Grouptime events

     In this part of the inquiry the children were drawn to a story about a Boy and  a stray puppy who developed friendship as they go through the feelings of sadness, loneliness and in search of a friend. The story lines were catchy and simple enough that children repeatedly said the lines over and over again in their play. "......sad, ... no fun....all alone....why am I the only one?"       They were so attuned to the sadness of the characters that they even created their own dramatic play on the ideas of feeling alone and what to do when no one wants to play with you.  The story "Say Hello" by Jack and Michael Foreman explores the concepts of care, inclusion and open-mindedness.   At the end of the story both the boy and the dog were connected by acknowledging the presence of the other through a simple "hello". It shows us that a warm greeting and a smile is all it takes for friendships to flourish.  Christina asked...

    September is a wonderful time to be experiencing new and exciting things.  As we continue to learn the new ropes and routine in school we also make new connections and build new friendships along the way.  This current Unit of Inquiry will explore Friendships.  The aim of this unit is to help children develop an understanding of: How do we develop friendly relationships, how to foster friendly relationships and the giving and receiving of friendship. Who is your friend and why?      We began the formative unit (first week) with a simple task of asking the children to tell us about one special friend.  They decorated a ginger bread person and used that to represent and talk about this friend.  It was interesting to hear their responses.  Of course, most children talked about who they played with while others talked about their family like their siblings and moms as their best friends.  However there were some disa...

Lina is telling the children about bugs as decomposers when they found a dead mole Let's investigate!! BUGS teeny tiny, itty-bitty, little crawling , slithering, jumping, swimming sometimes they fly  creature wood bugs living in the logs butterfly craft What are bugs? We found a log full of wood bugs and brought it inside to investigate further.  We noticed the bugs didn't come out as much and some children thought maybe they were scared or not happy that we brought them in.  The children also wondered about what bugs eat, the difference between bugs and insect and where they live.  As the day went by the children noticed that bugs love plants and dirt.   Some speculate they live in the forest because it has plenty of leaves to feast from.  The more we learned about how they move and live the more curious we've become.  We might bring in some stick bugs as pets for the summer time so we can continue to expl...

It was a beautiful sunny day and we were all excited to get our hands dirty at the farm. The children learned about what makes a healthy soil for planting, the process of composting and the importance of bugs like worms and bees in breaking down nutrients and pollination. Lunchtime!! We got to see part of the garden and tried edible flowers and leaves. At first the children found it odd to be eating "leaves" right off the plants.  I suppose we've been so removed from knowing how we source our food that we think food grows and only comes from packages and the supermarket. It was an interesting experience for the children for sure. What's in dirt? edible kale flowers Fragrant lemon balm Trying the wheelborrow dirt turned into mud

"I see ants and bugs crawling in the wood" We are lucky to have the forest in our backyard to explore and learn from. As part of our Formative assessment the children went on a nature walk and observed the lush forest surroundings. "leaves smells like Yuck!" "I found small animals on the leaves!" "I son't think leaves taste good." "We found lots of worms under the log!" Using their senses the children carefully observed the physical features of plants. Some even tried to taste the leaves. They lifted broken wood bark and discovered many bugs, worms and ants living underneath.  Looking closely at tree barks, they noticed tiny bugs that bury in between the cracks.  There were spiders hanging in the bushes and they began to wonder why they were there.  They were very intrigued by how and why animals live and stay in the dirt and why some bugs stay on plants. short discussion about our coll...

In the olden days children helped a lot at home with the chores in the kitchen, gathering food and keeping the house clean. During grouptime the children talked about how children in the olden days can do "unsafe" things like use knives, big tools and be outside on their own. In this grouptime the children practiced INDEPENDENCE and being a safe RISK-TAKER. Together we made home-made pancakes.  The children put in the ingredients together, cooked and shared the pancakes at lunchtime. They felt so proud of themselves and some couldn't wait to practice independence at home.

What is a Venn Diagram? What's different between children back then and now After watching about children living in early Canada we had a short discussion and worked on a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast children in the olden days vs children now. One thing they noticed very quickly was the amount of work children do to help out at home.  It seemed that children back then did not have much playtime.  After further investigation of old photos we also noticed that children did play but mostly outside and the games involved not toys but mostly with nature and with one another. They wondered how it's possible to work and tell stories when it's dark in the home and no electricity.When we tried doing it together they thought it was fun and different.  They decided to tell scary stories.  After a while they all felt that it's hard to get around when there's not enough light to help you find your way. Together, we made our own breakfast from scratc...

After reading a story about a child in the olden days, the children got curious about how and why they do things differently.  They noticed that children in the 1800s helped a lot at home and the work they do seem difficult and not safe.  The children can go outside on their own to gather wood, carry very heavy things and use big, sharp tools in the kitchen.  They wondered about what children do for fun like playtime when they are not helping at home.  Since there were no computers and electricity, what could they possible do for fun?? Olivia is exploring an old radio the book which sparked many questions "I'm going to call my mum" Here are some of the children's thoughts and questions: 1. "Children grow their own food because there were no grocery stores.     We also grow some food in the garden." -- Michael 2. Why did people work too much before? 3.  "What did the children do inside and outside? How did they play?"-...