Building Community in Lower School

Building community and developing meaningful relationships continue to be an important 'theme' running through our PreK curriculum. As the children have become much more comfortable and connected to each other in our Prek 2 classroom, the door is now wide open to the many possibilities of connecting to our larger AFS community. We recently
wrote about our visit with the 3 year old Sunflower class (see Blog - Sunflowers... Building Community) commenting on the wonderful mixed age grouping experience the children had together. When we realized the children would have another opportunity to work in a mixed age group setting with students in Lower School, we were eager to have our children participate. This past Friday was an non-numbered day on our Lower School schedule and the open time schedule allowed for so many incredible possibilities for our students of Lower School. Our faculty decided to use the day as a Day of Service Learning where children would have the opportunity to participate in a service project and /or connect with partners in learning.

Our 5th grade students are participating in a service project titled We Give Books ( www.wegivebooks.org). This service learning project combines the joy of reading with the power of helping. The book compaigne supports world literacy. Evertime the children read a book, a book is donated to organizations that work with low income children in need.

As we observed the interactions of our Prek children being read to by 5th readers, we were again reminded of the importance and genuine joy of learning that takes place when children are 'teaching' children.

Our children took leaps of faith in stretching their comfort zone in working one-on-one with a new friend from 5th grade. This was the first time that our children met the 5th graders and their confidence and growing independence was clearly reflected in their openness and willingness to participate in new activities. Conversations were overheard and the students were beginning to make authentic connections. The 5th grader's were invited to play in our classroom when their reading was over and the true joy shared of playing together was very special to see.

A second service learning project that we were involved with was creating Nature Journals with 2nd grade. Our faculty had spent an in- service day at Briar Bush and our focus was on creating outdoor learning experiences for our students. Our faculty was so inspired by this day of Professional Development focusing on Outdoor Education, that as a faculty we have attempted to bring back as many of the ideas as possible to our programs at AFS. One of the underlying messages that we all took with us was that children need to spend more time outdoors and that exploration and discovery in our natural environment is a critical component in the overall development of children. We were reminded of the need to make sure that outdoor time is fully integrated into our school days. Connecting with nature and bringing our learning outdoors may take the form of play or it may take a more focused approach. Learning experiences that facilitate development in math, language, writing and reading are areas that need not be limited to the four wall of a classroom. Hence, the teachers decided to make Nature Journals using recycled food boxes with 2nd grade. Journal writing fosters language development, pre-reading and writing skills, fine motor skills as well as creativity. Through journal writing, the children will have the opportunity to express their observation of nature through illustrations and dictations. This connection was especially exciting for a Miranda whose sister Cecily is in 2nd grade!

We gathered in our all purpose room in the basement and together the Prek class and 2nd grade worked on their Nature Journals. Again, the shared learning and social skills that our children were practicing were experiences that were wonderful to see. We plan on working on our journals outdoors with our 2nd grade friends over the next several weeks.

Alicia read The Kapok Tree which is a beautiful story about saving a tree and reflects the values of stewardship which value . Listening to a read-aloud with our new 2^nd grade friends was a perfect closure to a very special time together.