Backwards Day: A Chance To Start Our Day Outside!

The Outdoor Classroom

It’s Friday, which means “Backwards Day” for the Brown Room. On "Backwards Day," we start our day in the outdoor classroom. It was a crisp and sunny early fall morning with a light breeze. The easel, climbing structures, the slide and the sandpit were very busy today.

Ellie and Ragnar 
Ellie began painting and remembered to pick up one jar at a time as we had learned in the studio. “I need yellow.” She then proceeded to paint, using red, pink, yellow, purple and finally blue.  Next she picked up another jar and sang “Orange, orange, orange, enough! Pink!” Ellie laughed and pointed at her painting. It was a crisp early fall morning with a bit of a breeze which kicked up the paper hanging on the easel. Ellie yelled at paper on the easel as it blew, “No! Stay here!”
Ellie had been painting solo for a while. She looked at the easel next to here which was empty and called out, “Somebody at the easel. Somebody else!” Ellie began a new painting, using red vertical strokes, followed by yellow and purple. She called out again, “Somebody, somebody.” Ragnar heard her calls and replied, “I will join you.”
Once he began painting, Ragnar deliberately chose his colors.
I like purple. Do you think my mommy will like this? - Ragnar
Does mommy like purple? - Karen
Yes, she likes blue too. - Ragnar
Ragnar held up blue.
What color is this? - Ragnar
Hmm, what does it look like to you? - Karen
Why did this just drip on me? Why is this dripping? - Ragnar
Wash hands. Wash hands. - Ellie
Ragnar continued to work on his painting.
I wash hands now. - Ragnar
Turn on water lightly. -Ellie

---

Isabelle

Isabelle visited the easel next.
 I paint. - Isabelle
She used blue, then yellow to make horizontal lines. She then criss-crossed them with again with yellow. 

Emma and Isabelle
Want to paint. I go to paint. Want to paint. - Emma
Using pink. I done. I wash hands. - Isabelle
Isabelle left the easel to wash her hands. As Karen helped Emma into her smock, Emma looked at Isabelle next to her and observed “Isabelle, no smock! Emma smock!”

---

Emma
Emma looked at the two easels and pointed to the unused one, “This dry one. This one clean. I do it, I do it. Emma can paint. I do it. I use purple. I have pink hands. Your hands are pink (to Karen). “Emma making dots. Making dots. I painting,” as she used her fingers to make dots and then counted the dots, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6” three times. “I made a pig! I painting.” ​

Emma, Rawls and Louisa
Rawls had been playing on the slide with Louisa. Rawls left the slide and joined Emma at the easel.
 I painting red! -Rawls
I’m painting purple. - ​Emma 
I need Rawls. -Louisa (from the slide)
Hmm, what do you need Rawls for? - Karen
For the slide actually. - Louisa
Rawls is painting right now,  but maybe he will come to the slide when he is finished.
-Karen 
No I want Rawls to slide. - Louisa
Painting, big mountains. Up (as he pointed to the sky). Okay, I’m done. -Rawls
I want to paint. -Louisa​

Play Structures and the Sand Pit

While Louisa practiced, climbing the cargo net, Charlton, Ford and Rawls played imaginatively on the play structure nearby. Later on Seon and Rawls, as well as Emma and Ramsey played cooperatively with tools. 

Back In the Brown Room

Back inside, children continued to explore symbols in the studio. In small groups the children explored a variety of symbols and practiced stamping symbols onto scrapbook paper. Next week, children will choose their symbol that will represent them throughout their time at St. John's. 

---