Sympathetic and trusting teachers can be of use to learners, not by deciding what they are to learn but by encouraging and helping them to learn what they are already busy learning. – from the brilliant mind of John Holt

 

One of the best approaches to early learning will emphasize a studio (small or large) filled with abundant materials where real-life problem solving among peers can occur. The teacher will research and work with the environment to provide numerous opportunities for creative thinking and explorations of children working in collaborative groups.
This week in our Kindergarten classroom we have become Iliff Astronauts…a crew of 10 working in the Iliff Shuttle. We are building a space craft in our airplane classroom and have constructed computers, radios, cameras, gear to repair the shuttle, and special shirts for in-shuttle use. We have been collecting rock samples in our moon boots on our moon walks while wearing our helmets and jet packs as we explore the outdoors. Our Outer Space books added another two pages this week as we learned how much we weigh on earth and..on the moon, To learn more about real astronaut life, we turned to the internet! We watched how to eat and wash our hair in space! We researched and discovered that just today the Astronauts were forced to flee the US side of the space station due to the possibility of a leak. We were thankful that the scare was unfounded and discussed how the Astronauts would evacuate and return to earth if a problem were there.