Meditations on Morses Pond

This week, we took our first walk down the Lilja School Trail. Some kids were excited as this is a path they are familiar with and have walked before with their families. We stopped at the edge of Morses Pond, settled down on the ground, and looked out at the water. 

We took a quiet few minutes to look at the scenery around us and take in the sounds - the wind rustling the leaves and ruffling the smooth surface of the water, the swans and ducks paddling way out in the center of the pond, the changing color of the leaves on the trees nearby, the far off Wellesley Beach shoreline, the sparkling of the sun on the water, the gently waving of the milfoil under the surface of the water and the shiny lilypads floating on the surface. There was a lot to take in as we reflected on the nature all around us. Many kids shared that they felt much calmer after this period of quiet meditation. 

Nature has this calming effect on us. Research has shown that even looking out on a green space outside can reduce anxiety and stress levels in children and grown-ups - a nice break from the rush of the day.

Enjoy the pictures below of the gazing group and the images from the pond. 

What kind of learner are you?

This week, the kids in the 1-2s did a visualization practice using a Karla Kuskin poem called Dragon.  First the poem was read aloud to the students twice while they visualized an image of the dragon in the poem using the author's description. After, they were each given a copy of the poem and the class did a shared reading. The kids then drew another picture of the dragon, but this time they could refer back to the poem to reread the lines and check their pictures for which details the author had given us and which features were left open for us to freely imagine. 

Then we had the kids reflect on which of their two drawings better matched the description of the dragon in the poem. Most of our students said that reading the poem themselves gave them a better image because they could read it at their own pace and go back to reread lines to check that they had included all the details. Other students said that hearing the poem helped them get a clearer image of the dragon being described as they could close their eyes and just focus on imagining the dragon, instead of splitting their attention between reading and visualizing. 

This exercise is a good one to help kids get to know themselves as learners and which modalities help them learn - do they learn better when hearing someone tell them information? Or when they read it for themselves? 

Check out the pictures below to see both versions of the kids' dragon pictures!