Tuesday, January 18, 2023

1/18/2023

Self- Portraits:
The Importance of Slowing Down

The school's birthday is in early March and there will be a school-wide celebration in late February. Brown Room children have begun thinking about the school's birthday. From their conversations, an idea emerged to personify the school through portraiture. (We're still figuring this out, too! We'll keep you posted!). In preparation, children throughout the school have begun the process of creating self-portraits. In general, drawing can be a tricky process and creating a portrait can be especially challenging. It's the perfect time to slow down, look closely, notice details, and carefully include each facial feature in the the portrait. Some KW children started this process on Tuesday.

The first two to draw were Seon and Ellie. We used permanent markers, so that the children could add watercolors later. Here's some of their thoughts as they worked.
   Seon - I'm going to draw my hair. (She starts by drawing hair close her head.). I'm going to draw my ponytails!
   Ellie - I want the pink for my face. I need black for my hair. (She carefully uses two colors to draw the bangs of her new haircut!)
   Seon - I like drawing my face! I'm going to draw my eyes. I'm going to draw my mouth. Does that look like a tongue?
   Ellie - I drew my eyes. I drew my mouth. (She colors in the mouth with a marker.) I need blue for my eyes.
Seon - It looks just like me!

Notice how carefully Zari examines her features as she works on her portrait.

Snowy Stories

Since returning from break, we have been offering wintery materials on the light table. We thought that children might develop stories here, much like they do in small world. We've noticed that children have been more interested in arranging the materials in interring compositions. However, on Tuesday, children did tell stories as they worked with materials.
   Zari - This is the food for when the penguins get hungry. They are all snuggly together.
   Seon - And these penguins are sleeping (laying down under small blankets).
   Cal - It's raining water.
Mimi - This is a house for all the animals (photo on the right).

What is happening in Small world?

Frannie and Jade built a small world for the princess sea otter, Hugh built a pit stop, Wilder created a turtle family, Finlay, Michael and Cate created a small world where the sting-ray and the otter reign.
Wilder: The turtle family is part of the sting ray family.
Finlay: There are guards for sting ray because he is a spy, he is in his private room, so private that if someone lift a finger at it they will get poison.
Michael: I am the gardener (holding the small dinosaur.)
Cate: The Unicorn is guarding the otter.
Frannie: The Otter princess is getting room service.
Jade: What is room service?
Frannie: Room service is something like you are in bed and someone brings you food, that's room service. The Princess otter is getting room service by the flamingoes, they are massaging her feet. The otter's husband (the panda) just arrived, he is giving the princess otter lots of kisses.
Hugh: (The pit stop small world.) For Christmas, you can watch the race for free, you don't need to buy tickets. That's their presents. Every year, they watch the race for free. Sometimes the guys at the pit stops are taking naps, because they are up all night.

Clay for Small World

This week children returned to making clay furniture that can be used in small world. Lily worked on a couch and a television for the animals. Remy made a dog crate that the dog could sleep in, and Mimi worked on a table with no legs to hold a cake! The details will be posted on our hallway bulletin board.