Stone Soup

     Our focus for the past week or so has been on the book Stone Soup by author Marcia Brown. Brown tells a tale of cooperation and giving even when you don't have much to give. The people of the town are persuaded into contributing what little they have into this community soup which then feeds the entire town. After reading and discussing the book, and many similar versions of the story, we decided to make some stone soup ourselves. 

   The children brainstormed ingredients, some more outlandish that others, and determined what would taste best in our soup. Each child (and even some of their Study Buddies) brought in an ingredient to add to the soup on Friday. Once we prepped the veggies with the help of our volunteers Erin and Aunt Tracy, the soup was ready to be cooked. By the afternoon, we were ready to invite our Study Buddies down to taste our delicious community soup.

These two were cutting onions and crying.

Taking a closer look at the pepper and all its little seeds.

Mother and son chopping veggies together! So awesome.

 The colours of our soup were so bright and beautiful. The more vibrant, fresh veggies you eat in a day the better!

Peeling carrots is tough work! Good thing we've got some seriously strong kids. It's all those good lunches you guys are sending.

Supervised knife cutting is great for strengthening children's fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. 

Slicing and dicing the tomatoes with a helping hand from Erin.

Mother and daughter peeling potatoes together! 

Many hands make light work!

A different perspective of food preparation. 

Once our Study Buddies arrived, we took some time to talk about the books that we had read. Once the soup was served we were ready to chow down!

Sitting down together to eat as a community. The Kinders got to sit with their older Study Buddy.

You know it's good when you get the official thumbs up.

Special thanks to Erin, Aunt Tracy and Robin for coming in to help with the soup making and serving!

Family Involvement

We feel so fortunate that parents and family members take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer in our classroom.  Each volunteer brings something new to the table; whether that be a skill, an activity, a culture or simply another perspective. Family involvement includes things like parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home and collaborating within the community. 

 There were two siblings in our class who were overjoyed when Mom, Aunt and sister came in to do a project with the class. You could see the pride on their faces when their family was introduced. 

Having volunteers in the school promotes a more wholesome learning environment that encourage respect for different family structures, values, culture, language and knowledge. When children see their families and cultures reflected in their learning environment they feel a sense of pride and confidence and will want to actively participate in their education. 

Snuggling up with her Aunt.

Erin brought in the book "Something From Nothing" by Phoebe Gilman, a story based on an old Jewish folk song about a man who turned his old coat from a jacket, to a vest, to a tie, and finally a button. The story that she chose was engaging and fun and exposed the children to another culture. Erin was an expert story teller using different voice tones to keep the kids engaged. She had a very special helper acting out the story as she read.

Their little sister blended right in and sat very well at the carpet throughout the story. I think she might be ready for Kindergarten.

Family involvement is not only important for the children; it is beneficial for the parents as well. Being involved in the classroom allows parents/caregivers to observe how their children are learning and recognize  strategies they can use to support their child's learning outside of school. 

Once the story was finished, the children got a chance to make something from nothing. Each child got a Ziploc baggie full of bits and pieces and they got to decide how they wanted to assemble them on their paper.  

At a school like Churchill, families that are involved gain a better understanding of the alternative school values and practices. Involvement in the classroom also allows families to observe the expectations and strategies used at school to create consistency in expectations for their children at home.

Such a good big brother!

Parents, don't be shy!

If you can sing, dance, act, write, draw, juggle, bake, play a sport, have come from or have visited another country or just want to help out in our classroom you are always welcome. If you have a specific activity you would like to do please let us know in advance so we can prepare.

Just A Few Great Pictures From Autumn

We thought we had better post some fall photos that we've been meaning to post before the big snow storm tonight. We hope they make you smile!

 

Introducing..Churchill's Future Musical Prodigies!

 Because traditional learning is very math and science focused music is not always viewed as an academic priority. But finding a rhythm or catching a tune is not just for entertaining and engaging children; it helps them to further develop important skills like memorizing, predicting, sequencing, patterning and even literacy. Participating in a child directed group activity like a "marching band" encourages social development as the children are in charge of facilitating, leading and organizing their play as well as communicating and listening to each other. Using musical instruments also encourages children to develop their fine motor skills which assist in the development of proper pencil grasp (a goal in Kindergarten). For children who struggle academically, the arts can be a way to thrive and feel successful in school. The success, confidence and pride children feel from participating in music and movement will stick with them throughout their school careers and throughout life. Children are naturally drawn to music and movement; so what better way to develop important skills and abilities than through something that they are interested and engaged in.

Children who are given opportunities early in life to explore musical instruments are not only more likely to want to play later in life but they are also more likely to want to continue to be lifelong learners. Today we set the instruments out on the bench during outdoor play to see what would happen and this is what unfolded: