A DAY IN THE LIFE
Our school places importance on play and creative ways of learning. By play we mean learning through physical not just cerebral interactions, and this will include a variety of activities including:
- Dressing up and role playing
- Writing, producing and performing
- Making art and crafts of all kinds
- Music and movement, dance, instruments, composition
- Film making and photography
- Sensory activities and experiments with natural materials
- Trips to farms, artisanal workshops and museums
- Construction, building, design
- Computer use for creative projects
Emotional responsiveness by staff: Children learn emotional skills throughout the day by an approach that is called A.R.T. as outlined in: The Children’s Bill of Emotional Rights by Eileen Johnson.
A.R. T. means: Accept, Reflect Teach. Teachers do not smooth over conflicts but accept what is happening and reflect back to children what they see. They teach through anticipation or retrospection – e.g. a review at lunch or snack time about the incidents that might have occurred earlier in the day, or preparation for what might happen next time.
Homework often takes away from important family time which could be spent on bonding, creating family narratives, resolving normal family conflicts. Homework will be limited and it should be creative and relevant to a child’s life. Children should be encouraged to come up with creative ideas for their own homework. For instance a child could be asked to do the following:
- Make a short video about your pet dog, your collectibles, your best friend.
- Interview your friends about their pet dog/cat/bird, their favorite food, their hobbies
- Find out more about that kind of dog/cat/bird/food/hobby
- Take a trip to a toy store and make a list of all the toys there, noticing where they were made
- Stop look and think: Watch through your window and count the number of cars that go by in 15 minutes/birds that fly past. Photograph and describe the quality of the sky on various days. Sketch architectural details of the buildings you can see. Write a poem about your room or the room you would like to have if you don’t have one
- Listen to a favorite song and discuss in school next day
- Study the building you live in, find out when was it built, what materials, how is it heated, where does the waste water go
- Find out what immigrants have formed your neighborhood, ask yourself how does immigration and the various global cultures impact the neighborhood
- Make a list of your goals for the week and share it
- Meditate for 15 minutes and discuss your thoughts
- Tell the class about your guitar lesson
- Memorize the name of every store you pass on the way home from school. Tell them to the class. Then on your way home see if you missed any
- Older grades can go into a store, interview the owner, ask him/her about why they started this store, what country they came from. They can make a documentary about stores in the neighborhood, kinds of food sold there, countries of origin, this can be a lengthy collaborative project where children meet to do their homework research.
- Cook a meal for your family, do the budgeting, shopping and preparation
- Any project a child selects, setting goals for him or herself.
- PROJECTS WHICH BRING FAMILIES TOGETHER:
- Interview your parents about where each of them grew up
- Make a scrapbook with images parents give you from their childhood, researched photos and articles from that era, clothing they wore
- Discuss issues at the family table such as sibling rivalry. Ask parents about their siblings and their rivalries
- Have parents share about grandparents and other relatives in other countries
- Ask parents about career choices and find out more about various careers they have pursued, as well as grandparents and other relatives
- Invite parents or grandparents to come to school and share about their careers