Week One: 8/25-8/27

Tuesday morning I watched 27 quiet and brave young heroes walk through the studio doors; individuals full of hope, anticipation, fear, nerves, and more than a little anxiety. Thursday afternoon I watched 27 loud and brave young heroes leave the school; a tribe of friends laughing, joking, working hard, helping each other, and eager to return. It’s hard to believe it was only one week…

In the elementary studio, the first activity the learners did as a squad, was complete a scavenger hunt with challenges around the block. We witnessed these determined heroes see difficult tasks through to the end, even when the glory of winning was no longer a possibility!

Heroes began this session’s quest (the Game Quest) playing strategic, logic, social and physical games. Each hero had their favorite game, but perhaps none of them bonded the tribe so well as the heroes’ self-created lunch time dodge ball matches!

Several times each day, we gather for Socratic discussions. Abraham Lincoln even joined us to talk about one of his heroes!

The highlight of my week was Thursday morning. I observed 16 young people ages 7-12 take ownership of their studio. They brought up a concern, proposed a solution, discussed the pros and cons, respectfully disagreed with one another, altered the proposal and voted on a solution – all without any adult interference. I had hoped to experience this in 3 months, and they did it in 3 days. Truly, they are remarkable!

In the Spark studio, our heroes quickly tackled their first challenge of learning the work cycle. In order to have the freedom to choose any material they would like to work with, they needed to select a workspace (a rug or a table), select a work (they learned to ask for presentations of materials they had not used before) and return it back to its spot on the shelves before moving on to the next activity. They started this week with all the Montessori shelves covered, and were able to uncover the Practical Life and Sensorial shelves – showing they were ready to engage with our beautiful materials.

Our young heroes also worked together to create our Studio Maintenance system, which all the learners participated in with gusto! Our studio is looking pretty spotless – a huge feat for the first week! 

Finally, I have been in awe as I’ve observed our heroes engage with our Anji Play-inspired outdoor space. They were inventive and cooperative with our large, loose parts materials (tires, planks, stumps, etc). They built obstacle courses, balance beams and learned how to tow multiple tires at once by threading them onto a long pipe. I can’t wait to see their play deepen as we continue to add more phases and parts to this important area of learning!

We can’t wait to see what next week will bring!