As a reminder, we will be closed tomorrow, Friday March 30th and Monday April 2nd. School will resume on Tuesday, April 3rd. Tuesday is also our first day of spirit week! The theme is “Little Lancer Day.” Students are encouraged to either wear Longwood spiritwear OR dress in Longwood colors (gray and blue).

We spent most of our morning outside today, taking full advantage of the glorious weather!   The children were eager to help bring materials out to the playground to use in their explorations. We brought out easels & paints, water tables & related implements, as well as materials for movement. 

I was interested in seeing how the children’s use of materials might change when used in a different setting. All of the items that we used today are utilized fairly regularly by the children during Projects & Play indoors. So, since the materials themselves were not novel, how would the change of setting impact the use? Would it impact the use at all?

The impact of the change was most noticeable to me in their use of the paints and easels. I noted that their use of the paints appeared very sensory-oriented, as they incorporated lots of big-body movements in their manipulation of the brushes. There were lots of long, exaggerated brush strokes in the works that they created.

One idea that I took away from today’s explorations as a teacher was how use of our outdoor space may serve as a means to deepen inquiries that we are studying in the classroom. The outdoor space changes the perspective and ways of thinking of the children, so perhaps it could be used to intentionally provoke further investigation as we go about our project work. I will definitely continue to reflect on those possibilities in the coming months, especially as the weather continues to get milder!

In small groups, we went to visit “The Field” to pick flowers. The field is located adjacent to our school building, behind the Landings and in front of the commuter lot. There were a multitude of colorful wildflowers to choose from, though the yellow dandelions proved most popular! As the season begins to change, we have some provocations planned in the near future that will allow the children to begin investigating plants and gardening.

Enjoy your holiday break and I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday!