September 12, 2019

Tours and detours

The past few days have been very busy in the Brown Room. We are settling in and forming relationships with everyone and everything around us.  Inside the classroom, we are connecting with each other through reading books, exploring the materials, and shared experiences (e.g. morning meeting and snack).  

One of our most useful tools for connecting to each other and our families at home, have been the photo albums. The children have been discussing their photos with each other and with us.  

Although our classroom is important and the heart and soul of our Brown Room family, we recognize that we are part of the larger community that is St. John's.  With this in mind, we decided that we should take a few tours of the school so that we can connect with the other members and spaces within this community.  This will be a journey that takes place over the next several weeks. As journeys often do, it has already provided a few detours along the way, which led to unplanned discoveries and surprises.  

Just outside of our classroom door, the children discovered that there were rainbows and sunlight.  It was all around us: on the floor, the walls, the cubbies, the Rainey Room window, and even the door at the end of the hallway.  We also received a special treat when the children noticed that the sun was reflecting off of the sequins on Marley's shirt.  

"Look at the sun!" - C.C.         "It's a rainbow there." - Reed

Though each tour has stopped at the mailboxes, today's group recognized their symbols and began to inspect the contents of the boxes.  The discussion became about creating messages for mommies, daddies, and siblings.  Choosing their own materials, each child created a message and stamped their symbol; through these experiences, we are noticing that the children are forming a relationship with their chosen symbol.  Our tour eventually moved into the "Middle Room" where the children focused on the light table and a large photograph from the school's 20th birthday.  

Our intention is to continue exploring our environment over the coming weeks as we settle into our new space.