Greetings from Baltimore

I had the opportunity to spend two days with early childhood educators in Friends Schools from up and down the east coast. We gathered at Friends School of Baltimore, and it was so wonderful to connect with so many like minded people, and to realize that the excellent progressive Friends education happening at AFS is also happening in places from North Carolina to Rhode Island. I particularly loved connecting with other schools who are inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach.

It was also wonderful to articulate to my colleagues some of the deep work that we do at Abington Friends, and to have so many people be so interested in our work. Of course, I shared the Turtle Blog and one of the student portfolios (with permission) and people loved to see this innovative use of technology.
The Interim Director of Education for Friends Council had also brought the booklet Education for Liberation: Preschool Peace Education aka my Masters Thesis which was published by Friends Council.

I came away with a list of schools to visit, books to read (including The Sanctuary Garden), projects to do (like making a "picking garden" of herbs and lettuces) and colleagues who I look forward to keeping in touch with throughout the year. And, somehow I managed to get myself volunteered to help coordinate next year's conference. See what happens when you get excited about the work you do?

Ode to Inside-Outside Days

Carol and I were planning last night (sitting on the floor of her laundry room, kept company by the adorable litter of five week old kittens she is fostering), and we were discussing just how wonderful this week has been. The introduction of Inside-Outside Days has ushered in a whole new era of Turtle-dom, and to see it in action is to believe in progressive child-centered early childhood education. Throughout the year, we have slowly been building the trust, relationships, routines, and independence that led to this week. And here we are!
The children have the tools they need to navigate their environment and make independent decisions about their work and play. Sitting at Morning Meeting yesterday, with the children raising their hands and sharing their ideas about what would be important to include in our choices, it was clear that the Turtles were well on their way to mastering purpose, Erikson's developmental stage for 3 to 5 year olds. Here are a few snapshots:

GK carefully placing a long board on the platform of the outdoor classroom, walking along the plank to test where the tipping point was.

Katie sat down at the new Oobleck table, after watching her friends experiment with it. She tentatively touched it, then scooped it up. She watched it drip off her fingers, saying, "It raining. Hear it?" The Oobleck dripped into the aluminum pan, pinging quietly as it hit the bottom.

Kailyn returned to the garden day after day to monitor the progress of the buds on the marigolds. On this day, she was beside herself with excitement! Two buds had bloomed!

Watering the garden turned into an exploration of fluid dynamics as the Turtles noticed that when they spilled their water on the patio, it ran down the incline. They experimented by pouring many many buckets of water down the patio, watching the splashing rivulets trickle and run across the brick, turning it bright red and washing sticks and sand along with the water. Tamara asked, "Where is the water going?" And the Turtles set off to see where the water was. They found a puddle at the bottom of the steps, and then discovered that the water was going even further, making its way slowly through the wood chips!

It is amazing to see the deep and scientific (not to mention joyful!) exploration the Turtles are doing inside and outside!
As reflective practitioners of early childhood, Carol and I asked ourselves: what led up to this point? Could we develop this initiative and this purposeful play earlier in the year? What are the important elements of this play, and how can we support and extend it?

Oobleck!

Today, we made oobleck and, for those of you who have not yet had the oobleck experience, it is wonderous stuff. It is not quite a liquid and not quite a solid, it is a substance that changes form, depending on whether it is still or in motion. The Turtles were amazed by it's strange properties.
One noticed, "It doesn't feel like it I thought it was going to feel." Another watch it drip off her fingers, saying "it raining. Hear it?" The oobleck dripped into the aluminum pan, pinging quietly as it hit the bottom.
Oobleck is made from equal parts cornstarch and water, with food coloring optional (and clean-up is a breeze, with a little water it dissolves away!) Besides being a very strange science experiment, it is wonderful for developing fine motor coordination as the children manipulate to hard/drippy/oozy substance. 

Another inside outside day began with a meeting about what we should take outside. The Turtles chose Magnatiles, books, 5 stuffed animals and paper and tape for art and cape-making. The Turtles are very thoughtful about what should go outside and making rules to insure their things come back in good shape.

Part of today's inside activity was a theater production. The Turtles built a big stage and seating for a large audience. The show was quite complicated, with dragons and monsters and a large number of cats. Somewhere in the middle, it morphed into a musical production, with a great deal of audience participation.

We also watched a short video on the Smart Board, where two scientist demonstrated the qualities of oobleck. The Turtles were fascinated when the scientists demonstrated that they could walk on top of it - as long as they kept moving. When one of them fell over, he sunk. See it here:

Time Warp Video of Cornstarch and Water

Singing and Dancing and Waterfalls and Kittens

Today was Carol's Treasure Box day, and boy did she bring in two treasures! It all started when Tamara noticed that both Carol and her treasure box were missing! The Turtles quietly crept up the hall looking for her. Finally they found her in Debbie's office! She had the Treasure Box on her lap, and this video shows what happened when she opened the box! The Turtles who wanted to (and the ones who didn't have allergies) had a chance to pet them. The Turtles and the kittens were soooo happy!

We also had Music with Allison today! She sang lots of sily songs and we got to sing dance along with her. She also sang "Happy Birthday" because today is Katie's birthday!

Katie's mom read us two books and shared cupcakes with us! We ate the cupcakes outside and then frolicked in the grass.

We also had Inside Outside Day today, and in addition to drawing and Oobleck, we decided to water the garden. Watering the garden soon turned into an exploration of fluid dynamics as the Turtles noticed that when they spilled their water on the patio, it ran down the incline.

They experimented by pouring many many buckets of water down the patio, watching the splashing rivulets trickle and run across the brick, turning it bright red and washing stick and sand along with the water.

Soon, Tamara asked, "Where is the water going?" And the Turtles set off to see where the water was. They found a puddle at the bottom of the steps, and then discovered that the water was going even further, making its way slowly through the wood chips!

It is amazing to see the deep and scientific (not to mention joyful!) exploration the Turtles are doing inside and outside!

Zigzy-Zagzy

Yesterday, Max's mom brought in a very astounding toy to share with the Turtles for a few days. As you can see, it is quite the contraption, but it had no name. So, this morning we decided what we would call it - The Zigzy-Zagzy! This was one of the most popular choices at Choice Time.

At Morning Meeting, Robbie's mom, Margaret, came in and read us two of their family's favorite holiday books: Runaway Dreidel and Night Tree. The Turtles really enjoyed both stories and, afterwords, Margaret told them about another surprise. She told the kids that she'd brought books that were going to be gifts to children who would be in the hospital over the holidays and asked that each Turtle sign a card that would go inside one of the book gifts. She explained that this was a season for giving, and that this would be a good way to share that tradition.

Turtles used their Choice Time today to continue working in groups on some very complex buildings. The teamwork in evidence in the block area these days is producing many complex structures, as well as requiring serious negotiation skills.

Still other friends worked with the watercolors, producing increasingly colorful and detailed pieces.
Oh, and it should be mentioned that, for quite a few Turtles, all of these activities occurred while they were Superheroes. Yes, capes have become a regular part of the Turtle uniform over the past few days, so you families can relax knowing that our classroom has an extra level of protection from evildoers.

Today, for the first time, we asked the Turtles to reflect on the choices they had made at Choice Time - specifically what they liked about their choices. This is an extension of "Plan-Do-Reflect"cycle of activity. As the children become more familiar with the idea of reflection, they are providing deeper and more complex answers to the questions.