This was an exciting week in the Studios as both the Spark and the Discovery heroes prepared for their first exhibition of the year!
One of the major goals of the first session of the year is to “Build the Tribe,” by coming together as friends and studiomates. The Spark heroes have been having a lot of fun together!
They have also been working hard! The heroes had the opportunity to show their families their hard work at the exhibition. Throughout the week, leading up to the exhibition, each hero practiced various Montessori works. Some chose works that put them in their challenge zone. Others chose works that make them curious. And others chose works that they find most fun.
Each hero guided their family through the “Spark Hero Gallery” where they showed their hero boards, framed self-portraits, and makerspace creations. This group of Sparks has taken great interest in the hot glue guns in the makerspace. With small gardening gloves, they are able to use the tools independently and safely, and have made incredible creations from found materials and loose parts: towers, airplanes, and animals, just to name a few.
The Sparks have certainly earned their time in the makerspace, demonstrating skills to earn a makerspace champion badge! Others earned bravery badges and all earned a “Build the Tribe” session badge. At the end of the exhibition, the heroes held a badge ceremony to celebrate their effort and hard work!
Finally, the heroes signed their studio “contract of promises.” Throughout the session, the heroes helped craft their promises to each other. Of course, heroes will stumble and forget their promises at times, but with kind reminders from friends and guides they can stay on track.
We’re so excited for the next session when we plan to explore the seasons. What causes the seasons? How do different cultures celebrate the seasons? What causes weather? And what do we observe in our own backyard as we shift to Fall and Winter? We will also integrate art and practical life into this theme by making Halloween decorations, using elements from nature to make art, and perhaps baking some healthy pumpkin muffins!
We’ve also had a request from the heroes to dedicate a session to outer space which we plan to do! We have seen great interest from several of the heroes in learning about the solar system, planets, rockets and space travel, so we are excited to explore this with them!
