Building partnerships and nurturing minds


A series of articles in Northern Life

by Director of Education Norm Blaseg


Article 1 - Starting school: Building partnerships with parents

Article 2 - A bucket of ice: Influencing children’s thinking

Article 3 - One hundred languages: Children are communicators

  

Teacher Jennifer Hearn and parent Crystal Way, left, chat about daughter Chloe’s progress in Early Learning Kindergarten at Lansdowne Public School.

The vet clinic at Lansdowne Public School provided an authentic learning experience for four-year-old Jayda St. George Trudeau.

Starting school: Building partnerships with parents

No. 1 in a series of 3
Publication date - Thursday, January 5, 2012

Parents have a very important role in their child’s education. That’s why educators in Rainbow Schools are keen to build relationships with parents early and often in order to support children’s learning at school.

Parents are the child’s first teacher. According to the Early Learning Kindergarten curriculum “parents offer learning opportunities that are based on the deep knowledge they have of their children. Parents and other caregivers nurture and teach children at home and in the community, supporting the dynamic process of early learning.”

Parents’ knowledge of their children is a rich resource that educators draw on when planning for learning at school. Parents can give educators a sense of what their children know, what they are interested in, what they value, and how far along they are in their physical, social and emotional development.

They can share important information with the school about family life (including siblings and pets) and activities that their child enjoys (including sports, music or camping experiences).

In the French Immersion Early Learning classroom at Lansdowne Public School, based on the children’s interests and experience with pets at home, Teacher Julie Kelly and Early Childhood Educator Lynne Lundrigan created a veterinarian centre.

Children brought photos of their family pets from home, which they posted on the wall of the vet clinic. At school, the children role-played visits to the clinic with their pets using their growing French vocabulary. “Knowing what children already know helps us plan meaningful learning experiences for children in the classroom,” says Julie Kelly.

Rainbow District School Board staff reach out at this time of the year to begin establishing relationships between home and school. Information Nights and Welcome to Kindergarten (WTK) orientation sessions for Junior Kindergarten are two important opportunities for families and children to meet staff and get to know the school.

Parents and children are invited to Information Nights for full day every day Junior and Senior Kindergarten on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm for English Program schools and Thursday, January 26, 2012 from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm for French Immersion Program schools. Schools offering both the English and French Immersion Programs will host one information night on Thursday, January 26, 2012.

Welcome to Kindergarten (WTK) orientation sessions are held at all schools in the spring. Families connect with educators from the school and staff from community agencies. The strategies and resources that parents receive at the WTK orientation session serve to introduce children to Rainbow Schools and the exciting experiences that await them in Junior Kindergarten and Early Learning.

Once the child begins school, parents receive ongoing invitations to join in the conversation about their child’s learning. “In my classroom, parents enjoy seeing pictures of their children at play and talking about what they are learning,” says teacher Jennifer Hearn at Lansdowne Public School.

Parent Crystal Way has a daughter in Early Learning at Lansdowne Public School this year. Her son was in the program last year. "It is great to have all the photos and learning stories shared with me.  I have a real understanding of what goes on in Chloe's day."

She adds: "When my son Ethan was in the Early Learning Kindergarten class last year, a portfolio was sent home at the end of the year. He was able to show me what he did, some of his friends, and all the wonderful things he learned in the program.  Often he will still pull it out and reminisce about his time in Kindergarten.”

Starting school is not the beginning of a child’s educational experience. It is a continuation of the journey of learning together as children engage, explore, investigate and communicate.



  
Early Learning Kindergarten student Grace Beange, 5,  explores the woods behind Princess Anne Public School.
A bucket of ice: Influencing children’s thinking

No. 2 in a Series of 3
Publication date - Thursday, January 12, 2012

One day, Grace came to school with a bucket of ice and shared her discovery with her classmates.

When the teacher told the class to leave their winter clothes on because they were going for a walk on the first day of snow, Grace excitedly exclaimed: “We are going outside!” 

When another student asked why, Grace responded: “To find ice!”

And so began a journey of inquiry for the four and five-year-olds in Tara Thall’s Early Learning Kindergarten classroom at Princess Anne Public School.

But this was no ordinary walk in the woods. The children had magnifying glasses to take a closer look around them. And they were given science journals to record what they were seeing.

“At first, the children were so excited about their observations, their preferred method of sharing was through conversation,” says Tara Thall. “Then a few sat down in the forest and began drawing what they were seeing.” The teacher took photos to document their discoveries.

They saw footprints in the snow and needles on evergreen trees. They noticed the changes (in season) since the last time they had visited the forest. This led to conversations and questions about freezing and melting.

Back in the classroom, the children relived their walk in the woods through the photos uploaded to the teacher’s computer. The children pointed out the photos that were meaningful to them.

Using the photos as reference, some drew the snow, the tracks and the pine needles. They looked at some of the books in their classroom to assist them in their work. They printed labels such as needle, ice and pine for their drawings.
 
Since that day, the children have continued to draw and write about their discoveries in their science journals.  And they take their science journals outside at recess to further their investigations.

“Children are naturally curious about the world around them,” says Superintendent Sharon Speir, who is leading the implementation of the new Early Learning Kindergarten program in Rainbow Schools. “Children want to know how things work and why things happen.”

Curiosity on its own, however, is not enough. In Rainbow Schools, the Early Learning Kindergarten teacher and Early Childhood Educator work as a team to guide children. They use inquiry-based learning to build on children’s natural curiosity. The children engage, explore, investigate and communicate.

“As children move naturally from noticing and wondering about the objects and events around them to exploring and questioning in a more focused way, the Early Learning Kindergarten team helps them develop and extend their learning and demonstrate their knowledge,” says Superintendent Speir.

Educators give children opportunities to plan, observe, and gather information, and then to compare, sort, classify, and interpret their observations.

They provide a rich variety of materials and resources, and interact with children to clarify, expand, or help articulate their thinking. They then encourage children to share their findings with one another through oral and/or visual representations.



  
Five-year-old Precieuse Matukala Nkosi in the Early Learning Kindergarten class at Princess Anne Public School draws a map of the world.
Ramona Shawana, an Early Childhood Educator at Princess Anne Public School, makes connections as Precieuse Matukala Nkosi draws a map of the world.

 
One hundred languages: Children are communicators

No. 3 in a Series of 3
Publication date - Thursday, January 19, 2012

Educators in Rainbow Schools are exploring the many different languages that four and five-year-olds use to communicate their growing understanding of the world and how it works.

Materials such as clay and wire as well as dance, drama, music, drawing and printing, are languages through which young children readily express meaning.

The philosophy of “One Hundred Languages” originated in the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, and has inspired educators who work with young children to provide many and varied opportunities for children to demonstrate their thinking.

“When educators know what children are thinking, it helps them to connect with children and to build on their existing understandings,” says Superintendent Sharon Speir who is leading the implementation of Early Learning Kindergarten in Rainbow Schools. “With this information, educators can ask relevant questions and have meaningful dialogue.”

Our Early Learning Teams facilitate children’s thinking by observing and listening to them as they engage, explore, investigate and communicate.

An amazing example came from an Early Learning classroom at Princess Anne Public School. Five-year-old Precieuse drew her conception of the world on the blackboard in her classroom.

The image was particularly interesting to Ramona Shawana, an Early Childhood Educator. As a person with First Nations heritage, she immediately connected to the drawing through the lens of her own culture. “I see in her drawing reference to the four directions,” she said. Precieuse shared her personal connection with Congo, a place that her dad visits regularly.

Traditionally in Africa, the Grandfathers would travel from village to village with a story stool telling stories to children, similar to that of the legends told in the Ojibwe culture by Elders. Ramona Shawana introduced a story stool that was made in Africa to the classroom as a means of providing a learning experience that would be relevant and meaningful for Precieuse.  She immediately identified with the designs on the stool and referenced furniture in her own home that was very similar.

Many young children’s languages of expression come through the arts, which often serves as a vehicle for children to understand different cultures as well as to express their own culture. Here we see an example where drawing allows a child to express her connection to culture.

‘It is important for teams to find opportunities to bring children’s languages into the classroom, using parents and community members as a resource,” states the Early Learning Kindergarten curriculum.

We know that young children have an innate need to make sense of the world. The arts in the Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten program provide a vehicle through which children can express their growing sense of self and their interpretation of the world. Visual arts, music, dance, and socio-dramatic play contribute in many ways to the development of children’s thinking and communication skills.

According to the Reggio Emilia philosophy, “the child has a hundred languages, a hundred hands, a hundred thoughts, a hundred ways of thinking, of playing, of speaking. A hundred ways of listening, of marvelling, of loving, a hundred joys for singing and understanding, a hundred worlds to discover, a hundred worlds to invent, a hundred worlds to dream. The child has a hundred languages and a hundred, hundred, hundred more.”