oh! It's a catapult! Immediately, she was intrigued and wanted to see it; immediately, I was transported back to my time at a conference at Bev Bos' school, which I had the delight of visiting in the summer of 2011. TEN YEARS AGO. Wow. Has it really been ten years, already?

This little wooden catapult was made especially for preschoolers, and it uses ping-pong balls - there's no one getting hurt by this play! I was excited when I saw it, and bought one on the spot, thinking it would be a fun thing to explore in my classroom. Bev Bos believed passionately in joyful, exploratory play, letting children be curious and figure out things through doing. She (and I) liked to sit back and observe what children did with things - How might they use them? What are the children wondering about? What do they think to do, as they play?

I never ended up bringing that catapult into my classroom. I began teaching at a DC public charter in the fall of 2011, teaching a minimum of 22 preschoolers every year. Although I believe firmly in the whimsical play of the catapult, I couldn't figure out how to bring in this one gadget and share it successfully with so many students, without many of the children feeling left out a good deal of the time. That was NOT an experience I wanted my students to have. Yes, truth is, these early learning years require materially-rich school environments, where children play freely and effortlessly, without fear of there not being enough, without threat of not being included.

That little catapult sat in a closet at my house; I suppose, waiting for grandchildren? I moved it to the top of a bookshelf in the midst of my decluttering and cleaning, and there my dear Frog noticed it.

I got it down from the shelf and placed it in front of Frog, along with the small bin of ping-pong balls, and I said "It's a catapult. What do you think it can do?" There ensued such a happy, laughing time. Frog roared with laughter when the ping-pong ball went sailing into the air over her Poppa's head. Over and over again, she repeated the performance. She had a little trouble keeping the base of the catapult steady, and soon realized that these shifting positions seemed to send the ball into different directions - this cause and effect fascinated her. Frog began to hold the catapult in one place, and then to aim it in certain directions. This is what I love about such discovery - it is ripe with natural, organic learning. Balls flew far and wide, with Poppa and me racing to collect them for her. So many laughs! This fabulous play did not last just a few minutes; in fact, Frog played with the catapult for more than an hour of play, ending only at her nap time. I am awed by how long a young child's attention span really is, when they are engaged in play.

What was her first question upon waking up from nap?  "Catapult, Nana?" 

A few days later, Frog - who is a very verbal 27 month old - reflected on the experience, hoping to play with the catapult again:

"We're going to get the balls and I'm going to push the button and then the ball goes everywhere and we were laughing. That's a catapult. Balls go on when you push a button, it will go. Wanna collect that one ball."

I am reminded about how important it is for children to DO - to discover, tinker, stretch, wonder, figure things out on their own.

I am grateful for Bev Bos and her wisdom about children's play.

I am grateful for Frog and catapults and laughter.

SOLSC #9 Can I play with you?

I am participating in the
March 2018 Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC).
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for thirty-one days.

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

It's time to add a little something new to the block center...time to break out the balls and ramps! Oh, what fun we've had this week!

The ramps are wood boards, pieces of moulding from house construction...they are about two feet long. We have a few cardboard ramps from moving boxes. The balls are lightweight plastic golf balls (no one gets hurt if one gets thrown!)...I have a couple dozen of these, so there are no sharing issues.

Day One, I cycled the children through in small groups, giving them 20 minutes each. This open-ended, loose part play is so seductive for preschoolers - everyone participated, everyone wanted to continue playing when their small group was over, and everyone loves that these new toys will be a part of the block center henceforth.

I love the creativity and inquiry that happens organically, as the children explore these materials:
- using blocks and containers to lift the boards at one end, creating ramps that were high and others that were low, and noticing that the balls seemed to go faster at higher angles,
- creating bins at the base of the ramp to collect the balls,
- trying to figure out ways to connect the boards, so that the balls raced down a longer path,
- creating side walls on the ramps themselves, to keep the balls on the ramp
- using long blocks to tap the ball at the outset of the ramp, making it race down the path,
- building a wall all along the periphery of the carpet, to keep the balls in the block area
- and so much more!

Let me just share some of the children's excited exchanges with one another - such great language happening spontaneously in the play:

"I'm searching more stuff to build it."
"We want these to go down there."
"This is long, long, the longest!"
"Look at all this building stuff."
"I'm blocking the ways because the balls might run off."
"We roll this into this catcher thing and it catches this."
"The balls keep falling off!"
"One ball came off but the ramp was really huge and I didn't want it to fall off."
"I made a slice and stairs it could go on."
"Can I play with you?"

SOLSC #3: How do you like them apples?

I am participating in the
March 2018 Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC).
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for thirty-one days.

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

Hustle bustle, hurry hurry, c'mon, c'mon, let's get snack started for preschoolers. Would you help me rinse these apples? Let's use our apple slicer. Let's put the slices in this bowl...you can use the tongs to pick out your slices...everyone gets three slices, 1, 2, 3 ...let's count it out. Tongs and slicer, oh yeah, you are working those fine motor muscles while you munch! Let's repeat the steps. First, rinse the apple, put it on the plate, center the slicer on top, push down hard - yes! eight slices, enough to share, pop 'em in the bowl, go, go, go, munch, munch, munch, snack, snack, snack. Get another apple,
rinse it off,
put it on the plate,
center the slicer on top,
push and...
ugh!! what is that? 

Couldn't resist a photograph:

Isn't this surprising?

I've never seen an apple that looked so good on the outside and yet so very rotten on the inside. 

Preschoolers and I were absolutely fascinated by this! 

We looked closely - what is that part? some sort of sac? was this a worm's home? some other bug? wow? why did this happen? who'd have thought?

We put the slices back together again to form the apple - 

Now, the apple looks perfectly normal.

Then, let go, let the slices fall. 

Ugh. That's NOT normal on the inside.

I know it was a surprisingly yucky find, but I think we have scientists in the making. One preschooler asked - "Ms. Ingram, can you cut me an apple like that?" I told him I had waited a long, long time before finding an apple like that. We'll have to be content with this one.

Must admit, I'm a little hesitant to just bite into a whole apple now.

[Why does this apple seem like a metaphor for too many people these days - pretty normal looking but rotten at the core?]

SOLS Returning to school

It is Tuesday and this is a "Slice of Life" (SOLS) for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

*******

I can't resist writing/sharing about the return to school...preschoolers, after a long winter break - 16 days apart (but who's counting?).

After winter break (or any long absence from school), I always plan a "soft landing" - lots of sensory fun, open-ended and exploratory play, and many favorite songs, dances, activities. The more familiar and easy-going the routine, the better the return to school.

This new year, the soft landing was particularly needed. On Saturday, I received the news that my Teaching Resident's (Melissa) flight was cancelled due to these horrendous winter storms and she wouldn't be able to return until Wednesday (tomorrow). This, on top of the knowledge that our Teaching Assistant (Claire) had scheduled leave until Thursday of this week. Yes, our three person team would feature only my smiling face on Monday - yesterday - at the children's return. Oh my.

Yes, I was a little worried.

Thankfully, we were able to have two 'tried and true,' happy, and familiar substitute teachers in place of Melissa and Claire. We would make it work!

I am amazed to write -
everything has gone so very, very well.
We have had two of the most delightful days of school all year.

I forgot about the power of winter break! We need time away from each other - it benefits everyone, whether child or teacher. When it is time to return, everyone is hungry for the routine of school again.

It seems as if the children grow so much in this little bit of time.

Their faces beamed as they arrived at school yesterday - and everyone had big, big hugs for me. All were quite surprised to not see the other two beloved teachers, but, classmates and favorite activities smoothed away this disappointment, especially with the reassurance of their soon return.

How happy the children are to see each other! Their friendships, their enjoyment of one another have "snuck up on me" this year. This is a group of children who are strong individuals, as I've written about in at least one earlier post, and I have accepted this and worked hard to support it in our classroom. But, over winter break, their affection for one another grew and grew - for the past two days, they are not playing alone but in groups of two, three, and four. It is as if they have just discovered one another.

How delighted they are to be in our classroom and "be busy." It is their place, their home away from home - they know it and they love it. They have been busy, busy, busy with dramatic play and dress ups (playing 'doctor', 'pizza restaurant,' 'family and babies,' 'keep away from monsters,' and talking on pretend cell phones); building towers, cities, and ramps for balls; playing with puzzles, board games, counting bears; exploring ice, sand, play dough; writing letters and drawing pictures.

 

They are full of discovery and fun.

At closing today, Alyja asked - "Can't we play with gak?" and I said, "We don't have any time left today, and, actually, I don't think we have any made. Should we make some tomorrow?" "Yes! In the morning!" she replied and there was an immediate chorus of "Yeah!!" and "Yes" and "We're going to make gak!!" from the others.

Melissa and Claire are going to love being back with us!!

What do we learn from self-portraits?

In both September and June - the beginning and end of the school year - I ask my preschoolers to make a self-portrait. I set them up with a mirror and a special pen (thin, black felt tip marker) and a simple piece of white cardstock.

I love comparing the two drawings each June.

These simple drawings are extraordinary windows into how much the children have grown and developed over the school year. What a wonder it is to go from being a three year old to a four year old! I am amazed.

Let me share a few of these self-portraits here, so that you might see this growth, too. For each of these,  last September's is displayed on the left and this June's is on the right.

Consider,

the growth in fine motor control,

the ability to make specific shapes - such as an oval face;

Consider, how many more details the child observes -

hair, teeth, eyelashes, eyebrows.

Consider the risks the child takes in representing these new observations on paper - it is as if the preschooler artist is unfettered, soaring with ideas, determined to share them all.

I can't help but think about the many experiences that have led to these June self-portraits...

daily opportunities for using all sorts of tools,

working those fine motor muscles, 

through drawing, painting, beading, cooking, hammering, other.

Fun and silly ways that we "looked for details,"

whether walking the block and counting trucks,

or hiding our classroom rock somewhere in the school and hunting for it,

or searching for tiny gems and beads in the midst of a pile of sand in the sensory table.

The children think, draw, and write all the time, 

self-propelled, 

because the paper is there at the ready and 

the challenge is there -

to create a recipe for a cooking project, 

to develop a plan for an engineering solution, or

to make a sign for a block project.

The preschoolers played with mirrors all the time, too, 

because I keep these at the ready in the science and dramatic play areas. 

The children loved to look at their reflections, and 

to turn the mirrors in different ways, 

to see light reflected on the ceiling or wall.

All these experiences plus
the simple beauty of growing bigger, older, wiser,
lead to these June self-portraits.

Do you see what I see?
Isn't it amazing how much preschoolers grow in one year,
from being three years old to being four?

Truly, these self-portraits are a gift for my eyes.
I feel a lot of joy when I study them.
They make me smile!

They tell me that the preschoolers are
confident,
observant, and
curious.
What great academic skills!

Yes, we had a very good year together.



Happy summer!

Why not explore the wind?

It is Tuesday and this is a "Slice of Life" for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

*****

As I headed up the escalator from the metro station to the street,

I was greeted by a strong, cold wind.

The wind pushed me all the way to school.

How happy I was that the wind was going my way!

I wondered what the children would think of this, 

as they made their way into school.

I thought, 

Oh my, we have to celebrate the day's wind.

Somehow.

How might I engage the children about this wind?

Impulsively, instinctively, inadequately

I set up a very simple table project to create "wind sticks" to take with us on our daily walk- 

bright orange streamers cut into long strips, 

attached to simple craft sticks, 

with small jewels and markers to bedazzle the sticks.

Several children found this "morning arrival" project to be fun and engaging, and, together, we created enough "wind sticks" for every child in the class.

Later, after centers, it was time for our daily walk.

Off we went, every child excitedly carrying this simple stick in their hand.

As we stepped outside, 

dare I say, 

I was blown away by their sheer delight?

Smiles. Laughter. Shrieks. 

Joy. Delight. Marvel.

Wonder.

I had not anticipated how surprised they'd be to see

their streamers 

take off into the air,

all pointing in the same direction,

frisky,

wild,

energized.

"Look! Look! Look at the wind!"

"Look! Look! Look at my stick!"

Such a simple idea,

such enormous amazement by the children.

Great fun for their teacher, too!