Finding Their Way Their Way.

That's no typo. As a child-centered classroom, we encourage the students to sort out their compromises in a manner satisfactory to them. Sometimes things don't seem fair to an outside observer, yet to them feel perfectly fine. We serve to support them and provide guidance as needed.

On only the second day of school we are seeing strangers becoming acquaintances and acquaintances becoming friends. Apprehension and caution are slowly melting away to reveal more of their personalities. These are welcome signs of trust and security in their new environment.

One of the remarkable things about children this age is their ability to connect with one another, regardless of prior associations. Grown ups of similar ages should be so fortunate. Granted, their collective experiences and perceptions are more closely connected to the simple joys of life. A large table full of water with dozens of containers, a sandbox deep enough to dig up to your elbow or building block structures as high as your vertical reach can motivate some pretty robust diplomacy. These simple joys also motivate teachers to remind students not to build large wooden blocks higher than their chin while standing flat-footed on the floor (Block rule#2). Block rule #1 is 'No throwing.'

TODAY'S STORY
Timothy Goes To School, by Rosemary Wells. Timothy attends school for the first time with great enthusiasm. This enthusiasm wanes, and eventually evaporates when his attempts to befriend a popular student are unrewarded, and downright discouraging. Quite by accident, he finds another student in a similar situation. Without going so far as to say misery loves company, the two hit it off famously, bonding over cookies. How can that not be a happy ending?

MOST POPULAR ACTIVITY
Today, Sonya prepared a beading activity to further develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. This is one of the many activities that develops the senses and muscle groups essential for the pre-writing beginning to emerge in some of their drawings. Look for much more on this in future posts.

FREEZE FRAME!
Let's face it, wordy blogs are boring. You're really tuning in for the photos of the students in action. You may notice that the photos are cropped or faces obscured by camera angles, clothing, or other features. This is for two reasons: First, we wish to focus on the work of the children and how it relates to their various areas of development; Secondly, we wish to respect their privacy on this publicly viewed forum. Those of you who know them already know how much they handsomely resemble their parents. Those who do not will derive satisfaction from their efforts. Occasionally, an image of a face may appear inadvertently. If you, as a parent, are uncomfortable with any posted image of your child, please bring it to our attention and we will modify or remove it promptly. Thank you.