I love the video below because it is truly an authentic moment in our new TK class.  Mrs. Hunter had the students working on a joint project that she had set up on the floor.

Listen carefully to their dialogue and you will hear what I heard, students engaged in their own learning, discovering and thinking while working very collaboratively with their peers.

Even though this is quite simple, it is one of my favorite videos to date.  I’d love to know your thoughts as well.

Josh Knowland, a parent at the school, poses with the picnic table he made for the staff.

As you know, our school has a wonderful Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). One of the missions of the PAC is to support the wonderful teachers at our school. Well, they did that and then some!

The PAC collected funds and asked one of our parents, Josh Knowland, to buy the materials with the funds they raised and build the table.

As part of our July 1st family event celebrating the completion of the first month of our summer EcoAdventures program, the PAC dedicated the table in front of the entire student body, staff and parents.

The PAC expressed its appreciation for all the hard work our teachers do to make our school such a special place for their children.  The teachers were touched by the PAC’s appreciation and greatly anticipate using the table.

Students carefully pick the green beans.

As you know, we have a wonderful organic garden that our students have grown.  All the fruits and veggies are progressing nicely.  Today, Mrs. Stephanie took the PK students outside to harvest some green beans.

Each of the students used their scissors to cut the beans from the plant.  They were thrilled to see how many beans they had and how big they grew.

There will be more beans harvested in the coming days.  The students also noticed that there were almost 100 tomatoes growing on the vines.

Enjoy the photos below (click on them to enlarge) of their class green bean harvest.  The video below shows the students enjoying their cooked veggies during lunch. There are also new photos below. I was proud of how many of the students tried them at lunch time.

The video shows what a 60 second snapshot looked like today in their class.  I can tell you, what I captured today on video is what typically takes place in their class every day.  Notice how students are engaged in their centers while the teachers are assisting and facilitating, but not directing.

Students were working in the block center, math center, writing center,  and at the computer center.

I thought you might like to see what it looks like.

An AFTER picture - a student tends to the canteloupe and tomatoes.

Wow!  What a difference a few days make.  Upon return from our long weekend, our organic garden has grown by leaps and bounds.  I took a group of students outside today to help stake up the tomatoes.  I thought I would share a few before and after photos to highlight the growth.

The students were excited to see silk on the corn, flowers on the tomatoes, and our first yellow squash growing.  More importantly, they expressed anticipation of actually eating all of it.

Click to go to our EARLIER POSTS from the garden and see more photos.

A student finds the difference in the weight of food in the store.

One of our teachers recently added a housekeeping area called “The Good Food Market” in our morning enrichment classroom.  It’s a fun area of the classroom where our students get to role play as if they are shopping, cooking or running a store.

The market is now open for “business!”

One of the things that I like best about this new area is the fact that the market is a collaborative effort of both the teacher and the students.  The teacher began setting up the area over a period of days.  As she was so doing, the students gave her ideas on how to set it up.  Instead of just doing it all herself, the teacher used the time she had with them during the morning enrichment program to enlist them in the work.

The students helped cut out and paint the letters that go over the market. They also helped make the fruits and veggies that are being used as manipulatives in the market.

Students play in the market they helped create.

Once they made the produce from air dry clay and painted it, the teacher then placed the homemade produce in a “basket” and asked the students to paint still life renderings.  And they did a terrific job with them!

I know I prefer to work in an environment where I can influence my surroundings.  I can tell you that our students have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of creating their morning classroom environment.  They have a strong sense of ownership in their own work and they continue to learn that they can influence their surroundings in positive ways.

Take a look at all the photos below showing the students working on and playing in their new market.

A student carefully attaches the propeller to her plane.

If you walk around our school on any given day and look into the classrooms and in our kitchen area, you will almost always find a stash of a variety of recycled materials. Whether it is content left over from our own uses or it is recycled stuff brought in by our families, we always seem to have a treasury of recycled material.

Ms. Tanya and her students put some of that material to good use by constructing airplanes using only those recycled products.

A Pre-K student holds up his original recycled airplane creation.

We love to provide opportunities for students to exercise their creativity and imagination. This fun project was another way to do just that.  There was no formula or template for students to follow.  They simply used the materials that were available to them and created recycled airplane masterpieces.

A local retailer, Trader Joes, coincidentally was hosting a competition for children to build the airplanes and some of our students entered their contest.  We have not yet heard the results.  We will be sure to share any good news about the contest here on our blog.

I hope you enjoy the photos below showing the students making their planes.

For those that don’t know, our families have a choice of sending a nutritious lunch from home or purchasing one from Jason’s Deli here in Cary.  Whether it is from home or from Jason’s, the food always looks so good!  Our children eat fresh fruits, vegetables, home-made salads and other delicious treats!  Since we have such a diverse representation from around the world, we have some really amazing food.  I have been tempted to ask some of the families for their recipes!

Lunch time is one of my favorite times.  It has been for as long as I can remember.  I loved eating lunch at school.  I also loved eating what my friends didn’t want to eat!

It is one of my favorite times at The Grove School because it is wonderful to see the children engaging with each other and their teachers in this relaxed way.  They engage in conversation with one another while they talk about their food, their families, their teacher, and a million other things.  Even though it can be quite messy at times, it is an absolute joy to be a part of it.

Enjoy the photos!

Mommy and Me! is a 90-minute long program concentrating on the development of social skills through Music, Language, Physical Education and Art. The program provides interactive and imaginative experiences to enhance development for your child.  Each class will form its own chemistry as the parent and the child share a sense of togetherness with other parents and children.

This class will be for mom’s and their children ages 12-24 months.  The class is led by one of our Grove School teachers.

The classes will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30 – 10:45.

** UPDATE April 2011 – A new session starts Monday, June 6.  A session is currently underway and ends May 28.  If you have interest in attending that last 6 or so weeks of that session, let us know.

Please give me a call at 467-6494 if you would like to enroll or  if you have any questions or comments.

A class of PK students prepare the planter box for our spring plantings.

Now that the spring weather is settling in, I am reminded, and still amazed, at how much our students love to work (and play) in our outdoor grove.

We have a lot of activity going on in our grove.  We are in the process of installing a sensory path and an edible garden and we also have many new plantings all around.  One of our classes is monitoring rain fail, another is doing planting experiments with root plants, herbs and vegetables, and others are testing flowers.

The soaking beans begin to sprout.

Our greenhouse is full of sprouting flowers and veggies, our planter boxes have young plants in them, and our outdoor grove is undergoing a transformation into a sensory trail and an edible garden.  It is wonderful to watch.

But what is more amazing is how our students are so engaged with all of it.  They enjoy watching the progress of their plantings from seeds, to sprouts, to full-size plants.

Two-year old students put in the plants for one of the sensory garden elements in our outdoor grove.

Naturally, as shown in the first photo (above), the students love digging in the dirt.  They also equally love learning about the life cycle of plants, what conditions makes them grow, or not, and how they can create the best conditions for growth.

Students work on turning over the compost in our bin.

The teachers then use the planting of the flowers and vegetables as a lesson to how we can take care of ourselves, each other and our surrounding environment.

I look forward to watching the work of our students as their flowers, herbs and vegetables grow and blossom.  Of course, I also hope to eat some of it too!

Enjoy the photos below.