December 14th, 2021

Preparing for Parents to Visit

This week we’ve been lucky enough to have parents join us in the classroom before school! As parents haven't joined us in the classroom space since August, we spent time talking and preparing for their arrival. During morning meetings we discussed what children could share with their parents when they arrived. ​

Karen: What is something you'd like to show your parents when they're here at school with you?
Charlton: Maybe messages?
Ford: Construction!
Cal: My mom coming? Im doing construction. 
Bailee went over and pointed to her portfolio drawer.

In anticipation of their arrival, and inspired by some of their recent drawing work, some children chose to draw pictures of spaces and materials around school. For some children drawing classroom materials, they opted to bring the materials over to the studio table to aid in their designs. ​

Charlton: I’m drawing monster trucks. 
Elena: Can you find monster trucks at school?
Charlton; Yes, at construction! Monster trucks are trucks. They have red parts, and black parts. I see black parts. 

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​Mimi: I’m drawing the atelier. The next one is people. That’s a heart with rainbows and a water. ​

With the help of Charlton, Cal decided to draw some of his favorite animals. 

Charlton: Cal, do you need the lion?
Cal: Oh, ok!
Charlton: Do you want the mommy lion or the daddy lion? Cal, do you want the tiger?

In the end, Cal chose all three and created three distinct circles to represent each creature. He then added black and orange dots because “oh, the tiger has orange! The spots!”

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After reflecting for a minute, Ramsey decided to represent the outdoor classroom. 
Ramsey: Its the outdoor classroom.
Elena: what can you find in the outdoor classroom
Ramsey: Trees! (chooses yellow and draws) Is this a tree?
Ramsey: I’m making a sandbox and a green slide. The sandbox is yellow. 

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Listening to the conversation about the outdoor classroom between Ramsey and Elena, Rawls chimed in and decided to draw the rock wall, which he spends lots of time at when we’re outside. He carefully drew two parallel lines with dots in between to signify the rocks. Stepping back from the drawing he acknowledged, “I have a new rock wall at home!”

Fay initially planned to draw some of the materials around the classroom, but changed her idea when she put pen to paper. "I’m going to make a really tiny lion. No, it’s a gingerbread monster! See, he has legs. ​

Ford chose "coloring" as something he wanted to showcase. To demonstrate this he chose almost every color available for his drawing. 

We want to say a big thank you to all the families who joined us this morning! We are so excited to see everyone else tomorrow!