Head 

Our Educators noticed a beautiful theme of “transformation schema” moments this week, so this is a great moment to link to an overview of schema theory here if you’re interested! Briefly, this is a theory of cognitive development that children’s play exhibits certain “urges”. The knowledge gained from this experimental form of play is a building block for understanding how the world works, and it is only accessible when they are developmentally ready to grasp these big new concepts. There has been a recent interest in play that involves transformation and we can see how fully some of the children are exploring this schema because they incorporate it both physically and cognitively. Mixing up pretend healing herb concoctions as a good witch, a child is able to see the physical disintegration and alteration of the plants they smash and pinecones they bash. On another day, during a discussion of what she wants to be when she grows up, Juniper shared earnestly that she wanted to be “a lion or a kitty or something that is a pet”. Our preschool children are hard at work figuring out what kinds of changes are possible, impossible, likely, or unlikely!

Heart

We have seen some big growth in the children’s skills and commitments within their friendships. A notable moment occurred on Friday during a zombie game. Some children were “being zombies” while others had the role of “being scared” of them! As one can imagine, it’s complicated to be a good friend to someone who is sometimes pretending to be scared and sometimes actually BEING scared. There was so much intensity but so much commitment to getting it right. Rather than quitting the game, or doubling down to the roles they were playing, Sarah found that they were receptive to her offer of social coaching (“ideas for what you might say to each other”). They were so eager to communicate what to expect from one another once they had the tools or the reminder. The game carried on in such a way that each child felt they could continue the game safely or choose to leave confidently.

Hands

Some big physical skills seem to captivate a child fully when taught by peers. Sylvan and Luca engaged in a long impromptu coaching session this week. Luca’s goal is to be able to jump up onto a hanging vine like Sylvan. Sylvan showed him over and over how he did it, made suggestions, and congratulated him for getting close! They naturally took turns showing and attempting, and they displayed the kind of perseverance that adults dream of seeing in a learning environment.

We also saw some skillful risk assessment - Nat made a calculated decision to hold a stick with thorns on it, in discussion with Ashley. She asked him what he was planning and he pointed to the areas he would need to hold it, and successfully completed the task he had planned! Risk assessment and skill building - luca trying to learn how to hang on vine with sylvan. We also see children regularly sizing up the gulleys they want to jump across, deciding which portion to jump, what they would land on, whether it’s worth it for what’s on the other side, etc. It’s tempting to stop and talk to them about their risk assessment decisions because you can see the wheels turning but we like to let them get on with their plans and make our best guess from their expressive faces :)

A new favorite spot has emerged, just on the edge of our regular site. Early in the week Amora decided that one upright stump was the engine and all week children have been bringing forest tools (various shaped sticks) over to work on it! The log is also a boat that they take wild rides on, so it’s very important that the engine stays in ship-shape! Seeing their creativity, background knowledge, and problem solving when they’re doing this fine motor work with the engine is so beautiful!

Holism

One day this week when Hamlin brought his guitar he was quietly strumming and Tilly was moved to lay down in the grass and gaze at the sky for a long time. It was one of those spiritually uplifting moments that we felt so grateful to have a place like this for children to learn and grow, deepening their connection with self, others, nature, and the special gift that is music.

Photos: I’m still trying to figure out how to make photo sharing easier for me and more valuable to you! As before, you can still right click and save favorite pics of your child from a computer, not sure about on a mobile device. Thanks for being patient with me! —Sarah