Teaching in the Japanese Screen Galleries in 2001

The Freer and Sackler Galleries, one of the jewels of the National Mall, reopened just a few weeks ago and our faculty is grateful to have it back. For those of you who don’t know, the Freer|Sackler is comprised mostly of Asian art with a small collection of 19th century American art.  I love this museum. I worked here at the beginning of my career and it is still one of my favorite museums in which to teach.  When I began working in early education though, I observed that many of my colleagues struggled using this collection with young children. I can see their perspective — many of the concepts and traditions represented throughout the collection can be complex and unfamiliar.

With the reopening, it felt like the perfect time to explore the Freer|Sackler through the lens of early childhood education. At SEEC, we believe that it is imperative to introduce children to cultures and ideas other than their own. We feel that this exposure helps them develop empathy and perspective and moreover, it prepares them to be global citizens. We also feel strongly that all the children in our school should be represented through our lessons. It is vital that children see themselves reflected in their learning environment.

Over the course of our almost 30 years, SEEC has worked hard to define approaches that engage children and help them make meaning of objects that might have little or nothing to do with their daily life. Because we know that small children connect best with what they know and do regularly, I wanted to highlight a few ways to approach this collection. The following list is by no means complete, it is more of a snapshot of the techniques an educator, or even a parent, can use with children.  If you discover something I haven’t, please leave a comment – we are always looking to learn from our educator community.

Storytelling

Scenes from the Life of the Buddha; Pakistan or Afghanistan, Kushan Dynasty (late 2nd – early 3rd century); stone, Purchase, Freer Gallery of Art; F1949.9a-d 

Storytelling is a tool for the young and the old alike, and the Freer|Sackler houses its fair share of good stories. The Museum includes stories of Hindu gods, the life of the Buddha, and Chinese folktales – just to name a few.  With some research and dramatic flair, an educator can bring these stories to life. At SEEC, we often make books for our younger students. This helps us gather information and format it in an accessible way for our students.

Key pieces:

• Shiva Nataraja
• Life of the Buddha
• Monkeys Grasp for the Moon by Xu Bing

Connecting the Familiar with the Unfamiliar

Young children are concrete learners. If you take something with which they are

Explore the sounds a Chinese bell makes.

familiar and put it next to something with which they are not familiar, you make a connection.

Here are some connections:

• Music – Resound: Ancient Bells of China is a great exhibit not just because there are bells, but because there are several hands-on components that allow children to understand sound and to hear the difference between Chinese and western bells. Consider bringing a real bell or shaker on your visit to provide a hands-on experience.
• Animals – There are many examples from which to choose, but of course one of the most prominent work is the Peacock Room by James McNeill Whistler. When visiting the Peacock Room, bring photos of peacocks and/or peacock feathers. Encourage the children to look closely at both the peacock and the room to notice shapes, colors, similarities, and differences.
• Seasons – The American art galleries in the Freer have a great collection of paintings depicting different seasons and weather. There are so many contextual objects that you can use when exploring seasons. Educators might consider bringing seasonal clothing and/or photos, ice packs, or sensory bottles containing seasonal colors or natural elements.
• Writing/Books – In addition to a gallery that explores Buddhist sutras, there are other examples of writing from all across Asia throughout the Museum. Bring examples of your favorite children’s books and/or special books that might be important to you or to one of your student’s families.
  

  Guardian figure; Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333); wood; Purchase, Freer Gallery of Art; F1949.21

• Human Body, Gestures or Movement – There are two galleries devoted to how the human body is depicted on the Indian subcontinent. You can also find other examples, including this Guardian Figure from Japan. Don’t be afraid to encourage children to move their bodies in these spaces. The opportunity to move and explore their own body will enrich the experience and develop their gross motor skills.

Do you ever wonder why babies put things in their mouths? That is how they learn. Young children begin to understand their world by using their five senses (actually there are seven, but that is another blog – vestibular and proprioception). So I was especially excited to see that Freer has a whole room devoted to Islamic art and the senses. Plates, candlesticks, incense burners, and illustrations of music are just a few of the objects you will encounter. While you obviously can’t burn incense or make a meal in the galleries, educators can easily pair these objects with in-classroom activities that might inspire our sense of smell or taste.  It might also be an opportunity to reach out to your classroom families, the objects in these galleries come from a wide geographic area and might help you make some personal connections in your community.

The Sackler  has a Tibetan shrine room that will allow children to be in a space where they will encounter sumptuous images while listening Buddhist chants and watching the flickering of candlelight. The accompanying app, Sacred Spaces, has a lot of information to help inform your visit. If you have the time, you can distill a few key points that can help your students make stronger connections.

Beauty

At SEEC, we believe that young children should be introduced to art, begin to develop a visual vocabulary, and embrace their own creativity. The works throughout the museum, but especially in the American galleries, offer young children the opportunity to explore and notice similarities and differences.

Charles Lang Freer’s taste in collecting art was influenced by the Aesthetic Movement in the late 1800’s, which advocated for “art for art’s sake.”  The artists associated with this movement were more concerned with making art that was an expression of creativity and beauty. I think this quote, taken from the Freer|Sackler website, sums it up well.

.. it was through American art of his own time that Freer developed the habits of quiet contemplation and intelligent comparison that he hoped to share with future generations of museum visitors.

I think Freer would be satisfied to know that SEEC’s students are using his art collection to begin  developing their own aesthetic and appreciation for museums.

We are pleased to have our new Executive Director, Meredith McMahon, authoring, what we hope will be the first of many, Director’s Blogs.

Earlier this year I moved into the role of Executive Director at SEEC, which has been both exciting and daunting at the same time!  While I’ve been at SEEC for more than 13 years, this new position brings new responsibilities that often leave me feeling like there aren’t enough hours to get everything done.  I know I’m not alone in feeling rushed and like I never have enough time, but I’m fortunate that one of the very best parts of my job is being surrounded by children. As I think about how to find balance in my days, I’m reminded that these youngest children are pretty great models – there are great lessons in how young children approach their days that can offer help to those of us who find ourselves constantly on the go or rushing to get to the next thing.

We should all get up and move around!  If you watch a SEEC class engaged in a whole group activity, you’ll likely see children engaged in a book, conversation or discussion of an object, but it’s not a given that they’ll all be sitting. That’s true whether it’s toddlers or kindergartners. We recognize that some children can focus better when they can move around, instead of concentrating on keeping their bodies still.  For me, that’s a reminder that a quick walk (or in my case, a few minutes in a classroom) can clear my head, and it’s time well-spent if it means that I will come back to what I’m doing a little fresher than where I left off.

We should engage our senses! From their earliest moments, children use their senses to build knowledge and a growing understanding of their world. So much is new for them that they utilize their senses to create meaning in new experiences. I love watching the expressions on the faces of our infants when they feel new textures or experiment with sounds. They remind me that I should take a moment to appreciate the smell of fallen leaves and the crunch of the acorns underfoot. I should take note of the warm sun on a cool fall day, and I should tune into the sounds of music and laughter.

We should approach problem solving the way young children do, actively and open-mindedly!  Children have a seemingly never-ending stream of questions, and at SEEC we encourage children to ask these questions. Across our classrooms teachers encourage children to wonder out loud – it’s one of the ways we can figure out what we want or need to know, and it allows us to connect our questions.  At times I find myself stumped by a question or an issue, and wondering out loud with colleagues can get us all thinking creatively. I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by talented people who willingly share great ideas. The children remind me that asking together and thinking out loud can yield solutions, whether we’re big or little.

I could go on and on about ways we can all learn from the youngest around us, but I’ll offer just one last thought on what I can learn from our youngest: what if we all tried to recapture some small sense of wonder?  Young children are fascinated with even the smallest details, and they notice much that we overlook.  They find joy in little, unexpected ways. Imagine if we could match the level of joy a toddler finds in discovering that perfect piece of mulch or a satisfyingly smooth stone.  We can all get easily frustrated by life’s ups and downs, but I find myself trying to keep that joy and wonder in mind in those challenging moments – I just need to find my piece of mulch!

Ask for help when you can’t work it out on your own.

Why

At SEEC, we respect young children and recognize that through care and education we can support their development and foster their love of learning. We take time to reflect on our practice, try new techniques, think about what benefits our students and as a result, our approach to learning subtly changes over time. We embrace a variety of pedagogical approaches and adapt them to our unique museum school hybrid.  But because our model can be hard define in a single catch phrase, our faculty has had to think about the best ways in which to effectively communicate our educational approach, especially to our caregivers. Caregivers are an essential component to all of our programs. They participate in our weekend and part-time programs and while they are not present during our daily school operations, they most certainly connected to the classrooms and also benefit from understanding our work.

It is with these factors in mind, that the team of educators who work with our family programs sat down last year and began to construct a document for caregivers. We hope this provides insight into our methods and an understanding of how deeply committed we are to creating meaningful learning experiences for your child. Educators – we hope you enjoy reading and will share with us some of your own beliefs.

We Believe

• that children are individuals who develop and learn differently. If you let them choose what speaks to them, you will set them up for a lifetime love of learning.
• that caregiving is a hard job and is not to be judged.
• that young children are developing their ability to sit, listen, cooperate, and control their emotions. As adults, is it important to remember that this is hard work and we should try to balance our expectations with a child’s individual progression.
• that our programs are for fun and family.
• that playing is learning.
• in playing with children, being silly, singing, having fun, and getting dirty.
• in asking open-ended questions and wondering out loud, even with infants and toddlers.
• in taking time to stop, look carefully, and describe the objects we encounter in the classroom, community, and in the museums.
• in encouraging children to try new skills and not be afraid to fail.
• in a community of learners. Learning truly begins at birth and should continue into adulthood.
• that having a calm body and adult hand will keep us and the objects we visit safe, but this will not preclude us from looking, talking, singing, and playing during our museum visits.

How We Teach

Not all children will be interested in ALL of our teaching methods so we use a variety of techniques to engage them. Follow your child’s lead and be flexible; there is no one way to learn.

Community
The world is our classroom and we not only use museums, but parks, stores, libraries, and beyond.

Objects
Objects help engage the senses and provide a concrete and memorable learning experience. They are more powerful than words and pictures alone and children are more like to remember and connect with them.

Observations
Observation encourage minds to focus, eyes to look closely, and brains to develop a deeper understanding.  We often start lessons by asking, “What do you see?”

Questions
Questions require children to be active participants in the learning process and because of this, inquiry is more powerful than simply sharing information. We also ask questions as a way to create dialog and cultivate flexible thinking. Thinking out loud helps us see how others are thinking and therefore, expand our own thinking.

Preverbal Learners
Posing questions to children who are preverbal is still important. Look for nonverbal cues such as pointing, looking, and giggling and respond to them.

Experimentation
Experimentation is a process by which children explore a topic. Children experiment as a way of understanding cause and effect relationships or as a way to solve problems. Anything a child does more than once can be considered an experiment. We will ask “What would happen if …” as a way to harness a learner’s natural desire to experiment.

Exploration
Exploration allows children to discover and learn about a topic in a variety of ways.

Math
Math concepts are interwoven into lessons. Examples you might observe are: counting, representing quantities, noticing differences in quantities, observing patterns, and categorizing.

Fine motor
Fine motor activities allow children to use the small muscles in their hands to help them learn how to do things like dress independently, and write.

Movement
Gross motor activities engage a child’s large muscles, for example running, jumping, and climbing. Movement helps children learn what their bodies are capable of, as well as provide necessary and fun outlets for physical movement.

Art
Our art activities focus on the process, rather than the outcome. Participating in process-based art encourages creativity and problem solving and develops fine motor skills.

Sensory
Sensory activities are those that stimulate a child’s senses. Young children have a more meaningful learning experience when their senses are engaged.

Play
Play can be defined in many ways, but typically involves some element of imagination.  Play helps children explore roles, ideas, and situations, and often builds social skills as they navigate play with peers or adults.

Literacy
Research has proven the importance of reading with young children, and that positive experiences with books help create a love of reading.

Singing
Singing is important tool with young children, science has proven that music helps children better remember concepts and vocabulary. It also helps children transition from one activity to another.

Taking a trip to the grocery store? Try these easy activities to convert your trip to the store from a chore to a fun and enriching outing for you and your child!

1. Alphabet Grocery List: While not the most efficient way to plan your visit, sorting your list alphabetically is a great way to work on early literacy skills and make hunting for items a fun game!
2. Scale Showdown: Weighing your fruits and veggies is a great way to work on early math skills. Make it a game by taking turns weighing items and guessing whose item will weigh more!
3. Take a Walk on the Wild Side: Get a little gross motor practice in as you move around the grocery store. Select different animals to imitate and stomp, slither, and hop down the aisles.
4. Play: Where does it come from?: By the time food reaches your child it is often very far removed from its original source. Have your child guess where the item came from. For example, milk comes from cows, blueberries grow on bushes, etc.
5. Warm, Warmer, Warmest: Hunting for items will keep your child engaged in the shopping process and may keep them from breaking down before you reach the end of your list. Pre-spot the item and have your child hunt for them based on saying warm, warmer, warmest.
6. Plan a Recipe Together: Picky eater? Having your child be a part of the process from the very beginning will give them a larger investment in the final product. Who knows, it might even get them to try something new!
7. Texture Talk: There are lots of great textures at the grocery store. Ask your child to help find items based on their texture. 
8. Shape Hunt: Just like texture, there are a number of great shapes at the grocery store. Ask your child to find items based on their shape.
9. Start a Grocery Cart Band: While being conscious of other shoppers, pick a few items from your cart for your child to use as instruments. Items such as coffee cans, boxes, of cereal, and spices make excellent shakers!
10. Pay: Create a smaller group of items that your child is in charge of checking out with (this works especially well at the self-checkout). Allow them to help pay and bag the items. Children love taking on adult tasks and it will give them a sense of responsibility and ownership over those items.

Have other fun grocery store games? Please share! We would to love to hear them.

We are pleased to share a guest blog post by Maureen Leary, Director of Kindergarten and Toddler Programs at the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center. Prior to becoming a Director at SEEC last summer, Maureen spent 16 years as the Kindergarten Spanish teacher, among other roles at SEEC. Maureen is also the parent of three SEEC alumni. 

Technology has immense power to improve our lives and put a world of information at our fingertips. However, for those who work with young children, the relationship with technology may sometimes feel a bit complex. Screens are ever-present and young children are true digital natives, meaning they will never know a world devoid of online tools. So, while it’s important to be mindful of reasonable uses of and limits on screen time, it’s also critical for adults to lead the way in modeling positive online behavior and habits for children. Finding appropriate and interesting tools to achieve is a quest I’m sure many teachers share with me.

What Is Learning Lab?

From the first moment I was introduced to the Smithsonian’s Learning Lab, the platform has been an inspiration to me as an educator. In a nutshell, the Learning Lab is an online database of Smithsonian collection items that also includes lessons and tools created by users. I have found the Learning Lab to be a unique, dynamic resource with the potential to enrich and enhance both museum and classroom learning experiences. In the year since I first explored the Learning Lab, I have created a number of my own collections to both use in the classroom and to share with families. Using collections allows me to have all my digital resources in one place, both readily accessible and easily customizable. I always include information for families about how the individual resources were used in my lesson, and how the lesson was structured overall. My hope is that the shared viewing of these these collections by adults and children will both offer insights into the learning experiences and spark meaningful conversations about them.

Learning Lab In Action

One of my favorite Learning Lab experiences with students was during a Kindergarten lesson on Spanish artist Joan Miró. Before leading my students on a visit to two pieces of art by Miró at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, I created a Learning Lab collection to introduce his life and work to my students. We watched a video of the painter at work and listened to family members talk about his art and how it affected them as viewers. We looked at various images of his work on screen. Finally, we watched an animated version of one of his paintings – the individual components moving playfully across the screen to gradually create a cohesive whole. These technological pieces laid the groundwork for a more hands-on exploration of Miró’s work, both in the classroom and in the museum. To wrap up our classroom time we played a dice game that I found online called “Roll-a-Miró” that encouraged the children to create their own Miró-inspired drawings. Later, while settled in front of “Woman before an Eclipse with her Hair Disheveled by the Wind” at the Hirshhorn, we discussed what we saw in the painting and looked again at prints of the images we had seen on screen earlier. The children were given various loose parts to experiment with (foam pieces, pipe cleaners, etc…) and they worked together to create Miró-inspired pieces of art. Over the course of the day the exploration moved seamlessly from the screen to the classroom to the museum, and demonstrated that hands-on activities and screen time are not mutually exclusive concepts.

For the Miró collection and others I’ve made, I’ve found that the customizable aspect of the Learning Lab is one of its most appealing features. Users can search collections and adapt already existing ones, or create their own from whatever resources they find, both on the Learning Lab and on other platforms. The Learning Lab also has tools embedded to help users customize their resources to suit their needs. I’ve enjoyed making use of “hot spots” to mark places on works of art that I wanted to focus the kids’ attention on, and to feature open-ended questions to spark discussions. Another teacher I work with tried using the hot spots in a more child-led way, by asking the kids choose a spot to mark, and to include their own observations or questions. Her class had a great time making notes on a photo portrait of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, which the teacher then shared with families via email. Not only is this a fantastic way to expand the learning experience to include families, but it could provide inspiration for adults to do a similar exploration on their own with their children, on whatever topics interest them. Similarly, the sorting tool offered by the Learning Lab allows users to create activities that include whatever images are relevant to their particular topic. Searching the Learning Lab for images is a great place to start, but users are not limited to that content.

Learning Lab and Families

In addition to my classroom work, I have also used the Learning Lab in an outreach project with preschool children and their families who live in the Kenilworth neighborhood of Washington, DC. I was very encouraged by the enthusiasm for Learning Lab that I encountered from both kids and adults, and how they connected it to other experiences. In one case the collection was tailored to a museum visit the children had just completed, and they were visibly excited to make the connection between what they saw on the screen and what they had seen in the museum. (“Look, mom, it’s the animals we saw today!”) The adults in the group were reassured by the educational nature of the Learning Lab and and the age-appropriate digital environment it provides. The interactions I observed in this setting reinforced the importance of adults acting as “digital mentors” with children. Technology is everywhere, and children have a natural interest in using it in an active way. It’s up to us to create a positive relationship with it for ourselves and our children and students.

It’s Teacher Feature Thursday!

This week we are featuring Amy Schoolcraft and Connie Giles of the three-year-old Wallaby class. The Wallabies were exploring books, and I joined the class for a lesson on Eric Carle and illustrators’ inspirations at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Below you will find images from the lesson, and a reflection from Amy.

Here are a few images from their lesson on Illustrators:

The class began their morning by heading straight to the museum before it got crowded.  Our students have been enjoying visiting the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, using it to explore a variety of topics including music, sports, theater, and architecture.

The class went into the Visual Art and the American Experience gallery, where they found Transformation “Blue Horse” by local DC artist, BK Adams.  As soon as the group stopped in front of the artwork the children began making observations such as, “It’s three years old because it has a three on it”, and “It has wheels and a bike!”  Amy asked the children if the horse looked like the real horses they had seen when they visited the Park Police Stables.  They used their careful looking skills to examine the artwork further and said that it did not look like the horses they had seen because of the bike, number, lack of eyelashes, golden leg and eyes.

The class sat down and Amy introduced them to the artist of Transformation “Blue Horse”, BK Adams, with photos, some information about his background, and how he became an artist. They agreed that BK Adams must have used his imagination for his artwork since horses do not look exactly like the one he created.

Next, Amy introduced another artist who made a blue horse artwork, Franz Marc.  She showed a print out of his piece Blue Horse 1. Amy explained that an author and illustrator saw Franz Marc’s horse painting, and was very inspired to use his own imagination to draw animals any way he could imagine.  This author and illustrator is Eric Carle, and Amy showed the class a photo of him, and introduced his book, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, which was inspired by Marc’s painting.

They read the book, comparing Carle’s blue horse to BK Adam’s blue horse.  They were happily surprised at all the imaginative animals, often exclaiming something like, “Wait a minute, that fox should be orange!”  It’s safe to say they enjoyed the book because at the end several children said, “Again! Again!”

Amy then asked the class to use the artwork they had seen as inspiration to create their own imaginative animal.  She laid out the Marc print, a photo of Carle, the book and plastic animals to help inspire ideas.  Before drawing their own animal they brainstormed what animals they wanted to draw which included a green tiger, purple and pink bunny, a rainbow lion, and a normal prairie dog.

Then the children set to work drawing their imaginative animals, using the art as inspiration.  As they drew they asked questions about what specific animal body parts looked like, and how to draw them.  Instead of simply providing an answer, Amy and Connie helped the children think about their questions and find answers through observing the art, book illustrations, and plastic animals.

To wrap up the lesson Amy had planned to play a game, but the children requested to stop in the Cultural Expressions gallery to watch the video that surrounds the space, which they had seen on previous visits.  Amy, honoring the interest of the children, said they would decide which activity they would do through a vote.  Each child voted for the game or the video.  With a clear majority for the video, they headed to the space and decided they’d play their game in the afternoon.

That afternoon they continued their exploration of Eric Carle through looking at his books and watching a video about him and his work.

The children also used Carle’s technique of creating an illustration by cutting up paper that they had painted and creating a collage on a piece of contact paper.

Following that, they played their game of “Guess that Animal!” Each child was given a turn to sit in the middle of the circle with a plastic animal on their head.  Their classmates gave them clues to help them guess their animal.  While none of the animals were as imaginatively colored as the ones they observed earlier in the day, there were plenty of features to focus on to give their friends clues, which connected back to their careful observations of animal features that morning.

A reflection from Amy:

Our class loves books and enjoys exploring books any chance they can get. We wanted to use their enthusiasm to help deepen their understanding of books and stories. So, we planned an entire unit dedicated to books. This particular week we were focusing on illustrators, including their style and technique. For this lesson, I chose to learn about Eric Carle, an author and illustrator that the class is familiar with, since we have read several of his books throughout the year. My original objective was to learn about Eric Carle’s illustration technique but while researching, I discovered that his book, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, was inspired by the painting Blue Horse I by Franz Marc. This new information shaped the rest of the lesson and my new objective was to build on their knowledge of Eric Carle by exploring the idea of what inspiration is, how artists and illustrators use inspiration to create their work, and to find our own inspiration to create original illustrations.

We had planned to visit Hahn/Cock by Katharina Fritsch, a giant blue rooster sculpture at the National Gallery of Art. Unfortunately, the weather was not conducive for this outdoor visit. So, we opted for a visit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture to see BK Adams’ sculpture . The kids had been entranced by this sculpture as we passed by it earlier in the year, and it turned out to be a great way to revisit the piece in a meaningful way. Because it was a last-minute change, there was not time to research Adams’ artwork beforehand. Thankfully our museum educator did some quick research and was able to find information on the piece and the artist, which she was able contribute to the lesson.

This lesson turned out better than I had anticipated because the book, painting, and sculpture tied together so nicely. The kids were able to make a connection easily between the inspiration (Marc’s painting) and the result (Carle’s book). Also, having learned about horses earlier in the year, they were able to make comparisons of what they already knew about horses and what they noticed about the Transformation “Blue Horse” by BK Adams. It was clear in their animal illustrations that they were using their animal figures as inspiration and their imaginations to make their artwork unique.

I had hoped to play an animal guessing game in the gallery, and have a follow up activity back in the classroom directly after our museum visit where they would make an Eric Carle style collage.  However, as we were wrapping up the kids said that they wanted to visit one of their favorite parts of the museum: a video montage of important moments in African American culture. So, we postponed the game and artwork for later in the day and spent a little more time in the museum instead. In retrospect, I would not have done the collage at all since we did not focus on Eric Carle’s technique during the lesson, and it felt as though the collage wasn’t as meaningful as it could have been.

If you are considering visiting NMAAHC, my recommendation is to get there early since it gets quite busy and is a little noisy.

Following their lesson on illustrators, the Wallabies explored authors, story structure, and story-telling.  Be sure to check back soon for a Round Up of the Wallabies’ unit on books, and in the meantime, check out our All About Books Pinterest board!

Each August our staff takes a week to reflect, assess, and prepare for the upcoming school year. Staff development week is a long-standing tradition at SEEC — one that we look forward to, to connect with our colleagues and lay the groundwork for the upcoming year. It is an especially important way to bring the entire SEEC team together. Our school is physically divided into three centers so staff development week makes us feel like one family and helps provide continuity across the program.

Team Building

Melody Passemante-Powell, director of infant and toddler programs, kicked off the week with a team building presentation. She got the morning started by sharing inspirational quotes about education. This exercise had a deeper purpose though. It helped us see that while everyone believed that the education of young children is important, not all of us had the same perspective of how to achieve that. She used this as a launching point to think about how important it is for us to consider alternative perspectives and not make assumptions when interacting with staff, children, and families.

Anti-Bias, Objects, and Technology

Our team at the Center for Innovation in Early Learning (CIEL) followed with a presentation on anti-bias education. SEEC has always been thoughtful about creating an inclusive learning environment, but with the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and of course, current events, the issue has grown ever more important. We spent the morning focusing on the anti-bias education framework as outlined by NAEYC and considering it in terms of our unique school model. We concluded our time by asking faculty to begin building a tool that would help us reflect on the anti-bias nature of our classrooms, lessons, and relationships.  

CIEL also led the group in an exercise reiterating the importance of connecting our lessons to the museum objects. SEEC believes strongly in facilitating activities and careful looking strategies that connect our lessons to the museum object, and we had fun demonstrating this with our colleagues. Our final CIEL segment was a collaboration with our administrative team that explored technology and early childhood classrooms. The large part of our presentation was thinking as a group about how we feel about technology and how it fits into our school. We are compiling the feedback in the hopes of continuing the dialogue.

Executive Functioning and Early Intervention

We were also lucky enough to have a few guest speakers. Occupational therapist, Judi Greenberg, from Child Development Consultants  led us in a great discussion about executive functioning skills. Greenberg reminded us of the importance of executive functioning and helped us think of ways we can help develop these skills in our students. She also reviewed signs that a child might be struggling with executive functioning and ways we can help them. We also had an informative session with DCPS’ Early Stages reminding us of their array of services and the benefits of early intervention. It felt great to know all the ways we can support our families.

Next Year

Of course there was a lot of time for our faculty to work on preparing our classrooms and they are looking great! Now that it is all wrapped up, we can’t wait for the children to arrive on Tuesday.

Transitioning back to school can be difficult for children, no matter their age.  Luckily, there are steps you can take to ensure a smooth and exciting transition to the school year.  Try out some of these ideas to ease back into the school year.

1. Create a Morning Routine – Waking up in time for school after a summer break can come as a shock to the whole family!  Try getting into your school year routine gradually the week before the start of school.  Wake up ten to fifteen minutes earlier every morning until you reach the time you’ll need to get up.  Set the alarm together; this will make your child feel included and develop math skills.  After waking up, practice the school morning routine.  If the bus will take the children to school, take a morning walk to the bus stop the week before school to get them acclimated.

2.  Talk about Feelings – The start of school can bring up a lot of emotions.  Some children will be eager, while others will be more hesitant, and of course, there can be a combination.  Talk about how your children are feeling, and validate those feelings.  Share times when you might have felt the same way, i.e., when you met new people, or started a new job.  There are many books that can help get the conversation started.  Check out this list of back to school books from Gift of Curiosity for some ideas.

3. Talk about what to Expect – Just like adults, children feel more in control and less anxious when they know what to expect. Attend any school events prior to the start of the school year and learn a little bit about their future teacher and classroom.  Read their class list together and talk about who you know and who will be new friends.  Have an end of summer play date with future classmates to get the ball rolling.  If your child is still anxious about the first day of school, create a plan for the day, listing your morning routine, their school day, and after school activities.

4. Prepare Together! – Do some things that will engage your child in school and get them excited!  For example, go shopping together for their lunch box or make a list together of healthy lunch options.  Shop for the items on their school supply list together together, encouraging your child to check off each item as they put it in the cart.  Involving your child in the school preparation will make your child feel part of the process and also help them learn about nutrition, literacy, and math.

5. Document the First Day – The first day of school marks the beginning of another chapter in your child’s life.  Make it special by sitting down for breakfast together or including a note in your child’s lunch.  Snapping a photo is another great way to mark the occasion and share the moment with friends and family.  The Idea Room has put together a fantastic list of creative ideas for that first day photo!

Plan on taking photos on every first and last day of school, and all throughout the year! You can create a book of each school year and include your child’s accomplishments from that school year, for example, started soccer, began reading chapter books, started wearing underwear, etc.  At SEEC, documenting each child’s growth is part of our practice, and our children love to look through their books and reflect on their own growth and memories.

It’s important to note, that if your child is feeling anxious and doesn’t want to pose for a photo, you should respect their feelings over snapping an Instagram-worthy shot. If they aren’t feeling it the first day, perhaps later in the week or year they’ll be feeling more comfortable, and you can get a photo then.

Want more ideas?  Visit our Back to School Pinterest board for more books, activities, and resources to make the start of the school year great!

One of our recent posts was a teacher feature from a two-year-old classroom on Alexander Calder. This class did not simply learn about Calder’s life and work and then move on to another topic. Rather, the teachers, Javacia Finney, Stephanie Lopez, and Shawna Williams, came up with lessons to allow their classroom to do an in-depth study on several artists. For each artist, the class looked closely at the work, learned about the artistic techniques used, and then created their own work inspired by the art. Below is a web that gives an overview of the artist lessons and images from the class’ lessons.

To start their artist exploration, the class viewed Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrors and Pumpkin at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The two year olds particularly enjoyed adding polka dot stickers to the Obliteration Room. They had so much fun that the Hirshhorn Museum highlighted them adding dots on this video. Back in the classroom, the class made their own papier-mâché pumpkins and added polka dots to a large piece of white paper that was hung up on a wall.

After learning that Impressionist painter Claude Monet took his painting supplies outside to paint beaches, gardens, and ponds in the actual outdoors the class decided that they would also try to paint en plein air. Javacia, Stephanie, and Shawna loaded up a red wagon and brought watercolors outside to paint in the National Museum of Natural History’s Pollinator Garden so their class could be inspired to paint the light, shadows, and flowers in the garden.

The class went to the National Gallery of Art and looked at many Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings, including Self Portrait (1889), where they talked about self-portraits and noticed Van Gogh’s use of broad strokes and thick paint. Following the museum visit, the class mixed the colors yellow, blue, and white using forks instead of paintbrushes.

Next the class learned about Roy Lichenstein’s Pop art. They viewed his Painting with Statue of Liberty as well as Look Mickey at the National Gallery of Art. To imitate Lichenstein’s dot technique, the two-year-olds painted with q-tips, which made different sized dots when pressed on the paper. The class also looked at Lichenstein’s sculptures, such as Brushstroke at the Hirshhorn Museum. Brushstroke was a class favorite because the class could easily see it while walking along the National Mall. Inspired by the contrasting black and white colors in the sculpture, the two year olds glued stripes of black paper onto white paper.

For their study of Henri Matisse, the class learned about his technique, painting with scissors, when they visited examples at the National Gallery of Art. They worked on their own cutting skills by using scissors to cut lines into paper.

As highlighted in their Teacher Feature, the class also learned about Alexander Calder. After learning about Calder’s mobiles, they began exploring his large sculptures and his playful animal sculptures. The class was given metal wire, a material that Calder himself used, to create their own sculpture or mobile.

To conclude the unit and show off all the artwork, the class held an art exhibition. They carefully displayed all the artwork and made labels. Then they invited their families and friends into their classroom to see their art exhibition.

For more ideas about using art in the classroom, check out SEEC’s Pinterest pages on Teaching with the Arts, Color Mixing, Collage, and Self Portraits.

You may remember a Teacher Feature from the spring that highlighted our kindergarten’s lesson on Luis Soriano and his biblioburro or donkey library.  During the lesson, Maureen Leary, the Kindergarten Spanish teacher, used books, videos, and a trip to a Smithsonian Library to encourage the children to think about the importance of libraries, and to learn more about a very unique library in Colombia – Luis Soriano’s biblioburro.  At the end of the lesson, Maureen wrote down the children’s questions for Mr. Soriano and asked if they wanted to help support his library.  They all agreed that they would like to help in some way, and they were busy with these efforts until the end of the school year.

Photo used with permission from Luis Soriano.

To help, the class decided to create a book of their own that could be a contribution to the library.  They had just finished a unit learning about the ocean, so creating a bilingual alphabet book about ocean creatures seemed to be a logical fit.  Each child took a few letters of the alphabet and thought of an ocean creature that started with those letters in Spanish.

The class took photos in the National Museum of Natural History’s Sant Ocean Hall with their favorite ocean creatures.  With the guidance of SEEC’s Art teacher, they also created artwork for each creature, which was incorporated into the book. They worked individually with Maureen to look up information about their animals and chose one or two interesting facts to include in the book. All the text was done in both English and Spanish.

The class used Shutterfly to compile the artwork and photos, and to produce their book.  They each got a copy to keep for themselves, and they sent a book to Mr. Soriano so that he could have a copy in his biblioburro.

Maureen communicated with Luis Soriano throughout the project and was able to share their conversations with the children. The students had a lot of questions for Mr. Soriano, which he was happy to answer. Some of the things they learned about him and his work were that his grandmother taught him to read and instilled in him a love of books; he delivers books on Wednesdays and Saturdays; the kids in the villages can borrow five books at a time for up to one month; and he uses a small portable computer to keep track of all his books.

After learning so much about Mr. Soriano and his work, the children were eager to raise funds for his library renovation so they held a bake sale.  The day of the bake sale was filled with excitement! The students all brought in baked goods and took turns running the bake sale in our conference room.  The children were proud to share their treats with parents, teachers, and museum staff, while taking donations to send to the biblioburro.  They enjoyed counting the money, and sending it off to Mr. Soriano. Every last treat was sold and the class raised almost $500 to support Mr. Soriano’s library!

Through this extension of the original biblioburro lesson, the kindergartners worked hard in the service of someone else and gained a sense of accomplishment when they finished the projects.  They gained a new appreciation for community service and helping others.  Their world view expanded as they explored something familiar (libraries) with the unfamiliar (donkey libraries).  Important skills were also built upon; for example, their Spanish vocabulary grew as they researched the names of their favorite ocean creatures; their math skills were expanded through counting the donations from their bake sale; their fine motor skills and creativity were developed through their artwork for the book. It was truly an interdisciplinary project that all of the students felt ownership in and one that allowed them to make a positive difference in other children’s lives.