Our first three weeks were full of excitement and adventure, and week four was no exception! We began our week by reading West Coast Wild, a Natural Alphabet. This gorgeously illustrated book celebrates the flora and fauna of the Pacific west coast and was the perfect segue into our first studio scavenger hunt, this one revolving around the letters of the alphabet! Armed with clipboards and pencils, the heroes set off to discover hidden cards around the studio. Our youngest learners were challenged to find and circle the matching letter (in a different font) on their sheet, while older learners were challenged to spell out the illustration shown on the card. It was a big hit and we'll definitely be doing more of these!
At Acton Academy we utilize many tools for learning, in conjunction with our e-learning programs. We set aside time each morning for off-screen "Flow Zone" work; meaningful and challenging work to help us on our reading, writing, and math journey. Children choose from various options, such as their Handwriting Without Tears books, Mammoth Math workbooks, geometry challenges, and logic puzzles to name a few. This week we were excited to introduce some early literacy and numeracy Montessori materials. The learners eagerly sat through demonstrations and then set off to work with the material of their choosing.
Each day after Flow Zone and Core Skills we put on our shoes and head outside for some fresh air and time in nature. On Tuesday we were surprised to see our turtle friend had crawled far onto the lawn, away from the river. We were all excited to get such a close look at the turtle, but quickly realized its shell was badly cracked. The children suggested we call a local animal rescue. After trying various entities, we were connected with Lorinne from Wild A.I.D. . She asked that we try to contain the turtle as it would definitely require medical attention. The children sprang to action, finding a milk crate from their Anji area and putting it over the turtle, then rushing to gather leaves to cover it and make it more comfortable. While we eagerly waited to hear back from Lorinne, the children sat and observed the turtle while colouring and discussing whether the turtle was trying to tell us something by coming so far onto the grass. Soon thereafter we heard from Lorinne. Mahalo Vet Clinic agreed to treat the turtle, free of charge. Because this species of turtle, the Red-eared Slider, is not native to the area, it wouldn't be possible to release back to the wild. Thankfully Lorinne has a friend with a 40 acre farm and 2 acre pond and the turtle could be re-homed to that location.
After school we brought the turtle and notes from the children to the vet. We received updates through the night and learned they'd be able to wire the turtle shell back together, and after a few months of antibiotics it should be just fine! A wonderful end to this story, although we will miss seeing it around the river.
On Wednesday as part of our art workshop we learned about the famous painter, Vincent Van Gogh. We watched this short introduction to his work and then set off to do our own self-portraits. These will form part of our Identity Books which we'll showcase in our first exhibition.
We're a young tribe and as such, are still solidifying our routines, promises, and studio covenant. On Thursday morning we read the story, The School With No Rules by Dr. Poppy Moon and launched into a discussion and review of our Studio Guardrails: (1) Respect Yourself (2) Respect Others and (3) Respect the Studio. We discussed personal physical boundaries and how we can clearly communicate with one another, and then solidified this lesson through role playing. It was wonderful to see this playing out in real time through the rest of the week as children asked permission before hugging/touching and voiced their desire for space when needed.
On Friday we had our weekly Town Hall meeting, where learners bring forward issues that have arisen in the studio over the course of the week and offer solutions for how to solve them. One such solution that has been proposed and incorporated into the Studio Contract is that of sharing and exclusion. The learners agreed that one could choose to play independently or with others, but if they choose to play with others they must allow anyone else to join their game. They cannot exclude certain people. They unanimously agreed and this has been implemented in the studio since then. The fact that they come up with these rules independently is truly empowering, as evidenced by the reminders I saw them give each other if one didn't adhere to this rule.
We've been receiving updates from the vet and learned the turtle is doing well and is expected to fully recover! For our Writer's Workshop we decided to create Thank You cards to send to the vet's office. Everyone jumped at the chance to make their own creations and show thanks in their unique ways. There were puppets made, pop-up cards created, and heart-felt thanks expressed.
To end our week, and in honour of Truth and Reconciliation Day, we read the book Every Child Matters, the true story of residential schools and the origin of the Orange Shirt movement. We discussed what these families went through, the long-term impacts of these actions on Indigenous people, and the duty to stand up for what's right, especially if in a position to do so. With that, we had a moment of silence to think of these children and families, and then set off into our long weekends with thanks and gratitude in our hearts for our safe, loving homes.
I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend, and in the words of Neal Maxwell, "We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count."
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