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Summer Wish for my Emily Stowe Family

Jun23

family_summer_holidaysEarlier this year I shared with you the three expectations that students at Emily Stowe Public School are expected to follow throughout the year:

  • Be safe
  • Demonstrate respect (and all positive character traits)
  • We are here to learn.

My hopes for all of you and your families over the summer holidays, do not stray far from our school expectations:

  • I hope you and your family keep safe whether you are travelling or staying close to home.
  • May respect befall you; in the way you are treated and the way you treat others.  Whether you are trying exercise patience navigating busy summer destinations, finding innovative ways to beat mosquitos,  the summer heat or encouraging cooperation amongst siblings and finding humor when things don’t go as planned.
  • Finally I wish that learning finds you no matter where you go or whatever you do.  Summer learning can be some of the most exciting learning of all.  It might be exploring a new destination, revisiting a local favourite destination, learning a new campfire song, inventing a new summer recipe, or reading some literary treasures.

I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you on September 2, 2014 for another exciting year together. And if you have the time and the inclination, come back here to my blog and tell me about some of your summer adventures. I’d love to hear about them.

Have a fun fill, safe and happy summer!

Here are some fun links you might enjoy looking at:

1. Trails in Southwestern Ontario for hiking, walking and exploring.
2. Galleries and Museums in Ontario
3. Ontario’s Waterways – click on the map of Ontario and explore
4. Norwich Public Library – list of summer activities on their front page
5. Summer Skating Schedule
6. YMCA Summer Schedule – Woodstock
7. And no summer is complete without a trip or two to Ritchies Ice Cream

 

 

 

More Than Just a Field Trip!

Jun9

There are many field trips planned during the month of June, a tradition I recall from my past days as a student in elementary school.  These excursions, whether they are as close as a Harold Bishop Park or as far away as Quebec City, have the potential for providing lifelong memories and valuable learning opportunities that can be enriched both at school and at home.

field_trip copyAt school, well thought out year-end field trips (or any field trips throughout the year) can provide rich applications to the Ontario curriculum.  They can be opportunities to ignite curiosity, build connections to current learning or reinforce past learning in the classroom.  Beyond the academic component, field trips may also provide a chance for team building and provide a final farewell celebration with a ‘classroom family’ that has emerged over the last 10 months.

At home, field trips present a perfect forum for parental engagement in school life. They provide a wealth of conversational ideas to enhance oral language skills in both listening and speaking.  Conversations that involve making predictions about what the trip will be like, asking questions, recalling the events of the day and making connections between the field trip experiences and other parts of life are exceptional ways to enhance comprehension skills, while deepening the connections between school and home.

This week my youngest son is heading off on an overnight trip.  For the past week we have been planning together, making lists of necessary items, talking about what to expect while he is away; what he is most excited about (kayaking) and least excited about (bugs). When he returns, I am already excited to share in his adventures.  To me there is no doubt that a learning task embedded in a real world application is one of the most engaging learning experiences a student can have! What learning adventures have you and your family had? Would love to hear about them!

If you are looking for some ideas for good family field trips, Attractions Ontario has a very useful Ontario’s Field Trip Planner for Educators 2013/2014 On page 8 of this document you’ll find the Attraction Index where the attractions are all listed with related subject and grade level suggestions!  A very useful and practical guide.

Outdoors – Another Teacher in Our Students’ Lives

Apr10

outdoorEdThis week I was thinking about some of my favourite outdoor memories as a child.  Two of my most lasting memories are of collecting clay at the beach to make sculptures and meeting at the neighbourhood “hide and seek” tree for endless hours of play until my parents called me and my sister inside for supper.  Both of these memories involved interacting with the nature.  I suspect many of your memories also involve natural elements such as trees, sand, mud, or water.

This week our Full Day Kindergarten teaching team has been investigating the best ways to structure the outdoor environment to maximize learning. The outdoors is an ideal place for children to be themselves.  It provides a natural world for exploration and experimentation.  Wonderings blossom as inspiration and creativity are cultivated. Counting seeds and writing about the animal tracks observed in the snow help literacy and numeracy take on authentic meaning. Building a mud pie can involve designing, experimenting, creating, comparing and measuring.  Last week I tweeted out a picture of several students hovering over a toy frozen into the mud.  You literally could see the problem solving in action. These are higher order thinking skills that we strive for students to attain.

              Then there is the social value of outdoor play: games created by students-both older and younger-on the school yard often require skills in teamwork, leadership, negotiation, cooperation and persuasion.

            Although what we learn in the classroom environment is very important, let’s also remember the value of the outdoors as a teacher of children.  With the recent change in weather I am inspired to put on my hiking shoes and go for a long walk with my children in the hopes of learning something that cannot be found on the screen of a computer. 

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outdoor_educationTRee

Model comes from Dr. Simon Priest’s article “Redefining Outdoor Education: A Matter or Many Relationships”

Models of Outdoor Education – a blog recapping some research on this topic. A bit academic but still has some good points!