This year as I continue to make a shift to a Reggio Inspired practice I have begun a personal inquiry drawn upon the work of Reggio Inspired Teachers from Richmond BC. They have been working for quite a while on Playful Inquiry, first in math and now in science. As I delve deeper into inquiry my work on Playful Inquiry it feels like a just right fit for Reggio Inspired practice and my nature program. My inquiry question is   Will creating spaces for playful inquiry create opportunities for learning and build collaborative relationships.    After working with an amazing group of children and their families last year and seeing the strength of a truly collaborative group of learners through our Kindness Project, I know that choosing collaboration as a primary goal of the Kindergarten year is important work. I think that this personal inquiry will enable me to continue to align my beliefs about how children learn with their daily school experience. Playful Inquiry ...

Our art studio is in full swing now that the children have a good understanding of using the tools and expectations in the mini-artelier. Some mornings the children arrive to find invitations to create on the tables and other mornings they just shop the mini-atelier for tools and familiar materials during the self directed exploration time. For one child that might be a return to yesterday's project while another investigates the hold puncher or a small group decide to create sculpture using a newly discovered basket of  pipe cleaners. Exploring the materials and collaborating with each other is a hands on approach and as they work together they are developing relationships, learning to negotiate and develop plans while all the time being encouraged to be curious and valued by adults in the room as competent and capable.  Rio has been busy with the hole puncher to create transparency in his sculptures, picture frames and bracelets. Davyn created amazing sculp...

As I planned the new kindergarten environment I revisited my journals from my work study in Italy last spring with a focus on flow and environment. The flow is threefold; visual, physical and scheduling. I especially wanted the environment to reflect the children's learning and interests paying close attention to creativity and the different ways that children express themselves. This required reimagining space to display the large collection of loose parts, providing lots of space for the children as well as independent access to all resources most especially loose parts. While I unpacked, sorted and arranged materials in the new kindergarten room, I chose to take my time, resisting the impulse to have everything done before the children arrived. We piled boxes in one corner and began to find homes which were a good fit for resources -- paying close attention to the space around each area so that children could move materials, spread out and work together. Our ...

The day before school began I moved into a different classroom in our school. The original kindergarten room had been re-configured back into a classroom. The construction was finished and most of the furniture and the previous teachers resources (although the cupboards are full of beautiful music instruments while she waits for storage to arrive in her new room) were moved in the morning and I went in with my crew to set up for Tuesday. We are still waiting for finishing work and storage but it is beautiful!!! While we wait for block shelving I needed to find a temporary storage solution for some of the loose parts. Voila! I found an old shelf in a storage room and repurposed some baskets. The children set to work the first day doubling the construction space we had in our last room. Wow! The loose part play is amazing. They are working side by side to create towers, museums, shops and a zoo!  ...

Summer is coming to an end and school is just around the corner. I have already visited the school and the kindergarten room is ready for your children. Making the transition to school is easier if you spend some time in the weeks before establishing some important routines. I suggest that families work together to prepare for a smooth transition. Here are some suggestions you might find useful: Preparing for new schedules: move bedtime a little earlier each night  wake up earlier in the morning adjust your meal schedules i.e.: snack and lunch to school times get dressed before or after breakfast plan some morning activities to get you up and out of the house plan a visit to the school playground Take time to organize for school: have your child practice packing a lunch and later eat their lunch - this will ensure that your child can open and close all of the containers have your child practice packing and unpacking the backpack designate a spot where...

Each marker colour represents a different day that the children added new information to the Thinking Chart. The children had their final plant lesson with Mrs. Boulton on Tuesday afternoon. In our classroom we had a few activities going on to support their plant study. While reading lots about plants, comparing seeds, seedlings and mature plants, and some art/science activities. Some favourites were the pollination activity (using cheeses and bee finger puppets), celery water experiment, Eric Carle author study and flower measuring.  When we visited Milner Gardens Pam supported the study by doing a lesson on pollination and looking at pond plants. We also completed a Circle Thinking Map to track our learning. The final activity was for each child to choose a plant fact and illustrate it for a hallway learning display. ...

This month we are wrapping up our Kindness Project and it has been an amazing learning journey. We have had many, many discussions about kindness and throughout it all the children continued to be enthusiastic and demonstrate expanding understandings and skills. The adults who work with our class; parents, EA, guest teachers and community volunteers have commented that they see a collaborative, caring sense of community embedded in our classroom program. If you have been following the project, the last activity that we did was collect quotes from the children which complimented our understandings of kindness.  This week as we wrapped up our project, the children sorted their thinking (collected on sticky notes) into categories. As they sorted we needed to add more categories such as courtesy and gentleness. We have learned the importance of listening to each other and trying to understand why someone is mean. This has probably had the biggest impact on our classroom comm...

This week's story was Mushroom In The Rain. Much like The Mitten by Jan Brett, the animals grow in size as they escape the weather. The new home grows as each larger animal is added. I had to be inventive as I did not have an expanding mushroom (who does???) but loved the creative use of our tunnels from the block centre. I have been using this green bath mat as my storytelling mat which has worked wonderfully. Later we retold the story using a blanket and the children took turns hiding under the mushroom!! These beautiful felt animals were made by Char Waters, a parent at our school. If you don't have felt animals you could use your rubber animals, pictures and of course substitute different animals such as an owl, deer or squirrel to mirror your local forest or seashore. ...

I read recently that teaching five year olds is like keeping crickets in a basket. When you open the lid to add a few more crickets, the others jump out. It seems apparent then that all adults who spend time with young children play an important role in helping children develop those important skills to self monitor and control their emotional and cognitive behaviour.  I t is during the early years when children make tremendous leaps in cognitive and emotional self regulation. In Preschool and Kindergarten children learn to share resources, wait their turn, clean up when asked or listen actively.  Of course there will be spontaneous growth in both cognitive and social emotional SR for all children, but I think that, especially for our vulnerable students, we must intentionally teach, support and scaffold children's growth in this important area. For example, when planning the flow of a Kindergarten day you can choose specific strategies such as quiet/busy blocks, predi...

The butterfly provocation at the nature table was such a huge success that I decided to create a second butterfly provocation at the playdoh centre. At this centre I included small sticks, coloured stones, two tubes of butterflies, sticks, flowers and some hexagon glass tiles. The children noticed that there was no glitter in the playdoh so that was added during play. Although the two butterflies centres were across the room from each other the children travelled back and forth to trade materials. Eventually the playdoh group moved their centre to the nature table so that they could all play together. ...

Mouse Count Storytelling Basket I've been putting together a few storytelling baskets for the classroom which focus on retelling familiar stories, with a range of fun props. Storytelling is a time tested rich tool for building literacy in preschool and kindergarten aged children. I began with choosing a few simple, fun stories. I purchased them in board book format, assembled props and dedicated a basket for each story. Then I cleared a shelf in the classroom library and placed the baskets on the shelfs. To introduce the stories, I set up a storytelling table adjacent to the group area and told the stories during story time. As the stories were introduced they were placed on the storytelling table for a week and then moved to the storytelling shelf in the library corner.   Then I encouraged the children to use the storytelling baskets when we transitioned into the classroom each morning.  We started with Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh.  A parent...

I was in the classroom this morning preparing for the upcoming week and noticed that, as expected, our butterflies had emerged from their chrysalises. I know how excited the children will be tomorrow morning so I took a few minutes to set up a provocation on a nearby table. I used some blue gem stones, fabric flowers, mirrors and felt butterflies. I also borrowed ann egg and chrysalis from the life cycle props in the science centre. I added some tree blocks from the story telling table and voila' a little butterfly play provocation. I can't wait to see the stories they create at this new centre. Update: Here are a couple of pictures of the children's play ...

It is May and I am so proud of how responsible the students are with their backpacks. All the snacks are packed away and the backpacks put aside during our wide area games with no adult reminders. A perfect example of self regulation! It takes time to build self regulation. As discussed in my book, Outside Our Window- developing a nature primary program , creating time for children to work together, solve problems together and play together will all contribute to a child's ability to self regulate. I like to begin the first week of school and build stamina through self regulation is my primary learning intention. Using clear intentions, I work with the children on helping them to understand how school works, what their job is and what my job is. I also look for every opportunity to build independence for them. I encourage them to help each other solve problems, share resources and work together to discuss an idea.                A second important strateg...

I read recently how critical it is that as a teacher I model kindness if I want to encourage this trait in children. This was evident this morning at the seashore when Olivia slipped off her log and had a surprise landing in a puddle and bumped her head. She was taken by surprise and cried. I thought about the choices that I had as an adult; comfort her and then send her off, ask a peer to sit with her. Instead I checked her head, gave her a tissue and then just sat alongside feeling a little inadequate because she really wanted her mom. I stayed beside her, along with our kind Emma on the other side, waiting until she was calm. Then I decided to just sit and after about five minutes she thanked me and said she was fine. I felt a little less inadequate! Today we added about ten hearts!!! to our Kindness Tree with quotes from our children being kind and an extra heart with a quote from a passenger on the bus who was kind enough to notice how wonderful Departure Bay Kinder...

This year one of my professional goals has been to add to the loose parts in the classroom and  inspire the children to experience process art. They often use the loose parts to create and then put the materials back in the containers. The biggest challenge has been finding space in the room to create an art studio.  The smaller art materials are stored in different three sizes of glass jars depending on their size. The shelf is only 24 inches tall.  I have added some muffin tins so that the children can carry and sort the materials.  Small loose parts: pony beads wooden beads (from an old car chair rest) coloured pasta goggly eyes (different sizes) stones (gray, white, black) string feathers (coloured and natural) sticks (nature, plain and coloured) cotton balls pom pom (large and mini) acorns beans q-tips ribbon The tall jars are wide rimmed pickle quart jars from the recycling centre (.10 cents each) and the middle jars are an assortment of j...

Earlier this year we donated our storytelling table to a new classroom in the school which really needed more furniture. But we  missed our storytelling table and (sigh) really yearned for it's return and some of the children would wish regularly that it would pop back into the room. I really thought that I would be able to make a platform to replace it but life is too busy.  Then voila!! Something happened. We were walking back from the seashore when we looked up and noticed a Shaw truck was parked across the street with large wooden spools. We stopped and greeted the workman and yes he had nineteen children and two adults calling "Hello". He looked to the left and to the right and then pointed to himself. We shouted yes and he walked across the street to chat. We asked for a spool to create a new storytelling table. He returned to work, sorted through the yard filled with empty spools and showed up in our classroom an hour later with four spools. Two fo...

www .strongnations.com https://www.amazon.ca/Outside-Our-Window-developing-primary/dp/1771741953 Nature based classrooms are powerful programs that seamlessly merge early childhood and env ironmental education to develop a lifelong connection with the natural world.  This book is for preschool and K-4 primary educators who are thinking about adding a nature component to their current program and for those who have started to take their students outside and are looking for more information to run a successful and safe outdoor program. This user-friendly book provides guidance on how to organize, manage and resource a nature early learning program. Available through www.strongnations.com and amazon.ca and amazon.com ...