February 23rd, 2021

A Saturday with Jade's family

Yesterday Jade, together with her parents, Paige and Tim, shared their Saturday family tradition with us. In the morning they come downstairs, read books and drink some milk together. Then Jade's dad get delicious chocolate croissants from Boulangerie Christophe (which is right around the corner from St. John's) for breakfast and they watch two cartoons together - Pinkalicious & Peterrific and Clifford the Big Red Dog. Afterwards they go on a family walk. But where are they walking to?

Everyone in the Brown Room got a map so we could find out where they go - Dumbarton Oaks Park! Down Lover's Lane we followed the yellow path to the Old Stone Cobbhouse and across a bridge. One of Jade's favorite things to do on their walk is to collect rocks.
"All of them. Big ones." - Jade
​And then she hides them in the 'moss bridge'. 

"Now we know how to get there!" - Finlay

Thank you for sharing your traditions and delicious chocolate croissants with us! We will make sure to look for Jade's 'moss bridge' next time we're in Dumbarton Oaks Park!

Chocolate Croissants was one of the many "new foods" we have tried in the Brown Room lately. So far we've tried Anise cookies, raspberries, chocolate croissants, olives and today we added sweet potato fries to the list. 

What do sweet potatoes look, feel, taste and smell like? Where do they grow? And how did they get so soft when they're in the shape of fries?

When one of the children tries a new food in the classroom they add their symbol to our "Tasting new foods" board in the studio. ​

Drawings by:
Anise Cookie - Cate
Olives - Jade
Raspberries - Finlay 
Sweet potato fires - Hugh
Chocolate Croissants - Lily (top) and Jade (bottom)

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How do they make the dragon? - Hugh

Since we learned about Chinese New Year from Michael and his mom Diana, the children have shown a continuous interest in the dragon and lion costumes. Discussions about how the costumes move, how many people can fit underneath or in and questions about the costumes come up daily.  

The man is wearing pink pants like the lion. He match the lions. - Wilder

These guys are dressed up. They're holding the dragon and they're dressed up, too. - Bea

Hugh and Bea studying a photo of a dragon costume.

I see the lions are made out of water color and fur. ​- Hugh

Hugh's idea inspired us to design our own dragon costumes with watercolors, fabric and loose parts.
Designing is like making a plan, an idea, or "like construction" (Jade).

I make a lion that I can stick to my costume. Let's wait until it's dry and then I add it to my costume. - Daniel

​Work in progress:

​This is Bea, explaining her design, her process and use of materials during our morning meeting:

During the design process Hugh had expressed concerns about the usability of these costume designs. 
​"But I'm not gonna fit in it. It's too small." (Hugh)

Jade explained to us how many people will be able to fit into her costume and how she can achieve the desired outcome (by creating holes for people to enter her costume):

​We're excited to see where this process will take us...