Supporting children’s identities as DESIGNERS and MAKERS through inquiry Transdisciplinary Theme How We Organize Ourselves An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind…
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A Fairy Garden Surprise
A Project in an Early Years Setting working with 4 and 5 year olds in Zurich, Switzerland A Where We Are in Place and Time Unit of Inquiry Central Idea: Spaces can be used in creative ways. Lines of Inquiry:…
How The World Works: Developing Theories About the Winter Forest Through the Arts
The children in Early Years 1 have a strong relationship with the nearby forest as we spend weekly time exploring there. This natural ever changing setting provides countless opportunities to develop and explore theories connected to our unit of inquiry’s…
Den Building
Connecting Threads of Learning in Different Spaces As our class groups develop a growing sense of community, we intentionally plan learning provocations based on children’s interests which promote connections among our environments both indoor and outdoor. We aim to have threads of…
Empowering Students as Researchers
EY1 enjoys a weekly collaboration with some students in Grade 7. Sometimes the older students read books to the younger children. Other times, the students collaborate on learning experiences including construction, clay and gardening. They have also helped us to maintain our outdoor…
Exploring our Senses through Play Dough
When investigating into our unit of inquiry ‘Who We Are ‘, we explored about ourselves through the Central Idea, “We use our bodies to learn about the world.” The children were invited to participate in a variety of learning experiences…
Snow as a Natural Resource for Joyful Learning
As teachers, we spend a lot of time and thoughtful consideration when choosing learning materials. This week, however, nature did the planning for us. We were all delighted to arrive to a schoolyard covered with snow. Snow is the ultimate, natural,…
The Importance of Splashing
“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play” Heraclitus To learn through laughter, to explore without expiration and to follow ones curiosity to wherever it may lead, these are just some facets to…
Fostering Children’s Passions: Setting Up A Restaurant
After observing the children engaging in ‘restaurant role play‘ over a period of a few weeks, it was clear that this was yet another wonderful opportunity to encourage and foster their interest and embark on a class inquiry into restaurants. Following some…
Developing Language and Mathematical Skills using Stories
As a class we read and enjoyed Julia Donaldson’s picture book ‘Stick Man.’ The rhyme within the text is simple and repetitive, allowing the children to join in with the ‘reading’ and predict and identify rhyming words within the story….