Studio Explorations and a Modification of my Research Question

 

As many of you know, the studio year is informed by an annual research question. This years, How might creative expression amplify our love of the natural world?, began to feel a bit teacher-directed. Watching the children I realized they were asking for something else. I was reminded that child IS nature and that I was approaching the question from the conditioned bias of disconnection. I asked myself what are they were needing? Play, curiosity, experimentation, relationship and autonomy are fundamental to child development and one of the evolutionary reasons that humans have such a long childhood. They were asking to play, experiment, collaborate and construct their own leaving. Well I can get behind that!

Why is this so important?

We live in hyper-connected culture, yet people feel more anxious and lonely than ever before. As a kid my free time was spent playing freely on the street, my kids was not. Children today have more and more structured play and scheduled activities but often lack real opportunities for un-choreographed, unscripted, unmonitored interactions. Interactions in which they will fight, make rules, change them, make friends, end friendships and make friends again. This is growing the social brain, learning the value of social capital and having fun to boot! They were asking for was permission to be children.

So the studio is responding with a shift in research. The new question, How might creativity and play amplify our experience of one another and the natural world? is already underway. This short video provides a small window into our days.

We can all help! How? By talking to the people around us, trying new things, risking rejection and learning to navigate the complex systems of relationship with the courage of our younger selves! Together we can invest in systems of Belonging.

A Conversation about Death

Conversation of the day...

The children were chatting at lunch about this and that before their dialog turned toward the recent hurricanes in North Carolina and Florida.  They told me, very earnestly, that hurricanes were really dangerous.  "I saw it on the news", one child piped in,  "I heard my mom and dad talking about it," chimed another  A third responded, "Yeah, lots of people could "die" in a hurricane."  I asked them how it feels to know all of that.  They quietly agreed it felt scary, "Cuz you could die."  I then asked them what does "die" mean?  A big discussion ensued with lots of ideas about how you could "die".  For instance, you could die from choking, walking into a busy street, getting really sick or just getting really old.  I said, "Yeah, I get that.  I've heard that too, but what does "die" mean?" And while they could point to how dying could happen, no one knew what dying meant.  They looked at me and I said, "Yeah, I don't really know what "die" means either." They nodded, unperturbed.  Of course I can explain what happens to the body (which I didn't) but what does "dying" really mean?  I genuinely don't know.  I'd warrant no one really knows for sure.  I quietly considered this while finishing my salad.  Mid chew, one XP girl looked me sagely in the eye and said, "Words are like that Angelina.  Sometimes they make you think you know something that you don't really know."

They all nodded in agreement and resumed their playful chatter about unicorns, while I was left once again astonished by the wisdom of children.

Super Hero Bodies

We all have them! Bodies equipped with sensory systems, designed to make the most of our time on earth. When everything is working well, it's easy to forget just how marvelous the experience of living really is.

But, when we remember that our working ears allow us to hear the wind in the leaves, we begin to really listen. When our noses delight in the heady scent of grapes ripening, a smile spreads across our face. When our skin's receptor's feel the sun's caress and we eat the last tree ripened peach in the back yard, we laugh, caught by the wonder of being alive.

These super bodies conspire to remind us that life's purpose, at least in part, is to relish the daily act of living!

Our celebrated senses are the tools of every creative scientist!

And will be essential to this years research question, "How might creative expression amplify our love of the natural world?"

Farm-to-table Spaghetti Sauce

At Children's Garden, we have our very own Farm-to-Table thing going on.  

In spring, we plant the vegetables, we tend them through summer, and by autumn we are in full harvest mode. 

Our tomato crop has been particularly generous... so what do we do with all this food?

We make homemade pasta sauce of course!  And the best part of all... we get to EAT it!

YUM!

If you have an excess of garden produce at home, feel free to send it in!  We can always find something to do with it!

Nature-ing

The children and I spent a week exploring music in and with the natural world.  (I'll include a link below to a short musical video of our time together).  After experimenting with sound making, we carried our instruments to our arboreal friends.  First, we needed to meet our audience: Ash, Bradford Pear, Red Bud, Silver Maple, Peach, Apple and Pear.  (Yep we have all those trees out our backdoor!). Then we played our noisy hearts out! 

We then gathered a few peaches to share and delighted in the warm, juicy sweetness ruining off our chins.   When finished we stop by the compost to add to our decaying fruit and vegetables pile and meet all the wonderful worms and insects converting our trash back into soil

We finished in our prolific garden, picking some collard greens, basil and tomatoes for food prep in the studio!  

Stay tuned to see what we make with our bounty!

Click here for a peek at our music in the making.

The Senses of a Scientist

The XP children and I began our year of inquiry by fine-tuning our sensory, observation skills!  And where better to begin than sunflowers!

Smelling the flower and stems...

Tasting with sunbutter....We decided it tastes like the flower smells... its smooth, salty, a little sweet, sticky and just plain gooood!!!

We smelled,

It feels sticky in some areas, smooth in others but everyone agreed that it sounds crunchy...

And then we spent a long while looking at the flower from a variety of angles....

R

We then recorded our data on paper with graphite and colored pencils!  

More to Come!!!

Enchanting Explorations

The children began visits to the studio this week and I could not be more delighted! In keeping with our research question, the studio is connecting children with the natural world through a variety of materials. 

This magnificent treehouse has been a perennial favorite for many years.

The Latin origin of the word "enchant" meant "to sing upon." To be enchanted by the natural world, literally, meant to be sung too.  Cultures around the world have historically sung to forests and other special landscapes.This year we will be doing the same! Here you can see the children playing with instruments set up in the studio. Next week we will be exploring music in the outdoor environment as well. Our early explorations emphasize the importance of listening. These tools allow us to sound a note and then follow it as long as we can with our ear. This will foster our listening in the weeks and months ahead. Listening to wind and snowfall and birdsong and one another. 

Stay Curious and Filled with Wonder! 

Parent Coffee and Studio Talk

 Are you looking for cost-free, backyard ideas to enrich your child's' learning and nurture their well-being for years to come?

We have just the thing!

Join the studio team for a Parent Coffee on September 6th as we dive into the question:

See you there!!!

THE LEGEND of PÖHAKU-O-KĂNE

A video introduction to our research question for the children!  NATURE here we come!

Welcome to a new Studio year!

Years of working with children has taught me to revere dew drops collected on spider webs and marvel as green buds emerge from a winter's sleep. Children are patient teachers, who remind us that the natural world is our primary classroom and that we each arrive on planet earth with a propensity for wonder, delight, and aliveness.  As we mature, many of us learn to prioritize other things.  But why?  Wonder and delight are essential to a joyful life. As you may already know, the Studio is an extension of your child’s classroom.  In this space, through a creative lens, your child follows their interests as they  explore, play, experiment, collaborate, and problem-solve. Studio teachers are lifelong artists who foster competence in expressive languages. Any art generated in our space is a product of the children’s discoveries and collaborations. Think of them as artifacts of learning.  In fact, the Studio makes more sense when we begin to think about it as a living laboratory of learning rather than merely an art studio.  Our shared learning is guided by an annual research question and each year we learn as much as the children do! 

That brings us to this year’s question,  

How might creative expression intensify our love of the natural world?

We will be slowing down and exploring the world at the pace of a child.  And I am so excited to see what we might discover!  With a second studio classroom (one at the center of the indoor school and the other in our newly constructed studio space in the outdoor environment), we will have more opportunities than ever for nature immersion.   To sweeten the deal, we also have FOUR amazing studio teachers joining your children this year.  I will continue as your main studio teacher but will be joined by Bekke and Jamie (yes, your amazing admin. team, with over 50 years of combined teaching experience!) on frequent Wednesdays, our spectacular mud specialist Amy Laugesen, and occasionally classroom teachers may join in the mix!  

How fun is that?!!!! 

I have so much more to share, and will look forward to doing so on September 6th, during our first Parent Coffee of the new year!  I hope to see you there!

Stay Curious and Full of Wonder,

Angelina

Please keep in mind that your child will be encouraged to be a child and will no doubt get messy from time to time.  That is an expected and necessary part of child development and sensory integration.  Please dress your child accordingly. 

Looking ahead, 

• Please mark your calendars for the annual Curator’s Talk on May 5th at 5 PM.  This is a collaborative studio conference where we will present our year of research AND come together in meaningful conversation.