Although our team strives to implement an eclectic approach to teaching the young child using the best practices from various Early Childhood philosphies, we hold Reggio Emilia philosophy in the highest regard. Here, a beautiful rendition of a poem written by the founder Loris Magaguzzi “The Hundred Languages of Children”
Little Mr. J is our amazing bubble blower and bubble catcher. He can elongate the bubbles in his hands but when he blows them they are always spheres.
An inquiry into bubbles began at the wet sensory bin when he decided to use one of the cylindrical building shapes to blow bubbles in the soapy water. Another child noted that he was blowing circles. Little Mr. J. corrected her – he was blowing spheres! We have been exploring 2D shapes and 3D solids, so after a few minutes of complete bubble blowing enjoyment we decided to challenge these children – what might happen if we used different shapes to blow the bubbles? Now there were several all-knowing smiles – of course we were going to have cubes, rectangular prism, and triangular prism bubbles floating around our room. So after an excited search for the necessary shaped tools, four very determined 4 and 5 year olds began blowing. Although the bubbles emerged elongated or differently shaped, each bubble turned into a sphere as soon as it left the “wand”. This was unbelievable! We had to change the bubble solution mixture. Maybe there was not enough soap or not enough water in the mix. Maybe there was too much. These were very persistent children. They spent about 40 minutes trying different ways to make different shapes of bubbles. They accepted advice from other students but to no end. The bubbles were always spherical. We brought this dilemma to sharing time and after a demonstration, the other children were just as perplexed and an afternoon of determined bubble blowing ensued. We will have to see where this takes us next.
Making an appointment at the doctor’s.Last week we noticed an interest in our senses developing from our inquiry into reflections and light. The children were noticing their pupils dilating. A Halloween skeleton song sparked an interest in bones, and a week- long school-wide healthy schools challenge had us talking about healthy living. So this week, we co-constructed a doctor’s office with the children. It turned out to be a very, very busy place! Lots and lots of learning and fun. The children delved deep into their play. The dialogue between doctor and patient was well-developed. There was a richness to the oral vocabulary as the children listened and responded to one another. We had expected to see empathy but the children really put themselves in the place of others as they took care of one another compassionately. It was well-seen that they all had had experiences being sick and being well looked after. We also found that there was a whole lot of self-regulation in the play as they negotiated ways to extend the play experience. When there were too many patients and only one doctor, one of the children declared that he would be a doctor too so they wouldn’t have to wait so long. And the times when there were more than 2 doctors per patient, saw a tricky negotiation of the responsibilities of each doctor.
We had expected more math play but as it turns out the measuring tools (scale and cubes) seemed to develop legs and marched off to other areas of the room where the children interacted with them. They were not missed at the doctor office. We find it interesting how the play emphasis can change with different groups of students.
For more information about play and inquiry within the classroom please visit our website;
A child’s natural curiosity can lead to the most amazing discoveries and learning through inquiry! Children age 3-6 years of age are not afraid to ask questions, and take chances. This makes this age group the most amazing of all to teach and learn with.
Inquiry has always been a driving force in our planning and emergent play experiences and leads. We have decided to designate inquiry with its very own page, as we believe in it’s value, possibilities and place within the classroom.
Over the past few months various questions have been asked by the children and recorded on our “We wonder…” chart, we would like to take you with us as we explore these questions with the children and further their natural inquiring minds!
Just last week this question emerged during a conversation about the importance of treating all our friends with respect in how we talk and act toward those around us daily. We began talking about the power of a smile, and began sharing smiles with one another around the school to see if smiles are in fact contagious -as they say!
We added the question to our board “We wonder if we smile at others, will they smile back?” Lets share a smile
Over the next week we continued to choose pairs of children to share a smile and walk through the school. Our findings were very interesting, some teachers and children who walked by shared a more curious facial reaction, while others walked by intrigued to read the message on the children backs. after creating a tally chart with the children, it was clear our post predictions were correct, a smile is in fact contagious đ
What a great learning experience for all!
Many people have been emailing us asking for the Flow of Our Day. We wanted to wait until we were sure of some changes that we have been making.
As a school team, we had been finding our Outdoor Play time challenging. There were a lot of children sharing the outdoor space at the same time and we were hoping to find a way to bring our classes out separately. Due to needs in our room, we have to keep our schedule as consistent as possible so the only solution we could implement was flipping our day. It would be a one-time big change but we would have consistency in our schedule. We would go outside everyday first thing in the morning and first thing after rest time. Serendipity!! It turns out the change worked out so, so well for our class.
Being outside and active first thing in the morning and then again right after rest time, means that the children come in happy and relaxed and ready to learn. The children have a chance to burn off extra energy and the endorphins created by exercise and fresh air put everyone in a calm and alert mindset.
An outdoor environment that promotes learning, exploration, creativity, discovery, gross motor and play has various plants, natural resources and opportunity for active play. This also serves to create a natural link between the inside and outside environments, as school is a place of learning, and discovery both indoors and out.
An outdoor courtyard play environment, just the same as the indoor environment should reflect that of a third teacher. The environment should create a natural flow of play and opportunity of choice. A platform area (and community area) leading from the entrance should direct the play through the physical layout and environment. With the use of plants, synthetic surfaces, or stones pathways can be created to lead to various play experiences, both constructive and productive.
âThe layout of the physical space in schools encourages encounters, communication and relationshipsâ (Reggio Kids)
We encourage each Full Day Kindergarten program to use their imagination and the space they have to create something wonderful. Some times the best ideas and journeys are not easy…but so worth it in the end!
Our ideas for our outdoor environment began in 2010 and began two years later with three little trees and LOTS of asphalt. With support from our Ministry, our Administration, our Parent and Family Literacy, our families and our dynamite team of four educators (and a hard working husband- thank you Martin) this is what we have created so far. Note this is just the beginning, and we are just starting to see our ideas coming together, we still have so much in store! Our Sandbox (Made by Martin) Plants donated and planted by families Evergreen Surfaces added to ensure children’s safety
This year, we are adding a little something extra to our Literacy program. Last year, we attended an information session on the Sound/letter Chart developed by Dr. Brenda Miles and Dr. Virginia Frisk. It was Brenda’s enthusiasm for the program and the brain research behind it that made us consider trying it in our room. When Ginny showed us the preliminary data from other FDK classrooms we decided to jump on board.
We started using it with the Year 2 students and they are loving it. We are playing with sounds, inside and outside. It is focusing the children and we are all excited to see the results. We will keep you posted about how it impacts our reading and writing.
We consider ourselves so very, very lucky to be meeting so many inspiring Early Years educators through our Blog and Website. One of these amazing people is Betsy Reilly, a professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Ontario. Betsy teaches pedagogy and curriculum in an Early Years specialization program. We are so excited that Western offers such a program and through our brief conversations with Betsy we know that her students are so lucky to have such a dedicated, knowledgeable, and inspiring professor.
Please check out her Facebook page at
Now that the children are calmer and are playing more productively, we are able to relax and be present in the simple moments of discovery. It’s now easier to listen in with both our eyes and ears and pick up on the natural curiosity of the children. We are not being pulled away as often to lend a hand to children who are needing assistance in managing within the room.
As bright sunlight filled our block centre this week, a small group of children noticed intense flickers of light dancing across the walls and the floor. The children started to question where this show of light was coming from. We followed the flickers around the block centre, tracing the movement to uncover the source of this light show. Suddenly, one child shouted with excitement, “Look, it’s coming from her shoes!!” It was true, Little Miss I was wearing silver sequinned shoes that reflected the bright sunlight.
The children shared and demonstrated their discovery during our After Play Sharing time. This led to an afternoon of experimenting with the natural light and shiny things in our classroom. This excitement and curiosity about light and reflection will aid our planning for next week.
The crying has stopped! Suddenly we can breathe again! Our classroom community is becoming a family. The children are settling in and picking up on rules and routines, new friendships have been formed and old friendships have been renewed.
Up until this point, we have been getting to know our children – playing with them and assessing for learning. We have been encouraging self-regulatory behaviour through role modelling, giving the children words to problem-solve during play, yoga, breathing exercises, and games to help focus attention such as Simon Says and Head/Toes. The Senior students have been very helpful as they have taken on a leadership role in supporting and demonstrating various self-regulation strategies.
