Dear Nursery Families,
I wrote a number of you individually about the evolving cooperative play scenarios coming to life in the Butterfly classroom and outdoors. On Wednesday again a theme of fire fighters working together to create big structures to burn down and then rescuing the structures was an important theme. Girls and boys both worked on this project for a long time, and children put their imaginative muscles to good use in devising costumes to wear for their roles--there were a number of baskets improvised as helmets.
Wednesday also provided a lot of opportunities for physical exertion and purposeful work. Lynne has been taking larger and larger groups of children (sometimes the entire class) on longer and longer walks exploring the woods near our bonfire. At our playground, children helped Lynne locate the big wheelbarrow (the search was as much fun as the discovery) and then helped her move woodchips. I spotted children (by refraining from intervening unless really necessary) as they climbed and jumped from a play structure; a number seemed content with their increasing confidence and competence.
Inside I noticed how merry the children were--a bit bouncy, a bit noisy. I also noticed that the harmony of their creative play lives on even in the noisier moments. Lynne and I work hard to help children read cues, to notice the other. Does this child seek this sort of game right now? Or something quieter? Is this child feeling left out when you say only girls or only boys allowed? While we try to do this with as few words or explanations or confusions as possible, we do foster the development of these important social skills. I found nothing threatening in some of the rowdier moments of Wednesday--I was scanning the room to make sure the mood worked for all children--and the children seemed to be able to make a transition to quieter parts of the morning with grace. The classroom had a lively and healthy sense of breathing.
When I was a new teacher, I remember reading about the phenomenon of group glee, a moment in which an entire class enters an ecstasy of laughter or delight. The researcher posited that this was extremely healthy for children and almost impossible for a teacher to deal with (especially if one has an agenda of academic or even artistic or craft projects to force along). By working to simplify and refine the nursery morning to minimize a sense of haste or hurry, we perhaps create the possibility for children to flow in a natural way from activity to rest. Or perhaps I was lucky. Lynne and I are ever ready to intervene or, as Kim Payne advises aware teachers and parents, "Don't just do something! Stand there!"
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
I wrote a number of you individually about the evolving cooperative play scenarios coming to life in the Butterfly classroom and outdoors. On Wednesday again a theme of fire fighters working together to create big structures to burn down and then rescuing the structures was an important theme. Girls and boys both worked on this project for a long time, and children put their imaginative muscles to good use in devising costumes to wear for their roles--there were a number of baskets improvised as helmets.
Wednesday also provided a lot of opportunities for physical exertion and purposeful work. Lynne has been taking larger and larger groups of children (sometimes the entire class) on longer and longer walks exploring the woods near our bonfire. At our playground, children helped Lynne locate the big wheelbarrow (the search was as much fun as the discovery) and then helped her move woodchips. I spotted children (by refraining from intervening unless really necessary) as they climbed and jumped from a play structure; a number seemed content with their increasing confidence and competence.
Inside I noticed how merry the children were--a bit bouncy, a bit noisy. I also noticed that the harmony of their creative play lives on even in the noisier moments. Lynne and I work hard to help children read cues, to notice the other. Does this child seek this sort of game right now? Or something quieter? Is this child feeling left out when you say only girls or only boys allowed? While we try to do this with as few words or explanations or confusions as possible, we do foster the development of these important social skills. I found nothing threatening in some of the rowdier moments of Wednesday--I was scanning the room to make sure the mood worked for all children--and the children seemed to be able to make a transition to quieter parts of the morning with grace. The classroom had a lively and healthy sense of breathing.
When I was a new teacher, I remember reading about the phenomenon of group glee, a moment in which an entire class enters an ecstasy of laughter or delight. The researcher posited that this was extremely healthy for children and almost impossible for a teacher to deal with (especially if one has an agenda of academic or even artistic or craft projects to force along). By working to simplify and refine the nursery morning to minimize a sense of haste or hurry, we perhaps create the possibility for children to flow in a natural way from activity to rest. Or perhaps I was lucky. Lynne and I are ever ready to intervene or, as Kim Payne advises aware teachers and parents, "Don't just do something! Stand there!"
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
posted from Bloggeroid
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