Home

Home.  A small word, but with extraordinary meaning.  A word that can evoke deep, enduring emotions.  A word that can be so incredibly dynamic that to truly define it could take a lifetime.  Home can be a place, a person, a feeling.  It is so much more than a structure with four walls and a door.

This topic first arose in my classroom through observations of children building houses in the building/design center.  It seemed that every day the structures became more complex as the children discussed what exactly it meant to build a home.  We all knew that it was important to have one, but we each had unique ideas as to what features made a house a home. 

 During morning meeting one day I asked my class to help me define the word "home":

M:  It's when you live in something.

N:  Yea, but only if it has your special stuff.

H:  And it's a cozy place!  Homes are ALWAYS cozy!

N:  If you see a blue bicycle on the porch, that's where home is!

A:  It has to have the protection to keep you safe.  Like to stop the strong winds!

K: And keep away scary things!

A:  And it always has Mommy and Daddy!

Through these discussions we were able to determine what we believe to be essential in creating a home.  Most importantly, we need a space that feels safe.  We need loved ones present in that space.  We need "stuff" that is comforting and can provide joy and entertainment.  And we all firmly believed that every living thing needs those three things.  It was awe-inspiring to take part in those discussions full of compassion as the children expressed how "even ladybugs want Mommy hugs", and "slimy worms get scared too".

Our curiosity increased as we attempted to better understand how an animal might define it's home.  I began to set up provocations around the classroom to observe how the children created and interacted with a variety of animal homes:

To help make our animal homes feel more authentic, we collected natural materials and began designing and building homes in the classroom:

We were so proud of our final products that we decided to relocate them outside.  We went back each day the following week to check for signs of animals inhabiting them:

I am hopeful that this will be an ongoing discussion for our class.  As we continue to grow and develop, our understanding and definition of the word 'home' may also begin to expand.  I look forward to being able to document those future conversations!

An Exploration of Light and Color

"The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences."

-Loris Malaguzzi

Take a moment and consider the intensity and beauty you experience when sunlight hits an object just the right way. Consider the way illuminating an object in a different way can make it seem frightening, ominous. Or how the mere presence of light can generate feelings of reassurance, happiness, hope. It is almost an explosion of the senses. Light has incredible power. The refraction of light is a wonder in and of itself with the ability to alter our perception of everything around us.

Now consider that through the eyes of a child. 

Our children are in a constant state of natural growth as they attempt to observe and understand the world around them. Light is such an interesting factor in this quest for understanding because it is constantly changing what we think we already know. Here at SVK we believe in questioning and expanding upon what we think we know. Even when we believe we have the answer to a question, the possibilities of discovery are not over. The exploration of color and light that occurred over the past few weeks in my classroom is a perfect example of how expanding on our curiosities can always lead to new discoveries.

Our journey began with a simple provocation, intended to inspire the creation of secondary colors:

Using food coloring and eye droppers we were able to strategically create new colors and then modify them based on our own personal preferences.

After completing color palettes, a few children decided to place them on the light table and see what they looked like. In our classroom we encourage these independent discoveries, and were thrilled to see that the light did not only change what we were seeing, but seemed to create entirely new colors! We began to wonder how this was possible! The children had worked so hard to meticulously create the colors they liked best, and in just a moment the presence of light had completely altered them!  How could light hold so much power over our creations?  Was it something in the light table making it possible?  Could any light hold such power?  

We tested our theories outside with natural light:

We discovered that outside we were able to create reflections of colors and shadows.  We wondered if these reflections differed from those we might see in a mirror inside:

While the class currently seems satisfied with the findings culminated in this project, we are still unsure if we are entirely finished with it.  As a result, the eye droppers and palettes have been added to our science center to await further discovery in the near future.

The Bridge Investigation

Here at SVK, observation and reflection are a very important part of our everyday learning environments.  We use a variety of methods including photography, videography, audio recordings and note taking.  We observe children at play, conversations between students, interactions between children and teachers, and even the body language and facial expressions of the children during these interactions. 

Over the last few months of observations, I noticed that almost every day my students were building and creating bridges!  They were making bridges with logs on the playground, bridges for the animals on the light table and bridges for cars to cross over with blocks.  After reflecting on these observations with my fellow teachers I came up with some provocations to help expand our knowledge of bridges and their purpose.

I began by introducing the class to pictures of a few different types of bridges to start a discussion:

Have you ever seen a bridge before?

K:  "Yes! In the middle of the river!"

A:  "Bridges are so water can go down!  My Mommy drives her car on the bridge!"

O:  "The Brooklyn bridge!  The cars!  The cars are going on the bridge!  It’s a bridge!  The cars are going over the bridge!  The tractor is going over the bridge!"

To further the discussion of bridges over water, I invited the children to create bridges with a variety of materials. 

It became apparent through the children’s dialogue that my students were most familiar with the "Big Bridge" beside our school!  We decided to take a short walk to the Saxapahaw bridge that crosses the neighboring Haw River.  They were all in awe of the loud, rushing river underneath the bridge! And very excited about how big the bridge was as we walked across it. 

The Restaurant Project

“Stand aside for a while and leave room for learning, observe carefully what children do, and then, if you have understood well, perhaps teaching will be different from before.”

― Loris Malaguzzi

Having the opportunity to observe children at play is by far one of the most rewarding aspects of this job.  A child at play is bound only by the limitations of their imagination.  Seeing the world around you transform through the eyes of a child is beautiful, magical, invigorating.  The classroom becomes a space station, a zoo, the ocean, a prehistoric land.  The possibilities are endless.  The beauty of being an adult in this environment is the way in which the children draw you into their world and help you re-imagine things that logic tells you are not possible.  Opening the door to a magnificent wonderland of imagination that has been lost to us through the passage of time.

An ongoing observation of this imaginative play is what sparked what we titled "The Restaurant Project".

"Mrs.  Cruz!  Come to our restaurant!"
"What would you like to order ma'am?"
"We have a really big menu!"
"We have everything you like!"
"It's a fancy restaurant!"

During morning meeting the class expressed a strong desire to create a real restaurant in our classroom.  We discussed the different components that make up a restaurant and decided to focus first on what type of restaurant we would like to be and what would be on our menu:

A:  Food like a hot dog!  Then it would need a bun!

G:  It's a shell restaurant!  That means it has shellfish!

P:  Ice cream!  Pizza, and chocolate chips in the ice cream.... and maybe salad for people who like salad.

C:  Steak and hotdogs and pizza!  Giant pizza!  With pepperoni and cheese and sausage and olives!

We began the process of planning and creating a menu for our restaurant:

P:  It has to have numbers to tell you how many the food costs.  It tells you how much the food is and how many sides come with it.

A:  These are square cookies.   And all these cookies are $4.  This cookie has a cut spot, so it's only $2.  And this circle one is $3.

P:  Sometimes it shows what the restaurant looks like on the menu!

Throughout the next few weeks we used a variety of different materials in the classroom to make up the ingredients for the items on our menu.

We discussed which menu item would be the most fun to make and decided to try and make pizza!
P:  We need cheese, sauce, ketchup, tomatoes, and a large bowl to put the dough in!
M:  I made pizza before!  You need cheese, and dough!
A:  I use a powder to make dough at home!  I can ask my mom, she has the recipe!

The class began to show a strong interest in the roles of the various people that we see inside a restaurant.  We had lots of ideas and questions about what each person actually did in the restaurant and decided that the best way to answer those questions would be to meet those people and ask!  With the help and support of our amazing friends at The Eddy we were able to plan a field trip to go behind the scenes of the restaurant and meet the many different people that work there!