Welcome to the Brown Room!

9/7/2022

Welcome to the Brown Room everyone! So far, we have had two wonderful days in the Brown Room. Everyone seems to be settling in and getting to know each other. We truly could not have asked for two more perfect "first days" for everyone.

Soon, we will send out information about our intentions and scheduling for the Brown Room blog (this may differ from sibling's classrooms). We will also send out information about Brown Room birthday celebrations and more.

For now, we want to share our projections for the week, some highlights of our first two days, and some observation notes from our open studio explorations.

As you enter the classroom, to the right you will find our sign in sheet and cork board full of our calendars (School year, monthly, etc.), classroom projections (monthly and weekly), and more. We encourage you to pause and read them at your leisure during drop-off.

Projections for the week of 9/5-9/9

First days in Brown Room

Drop-off, transitions, and morning meeting

It truly has been beautiful to watch each child and family enter the Brown Room with excitement, confidence, and a readiness to begin the day!

Cully, Gracie, and Georgia

Christopher, Elyse, and Cully

Cully and his big brother Capers

Our Tucker siblings have also been helpful during this time, and the excitement is palpable when they see each other in the hallway and bathroom!

Each day, at 9:15 (ish), we transition to our green carpet to start our morning meeting. This is a time to greet each other, sing songs, read books, introduce materials and experiences, ask questions, dialogue, and make first plans for our days. We've had two morning meetings full of songs, fun books, some laughter, and a lot of sweet smiles.

Melanie, Will, Gracie, Eliza, Cully, Christopher, Zoe, and Elyse

Win and Lou Lou

Melanie, Christopher, Brigitte, Henri, George, Win, and Lou Lou

Exploring the classroom and the outdoor classroom

Win cutting paper in the message center

Eliza and Gracie testing out our stamps and ink pads in the message center

Georgia found the skeleton

We've been learning each other's names and finding great connections already. They have been so kind to each other as they give hugs, help set the snack table for everyone else, and work together in the studio.

Will, Gracie, and Adaline

Elyse and Win

Adaline hugging Christopher

Our first studio explorations

Our Brown Room Studio has been a source of excitement and curiosity since the children first visited during the welcome party last Friday. The past two days we have had small groups visit with the intention of an "open exploration". We asked questions such as, "What do you see?" or "What do you notice?" As they began to show interest in certain materials, they were invited to take those materials from the shelves and bring them to the table or easel (all children chose the table) to use them.

During this time we have been focusing on processes, the vocabulary that we use as we work (e.g. materials, collaging, layering, Brown Room Studio, adhesives, work in progress, are you pausing your work for now?, etc.), and caring for our materials.

Cully, Adaline, Zoe, and Georgia

Adaline and Zoe

On Tuesday, I took video and a few hand written notes of the children as they investigated the space. Later, when I transcribed the videos, I noticed that there seem to be some consistent categories that might be helpful for the next day's observations.

To the right you can see some of the notes taken from the videos and the categories I chose to use for an observation sheet that I would then use on Wednesday.

To the left are the columns I created for Wednesday's open exploration. It was helpful to think about the day before and what I might observe again or how it might be different before the children entered the studio.

Below you can see photos of the children working that correspond with the hand written notes. At the bottom, you can see their work from the studio today.

**should say "crepe paper"