We have enjoyed spending more time in the outdoor classroom during these beautiful fall days.  On Thursday,  an obstacle course provided additional fun!  We noticed that children who started out tentative grew in confidence and ability to navigate the course as the day went on.  

In the outdoor classroom, we continued the leaf experiences that we started earlier this week.  We have seen some very fun and fanciful ginkgo transformations.
    Frannie - (Referring to her drawing) She has rainbow hair.  She has powers. 

Children also made leaf impressions in clay slabs.  After they add the glaze, they peel the leaf off.  The resulting white space provides a chance to talk about the concept of negative space.  In some cases, the "bumpy lines" or "skeletons" (veins) of the leaves are visible.  We can't wait to see what the slabs will look like when the come out of the kiln in a couple of weeks!
       Finlay - The colors always look brighter when it comes out of the kiln.  
       Lucas - Let's put it in the kiln so we can take it home!

It's been a big week for cooking in Kids' Workshop.  On Tuesday, children made a delicious lasagna for Ines' birthday celebration.  Today we baked pumpkin bread, which we will serve on at our KW Coffee next Wednesday.  Cooking projects provide opportunities to measure, to follow the sequence in a recipe, to make predictions, and to see a transformation from nearly liquid batter to solid bread. 
      Hugh - I love the we do cooking projects!   
      Mimi - (While mixing ingredients) It smells yummy.
      Jade - (After adding pumpkin) It's turning orange.
   Hugh - (After adding spices). Now, it will turn brown.  (After observing the final color of the batter) Actually, it's dark orange. 

This year, KW once again agreed to help with the birthday committees for the Tucker teachers.  
​At our meeting, we asked, "What is Ines' favorite food?
   Jade - I think it's lasagna.
   Frannie - Pasta.
​
Jade, Cate, Wilder, Hugh, Luke, Michael, Remy and Franny were super excited to assemble a big pan of lasagna for Ines's birthday.
First, we learned that lasagna was made of layers and layers of pasta and some sort of filling.  We will be making our lasagna the traditional way with bolognese sauce and a cheese sauce called bechamel. We layered bolognese sauce and bechamel sauce between sheets of no boil lasagna sheet.  Luke thought the bolognese sauce looked like spaghetti and meatball sauce, and Wilder thought the bechamel tastes just like mac and cheese. The children were careful to evenly spread the sauces to cover the uncooked noodles. Each layer had to be even. They thought they had stacked up at least 17 layers of pasta and sauces! it smelled so good. The next step is to bake the lasagna in the oven for 90 minutes. 

Serving the lasagna as a part of Ines' celebration was a big hit!  Here's some of the children's thoughts throughout the  celebration.  Before eating:
   Wilder - I will only like the sauce and the bread.
   Remy - Remy - We did layers cheese, pasta, and tomato sauce.
    Saul - The sauce was spaghetti bolognese.
    Hugh - I think we built 10 layers.
    Michael - It was trouble making your favorite food.  So squishy.
      Luke - (Examining his lasagna) I see a line of meatball.
The reviews are in!
     Wilder - It's very good.
     Lily - I don't like it, I love it!
    Saul - I would not say yuck on this... it's so yummy!
    Luke - It's soooo good!

We are taking advantage of the beautiful weather and spending more time outside.  As we go to the outdoor classroom, our materials experiences go with us.  This week, we've been working on making clay impressions of leaves.  The children pressed leaves into the clay and applied glaze around the leaves.  
   Seon - It's getting colorful!
​   Ford - What if I do polka dots?
  Jade - (Looking at Bailee's work). Your's looks like a forest.
  Luke - (Referring to how quickly the glaze dries) It's smooth and then it's dry!

Here's another leaf-related experience!  As you walk up the stairs to the preschool, you've probably noticed the ginkgo transformation drawings on the wall.   We brought this experience to KW.  Ballet dancers and umbrellas were popular as children came up with their own transformations. 
    While drawing: 
    Ford - This is the head.
    Seon - You need two eyes, and a nose, and a mouth, and teeth.  Ballerinas have teeth, right?
    Mimi - Ballerinas have crowns (as she draws a crown for her ballerina). 
    Ford - Mine has three eyes!
  Seon - (Working on her second one... an umbrella). And the umbrella has red rain, and a little bit of blue rain.  And lightning.  And wind.  

Our work on the canvas squares for our table runners has continued all week.  While some children drew a design, most children worked with the machine.  Both hand sewing and machine sewing incorporate a variety of concepts for children.
Here's some things that come in to play as children sew:

• Spatial Skills:  the layout of the fabric and possible use of patterns
• Hand-Eye Coordination
• Small Motor Skills
• Creativity: coming up with the idea of what to sew, choosing colors, ribbons, and fabrics
• Measurement:  Making sure the pieces selected fit together
• Executive Functioning: the process of having an idea, making a plan, and carrying it out
• Self- Confidence
• PATIENCE:  waiting for a turn and working through processes like threading a needle

Here's the scenario that developed today!
Hugh: I made a sea. My house has an ocean view.
Cate: My house has a living room and a little spot where you can do work.
Finlay: (Building next to Cate) Our houses are connected. We have a fire place that turns around.
Cape: My house has a lot of treasures and monsters. I have lots of food in my house. We are having a dance party. Anybody wants to stay up for my monsters party.
Cate: No, it’s night time and I want to sleep.
Finlay to Cate: Do you want to go fishing again?
Cate: No. it’s night time!
Cape: Let’s take a nap during the day like it we can stay up all night.
Cate: We still have to get more sleep. It’s still the middle of the night.
Finlay: Do you want to come over? You can help me find my Sting Ray.
Cate: Sting ray is not over here!
Cape: Anybody want to do movies with me?
Cate: I ‘ll watch a movie on my computer.
Hugh: (Finished his beach house) Is anybody wants to come to the beach?
Finlay: I do.
Cate: I am so tired from staying up all night from watching movies.
Finlay to Cate: Do you want to come over to my house?
Cate: Sure, let’s go Bro !
Finlay: My sting Ray needs to talk to him (Monster) about something. Hey Hugh do you want to party with  us?
Hugh: Yes, do you want to party at the beach?
Cape: Can I come?
Finlay: The party is over.
Finlay to Cate: We need to talk!
Cate: Okay! Kids come on in.
Finlay: Why did you watch that movie all night?
Cate: I don’t know, I couldn’t sleep. Can you stop snoring? 
Finlay: Sting Ray is missing.
Cate: Again !!
Cate playing with her monster: I am lost, I don’t know where my house is.
Cape: You can sleep in my house.

Everyday the teachers are asked, "Do I have KW today?"  Children are also interested in which of their friends is attending on the same day. On Tuesday, we introduced our KW attendance system.  The children find their picture and move it to the pocket with their symbol for the correct day.  The day is identified for the children with pink "Today" label. We seen a lot of interest in the process.  Today, Bailee said "I want to have KW with Ford today," as she checked out the new attendance system.  Likewise, Remy explained the process to Lily, who then went on to determine which days that she and Remy have KW together.  As the children grow comfortable with the process, they will gain information about the identity about the KW groups each day. 

This week, we are adding machine sewing to the possibilities for our table runner work.  Using the machine, children may simply stitch a design, add fabric or ribbon, or embellish a previous drawing by stitching on it.  On Tuesday, all children chose to add fabric to the canvas or to a drawing they had completed.  ​

These conversations have helped children understand who they are as individuals.  There were many commonalities: a number of children like pizza and dinosaurs, for example.  Who we are also includes bigger questions:  
Who are  we as a community?  
Who are we as a school?  
We began exploring these ideas by taking some tours of the school.  

After our success in building a Quidditch stadium on Wednesday, we turned our attention to another classroom interest: animal enclosures. Louisa has a special affinity for horses, so she began building with a horse and some friends.   There was a sheet of blue paper on the construction table, which represented a body of water.
   Seon - (Adding a small whale). Another sea animal.  I will get some more animals.  Here's a cute little penguin.  
   Louisa - (Referring to a horse and a zebra). They're friends.
   Seon - I'm working together with Louisa. 
   Louisa - (Adding bead to her building area) This is food.  This is a toucan.  He's drinking.  (Louisa brings other small animals to her area.) They're living there.  
​    Seon - I'm bringing rocks to the animals.  (She adds some cubes to the area). This is an animal bed.  I'm making a bigger one.  I'm having so much fun!
   

The quotation at the beginning of the blog came from the most recent episode from the "Awakened to Reggio" podcast.  The Podcast is a series of conversations with people who are "changing the landscape of early childhood education through the lens of the Reggio approach."  It's hosted by Sandy Lanes, who is a Reggio-inspired educator and consultant from the area.  If you are a podcast enthusiast, we can enthusiastically recommend this one!

Seon spent most of her afternoon with small building materials.  
   Seon - It's a forest.  It's a huge forest because there's a lot of trees.  There's a house in the forest.  ​

   Seon- And here's a big square.  It's a playground.

   The above photo shows Seon's completed landscape.  Her linear design extends down the length of the table. 
 

Each day as we have come together, we have asked children to share "one thing you want your friends to know about you." There's been so many great responses and children are noticing connections with their classmates.  Beginning yesterday, we asked the children to draw a representation of one of the things.  We saw the children give this task careful attention and the resulting drawings are tremendous.  This work will continue next week.  You can check out the documentation featuring our ideas and drawings in the hall.

It's been wonderful to welcome children to the KW program.  For the first time in over two -years, KW is back to being a mixed age group of children.  Children readily adapted to this change, although Cate initially asked, "Why are Rainey Room Children here?"  She went on to answer her own question with a theory, "Oh, because it's 'K Double You,'  so there has to be double classes."  
There's many cool features to having a mixed group.  In general, the Tucker children serve as leaders and mentors for the younger children.  The Rainey children get to explore a new space (we meet in the Tucker Room) and learn along with older peers.  Children also enjoy having fun with a group of friends that is different from the morning program.  

The Tucker Room features an expansive construction area, which is a big draw for all the children.  As children worked in this space, we saw more cross- classroom connections being made.  Cape and Jade had worked on a building for their stuffed animals.  
    Jade - It's a house for the lovies.
  Cape - Ozzie goes down here (on the lower level) and Sweetie goes up here ( the upper level). 

When Louisa expressed an interest in doing them, Cape and "Sweetie" greeted the animals that she brought over.

Building big is also popular in the construction area.  On Tuesday, Michael and Saul worked together on an especially large structure.
   Saul - It's a dragon house, and it's so so powerful.
  Michael - We made it powerful, so no one can break it down.