February 04th, 2021

What is a tradition?
It's what our family do. - Finlay
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Today Bea's family, her mom, dad and brother James, shared about one of their family traditions - the family's cabin in Wisconsin. A tradition that started with Bea's great great great grandfather! Bea's mom Abby told us that the cabin is constructed out of wood and has swinging beds on the front porch. Over Zoom they shared photos of their family and adventures they go on together when they visit the cabin in the summer. Blueberry picking, paddle boarding, spotting eagles in their nest, collecting seaweed, canoeing, fishing for cray fish, clams and fish, and collecting pine cones on their family afternoon walks. 
They then paint the pine cones together back at the cabin. And this is exactly what we did in the Brown Room together today!

​Thank you Abby, Mike, James and Bea for sharing this wonderful and old family traditions with all of us!

The pine cones turned out beautifully! And it inspired the children to continue painting after all the pine cones were painted...

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Friendship in the Brown Room

​In the Brown Room we have  been having many conversations about friendship and what it means to be a good friend to someone else. Every day we get to witness many acts of kindness and connections growing between the children and to  their environment. Today we wanted to take the opportunity to share some of these small and big moments in the Brown Room with you.

We hope you will see all the curiosity, love, compassion, wonder, patience, happiness and support that all these videos show.
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​Michael and Frannie worked together on constructing towers out of translucent DUPLO blocks on the light table. They seem to enjoy the process of building and then breaking the structure again. Many giggles were shared!

Jade and Remy held hands while walking up the stairs from Blake Hall to the Brown Room in the morning.  Remy loves to invite friends to hold hands with her, in the classroom, in the hallway on the way to the bathroom or really going anywhere.

​Hugh encouraged his friend Wilder to climb up on top of the tunnel in the outdoor classroom with him. Hugh explained to Wilder how he made it up and talked him through the steps he needed to take. He then cheered him on "You doing it!" as he made his way up. 

​Daniel and Frannie discovered that sound can travel through a large tube, which they found in the outdoor classroom and used it to communicate with each other. They continued their exploration of sound by carrying it over to the sandbox together and adding small toys. They listened to the sounds they made going through the ribbed tube.

Michael and Wilder were singing the "ABC song" together as they worked on the ABC puzzle in the classroom.

Children in the Brown Room, and especially Lucas, Cape, Wilder and Michael, really enjoy doing puzzles. For many of them it is their first choice when they 'make their plan' for the day after morning meeting. Puzzles encourage critical thinking and the children are usually eager to support one another in finding the next piece. 

Lily, her sister Grace from the Tucker Room, and Bea had a beautiful exchange  in the bathroom today. They shared about Bea's family tradition and discussed what a 'cabin' is (Grace compared it to the cob house in the outdoor classroom). In this short clip Lily notices "you usually wear a red mask" about Bea's mask which started a conversation about her mask (and an outpour of compliments and love).

​Lily: "And I kinda (...) recognize it. But I like it."
Grace: "I like your mask, too. I never saw the red one. But whatever that red mask was I'm sure it was gorgeous."
Grace: "It's just like Bea (bee)! Yellow and yellow."
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Luke and Jade share their plans for their pretend play. They have big plans about going golfing with their friends. 
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Through pretend play and using their imagination the children practice not only sharing ideas with peers but also listening and incorporating their peer's thoughts and critical thinking skills. 

And of course we love showing our affection through sharing a good hug....