Shouts ring out on the playground as friends old and new arrive. There’s still smoke in the air from the wildfire, and the misty drizzle smells like campfire, but everyone is thrilled to be in our space again.
First a welcome circle, then off on an adventure through the woods to find stations, each with an activity and a stamp. Returning students lead the charge, pulling along the new families, off to see if their familiar places have changed or stayed the same.
It’s interesting to watch how the spaces invite certain kinds of activities.
On the bridges, we observe the water below, watching for the first salmon returning, noticing how low the water is as we wait for our first real rain of the season. The Forest Classroom has room for running games, a log for balancing and another for bouncing, and some open space for investigating. A fort is the perfect refuge for pretend play too.
(This is a spring fort picture - notice the buds on the trees! I didn't get one of the fort in the late summer, though it looks pretty similar.)
Coyote Peninsula is a special place visited by the older students. Since it’s near the water (surrounded on three sides, in fact), everyone has to be a little more cautious and aware in order to stay safe. The older kids use quadrants to define a space to observe, but they don’t get too much time to dive into this investigation since the spotting of salmon is an opportunity that’s not to be missed!
The students notice how the river flows in different ways depending on the depth of the water, and where the salmon swim. They watch the ripples in the riffles, and the currents around the Big Rock.
They also start their study of macroinvertebrates, water critters that are big enough to see without a microscope. It's a race, because once the salmon come to spawn, we have to stay out of the water!
Back in the Forest Classroom, the Raccoons begin their own watershed study by reading THE THREE BEARS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
They notice that the bears follow the river down to the estuary, across the sound, and over to the Olympic Peninsula. “Just wait a second…” a second grader is incredulous at the distance traveled - all the way from Mt. Rainier National Park to Olympic National Park before night time. Some geography questions are spawned.
The day zips by, a whirlwind of learning through play. A day of letting go of adult expectations, ideas, and lessons. Instead it becomes a day where children learn and wonder, ask questions and build knowledge in their own wonderful ways. The extra stories and activities in my backpack will wait for another day, or might never get used at all. And that’s just as it should be.
I wonder what next week will bring? I can’t wait to find out.
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