and, the magic has begun.
the kinder find an extended family of roly-poly’s in the trunk of a tree
everyone runs over to see them.
—
“children can see magic because they look for it.”
-christopher moore
Sep8
Tag Archives: learning
Jun30
equality in learning.
“education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.”
*-edward everett
*Edward Everett was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Massachusetts, minister to Great Britain, and United States secretary of state. (1794-1865)
—
image credit: rutgers.edu
May25
appetite.
we are learning and doing so many new things:
how to weave
how to be very gentle with a rescue mini pony
how to make veggie sushi
how to catch frogs
how to create the life cycle of a butterfly
and tomorrow, anything is possible…
—
“curiosity for children is but an appetite for knowledge.”
-john locke
May10
spring chickens.
the kinder, who are spring chickens, check out the other spring chickens
and the other spring chickens check out the kinder.
—
“the sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken!”
-bob dylan
Mar8
follow your eyes.
we went to see the dinos
and along the way
we peeked inside of a magical drawer
filled with beautiful eggs and nests
what wonderful surprise
there’s always something
you don’t expect to discover
when you go to a museum.
—
“don’t go to a museum with a destination. museums are wormholes to other worlds. they are ecstasy machines. follow your eyes to wherever they lead you…and the world should begin to change for you.”
– jerry saltz
Jan13
under the rainbow.
my classroom is chock full of
multi-age kinder (3s-young 5s)
who stay with us for two years.
one of the very best things
is watching the older kinder
who were the younger kinder
just one year before
as they quite naturally and organically grow
to become the leaders/teachers/helpers/mentors
to the new group of younger kinder
who were at home
just one year before.
what a joy it was to watch someone older
spend a very long time
finding all the special markers she needed
to create an easy to see linear rainbow
for someone younger
who wanted to create
her very own rainbow picture
in her very own style
using all the special colors.
judging by their faces
when she finished her very own rainbow
they were both equally proud of the results.
—
“nine tenths of education is encouragement.”
-anatole france
Dec27
house of cards.
learned a new card game
while hanging with family at christmas
when someone reads the rules
it does nothing for me
i learn best by trial and error
lots of trials
lots of errors
but i did somehow win my first game
with a combo
of good luck and a happy accident
nothing to do with strategy
i’m fine with that
then got slaughtered in the next five games
by the kids
my hot streak might be over.
—
“You’ve got to know when to hold ’emKnow when to fold ’emKnow when to walk awayAnd know when to runYou never count your moneyWhen you’re sittin’ at the tableThere’ll be time enough for countin’When the dealin’s done.”
-kenny rogers, the gambler
—
photo credits: universal studios, facebook
Dec7
hunters and gatherers.
they quite naturally
are always busy
little hands
hunting and gathering
collecting, counting, carrying
organizing, sorting,
moving, lining up
until it feels and looks just right.
or until recess ends.
whichever comes first.
and then there is a mad rush
to fill pockets, and mittens, and hands
with as much as they can hold
treasure to be transported home
to go through the whole process again.
—
“we used to be hunter-gatherers, now we’re shopper-borrowers.”
-robin williams
Sep30
in it.
with the return of the school year
comes the return of our outdoor adventure days.
—
“we could have never loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.”
-george eliot
Sep23
steggy.
when you mix a scientist who loves dinos along with little people who also love dinos
you get bursts of curiosity, awe, and excitement on both sides
especially when one the of the kinder mentioned
it was ‘from the jurrasic period’ and another asked if it was ‘an omnivore.’
perfect match.
—
“did you know that the stegosaurus lived further away from the t-rex than we are from the t-rex in time?”
-johan peretti
I didn't have my glasses on.... 