Wednesday News

April 10, 2013

This morning the children began their day with a walk outside all the way across school to the meetinghouse where the lower school was having a meeting for worship. The Cardinals sat patiently and respectfully while ideas were shared about friendship and springtime.

 After a while, we decided to leave the meetinghouse and finish our meeting for worship in the grove on the grass where each of the children had a chance to share thoughts and ideas if they felt so moved.

After our thoughtful early morning, we headed back to the classroom where we have been completing many projects this week. The focus of our energies today was our large canvas which will be displayed in the Art Show. We had already created all the pieces of the beautiful birds we planned to attach to the canvas, but needed to create the background for our sparkling birds. Taking blue and white paint, the children used their hands to mix, spread, and swirl the paint into a glorious sky scape that compliments our birds wonderfully.

Next, we took the pieces of our birds which we had collaged, traced, and cut out, and began to assemble them individually on our canvas.

Each bird presented a new puzzle for each child as they laid out the pieces into what they felt was what their bird should look like.

 After each bird was attached to the canvas, the children helped to create another collage which will become our flying cardinal and we hope will finish off our canvas tomorrow!

We had worked very hard all morning, and at lunch time decided it was the perfect day to head outside and have a picnic lunch in our lovely outdoor classroom.

 We ate our lunches in the shade enjoying the spring weather, listening to the sounds of birds, and taking in the bright sights of this sunny day.

A quick play time outside completed our picnic time before heading inside to rest. 

Wednesday News

February 20, 2013

We began our morning meeting by lighting a beautiful candle and sitting in a circle to share a few moments of silence together.  Lower School as well as all of the divisions in the AFS community honor Meeting For  Worship every Wednesday by going for Meeting in the Meetinghouse.  We have been introducing the concepts of silence and Meeting For Worship with our younger children by gathering each week in a circle, sitting in silence for a few minutes and inviting the children to share a thought or feeling they may have during our time of silence. The children seem to like to share a thought and we have noticed the classic domino effect where every child mimics in some way the words of the previous person! The children seem to be quite proud to have a few moments to share  'thought' as their peers listen quietly. We will probably visit the Meetinghouse again with the Lower School in the Spring.

Art class with Sam today was such fun!  The children LOVE to go to the studio and always are so enthusiastic when they learn that our schedule includes a visit with Sam. Sam introduced clay today. Each child had their own slab of clay and board to work with and Sam began the session by asking thought provoking questions such as:  What is Clay? Where does it come from? What can you do with clay?  Sam talked about the earth and dirt and described how clay is kind of in-between the two and is a natural material found in our environment. Sam invited the children to first explore the clay with their hands and even their sense of smell.  The children pulled, pounded, rolled and stretched the clay and soon realized the ability they had to mold and change the clay .  After exploring with hands only, Sam introduced tools that she thought were fun to use when working with clay. Thin clay knives, plastic forks, spoons and knives were also added to the work areas for the children to explore. The last group of materials that Sam introduced were objects that could be used to make prints in the clay.  Large plastic caps with varying textures, magic marker caps and other found objects that would make prints and the children were very interested in working with them.

A few more photos of our day...

Exploring Leaves ....Sharing Quiet Places...

Let's take a closer look...

 This week, Wyatt's mom sent in a note with a book that was filled with pressed leaves.  She explained that they had gone on a walk and found beautiful leaves that were changing color in their neighborhood.  She thought the Cardinal class would like to examine them.  

 Wyatt invited friends at Choice Time to visit a table where the leaves were displayed for further investigation.  The children began by sorting and classifying the leaves by shape, color and size.  They asked questions about  "where the leaves came from and what types of trees grow the leaves"

 Interest and discussion emerged as the children had the opportunities to touch, feel and compare the leaves. The children were asked if they thought there was any tool at the Science center that might help them to further investigate.  Wyatt and Samuel decided the magnifying classes would be a good choice to help them look more closely at the leaves.

Interest in the leaves was sparked by this lovely invitation that Wyatt and family brought to our class!  We will be sure to bring our magnifying glasses with us on our campus walks and we will also visit our Lower School library to see if we can find some books about trees and leaves to support this interest.  This feels like only the beginning of wonderful exploration....

     

A Quiet Place, by Douglas Wood

We gathered for Morning Meeting on our Block Area rug this morning and formed a large circle around beautifully lit candles.  The colored lit candles and the soft lights set the tone for a lovely, quiet meeting.  The children were asked to close their eyes and listen...listen to the quiet sounds of our classroom ...
The children were then asked to reflect on how they felt when our space became quiet....what were some of their thoughts.... what were some of the feelings they were feeling as our classroom changed ...
We then introduced the beautifully illustrated book A Quiet Place, by Douglas Wood.   This book draws the reader /listener to places that are far from the hustle and bustle of everyday life-a place that isn't ringing or talking or roaring or playing.  Exploring what it is like to find a special place where we can all think our own thoughts and feel our own feelings is so beautifully highlighted in this special book clearly aligning with Quaker values and Meeting for Worship.

Engage your child in finding their own quiet place at home tonight!