What a great week back in the Spark studio! Our theme this session is the Seasons and Weather. Autumn is such a wonderful time to explore this because we recently experienced summer, and will soon head into winter. There is so much change to discover!
So far, we’ve explored why Autumn is also called Fall, why leaves turn colors, and how the way we dress for the weather changes throughout the year. We are hoping this will help the heroes become more conscious of what they choose to wear outdoors each day.
We are also learning about temperature. Each morning the heroes check and graph the outside temperature and the type of weather. They have made predictions about what will happen to the temperature and weather as we move towards winter. They have predicted it will become colder and there will be more cloudy days and eventually more snowy days. They were also fascinated with the thermometer and had not used a fluid thermometer before! There was much excitement when we went outside and stuck it to the window.
In the afternoons, Sparks have been exploring the beautifully changing seasons. They’ve explored leaf shapes through tracing and scavenger hunts, sharpening their identification skills, and have started exploring the trees around the building with measurements. We’ll dehydrate some of the herbs in our garden this week, celebrating the end of a long harvest season.
The school took a field trip to the Arboretum this Thursday! We met Pat, the naturalist, who told us all about the prairies, the fires that rage through them, and the battles both the plants and the people are waging against invasive species. We found a patch of wild cattails and learned about the aquatic critters that might be lurking in their roots, and enjoyed playing in the shelter of a weeping fig tree.
This week, we re-introduced the badge plan in a new way. In order to increase intentionality, we are asking the heroes to place a clothespin with their name on it onto the posters of Montessori works available in the studio. When they are ready to move to a new work, they clean up the old work, move their clothespin to the new work, and go from there. The heroes can choose to pursue badges in the areas of writing, reading and math and can track their progress using the posters. This has certainly increased interest in badge work. Or they can choose non-badge work, but still meaningful work, in the areas of practical life, science and culture.
We are also focusing on working independently rather than with friends this session. This has been a challenging shift for a number of the heroes, but as the week has gone on, we see them “getting it” and sinking deeper into their learning as a result. It also helps them focus on their own learning journey and begin to tap into their own interests and calling.
Weekly writers’ workshops and story shares have been beautiful to see. The heroes are working on being quiet and actively listening while their friend presents his/her story. Then they have the opportunity to ask questions about their friend’s story. The creativity is tremendous and it’s wonderful practice in sharing their ideas both on paper and verbally.
