It is late November. The children have gotten to know each other well. They have played with or worked with everyone in their class. They have begun to know one another as more than people who share a classroom space – they are starting to know one another's likes and dislikes, strengths and challenges, who …
Mauricio Robalino, an artist from Tacoma Washington, drove down to spend Thursday afternoon with us. He will be working with Opal 1 to make a mural for the new Outdoor Adventure exhibit the museum is working on. The students were so excited to meet him and he felt very welcomed by us. We went to …
We have been using the word community as in 'Opal 1 Community' since the first week of school. We, the teachers, have been wondering what, if any, understanding different students have of that word. It is so important for us to create shared understanding around the words we use together and especially the words we …
Especially in their first year at Opal, we carry the intention of introducing children to many different materials. We play, we experiment, we wonder, we share our discoveries. We hope that as the months and years go by that they will know these materials as thinking partners. They will know the affordances of each different …
What a day to remember! Come share our adventure through some photos and our reflections of what we want to remember from our trip to the farmer's market. n S.D. We were playing in the leaves. Throwing leaves. It was kind of interesting. P.W. We got a sample of carrots and some chocolate and we …
It has become a tradition of sorts, that on the first day of school each classroom has a giant sunflower to explore. The sunflower is a thing of amazement – a sensory wonderland – the hugeness of it, the sunflowery smell of summer, the ability to pick out and investigate the seeds, the leaves, and …
We had a great first week in Opal 1. These brave 5 and 6 year olds walked into kindergarten where almost everything was new for most of them: new surroundings, new teacher, new schedule and new classmates. What became clear immediately is exactly what we know about children – they are full: full of joy, …
You might remember that back in September we wrote about sneak peeks. We talked about them as a way to get to know one another, share stories and laugh together. Those pieces are still visible, but it is now April and sneak peeks have changed and grown some – just as we have. Every Monday we still …
One of the enduring understandings we hope for children to grow while at Opal is perspective taking. We hope that children will develop an understanding and curiosity about multiple points of view and that they will value and have empathy for experiences and perspectives different from their own. We work towards these goals every day, …
A few weeks ago, during explore we offered spending time with the baby dragon-unicorn as an option. A group of girls chose this – L.B., V. D.-B., S.M. and J.L.. L.B. was very much in the lead, but they were all sitting around the baby with her holding it. They were feeding it with the …