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K "washes" the tomatoes we harvested in her new play kitchen |
With
less than one month left in Hawaii, I have the curriculum for the farm
preschool cooperative pretty much nailed down. The basic design for the
school is drawn up, and the materials needed to fill the school walls
are mostly pinned and bookmarked. So what am I doing between now and May
30th, our departure date? Well, that’s a good question. I have been
spending so much time working on the curriculum and so thoroughly
enjoying myself that it has left me contemplating the possibility of a
return to school yet again to further my own education in a doctoral
program for curriculum design and instruction. I’ll save that story,
however, for another time. Anyway, now that the farm preschool
curriculum is in solid working order, I am using my remaining time here
in two ways. When I am not hanging with little K, I am kicking my
craftiness up a few notches and putting together as many resources for
the school as I can. As for my work with K, I am planning on diving
right into the curriculum with her so that we can both experience it in
action and so all you lovely readers at home can get a better idea of
how an emergent curriculum works within our three focus areas (Social & Personal Responsibility, Agriculture & Sustainability, and
Creativity & the Arts). I have a feeling this is going to be a busy
and exciting month!
Things
are really coming together for the farm preschool cooperative project
in a way that I could only have hoped for. For a while now, I’ve been
wanting to organize a craft day where all the families who are planning
to join the preschool cooperative could gather and work on projects
ranging from erecting the physical structure of the school to sewing
more felt food and painting rock people, among other things. Last Friday
night, a mini-version of this idea materialized unexpectedly when
Heather, K’s mom, and I decided to spend our evening drinking wine out
on the balcony overlooking ocean and sewing felt finger puppets based on
a cute project I found on Pinterest. Before we knew it, over half the
members of our farm community had gathered with us and we ended up
stitching ten adorable little puppets shaped like owls, lions, bears,
cats, and one not so cute looking elephant, whose eyes I just couldn’t
keep from looking villainous. Craft night was such a success that we’re
going to do it again tonight!
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our inspiration from this seller on Etsy |
Although
it would certainly be easier to place an order with amazon along with
all the books I’ve bookmarked to fill the library, it is important both
in the Reggio Approach and our Reggio-Inspired curriculum that we
instead take the time to engage in these group resource development
activities. There is a heavy emphasis on cultivating self-sufficiency
skills and community connections in the farm preschool cooperative, the
later being of particular importance in the Reggio Approach as well.
What better way, I thought, to start this preschool than by living and
breathing the program’s philosophy into its very creation. When K and
her friends walk into the finished school for the very first time, they
will be introduced to each material and feel an immediate connection
because these toys and this place was built specifically for them by
people they know and love deeply. Right from the outset this means a
greater respect for their communal belongings, an understanding of what
is possible with a little creativity and resourcefulness, and an
immediate sense of appreciation, love, and support. In my opinion, there
is no better way to start school.
Not
only was our craft night important for the kiddos and their future
school, but it was important for us too, the adult members of the farm
community. While our hands were occupied with felt, needles, and thread,
we had the chance to share in one another's company and wind down from
the week with the cool evening breeze and the sun setting over the
Pacific ocean in the background. We enjoyed our drinks, a mouth-watering
snack of cheesy baked artichoke bread that Jodi brought, and chatted
about anything and everything. Even the guys on the farm got in on the
crafting, impressing the pants off the rest of us who doubted they could
even be baited to join. So what does our gathering have to do with the
school, other than making resources for it? It sets the norm for the
kids. K eagerly joined in, working on her own beginner sewing skills,
soaking in the positive and enjoyable community experience until she was
too tired to keep her eyes open.
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Our DIY version of the puppets I pinned from Etsy |
From
experiences like these, K will always know what is possible when
friends come together to work toward a common goal, but most
importantly, she had so much fun crafting and so did we. Activities like
this help set the foundation for a lifetime of deep and meaningful
community connections, hard but enjoyable work, and a some creative
resourcefulness. By joining in on our craft night, K is able to see what
she will be capable of when she get’s bigger, that her needs can be met
by her own hand, not just by her wallet. It was Friday night and the
school hasn’t even opened yet, but already K is beginning to feel the
benefits of the curriculum we have designed for it. This is quite
possibly one of my favorite aspects of Reggio-Inspired education, it is
firmly understood that learning happens all
the time, and that potential to build knowledge and skill is present in
every single moment of every single day. Learning doesn’t stop when one
leaves school walls, and it doesn’t start upon return in the morning.
Learning happens all the time across a multitude of settings and the
purpose of school is to cross these disciplines, these contexts, and
support learning as it unfolds naturally, helping each student to make
the most of his and her unique life experience.
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click here for more info |
The
Reggio Approach, I think more than most other educational approaches,
understands the importance of cultivating a sense of community belonging
for children and their parents. Parent involvement, as Louise Boyd Cadwell points out in the prologue (page 6) of her book Bringing Reggio Emilia Home,
“is considered essential,” and that in this approach, “parents play an
active part in their children’s learning experience and help ensure the
welfare of all children in the school.” I love this idea of involving
parents as partners in their children’s education, it just makes sense.
Whether schools admit it or not, parents are doing at least as much
educating (for better or worse) than teachers are and therefore when the
two parties are on the same page, understanding, collaborating and
supporting one another, the educational experience can be so much richer
and more powerful for the kids. In addition, when parents work
together, be it in the classroom like they will in the farm preschool
cooperative or joining in on community socials and resource development
days, kids internalize these values and they become the norm they
reference their later experiences against.
By
showing kids how to be part of a community, we are helping them learn
to cultivate and appreciate this when they inevitably grow up and
develop new communities of their own. It’s easy to do this here on the
farm, probably easier than in other places, because there are four
families living on this land and the Big Island of Hawaii, particularly
the South Kona area where we are, is a very community oriented place. I
grew up in a similar community-oriented place in Southern Vermont and
after having lived in other places, I am grateful for having the
experience to reference because when I lacked that connection I knew
exactly what it was that I was missing and how to go about finding and
creating it for myself. If you ask me, rebuilding the community
connections that somehow got lost and minimized over the past few
decades is one of the most important ways we can help prepare this next
generation of young people for the future. The barriers that separate us
from one another are a major hindrance of progress and it’s high time
we begin breaking them down and work together to make our communities,
our states, our country, and our world a better place. Our children’s
schools present the perfect opportunity to show kids the power of a
supportive, inclusive, and caring community.