This September, our time together in the Studio (and outdoor studio!) was spent looking closely at who we are as individuals and starting to look at our connections and the way we work as a community. Through this lens, we focused on color mixing, looking at ourselves in the mirror and noticing things about us, creating some really beautiful “Me Boxes” that tell the stories of us and designing our class banners. We’ve also begun a memory mapping project in collaboration with Nina and evan to create collections of small objects that represent the stories of our time at Randolph School. These projects are ongoing and will truly be a part of our work through the school year as we expand and build on the work we’re doing now.

This year Amy and Michael are teaming up to create opportunities for children to explore rhythm, movement, listening and acting within the context of our school-wide theme; storytelling. Each group has been working with drums, to make beats to accompany their group identity. There have been screeching Barn Owls, Marching Elder Guardians protecting us with their chant, Robins searching for worms and Kittens who like milk. Within this work children are learning to work cooperatively, listen carefully and think creatively about how we communicate feelings and meaning in nuanced ways. Amy has noticed that when you drum out the syllables in a word it reinforces important literacy skills like syllabification and word composition. Incorporating phonics lessons in our musical work is a great example of the way that the links curriculum make us stronger. We look forward to seeing where are explorations lead us!

September always offers us a chance to get to know each other. We welcome new friends and greet the old. At a nature-based school, the environment is an old friend we know well and take pride in learning more about each year. 

Links with Amy and evan focuses on using nature as a classroom. We can learn important science concepts by spending time outdoors. Amy and evan take this a step further as we find creative ways to embed all of our learning goals(math, science, literacy and social studies and beyond!) within the context of our natural environment. There is math in the garden, stories in the trees and history in the rocks. 

September in the library has been all about readjusting to being inside the library together and having an entire library’s worth of books to browse (rather than just a small red, library wagon). We have spent a lot of time on the big work of learning new routines: using shelf markers to browse for books, navigating the library collection using signs and shelf labels, and checking out books on the computer! The intention is for the library to be a space that each child feels comfortable and safe in, and that serves as a place where children can practice being mindful of others. Each library time begins with checking in and practicing routines, then we move to browsing and independent reading, and finish up by reflecting on how the library felt for each child. What kind of book did you look for today? Did you find it? Was it too loud? Was it just right? For those who felt it was too loud, how can we help them feel more comfortable? If books get knocked over when you’re pulling a book off a shelf, what can you do? (Answer: ask for help!) Slowly but surely, we are setting up boundaries, expectations, and routines that allow every child to feel ownership of the space and of their engagement with it. My hope is that by the end of the year, I do very little talking and the kids pretty much run the show. 

P.S. Ask your kids to tell you the story of the Koob Cart!