I am intrigued by the way that curious young thinkers observe, question, reflect, analyze, and conclude — to come to a new understanding. This is early learning at its best! It is not often that I get an extended period …
I was asked by a teacher recently, what is an activity that I particularly like to do with my preschoolers in the fall. Not too surprisingly, apples came to mind. I have taught decades of preschool classes in Minnesota and …
These are some of my favorite moments… when learning is happening because you, or a student, or your child “just thought of it” and you “seize the moment.” It might be that you will teach or learn or discover something …
We had a serendipitous start to our school year! This is a story from two multi-age classrooms of two-and-a-half to four-and-a-half-year-olds from our second week of school! Living here in the desert, I have been lamenting that we have access …
Deb’s 90-year-old father was cleaning out his files recently, preparatory to moving to a small apartment. One of the things he gave her was his “baby book”–in this case, a free booklet compliments of Borden’s Farm Products Co. What a …
We have just started the school year at Summit School in Phoenix and already our preschoolers are proving themselves to be amazing. Or in this case, we should say “incredible.”* *Dictionary definitions of “incredible” vary as to the degree …
Shadows are fascinating, and they can be a lot of fun. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a now-classic poem called “My Shadow.” Many of us remember it from his A Child’s Garden of Verses. It begins: I have a little shadow that …
May we suggest some New Year’s resolutions for parents of young children? I will give my children more time to just play, with blocks and other open-ended toys, and with toys that they can pretend with, like dress-up clothes and …
Lately, I’ve been noticing how much learning is going on in our classroom at lunchtime! And I was thinking today that of course that could happen at home, as well. All you need is one or more curious kids and …
It’s the middle of June, and some of us are already in the summer doldrums – the kids have been out of school for several weeks and (in Phoenix, at least) it is already so hot our energy is sapped. …
