New Use for an Old Favorite Story

This week's project, damaged book turned literary art work. 

Last week I mentioned that I have been reading We're Going on a Bear Hunt with my new class of two and three year olds. The kids love this book right now and each time I read it with them I look for new ways to create fun learning experiences for the classroom inspired by the story and its illustrations. I just love how a good story can weave its way throughout your life and so likewise I always try to have one classic story as the backbone of my preschool curriculum, the place from which so many projects, games, conversations and learning opportunities of all kinds emerge. Right now, this is the story on which I am building. This story is so well loved that it's pages were literally starting to fall apart from so much wear. This weekend I retired it and replaced it with the board book version we had in our school's collection. Despite it's sad condition, I couldn't bear to part with our beloved book so I decided, instead, to celebrate it by reconstructing the pages of the story into a piece of art to display in the library corner of our classroom.

found at this lovely blog

I can't take credit for this art project because like many ideas for my classrooms over the years, it was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest. Now that I am just about full time now in my new room at the school in Maine where I have been employed since we arrived in Portland back in September, I have been going back through many of the DIY Pins I have collected this year looking for inspiration. I stumbled upon this neat Cat in the Hat story art piece and immediately thought of the bear hunt book I knew was on its last days in the classroom. I don't have a canvas yet and I am not replicating it exactly, but what you see above is my progress as of last night. Hopefully by the end of the week I can report back with the final product and let you know what my kiddos think of it once I display it above the books in the story corner of our classroom. My hope is that not only will the story board draw attention to this part of the classroom, but it will also serve as a visual reminder of the children's favorite story. They love "reading" the story to me, using the illustrations to trigger their memory of the words which many have memorized almost entirely. This activity not only helps the kiddos to develop some important literary skills, like story telling, sequential ordering of events, vocabulary building, and word recall, it also serves as a way to connect with the story on a deeper level, to see the illustrations as the works of art that they are, and it helps document for the parents what we've been up to and what we are currently interested in as a class. Not to mention, it likely gives the parents a visual for a story they've likely heard all about.

Blocks found in this Etsy shop

In addition to all the literacy benefits of creating story art like this one, I believe that re-purposing something that could have easily ended up in the recycle bin provides the kids with a valuable lesson on DIY and creativity. If you've read any of my previous posts, you've probably gathered that I have quite an interest in creating handmade materials for the children in my lives. I'm hoping I have enough pictures left over from my story board project that I can attempt to put together a story block set like the one pictured on the left I stumbled across while browsing on Etsy one day. I'd love to get as much use out of our bear hunt book as possible and offer the kids as many ways as I can to dig deeper into one of their favorite stories. My interest in DIY is not simply a way to fulfill my need to create, but I love to use it as a way to inspire children and show them what they too can be capable of, which is why whenever possible I like to work on my projects either with the help of the children, or while in the classroom with them so that my projects serve as a provocation for them. In the past this has led to kids in my preschool class back in Seattle making their own books by stapling paper together and filling in the pages and learning to master the art of crown making for their dramatic play, and even creating origami critters that became the key characters in their small world play. When it comes to developing self-sufficiency and DIY skills, there is no better way to teach than by example and so I do my best to fill my classroom spaces with as many handmade items as I can, assuming the quality of my work is up to par with the rest of the materials in the classroom, which isn't always the case. But then again, moving on from failure and trying again is just as valuable a lesson and one which I am happy to pass on. Not all my projects meet the aesthetic qualifications for my classrooms but that will never stop me from continuing to work. 

Within the Walls of My Classroom

Though I have been at my new school just about two full months now, I am only just starting out in my new classroom after floating between the two toddler rooms in the program. As I start down this new path, teaching an amazing group of 14 kiddos transitioning from the infant/toddler wing to the preschool wing of the school, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to get back to blogging more regularly and share the trials and tribulations of teaching and learning with two and a half to three and a half year-olds. Even though I've only been in my new room part time for two short weeks, I am already overflowing with inspiration and projects and I'm ready to jump in and start settling into my new classroom space with my new friends and new routines. Starting a new chapter in my professional career, returning to a full-time teaching position is super exciting for me after over a year off so I can finally test out all the projects I've spent the past year or so researching and see what works and what doesn't. And I feel lucky to share my new classroom with such a great group of people.

These magnet-tile builders are currently a huge hit in our room 

My first order of business has been to jump right in and play with the kids, get to know them on a deeper level and gain some insight into their budding personalities, strengths, and affinities. At the same time I am in the process of assessing the classroom environment and observing how the kids use the space. By doing both of these I am getting a good sense of what already works well and where I can make improvements to better support the needs and interests of our group. To help me organize my thoughts, I spent this afternoon mapping out the classroom and making a list of the existing work stations in addition to the ones I want to improve upon or add. I am also making note of what materials are set up where, and how I might improve the functionality of each station by making little changes, like switching up the books, adding a few provocations and decorations here and there, swap out certain toys for others, and adjust the placement of the shelves and furniture to maximize each area as well as the general atmosphere of the classroom. The more I analyze the classroom environment the more I can tweak it and customize it to maximize the space and more fully engage the members of our classroom community and reflect the uniqueness of each member.

I am lucky that this classroom already comes fully equipped with a nice play kitchen which I updated a bit last week and plan to add an extra shelf on the back end filled with baskets of (my handmade) felt food to serve as a produce stand/market place. I'll be sure to document my progress as I go, but until I restock my craft supply and get my hands on some more felt and embroidery floss, I've been sticking to simpler (and cheaper) projects. Inspired by the adorable painted coffee filter/clothespin butterflies adorning the ceiling space in one of the toddler rooms, I started making origami paper cranes and experimenting with other animal patterns using this online instructional website. While I spent a week covering a teacher's vacation in the other toddler room, I strung up a paper crane mobile above the changing table to entertain the squirmy toddlers while getting a fresh diaper. This worked so well and added so much character to the space that I want to make another aerial display to hang above the story station to add a bit of whimsy to it.

This book is a favorite in our room right now

I already have a growing list of projects I can't wait to start in on, so to help me keep track of all my ideas I decided to start up a new PinBoard. In addition to my projects, this board serves as a wishlist for new materials I'd like to bring into the classroom and it reflects the current and developing interests of the members of my class. Right now we are rolling with the building interest in bears and this week I plan to decorate the walls with a variety of images of different kinds of bears, get my hands on some bear stuffed animals and figurines, and bring in a few more stories featuring bears including Jamberry, The Mitten, The Bear Who Shared, and Moon Game. I wonder if I can find a good pattern for an origami bear? There are so many ways to incorporate a study of bears into our play and so far we've had a blast making bear cave forts by draping blankets across the backs of chairs, growling and dancing like bears in our animal songs, and searching for the laminated pictures of bears that are hiding all over the classroom. As we dig further into our study on bears, I can't wait to begin exploring the concept of hibernation with the kiddos and see where it takes us. Stay tuned to find out and in the mean time, you can see what I'm up to with the kiddos in my class by following my new board on Pinterest called Within the Walls of My Classroom

Learning with the Littles

View of the city from Standpipe Park near my house in Portland's East End

So I haven't been the best at keeping up with my blogging lately, but in my defense I moved (again), and immediately started teaching full time  at a new school just outside of Portland, Maine. I've spent the past two months doing nothing but planning, packing, unpacking and trying to get acclimated to yet another new home and a new job. Luckily, this is the last time we will be moving for a long, long time. Bouncing around the country all year has been exciting and fun, but the nomadic lifestyle wore me out and I'm ready to settle into my new city, my new apartment, my new school and all the accompanying new routines. I find it deeply comforting to know that four months from now, I will not be packing up again, saying too many goodbyes, or pumping myself up for another set of introductions and unfamiliar faces. And Portland, I think, is going to be an authentic fit and a pretty amazing place for build Dylan and I to build our life together.

But onto the important stuff, the stuff that guides my writing, my thinking, and my professional life...the kiddos. I got lucky and landed a pretty great job at a pretty great little preschool in a coastal town near Portland, and when the wind blows right, we can smell the saltwater in the air on the back playground as the tide recedes. In a few more months, I'll be settling into my new Transitional Preschool Classroom filled with a wonderful group of fourteen 2.5-3.5 year olds and I could not be more excited to try and fill the shoes of the beloved teacher who is moving on to new things. In the meantime, I am bouncing around the younger, toddler classrooms getting to know the children who will eventually follow me up to the Transitional class. It's been a month so far and like any new job it takes time to learn the ropes, get used to the program and the many new routines, but it has been an especially difficult adjustment for me this time around after having gone through so much transition in my personal life this year already. Getting to know this special group of kiddos and their amazing teachers, however, is doing much to ease my anxiety and bring my feet back down to the ground, keep breathing, and smile more. 

Once again, I find myself making countless "leaf salads" and now sand cakes too

As you might already know, I have spent most of my career in education working with PK and school-aged children, so this toddler-intensive has been a month of eye-opening and thought-provoking experiences that have challenged me to step up my game and spend even more time in reflection than usual. I think it's important that I take a moment and send a virtual hug to little K back in Hawaii in thanks for introducing me to this age group in advance so that I could walk with some confidence into what would have otherwise been largely uncharted territory. Sure I spent time with the toddlers and infants at Bella Mente, but never in long enough chunks of time to get to know this period of development on a deeper level. If it wasn't for little K, I'd barely be able to keep my head above water with these two classrooms of ten toddlers each. Instead, I was able to dive right in and play with the best of them and so far, I've had a great time and have called upon my experience teaching K on a daily basis. 

Just ordered this favorite to reread

As I get to know the kids in my classes, their wants, needs, and interests, I'm reminded just how new the world is to them and how important it is to see our world from their perspective. As I both observe and join in on their play, I am finding that I need to slow myself way down and take things truly one at a time and go with the flow of their attention span, which often isn't very long. At this age, (about 15-28 months) children are struggling with the transition from baby to big kid and learning how to balance their budding independence with their still very real need for care and support. They are learning to do things for themselves but it's hard work, especially when their language skills are often lagging behind their thought process. It's hard to ask for help from a teacher, or space from a friend, when you don't yet have the words to articulate your needs. As a teacher, this means I spend a LOT more time talking than I usually do, though much of that is simply narrating the children's play and the routines of the day to help them acquire the words that are most relevant to their experiences at school. I also use my words to demonstrate how to communicate my needs to exemplify the process, and pointing out the effectiveness of articulating them when the kids give it a shot. If it wasn't for the nice long midday naps, I think I'd be completely wiped out by the end of the day. 

So after a month of swimming in the deep end, I feel like I am finally beginning to understand what I can do to best support the unique needs and interests of this group and I can't wait to share what I've learned. Here are a few pieces of the toddler puzzle I've put together so far:

What I would do to get that set of stairs with the tunnel bridge in our room

• First of all, it has quickly become clear just how important it is to teach by example. Though I always articulate what I am doing and why, many of these little ones are taking in what I do far more than what I say, particularly the more sensory learners. My actions speak louder than my words so that means I better be damn sure I practice what I preach. That means not simply taking things out of their hands without asking first, and then succinctly explaining why I need to do so if they won't give it up. Otherwise I contradict myself when I tell them not to take toys from their friends. 
• If all a kid wants to do is climb on everything in sight, I need to find a way to safely and regularly allow him or her to do so or I am signing up for a lot of unnecessary conflict while at the same time doing that child a disservice by preventing him or her from developing a skill that is clearly important. Find a way to turn "problematic behavior" into a learning opportunity and not only do you get to keep the peace (and your sanity) but you show that child that your role as a teacher is to help him grow and have fun, not get in the way of his learning. The Reggio-Inspired teacher is a co-learner after all, and that means we are in the business of constructing knowledge together. 
• Sometimes, an extra hug or a few minutes of snuggle time can solve all the problems in the world. In a group of 10 toddlers, most whom never have to compete for a hug at home, it is crucial to give each one of them as much of your undivided love and attention as possible every day. Some kids need more physical connection than others, just like some adults do. After a month of careful observation, I have begun to learn who and when to ask, do you need an extra hug right now? This simple question has saved a lot of tears and helped me teach the importance of articulating emotions and needs, not to mention it does wonders for the rapport I am working to build with these new munchkins. Back to my first point of teacher by example, these kids are now regularly offering hugs to one another, especially to friends who look sad. A little extra affection can work miracles, it seems.

The yellow leaves are always my favorite

Although I could spend hours writing down everything I've learned in the one short month since I started working with this group of toddlers, but so I don't overwhelm either one of us, I'll save the rest for future posts. In the meantime, I'll share one more experience that has made a huge impact on both myself and the kids with whom I've been spending my time. It is fall here in New England and having been far away for the previous few autumn seasons, I have been enamored with the foliage this year. All I want to do is look at the leaves, admire the colors, and breathe in the crisp fall air with all the peaceful feelings it brings me. It was hard for me to imagine incorporating nature into a traditional center-based toddler classroom after spending so many months with K where the farm was our primary learning space, but I've found the wealth of trees surrounding our back playground to be the perfect solution. 

Knowing that winter is looming in the distance, we've taken every opportunity to play outside in the sand yard and I have used much of that time to stay connected to the natural world myself by sharing this interest with the kiddos. We started watching the leaves "dancing" in the wind, pointing out the different colors, feeling the wind against our faces as is blows the leaves around us. I pick the kids up, one at a time, and we bond over our mutual fascination with the natural beauty around us. Together we spend our mornings and afternoons outside noticing patterns in the clouds, the contrast of the blue sky against the green and yellow leaves, and occasionally watch as a blue jay or chickadee or dragon fly flutters past. This is what a "science" curriculum for toddlers is all about, noticing the world around us, putting words to what we see, touching, seeing, feeling, smelling, and listening to it as much as possible. These moments of observation also serve as the perfect way to give the kids who need it a momentary break from the hustle and bustle of the playground and get a bit of peace of mind. Don't you just love solving two problems at once? And now that nature has their attention, I can start to parse out what aspects and concepts within their world each child is most drawn to, and build upward from there. Seeing the wonder in a child's eyes as he watches the rainbow of leaves dance in the wind on a beautiful fall day is the stuff I live for. It feels good to back, let's see what adventures next week brings...

Encouraging Future Scientists

Little C, transfixed by the movement of the water and colorful rocks beneath it

How do you get more kids interested in math and science? This was the question posed to me in a conversation this weekend about education after I made my claim that standardization and high stakes testing are boring students out of pursuing math and science careers. Being an introvert, I froze up on the spot and my response was pretty long winded and ended up as more of a general introduction to the Reggio Approach and the difference between what I do and how science is traditionally taught in schools. But I didn't really say much about my actual science curriculum and what it looks like in practice and I have been thinking about how to better answer the question all week. So today I flipped through all of my documentation folders for some good examples of how I "teach" science in my preschool classrooms and what I do to keep kids interested in these important subjects.

I spent one morning with a group of toddlers smelling, naming, touching, and looking at a rosemary bush in the back garden patch during outside time at Bella Mente. This impromptu lesson on plants was the result of little L's curiosity about this big green thing beside her, inspiring each of her classmates to have a smell. Engaging all of the senses is a great way to figure out how each of my students learns most effectively.

Back in Hawaii, K and I learned about the local farm flora by exploring the pigeon pea bush. She preferred a more hands on approach, working her fine motor skills by plucking the peas from their pods. We got in a great vocabulary lesson along with our science as K inquired about the name of each part of the plant and practiced saying leaf, pea, pod, bush, branch, and more as she pinched the pods carefully to get her pea.

Learning distance and landscape was something my buddy little E was particularly drawn to, he loved to look at maps and took great pride in his ability to name the places he recognized. Each time we brought out the world map he always showed me where Africa was, followed by England and Seattle. Here he's trying to find our school on a map of our neighborhood, West Seattle, Washington. He had a blast showing me all his favorite places as we looked over the streets together, naming them and putting his memories on the map.

Here is another example of a day when maps were one of the provocations set up on the science table but little E was onto something else and little M barely noticed the maps, fascinated instead by the magnetic sand boxes, first examining them, then manipulating the magnetic sand with a magnet wand. I always set up multiple materials and ways to explore them so there are options speaking to a number of different interests.

When the kids in my 4s class seemed a bit bored with our typical outdoor options one day, I pulled out a sensory table and filled it with birdseed  and these two practiced scooping, dumping, and measuring, and learning the physics of a water wheel. Later we observed from the other side of the window as the crows came to feast. I try to seek out activities with multiple dimensions because they tend to draw in more students and allow for more chances to inspire learning. Not everyone wanted to play with the birdseed when we were outside but many who didn't were thrilled to watch the birds gather to feed on it later on. 

The school age kids couldn't seem to get enough of math when we introduced the woodworking table where they also learned valuable lessons about the concepts of balance, weight, adhesive strengths, texture, and so much more. But best of all, they had so much fun stretching their imaginations and bringing their ideas to life. These kinds of hands on activities that engage multiple senses are a fantastic way to reach kids who just don't learn their best seated at a desk. They're learning the same concepts but their senses are awakened and engaged in all new ways from the smell and feel of the wood in their hands and the sounds of hammering and working with tools. Through the application of math and science concepts they understand their relevance.

On this particular day at the block table a few boys were experimenting with height, testing the impact of using the different shape blocks, trying to figure out which blocks or combination of blocks would make the tallest tower. They worked hard, challenged their patience, and experienced the thrill of discovery in the end. I asked, as I often do, to share their hypothesis, which blocks they thought would win out, I don't remember their specific response but through narrating their process I taught them the language of the scientific method.

There are so many ways for kids to learn scientific and mathematical concepts but most importantly I want them to learn how to think like scientists so whatever they don't learn from me or other teachers they will have the motivation and capability to resolve their queries for themselves. I've found that when I observe my kids carefully and play alongside them frequently they will show me exactly what they are most motivated to learn, making my job of curriculum planning a whole lot easier if I pay attention to their cues. Joining my buddy little N in observation of the tadpoles, we told each other what we liked about frogs and shared our ideas on why some of the tadpoles seemed to be growing faster than the others. Our conversation inspired research on what frogs eat and the details of their natural ecosystems. And in retrospect now I would have shared that interest with the class by reading a story like Mo Willems's City Dog, Country Frog, and  reach across disciplines again to paint a frog using water colors just like Jon J. Muth does in the illustrations. The possibilities for scientific exploration and discovery and are endless in any environment and once I got in the habit of looking for them, I started to wonder why anyone ever bothered with the traditional methods of lecture and test when this is so much more effective and a million times more fun for both my students and myself. Now that I've discovered the benefits of an emergent curriculum, I am in love and I will never go back.

We Teach Each Other

Have you ever read Peter Reynold's book, The Dot before? It is a fantastic story that I read many times with my former Bella Mente Kiddos and I recommended it to Heather for little K and the future farm preschool kiddos in Hawaii. I have always enjoyed reading this story with kids for its beautiful message but it wasn't until I read this story with my campers this summer that I fell in love with it. The library where our camp was housed had a pretty spotty picture book collection, being that it serves a K-8 program, so The Dot stood out as an obvious selection to read with my kiddos. Having stumbled across countless ideas and examples of art projects this story provoked, I decided to see how it would inspire this group of little ones. I was blown away by the volume and quality of work that resulted and I have been dying to share how it went for weeks.

All I said after reading this story was "I wonder what kind of art we could create in our class using just dots? Do you guys want to try it out?" The kids seemed to enjoy the story, many of them had read it before in school or at home with their parents, so I was hopeful that I could provoke their interest in testing out their skills. I had anticipated a lot of really big water color circles in a variety of colors like the ones in the story and like the images I've seen on Pinterest. Many students did do this, big circles, a bunch of polka dots in various colors, and then the dots kept getting smaller and began to take shape as larger, less abstract pictures. One boy decided that the dots reminded him of planets and stars so he made a solar system dot picture. Then another said the dot looked like the earth and made a big dot of blue and green. Then somehow the dots kept getting smaller and a handful of us, myself included were suddenly working on elaborate pointillism style dot pictures of trees.

The dot picture I started alongside my campers, inspired by theirs

I am not an artist by nature, most of my art work comes from my classrooms, but I have always enjoyed art. Painting and drawing have always come second to collage, photography and calligraphy for me because my perfectionist nature leaves me too frustrated most of the time with my own lack of skill. When I sat down to show the kids how to make art, one dot at a time, I was doing so for the first time and I had no idea how it would turn out. Well, it turned out to be the perfect form of drawing for me. One dot at a time allowed me to take my time and plan out my picture in smaller segments and adjust as I go so that I have more control over the final product. I started my dot picture with just a few brown dots representing the trunk of a tree and after many, many more dots I ended up with a big fluffy tree in a starry night sky. To my surprise, I seemed to be enjoying this art project as much as (and often, it seemed, even more than) my campers. The fact that I discovered this kind of art right along with them made it all the more exciting and enjoyable for all of us. The room was buzzing with inspiration and enthusiasm, the kind I as a teacher always hope for.

One of my campers got so into our dot projects that he spent the remainder of camp glued to the art table whenever we were in our classroom making more and more elaborate and detailed pictures. He didn't come back the next few weeks and without his lead, enthusiasm waned, even though we read the story again. I continued to work on my dot tree picture that I never ended up finishing that first week, making sure to park myself next to each week's new children and when the asked I got to explain to them about the project started in the first week. No one got quite so into the project, though plenty of new dot pictures emerged over the following few weeks. C-man, my dot picture partner in crime came back and immediately asked me if I ever finished. I hadn't yet but eagerly showed him the progress I had made. He excitedly asked if he could help fill in the final black dots of the night sky and so after adding his name to the trunk of the tree in bright orange dots, I handed it over to him. He finished it that afternoon and I sent our collaborative home with him to get framed in remembrance of the project of which he was such an integral piece.

The little artist's work in progress.

I already can't wait to read this book again with another group and see where else it takes us. It always amazes me what I can learn about myself and the world from the kids I get to share my time and learn with. This is why I teach. Children are amazing little people.

Hello from the Forest

find this story on Amazon.com here

A whole month has gone by since my last post... woops! Time flies in the summer time and this month has been a busy one. Lots of travel, lots of friends and families, a month-long art and nature summer camp, and a much needed respite from the daily routines that had started to wear me down. But, I'm am back refreshed and revitalized and ready to share lots of goodies and stories I've collected over the past few weeks. To start out, I'd like to share a book I stumbled across at the library one morning as I browsed for stories to share with my 4-6 year old campers. Although this powerful and important book is on the longer side, the story and illustrations held onto everyone's attention and the web-of-life concept kept most campers involved in a lively discussion long after I put it down.

The story starts with a young girl discovering that her cat had gone missing during the night and as she heads off into her beloved forest to investigate, she finds his collar and a few patches of fur on the ground. Suddenly, the girl is introduced to a side of wildlife she had not yet encountered and though it frightened and saddened her, she set out to understand it, and in turn the world, a little bit better. The author takes what could be a traumatizing and grim experience for a child and invites children to understand both sides of the predator-prey relationship.

Having the river in the forest as our playground made it easy for the kids to take what they learned in the classroom the world at large. Out here we came across a painted turtle, craw fish, wild mushrooms, and birds of all kinds to observe.

With my particular group, this story opened up conversation about losing pets and the emotions and rituals that surround dealing with death. It also invited children to share what they know about the food chain and what kinds of animals eat what. We talked about how although it seems mean that a mountain lion or wolf might have eaten the girl's cat, that each animal has a family to feed and are designed differently so that there is enough food for everyone. One child in my group suggested that if all animals ate grass there wouldn't be any grass left. Even though the children were sad for the girl and the loss of her feline friend, they were able to look beyond their sadness at the grander picture of life. These are important concepts that are often avoided with younger children because of their seriousness, but I have always found that children are never credited enough for their ability to both understand and work through even the most complicated emotions and concepts when guided and supported by loving adults and peers.

Depicting their new-found knowledge of birds via drawing

Following our reading and discussion, the children headed off to the art table to investigate and animal pictures in the National Geographic magazines I had brought in and many of them made collages of their favorite animals, pointing out the herbivores versus the carnivores. Other children gathered around the computer to watch episode three of this BBC documentary about birds, exploring how their beaks are uniquely shaped to suit their diet. Other children headed outside to do a bit of bird watching with the binoculars I had brought in while others grabbed one of the many non-fiction animal and nature book on display in our classroom. I also set out the story on the art table with some paper and markers for children as an art provocation and a few sat down to draw animals and forest scenes of their own. All in all, I was pleased with the fun and learning that was born out of this story and I can't wait to read it again with another group. If you have ever read this one with a child or class, I'd love to hear stories of the discussions, projects, and inquiry that resulted.

Green Education

I have been deep in research mode lately, since my camp doesn't start up for a few more days and I haven't been working directly with any kiddos recently. This means that while I don't have as much direct experience or stories to offer at the moment, I do have tons of ideas and resources to share. First of all, I've been reading and investigating more on Richard Louv's concept of Nature Deficit Disorder (remember his book Last Child in the Woods from this post a while back?). I picked up his follow-up book, The Nature Principle as a graduation gift for my little sister who is starting at Sterling College next fall, a small alternative school in Vermont that puts the need to connect with the natural world at the heart of their curriculum. She is still in the middle of another book so I decided to dig into it first--we are sisters after all, we share stuff all the time anyway, particularly our favorite books. Well, this book is just as incredible as the last and I want to share with you a quote Louv recorded on page 72....

In addition to the benefits to physical and mental health, there's the added spiritual value of green exercise. The theologian Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, "Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement, to look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; to be spiritual is to be constantly amazed."

I love this idea, and I completely agree, there is magic all around us, every day if we just open our eyes and hearts to it. Just yesterday I was trying out my new binoculars and struggling just to get it so I was no longer seeing double, and in a bit of frustration let them drop and hang around my neck. Just then I noticed that a few feet in front of me, a little brown bunny was watching me from next to the purple and white bell flowers that surround the trunk of the old maple tree in our yard. The rabbit froze as we locked eyes, but since I didn't move, he stayed there for a moment rather than hopping immediately away. He hopped around a bit as I watched him and then scampered off to the crab apple tree toward the back of our small piece of land. He continued to watch me and I continued not to move, content in the moment just to see what he might do next. The sweet little bunny went about his business of munching on clover leaves and sniffing the air as I went back to messing around with my binoculars. He was still hanging out when I got bored and headed inside and back to my computer.

Oh how I miss working in the garden with K, the best little lima bean (and pigeon pea) sheller I ever knew. She is a girl after my own heart, as plucking peas from their pods was my favorite task too back when I was my mother's little garden helper

I was so inspired by my experience with the rabbit, that I went on the hunt for what other bloggers, teachers, parents, and writers had to say on the subject of getting out into the outdoors with kids. Ever since I had the opportunity to teach in an outdoor classroom, on the farm in Hawaii with little K, I can't stop thinking about the value of green education. Louv's books are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the literature available on this subject and although his work and a few others are the only ones I've delved into so far, I am so impressed by and excited about what I foresee learning over the next however many months, (or more likely, years) it takes me to get through it all. And not only is there literature available to satiate my own hunger to learn, there is just as much, if not more geared toward the most important audience, the children themselves.

Being a long-time lover of children's literature, I am well aware that such stories exist and I have used many of them in my classrooms quite regularly, but I had no idea just how many books are so well suited for green education. This is what I am calling a nature-based program that is rooted in a belief in a sustainable lifestyle that is in harmony with rather than opposed to the natural world, while at the same time encourages and supports technological and economic innovation and development through an interest-driven program fostering a life-long love of learning. Green Education is my new philosophy and passion, though it seems this is where I've been heading all along, I just didn't know quite what to call it yet. The name has probably been around for a while, I'm fairly certain I am not the first to think of it, and the concept is certainly not my own creation, but either way I am advocating for it like crazy, regardless. I firmly believe that a green or sustainability focus is exactly what is necessary to breathe new life into the education system, and in turn the economy after that.

So now that I've rambled for a bit, it's time to get to the good stuff...

Check out more about this incredible book here

• Here is Joyce, from Inner Child Learning and her 5 tips for exploring nature with the kiddos. I love this post because it offers a lot of really simple and easy tips for getting outside with kids for the every day parent. Don't have expensive camping gear or a whole weekend to spend, then this post is for you!
• Check out this gardening and growing plants themed list of amazing children's books, I love them all!!
• Here is the Amazon.com page for David Sobel's excellent book, Childhood and Nature, one I have repeatedly used to help explain the Reggio concept of natural materials and the infusing of nature in classroom design.
• If you live in an urban area or have struggled to get outdoors, this awesome indoor growing system offers kids an up-close-and personal view of how plants grow that requires little beyond the initial planting and regular watering but can provoke tons of inquire and exploration into the process of plant growth
• and the gem of all gems, the Center for Ecoliteracy and their publication co-written by Daniel Goleman (remember him from his work on emotional intelligence?), Ecoliterate: How Educators are Cultivating Emotional, Social, and Ecological Intelligence

Blocks, Building, and Beyond!

The right accessories can add so much depth to block play.

There are nearly six weeks between my last day working with K in Hawaii and my first day working with my new group of sweet little munchkins at the Battenkill Summer Camp starting July 8th. That is a long time for me to go without hanging out with little ones, but it has given me a wonderful (and rare) opportunity to catch up on all those projects I've been meaning to do but never have enough time to work on. I get to hang out in the children's section at the Northshire Bookstore, one of my favorite places in Manchester, VT to check out some new children's books and look over a few classics to provide inspiration for a few aforementioned projects, which I'm sure I'll tell you about later this summer. While I was there, I found this awesome block play set which I couldn't not share because it inspired me to get on Pinterest and pull together an entire board dedicated to block play which I have titled, Blocks, Building, and Beyond.

Plain wood blocks of varying shapes and sizes inspire creative, innovative play

There are so many different kinds of blocks and building toys and accessories to accompany them and they are so important to play and the development of creativity, innovation, and provoking children's interest in concepts of mechanics, engineering, physics, and design, among other things. If you don't have a block & building station in your classroom and/or playroom, then check out my pinboard immediately for inspiration to create one today. There are so many benefits to playing with blocks, and though they are often marketed to boys, girls get just as into them and get just as much out of them. When it comes to blocks and accessories, I say the simpler the better. The simpler the blocks the less restricted kids will feel when deciding how to use them. Too much detail and too specific of design means fewer ways they can be used and the more parts are needed to reach the same level of creativity and really, who has the space and money to fill an entire room with different blocks and accessories?

Set up a track with the kiddos and watch story after beautiful story unfold.

Building isn't limited to just blocks either, when I was a kid I loved playing with Lincoln Logs and Brio Trains as well. When I was in college I used to nanny for a family down the road and their son, little Ray, who was a toddler at the time, had a near-obsessive love of Thomas the Tank Engine, like so many other little ones have and probably still do. Ray and I used to play trains for hours together and when we weren't playing with his train table and set, we were watching train movies and reading Thomas books. He knew the stories so well that he would set up the scene on his table just as it happened in the stories and then point, shouting at me to "read it!" I did not know the stories as well as he and so often when I would try to "read" the story to him he would correct me and tell me what really happened. This was my first experience narrating a child's play and from little Ray I learned just how powerful this practice can be. Together we brought his favorite stories to life and after a while, it didn't matter as much how well I knew the story because I could simply watch him move the trains and narrate the scene as he unfolded the action. I would put a train table, or something like it in every classroom and home if I could. If only I had a picture of that sweet boy playing at his trains to share.

Posters and photos in the block station are a must.

Block play has more benefits than simply provoking interest in an array of scientific concepts, though I'd be perfectly happy if that was the only one. Little Ray build his vocabulary from playing with trains, he worked his memory and learned the literary concepts of storytelling, and he brought something from his imagination to life in a way that left his filled with joy and satisfaction. Block play builds motor skills, dexterity, balance, and concentration and it teaches kids to think outside the box and pay attention and care to their surroundings else they might knock over their creations. Building together with friends creates invaluable opportunities to practice social skills, problem-solving, out-side-of-the-box thinking, cooperation and teamwork, and so much more. I really cannot say enough about this kind of play, which is why I finally created a pinboard on which to showcase all the exciting block and building related materials I come across in my research, including complementary books, accessories, building materials, organizational tips, and so much more. I have seen so many projects and extended learning evolve from block and building play over the years, there is no limit to the benefits that come from these kinds of open-ended, child-directed activities. If you have any stories to share about blocks and building with kids, please share you experiences in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you!

Children in the Garden

K tests her strength as she attempts to pull up an old kale stump

Ever since I got back from Hawaii, I have been unable to get the idea of school gardens off my mind. Having the farm as my classroom with little K opened my eyes to just how beneficial and even essential gardening is as a teaching tool and now I am an advocate for life. There is just so much to learn from regularly spending time in a garden and the materials is so alive (literally), provoking many questions, discussions and explorations that I never want to teach without a garden again. In fact, I never want to be without a garden again, because not only did it help me teach K, I learned nearly as much as she did from our time together out among the crops.

Over our four months together, we learned more than I ever could have taught her in a classroom, especially a kid like K who is such a hands on learner, craving physical experiences. She wanted to touch, feel, taste, smell, and listen to the world around her, that's how she gathered information. Simply telling her about it would have left her completely unsatisfied, and although she loved reading stories together, she needed the physical experiences to pull all the information together. Stories made the perfect way to build on our experiences or provoke new explorations outside, but they alone only made up one piece of the puzzle.

As soon as our eggplants popped flowers, K and I went out to the garden to monitor their progress daily, watching them grow

While the gardening with older kids becomes more about the actual food and the production and process of their growth, including complex concepts such as soil composition, permaculture, etc. gardening with young children is about "being in the garden, breathing the garden, being with the garden," as Teacher Tom points out in a recent post about gardening with his preschoolers. Just being around the plants, admiring the life in a garden, the butterflies, the beetles, the bees, being present in the moment and learning to respect each and every member of the garden's mini-ecosystem (including fellow gardeners) is where the focus lies with the little ones. The garden created real life opportunities for K and I to work on things like responsibility, respect, gentle care, paying attention to and being mindful of our surroundings.

K & C selected the ripest limes on the tree for Dylan to use for salad dressing

K tested her limits with me and because I cared so much about the plants, it was easier to be firm with my boundaries which helped her grow into the wise little gardener she now is, despite being only two years old. When we first started together, she grabbed at whatever she wanted and pulled, without regard. After just a few months, she learned the names of each plant in the garden and had developed the necessary respect and restraint to check in with me before grabbing to find out if certain veggies were ripe enough for harvest. K learned not only how plants grow, but what to do with them after harvest since we often brought our bounty back to the kitchen to wash and prep for cooking. Though K and I didn't do much actual cooking together, aside from making tortilla wraps, slicing up radishes and green peppers, and frying eggs, K often watched Dylan and I, and her mother prepare our dishes for the weekly farm potluck where she got to enjoy the fruit of all of our labor in the garden, sampling and enjoying every last dish.

There is so much to learn from the garden and so much wisdom to be gained simply by spending time surrounded by the plant and wildlife there within. I really cannot say enough how much I have learned about teaching, about life, about children, and about myself from having the opportunity to use a garden as a major part of my classroom in Hawaii. It was an experience I will certainly never forget and will forever be devoted to replicating as best as I can in every school and with every child I work. Gardening, despite the amount of food I grow, will always be a part of who I am and what I do. Check out my new Pinboard, The Children's Garden dedicated to gardening with kids for tons of ideas and inspiration. Now get your kids into the garden and prepare to be astonished!

Both kids wanted to be held as we headed out to harvest the last of the lima beans but my hands were busy holding our harvest bucket and bench which I tossed to the side to snap this picture as C & K decided that holding hands together was the next best way to get the support and closeness they both were craving and it was just what they needed :)

Get Out and Play!

My mom's garden in Dorset, my playground for the summer :)

In the past two weeks I have been in Hawaii, Seattle, Boston, Connecticut, and Vermont. My baby sister graduated high school (making me feel quite old), my hang-gliding instructor brother whom I hadn't seen in two and a half years (insanely too long) visited from Santa Barbara, CA with his girlfriend, and my fiance Dylan went out of town to visit family and friends without me for the first time in years. It has been a crazy fourteen days and I've been a bit overwhelmed, which is why I've been so absent lately. I am still settling in here in Vermont, a place I haven't called home in years, so my brain is a bit jumbled, making it hard to come up with anything new. So instead, I've decided to share a gem of a video that has been on my mind lately. I can't believe I haven't shared Stuart Brown anywhere on the Sparks site yet, but now is as good a time as any right?

Sad to leave the many playgrounds of Hawaii

Dr. Stuart Brown is the founder of the National Institute for Play, a non-profit dedicated to "bringing the unrealized knowledge, practices and benefits of play into public life." His research is astounding and inspiring, putting scientific data and articulate explanations behind all my thoughts and feelings about the importance of play, not only in early childhood education, but in life as a whole for human beings of all ages. When I stumbled upon the Dr. Brown's TedTalk titled "Serious Play" (shown below) which he presented at the 2008 Art Center Design Conference, I was absolutely ecstatic. I've always know that play was important, I've heard Teacher Tom talk about it on his blog time and again, Lauren and I discussed it time and again at Bella Mente, and I've felt it in my own experience as a teacher, student, and human being, but I've never been able to back up how I felt with much more than my own opinion and anecdotal evidence.

This is fine for some people, but many are skeptical of the role of play in education, thanks to rote learning and an over emphasis of standardization and testing being the norm in traditional schooling. And before I am a teacher, I am a researcher at heart, it's where I got my start in education as a serious career and it is an important part of who I am, how I learn, and how I share my information. So needless to say, discovering Dr. Brown's work and the Institute for Play was like striking gold for me. Enough of me ranting, I'll let you check it out for yourself. Here's the talk, and definitely check out the website for the Institute linked above and learn more about the importance of play for your children, the children you work with, and everyone else in the world. Dr. Brown says, "the opposite of play is not work, it's depression," so for your own mental health, get outside and play around for a while, whatever you love doing, take some time today and go do it! I'm going to head out to work in the garden with my sister, and then maybe dance around shamelessly to some guilty pleasure music while I design and organize my new living space. It feels good to be home.

Through the Eyes of a Child

The dolphin's swam so close I probably could have touched one had I tried.

To children, the world is still so new and exciting because so much of it they are seeing for the very first time and to them, it’s the coolest thing they’ve ever scene. This past week, I have been trying to see the world through the eyes of a child, to experience a bit of the joy and wonder of being a kid again. Reading Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods during my final days living in Hawaii means that all I want to do is get outside in the sunshine and soak in all the beauty of this spectacular island. Last weekend I hiked around a volcano, saw a beach where all the sand was black, and went snorkeling for the very first time where saw beautiful yellow tang fish feeding among the coral. Then this weekend rolls around and I got to swim with wild dolphins at Ho'okena Beach Park. While I was looking for fish, a Spinner dolphin swam right underneath me. It was amazing. Before this, I had never seen or heard of Spinner dolphins, who get their name because they love to jump up in the air and spin as many times as they can before splashing back into the waves. School or not, I learn something new every day and my appetite for knowledge keeps on growing.

These beautiful flowers smell even better that they look, if you can possibly imagine. Just pay attention when you touch them because the white sap is apparently poisonous and can potentially lead to blindness. I love these flowers anyway.

I will always remember the time I swam with wild dolphins in the Hawaiian Pacific. If I was a kid and I swam with dolphins, I might suddenly want to be a marine biologist when I grew up. I am not going to switch careers or anything, I but I do have a new found interest in learning more about the creatures of the ocean after living in Hawaii. I can’t wait until we find our place in Maine this fall so I can start looking for puffins and seals and find out what other wildlife exists in my soon-to-be new home. Today, I saw a handful of sea turtles grazing the shores and then later saw two more taking a nap in the sunshine among the lava rocks just an arms-length away. I watched the turtle for a while, he blinked his eyes a few times and squirmed a bit to get more comfortable, I presume. These turtles, one smaller and younger looking and a bigger, more tired-looking one were just like the ones I’ve seen in pictures online. Seeing them up close like I did today, was so much better than looking at pictures.

Cardinals, just like the ones that I grew up with in Vermont

Nature has a powerful effect on people, it’s pretty amazing. Hawaii is a great place to fall in love with nature because it’s everywhere and all of it is stunningly beautiful. But nature, and all of it’s beauty can be found just about anywhere if only you look for it. I believe that this is my most important role as a teacher, to seek out the wonders of the world and share them with my students. When K and I are playing outside together, I always switch into hyper-observer mode, seeking out amazing things around us to point out to her and these experiences have helped us to bond, influenced K’s play, and inspired her interest in various aspects of nature she may not have otherwise noticed. When I hear a bird call, I ask her if she heard it too and together we search for the source. I also try to replicate the call with a bit of concentrated whistling. K loves it when I call to the birds and once we even tricked a cardinal into believing he was hearing the sounds of another cardinal. I whistled back and forth with the bird who sat a few feet away searching for the source of the sound he heard. K stared in fascination as I interacted with the brilliantly red cardinal and after he flew away, we talked about what the cardinal might have been trying to communicate.

Pacific Golden Plover we saw at the beach one morning.

I have a personal love of birds, I think they are so beautiful and interesting and I always want to learn more about them. Throughout my time with K, I have been able to share my fascination with ornithology with her and now I notice her pausing to spot the birds she hears singing. Recently, after I started naming the birds we noticed around the farm, K has started pointing out the birds she sees, identifying them by name just like I do. I didn’t do anything special to teach her this, I simply shared with her when I noticed them myself. I could have taught K about the local species of birds through pictures on the computer, as I often used to with kids, but it’s the magic of first hand experience and interaction with these winged creatures that I believe has sparked her interest, as it did mine. This isn’t to say that I don’t use the computer to learn more about the creatures I see out in the world, but usually it’s experience in nature that I use to guide my research. 

Did you know that there are species of animals that can regrow limbs? Sharing our living spaces with these awesome little creatures, K and I have learned a ton about them together through our daily observations and interactions. For instance, when Dylan and Daniel rebuilt the cabin roof, we learned that gecko's drop their tails when they get scared. The tail flops around spiritedly as a distraction while the tailless gecko fleas the scene. It takes about a six weeks to fully grow back.

K digs holes in the sand while the tide tickles her toes.

K is a sensory learner, she wants to experience things first and so getting out and connecting with nature is critical to her optimal learning. Some kids prefer to learn first through reading and then through experience, but usually that habit comes about later on, especially once they’ve mastered reading for themselves. That’s how I prefer to learn skills, I research in advance before attempting something new, to build up my confidence first. Observing nature is different. When I step out into the world of nature, I pay attention to my surroundings in a way that is not-second nature for me the way it is for K, who is a natural observer. I don’t often notice the details around me except for when I find myself out in the woods, swimming in the ocean, or admiring the way the tall grass sways softly across an empty field. There is something so freeing and so rejuvenating about the natural world, all my senses are stimulated at once and I am able to quiet my brain and notice those small details I often miss. I can feel my balance restoring and new interests forming and I always walk away from nature-based experiences feeling inspired and excited a motivated.

K's playground among the mango trees here at the farm.

These last few days in Hawaii I have spent my time soaking up as much nature as possible and savoring all the beauty of this place. I can feel my appreciation of these things rubbing off on K. She lives in a beautiful place and she knows it. Most kids do. I knew it when I was a kid too, but I forgot over the years when education was no longer about observing the natural beauty of my local environment, but about memorization and homework and tests. I lost the feelings of wonder and if you ask me, that is a school’s greatest mistake, squandering children’s natural awe rather than harnessing it. Looking back on my schooling, the experiences rooted in nature are what stick with me most, and from them I learned more than I ever did in the classroom, unless I was writing or reading about them. This is what ecoliteracy, the Reggio Approach, and so many other non-traditional methods of educating recognize, that students want to learn and will eagerly do so when provided with the proper support and guidance. Kids don’t need us to teach them about the world, per se, they just need someone to regularly take them out and share the magic that exists all around us. From that place of sheer excitement and inspiration, authentic and self-directed learning is born. All I need to do as a teacher is create an environment that facilitates the work of learning in which my students are so eager to engage.