We have had a wonderful first few weeks of the new educational year in our beautiful new learning garden! We love our new home and community!!
In the beginning of the year we are laying the foundation of our learning community as we tune in to our daily rhythm and co-create a culture of kindness.
A nurturing environment that is rhythmic in nature supports a strong foundation that is essential to healthy child development. Predictable rhythms through the day, week and year provide security and a sense of the interrelationships and wholeness of life.
Our daily rhythm alternates periods of concentration and expansion, as if in a breathing rhythm where there is inhaling and exhaling. In the inhaling or breathing-in phase the child directs their attention to an activity that basically relates him to themselves (drawing, water painting, eating…). In the exhaling or breathing-out period, the child relates mainly to the surrounding world (free play, gross motor movements, guided activities etc.). For each breathing-in period the child needs a breathing-out period and so a pattern and balance is established.
In our weekly rhythm teachers strive to give a rhythmic structure to individual lessons as well where we reflect on a subject we explored the days before and follow that with presentation of a new element. Whatever has been taken in on one day is remembered and reflected on the following days. This builds a growing rhythm and a deeper sense of understanding of a subject.
Children are in deep harmony with nature and our seasonal rhythm connects us more to the natural world. Nature is a world of rhythms - the rising and setting of the sun, the flowering of trees, the change of seasons... when we provide supporting rhythms for children, we harmonize their being, thereby aiding the development of their inner rhythms of sleep, digestion, circulation etc. Monthly themes, block study, seasonal festivals and celebrations reflect and support our connection to the seasonal rhythm.
We highly recommend reading Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne for inspiration to create more rhythm in your children's life at home!
“Children depend on the rhythmic structure of the day–on its predictability, its regularity, its pulse…. By surrounding a young child with a sense of rhythm and ritual, you can help them order their physical, emotional, and intellectual view of the world. As they come to understand, with regularity, that ‘this is what we do', they feel solid under their feet, a platform for growth. Such a stable foundation can facilitate their mapmaking: the connectedness that they are charting in their brains, in relation to other people, and in their emerging worldview.” (Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne)
We also recommend the blog Rhythms of Play for more inspiration in how to create healthy rhythm and routine in your life at home.
Here's a look at how we learn through rhythm at the Children's Garden:
Daily Rhythm
Our daily rhythm is a gentle guide to the flow of our day. We do not adhere to a rigid time structure for the day but we do follow the same order so there is a natural predictability of what comes next. This natural predictability helps promote positive energy from the children - if they know what is coming next they feel more secure and are more at ease with the flow of the day:
Art Projects
Circle
Inside Free Play
Snack
Outside Free Play
Guided Activity
Dance Party!
Lunch (Morning Group)
Special Classes: Yoga/Mindfulness, Music, Cooperative Games, or Spanish
Story Time
With all the new children this year we have been focusing a lot on our rhythm, creating a culture of kindness, and exploring the different learning areas we offer to create a solid platform for growth.
In the beginning of the year we are laying the foundation of our learning community as we tune in to our daily rhythm and co-create a culture of kindness.
A nurturing environment that is rhythmic in nature supports a strong foundation that is essential to healthy child development. Predictable rhythms through the day, week and year provide security and a sense of the interrelationships and wholeness of life.
Our daily rhythm alternates periods of concentration and expansion, as if in a breathing rhythm where there is inhaling and exhaling. In the inhaling or breathing-in phase the child directs their attention to an activity that basically relates him to themselves (drawing, water painting, eating…). In the exhaling or breathing-out period, the child relates mainly to the surrounding world (free play, gross motor movements, guided activities etc.). For each breathing-in period the child needs a breathing-out period and so a pattern and balance is established.
In our weekly rhythm teachers strive to give a rhythmic structure to individual lessons as well where we reflect on a subject we explored the days before and follow that with presentation of a new element. Whatever has been taken in on one day is remembered and reflected on the following days. This builds a growing rhythm and a deeper sense of understanding of a subject.
Children are in deep harmony with nature and our seasonal rhythm connects us more to the natural world. Nature is a world of rhythms - the rising and setting of the sun, the flowering of trees, the change of seasons... when we provide supporting rhythms for children, we harmonize their being, thereby aiding the development of their inner rhythms of sleep, digestion, circulation etc. Monthly themes, block study, seasonal festivals and celebrations reflect and support our connection to the seasonal rhythm.
We highly recommend reading Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne for inspiration to create more rhythm in your children's life at home!
“Children depend on the rhythmic structure of the day–on its predictability, its regularity, its pulse…. By surrounding a young child with a sense of rhythm and ritual, you can help them order their physical, emotional, and intellectual view of the world. As they come to understand, with regularity, that ‘this is what we do', they feel solid under their feet, a platform for growth. Such a stable foundation can facilitate their mapmaking: the connectedness that they are charting in their brains, in relation to other people, and in their emerging worldview.” (Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne)
We also recommend the blog Rhythms of Play for more inspiration in how to create healthy rhythm and routine in your life at home.
Here's a look at how we learn through rhythm at the Children's Garden:
Daily Rhythm
Our daily rhythm is a gentle guide to the flow of our day. We do not adhere to a rigid time structure for the day but we do follow the same order so there is a natural predictability of what comes next. This natural predictability helps promote positive energy from the children - if they know what is coming next they feel more secure and are more at ease with the flow of the day:
Art Projects
Circle
Inside Free Play
Snack
Outside Free Play
Guided Activity
Dance Party!
Lunch (Morning Group)
Special Classes: Yoga/Mindfulness, Music, Cooperative Games, or Spanish
Story Time
With all the new children this year we have been focusing a lot on our rhythm, creating a culture of kindness, and exploring the different learning areas we offer to create a solid platform for growth.
Art Projects
As children arrive we have art projects and materials for the children to interact freely with. We have been getting to know all our new friends so we have kept a lot of the art projects as a simple introduction to the supplies that are commonly available to create with. Our art projects are process based - please read our blog Raising Creative Thinkers with Process Art to learn more!
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Learning how to use scissors properly and how to write our names is an empowering accomplishment for many young children!
Circle
In our opening circle we unite as one group, connect with each other through singing and various greeting activities and move our bodies in brain smart ways that enhance our ability to learn.
Inside Free Play
On the first few days of a new year we give the kids a tour of our classroom, community room, and play gardens, so they have more understanding of all there is to discover and play with.
The Safe Place
The safe place is an area where the children can go if they are having big feelings and have the space and tools to practice self-regulation. It’s also a sweet soft space to play with friends or read a book.For more details on how we use the safe place see our previous blog on Emotional Intelligence.
Outside Free Play
In outside free play the children play freely and explore in the natural play areas.
"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood." - Fred Rogers
"Play is the highest form of research" - Albert Einstein
"Creative people are curious, flexible, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play" - Henri Matisse
Guided Activities
In the Garden
We have been harvesting green beans and learning about how their roots have special homes for Rhizobium bacteria. These helpful bacteria take nitrogen from the air and convert it onto more fertility in the soil. Some of the beans get eaten right off the plant, or some get hulled and the kids eat the inside "sweet bean". Beans that we let dry can be hulled and saved for the winter and replanting in the spring.
The kids have loved picking and feasting on all these delicious abundant apples!
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We took turns using different slicing techniques and had an apple taste test! Check out these pro knife skills!
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Which do you prefer? Cooked or raw apples? How are they the same? How are they different?
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The cooked apples were the winner! Everyone agreed that the cooked apples tasted more sweet. Why? Do our cooked apples have less or more water in them than the raw? Did the heat of the cooking make the apples get bigger or shrink? Why do you think the cooking process makes the apples taste sweeter?
Science Experiment
Make your hypothesis! What do you think will happen when we combine this powder with this soap and this liquid?
Creating a Culture of Kindness
The Kindness Jar is a practice that helps us to spread kindness in our community. Any time we see someone else doing something kind or helpful we put a pompom in the jar. What you focus on grows and a momentum of kindness, generosity, and helpfulness is growing fast. Once the jar is full of pompoms we are throwing a kindness party to celebrate growing kindness in the world!
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We learned about the Appeal of the Nobel Laureates where Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, and other Nobel Prize Winners created the Better World Pledge with this Kindness Kids Adventure.
As we listened to the story we created paintings of acts of kindness and talked about a kid-friendly version of the pledge:
1. Be Kind - I pledge to respect people that are different, and treat people and animals with kindness and fairness.
2. Be Peaceful - I pledge to find peaceful ways to work out my problems.
3. Share with others - I pledge to share my time to help out in my community to make life better for others.
4. Listen to understand. I pledge to allow others to express their point of view; to find win-win solutions to problems so that both sides can win; and 'agree to disagree' if we can't come to an agreement.
5. Preserve the planet - I pledge to practice good environmental habits like recycling and helping to protect the earth and its habitats.
1. Be Kind - I pledge to respect people that are different, and treat people and animals with kindness and fairness.
2. Be Peaceful - I pledge to find peaceful ways to work out my problems.
3. Share with others - I pledge to share my time to help out in my community to make life better for others.
4. Listen to understand. I pledge to allow others to express their point of view; to find win-win solutions to problems so that both sides can win; and 'agree to disagree' if we can't come to an agreement.
5. Preserve the planet - I pledge to practice good environmental habits like recycling and helping to protect the earth and its habitats.
Our Community Agreements
We have had many conversations with all the groups of how can we create a healthy, fun, and safe learning community for all here at the Children's Garden. What are the agreements we can create that will help us grow from a "me" to a "we" community?
Well, the kids had ALOT of ideas in response to this. Some of the ideas that were offered from the children were: no hitting, be nice, listen to the teacher, take turns, take care of the toys, listen to each other, no running inside, no yelling inside, don't grab toys from each other, tell a teacher if you are hurt or scared, use your big voice, gentle hands, be generous, keep the classroom tidy so kids don't trip...
From all our conversations we were able to consolidate all of our thoughts into 3 simple positive agreements:
Be Safe
Be Kind
Listening Ears
Well, the kids had ALOT of ideas in response to this. Some of the ideas that were offered from the children were: no hitting, be nice, listen to the teacher, take turns, take care of the toys, listen to each other, no running inside, no yelling inside, don't grab toys from each other, tell a teacher if you are hurt or scared, use your big voice, gentle hands, be generous, keep the classroom tidy so kids don't trip...
From all our conversations we were able to consolidate all of our thoughts into 3 simple positive agreements:
Be Safe
Be Kind
Listening Ears
To put all of our love and energy into our agreements we created a collaborative art piece with all the groups which we then turned into a community reminder. Do we forget our agreements sometimes? Of course we do! We are humans :) We can gently remind one another and learn to adjust from a "me" to a "we".
Kindness Cookies
We loved making these sweet Kindness Cookies together and then passing a cookie to one of our friends instead of just gobbling one up straight away... everyone still got a cookie when we shared!
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Dance Party!
Lunch
From slicing strawberries to peeling carrots to tonging cheese and mashing guacamole we love making lunch together! Cooking and eating together helps us to connect as a community. Ask the kids to sing you our gratitude song we sing together before lunch and snack!
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Special Classes
We love our yoga and Spanish classes with Mama Annalise!
Mindful breathing with the Hoberman Sphere helps us practice slow deep breathing. Taking big deep breaths is some of the best medicine we have to keep our cool in all kinds of situations... and it's free!!!
We love singing, rhyming, and playing instruments together while learning about steady beat, rhythm, melody, and song-writing in music time!
Story Time
Here are a few of the books we've been reading to learn more about how we can feel kind and connected in our community and our world!
And some helpful reminders for parents and caretakers to use positive words of kindness :)
Banana Bread Recipe
To make this delicious and protein rich banana bread mix together the following ingredients and bake at 325 degrees for 45 min to 1 hr:
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 very ripe bananas
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups almond flour
See you next time :)
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