Today Sarah and Nicollette were the Educators, as Kylie was out sick. We started the day with magnifying glasses and a game of “Red Light, Green Light” before morning circle. Sarah led us into the forest with different animal body movements. The older children picked up where they left off with their games from Tuesday and continued into snack time. Some of the younger children were very much at home with quiet time this morning, with Miles creating a game for himself under the bridge, Larkin diligently filling a cake pan to the brim with tiny spoonfuls of dirt, and Jarrett discovering a peaceful spot where he rested in between sessions of wild play with the others. We noticed a nest in a nearby tree and a few children spent time finding more nests and showing others where to spot the nests. It’s powerful to see the impact of learning from peers in moments like this. Later, we decided we would take a new route out of the forest. It was interesting to see the kids each come up with their own realizations about where the trail was heading and where we came out. This is the magic of “place-based education”--the forest is becoming their home and they’re putting each new experience on their own mental map. On our way out, we noticed that at first, the path was narrow and we had to move in a line, but it became really wide toward the end. We are always experimenting with new ways to make the long hike across the field at the end of the day engaging. Today the children picked a favorite leaf in the forest and when we reached the field, they were given the challenge of walking with it balanced in their open palm. They had to walk slow, quiet, and mindfully enough to keep it in their hands! Some children made it as far as halfway across the huge field and many chose to go back to this quiet challenge even after their leaf had blown away. We enjoyed some time exploring the garden and pergola adjacent to the building. We are loving all the spacious fields available to us at SCP and we let children run to the far side of the field before lunch, where they discovered black walnuts and educated one another about what was inside! “Red Light, Green Light” got us back to our circle where we enjoyed having Beck’s whole family come for lunch.
