March 02nd, 2021

  Pod A 

A Visit from our Friend Leticia!

We were SO lucky to have a visit from Grace's nanny Leticia who originally grew up in Brazil.  Grace admires Leticia's culture, and how she speaks Portuguese.  We asked her if she could teach us a little about her home country, and she put together some amazing images and information for us to learn about.

One of our favorite elements of her presentation was a video that shows children doing a type of Brazilian martial arts called Capoeira.   Instead of fighting by hitting, the goal is to dance and kick acrobatically, and eventually the winner is decided by nearby judges standing in a circle.  Children were SUPER excited!  Maren said, "That is awesome!"  Dakota remarked, "Little kids can do that??"  and Andy said, "I can stand on my head... I wish I can do that!"

Leticia spoke to us about how Brazil is the largest country in South America, with Sao Paulo being Brazil's largest city.  She said the Amazon is the world's largest rainforest, and explained that about 1 million indigenous people live there in tribes.  She also told us about the warm climate, and how it differs from our weather in DC.  She used pictures to show popular Brazilian games, like playing soccer, flying kites, and playing marbles.

Finally, Leticia (with Grace's help)  was kind enough to make chocolatey treats for us called Brigadeiros.  We gobbled them up super fast.  THANK YOU Leticia for introducing us to this amazing place on our world map!

Small World: Neighborhood
Earlier in the year, Tucker children painted a large scale mural of multicolored shapes using paint and masking tape.  It has been hanging on the wall for months now, but today, teachers brought it off the wall to propose an idea for a new project.  At meeting, the children looked at a picture of Mr. Roger's miniature neighborhood as inspiration for a Small World building project. 
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Oliver:  Is this a big giant, or did he just build this?
Fletcher:  He's a giant.  That looks like Daniel Tiger's trolley.  I think that's Daniel Tiger's neighborhood. 

We told the children our vision, to make the mural painting into a neighborhood or a city.  We asked for ideas of what kind of buildings would exist in this miniature world...
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Maren:  We need to put houses.  Schools!
Andy:  Cars!
Grace:  An enchanted garden.
Andy:  I want to do an airplane high in the sky.
Grace:  How about a skating pond.  A park!  A shoe shop!
Andy: A Chinese shop!
Maren: A grocery store!
Oliver:  Trader Joe's.
Dakota:  Don't forget we need a library.
Andy:  A museum.
Olivia:  We need a doctor.

When the children came to the studio, they made plans for what they would create... See captions for our processes.

 Note: ***We want to say a HUGE thank you to the families for sending in Travel related items!  We've been enjoying all the supplies (toys, suitcases, maps, first aid kit, binoculars, etc) immensely!  We will make sure to post more about our play experiences with these soon. *** 

 Pod B 

 Mythological Creatures
On Monday, Gigi and Nora invented their personal mythological creatures.  As they worked, they narrated their process, which allowed the girls to take their individual ideas further.   
   Gigi - I’m trying to practice a bunny.
   Nora - I’m drawing a unicorn bunny.  I’m drawing its forehead.  In its horn, it goes all the way to the sky and makes rainbows.  And at night, it goes all the way into the forest and all the other ponies are its unicorn friends.
   Gigi - Here’s a bunny in the grass.  And a spider.  But a different kind of spider.  It crawls all over you and bites you to make you change your mind, to make you go to a place that’s forbidden.  This time I’m going to draw a family of bunnies.  I didn’t even draw their eyes, so I can make them in watercolor.  The oldest person in the pack is purple.  And the oldest person takes care of them.  The baby is black because he’s turned around.  The back of his head is black.  This one is running too slow, because look, he’s getting caught.  
   Nora - Their horns and ears are gold to make them magical.  To make them fly.  There’s a fire on top of their heads and they’re going to fix it with their magic.  On a nearby island, there’s lava.  So I’m going to paint  green on top.  The green is for the island.  (Adding a purple line)  That is a jump rope.  The other unicorns are making sure their magic isn’t gone.
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Birthday Card for the School

Both yesterday and today, children worked on a birthday card for the school.  We will present it to Molly along with our clay “24” at Thursday’s sing-along.  The card is composed of light table compositions, as well as drawings and words.  Yesterday, Palmer, Lane, and Nora worked on a classroom light table.  Today Gigi, Lane, and Nora worked light table in the greeting hallway.  Today’s group started with drawing, with a focus on things that are important to St. John’s.

    Gigi - (Talking about her drawing)  It’s a cloudy day.  There’s the sun out and a picnic blanket and two girls sitting on it.  There’s grass.  Because St. John’s has a lot of nature.
    Lane - (Thinking about the papers used on the light table)  Maybe (we use this paper) because the colors look more beautiful on the light table.
    Gigi - Yeah, good idea.  The color looks better on the light table.  (About her drawing) I’m going to make Molly; she’s important.  She still has her cast on.  I’m going to draw her without it, though, so she doesn’t have problems.  
    Lane - I have an idea.  If we all put our drawings and ideas together, it will be more beautiful.
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This and That…. (Slideshow)

• This week, we will be doing some sewing.  Palmer jumped right in today, using his favorite colors, blue, green, and yellow.  Palmer’s long term plan is to create a sewing Medusa.
• We enjoyed our time outside, even in the cold.  Children engaged in group games such as “Simon Says,” and “Red Light, GreenLight.”  Children developed some interesting variations on these classics.
• The children were thrilled to share the delicious Brazilian treat (Brigadeiros) that was provided by Leticia.
• Of course, there was time for construction.  Gigi’s Baby Yoda made a popular addition to the environments that were built today.