Introduction
Establishing Connections; Creating Transformations
Encounters with Relationships
2020/2021
Establishing Connections; Creating Transformations
“Dare to dream and make dreams come true”
-To Hoai
At the core of the Reggio Emilia philosophy and our own, is the emphasis on building and sustaining relationships. We believe that strong communities are built on relationships. So when we gathered as a teaching team early in the year, it was only right that we had many discussions about what we had been noticing in the classes when observing our children. How were they developing a sense of belonging? What were the signs of a community of learners connecting and how could we strengthen this?
We know that it is through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places and things that children have opportunities to try out their ideas and refine their working theories.
We noticed common threads that resonated throughout the school; attachment and change therefore Establishing Connections; Creating Transformations was born. Empowering children to learn and grow requires teachers to foster children’s agency to create and act on their own ideas. So it was vital that the children were able to discover the connection between themselves and their environment, the connecting links between family and school, the relationships between materials and how all of these could b transformed.
Through the hundred languages we have explored these very broad concepts of connection and transformation in meaningful, age appropriate ways. It has also been a journey of discovering and strengthening the wonderful dispositions of learning we had noticed. The resilience, courage, curiosity, persistence and determination found in our children alongside the kindness and respect they were displaying as they connected and formed relationships.
At the beginning of our project we also met Cricket. We honoured To Hoai,the great Vietnamese writer through his wonderful book written in the 1930’s ‘The Adventures of Cricket’. Connection and transformation were two very strong themes that ran throughout the story. Connection being the joining together in harmony that cricket discovered through the relationships he made and the transformation cricket undertakes throughout his journey, of his character, his beliefs, his attitudes and his way of life.We all felt cricket’s journey became our own.
Introduction
Artwork by Sua
Prep children are innately curious. From the start of our journey to the year’s end they have been examining the world around them. The children have surprised and inspired us by the way they look outwards. They wonder about beauty and about adventure. From camera lenses, furniture, and cling film to pom poms, Lego, and bubble wrap, Prep children are constantly finding new mediums to create and capture their world. The many ways Prep friends’ express their worlds, provokes questions about humanity and challenges what we think we know about our own world.
Through the Looking Glass
At the beginning of the year Prep children were inquiring about the identity of our group. They wanted to know where they came from, how to spell their names, what they looked like to one another. We offered them lenses to peer outward and see…
With transparency sheets they examine each other and with the camera they notice texture and lighting from the world around them.
Alethia begins with two small, black ovals for Liya’s eyes... Elly and Eri are bubbling over, giggling as they take turns holding and drawing in the frame.
Elly and Liya want to draw with Eri on her frame…. Liya erases the mouth.
It is through the other that we develop into ourselves. .
- Lev Vygotsky
Hung Anh picks up his marker with his mouth.. He guides the red marker with his lips...
Dong is in convulsions, laughing...
Sua cautiously approaches...
The whole of Villa 11 hears the enormous fun prep class is having.
Choromatic Conversations
Inquiring about colour
Our interest in exploring ourselves through the lens, led into how we explore ourselves through art..
The children expressed themselves with love hearts and rainbows or blots of dark blue and black. Conversations around the classroom about color and aesthetics arised: lighter colors were considered more beautiful, at least to some, and others preferred contrasting darks. What makes something beautiful? Do we all experience beauty the same? How can art express what we feel? These conversations propelled us into an investigation of color and other artistic elements.
Artwork by Elly
Artwork by Liya
Making Colours
Why do you add white to all the colors? - Ms. Molly
Because it makes it lighter and more beautiful -Alethia
Only girls can have the beautiful color - Elly
Can dark colors be beautiful? - Ms. Molly
They’re [the boys] doing the black but its pretty - Liya
How is it pretty? - Ms. Molly
I don’t know why but it is - Liya
Look..see me ‘white dark’ - Dong
“I want to mix all the BOY colors to make a beautiful color!” - Dong
“It’s like the color on the pumpkin! Remember the chocolate pumpkin?” - Alethia
“I’ll
add more white to make my color more pretty!” - Liya
“I mix pink, purple, red, yellow, and white!” - Sua
Color
is a power which directly influencs the soul
- Wassily Kandinsky
With Ms Charlotte we started to explore the artist Kandinsky. He was famous for using lots of bright colours and abstract shapes. We had the chance to explore colour in a deeper way taking inspiration from our artist Kandinsky.
As part of our Kandinsky exploration we went to the light atelier and watched projections of the artists paintings as animations. In some of the videos we watched you noticed how the shapes appeared to be dancing.
“ I am a big fan of Kandinsky ” - Rollei
Artwork by Liya
by Sua
Artwork
Colour Experiments
Hung Anh - Melting Colours
Tiny Worlds
The children revisit and rework their construction corner with recycled materials. After sorting our remeda in the Prep atelier, the children flocked to our building area. First, a set of binoculars is needed for the boat. In their expedition to space, aluminum foil draped over boxes and was rolled into ‘asteroids’. Cardboard houses are filled with portraits and Lego sheep.
Prep children discovered many ways of combining materials but tape is their preferred method of connection. Blue tape on the ground to signify roadways. Dong and Hung Anh use yellow tape on their wrists in their martial arts inspired role-play. Red tape wrapped and wrapped and wrapped around various tubes. The children put down their creations and pick them up again in a continuous performance. Their work is constantly evolving- it is never fully finished similar to their growth as little humans.
“Small worlds work wonders for children. They provide the same kind of emotional security that islands provide for vacationers. The world is simplified and knowable. They provide cognitive accessibility because all the disparate elements of a place are brought together into one view”
- David Sobel, Create a Teaching Garden 2008
So this one will be our boat - Basile
How many pieces here 1...2..3..4...Amaaya
Amaaya, you push it too fast it's broken all over the wall - Basile
3D Paper World by Amaaya
in the construction room, we invited you to hop aboard a fantastic boat! We offered you fishing traps, a steering wheel for the ship, and even a treasure chest! You were most interested in the fishing traps. Rollei, you, and Basile went to the atelier to collect fishing wire to tie to the trap. You all loved dancing to "The Wellerman" sea shanty tune, pretending you were pirates, and catching big fish!
Lego
Following the interest in building worlds, we offered the children a new material for their construction. When we came back from Christmas Break a special gift was waiting for Prep Children: piles of Lego laid out on beautiful trays. Immediately the builders went to work! The children pay such close attention to detail: a sheep airport, a pizza cutter, tiny Lego swimming pools filled with beans...
You like to have many stories in your houses just as you like to imagine different rooms and people who stay in these rooms. You tell me, “in my family, there are four” (referring to your parents and sister). - Liya
Sheep Village (Formerly known as Australia)
- Prep Collaboration
Recycled Parts
Construction of the tiny worlds also involves all of the recycled part taken from the Prep Remeda in the atelier.
"I want to make a volcano shoe!" - Liya
"Flowers!" - Amaaya
"This is fire!" - Louise (pointed to the red blocks she wanted to put around the volcano)
Conclusion
Prep, it has been so lovely to observe and to learn with you this year. Your curiosity for the world, in a year of dramatic global change, reminds me of how important it is to see beyond ourselves. You each have diverse experiences and backgrounds and yet your ability to find commonalities and build something new is remarkable. The world is vast and unknown but you each strive to know and understand it free of judgement. As you grow, we hope you bring this with you. We hope you continue to stay curious about different cultures and environments. We hope you continue to connect with others as you work together to build better, brighter worlds.
Aerwork by Huong Anh
Artwork by Amaaya
