We Are Already So Busy ...

Building Community!

We are spending these early days at school getting to know routines and procedures, new materials and spaces, but we are also getting to know one another.  We are learning each other's names, finding out what activities some of us like to go to, seeing where others enjoy playing at the park and hearing about some of our interests and personalities.  We are becoming a community!

Children are working and learning in many different combinations already. 

New friends...

...Old friends

We are engaging in whole class meetings and small group work, and we find ourselves in partnerships for many things, including walking in the line to and from the park. 

Each day when we arrive at the park, children are asked by a teacher, "Who is your partner?"  In part, this question helps children to remember with whom they should line up when it is time to go inside. It also gives them a chance to really learn one another's names.  When children cannot remember, they are learning to ask, "What's your name?"  It is a name game with a real function!

We are seeing relationships develop in many places.  We see old relationships continuing and new ones developing.  Some line partners have begun to make plans to play with one another at the park.  

We see some children working with new friends when they choose to go to an activity they enjoy, and then they wind up there with someone they have never played with before.  Teachers are inviting different groups of children to work together and that too helps children get to know one another. 

Some children are inviting friends to join them for various activities: "Would you like to work with me at the light table?"  "Would you like to sit here next to me during snack?"  

We are learning that its OK to take time by yourself...

...And good to be with friends!

We are already really hearing and seeing children come together in this community in so many ways!  Children are getting to know one another, developing new relationships, and helping to create our classroom communities.  

It is lovely work indeed!