School Update by Elizabeth

Here is a glimpse of what has been going on in the School…

One morning, a shark tooth arrives which sparks curiosity and wonder about where it came from. This leads to interest about our own teeth. Some days the children excitedly arrive in the morning, telling of a wobbly tooth, which leads to sharing stories of teeth that have fallen out or new, big teeth that grown. They examine each others’ mouths, comparing and contrasting them.

As educators, we hear these questions and comments and reflect on them. What is intriguing for the children? Is it the uses of the teeth? That new teeth come in? That this is a sign of growing up and being bigger? How do we build on their natural curiosity to accompany them to go farther, dig deeper and build on their knowledge?

At the same time of this budding interest, C’s mum, a dentist, proposes to visit our class:

Collectively, we reflect on what we already know about teeth, and what we would like to ask her:

Est-ce que les caries viennent toutes seules ?

Qu’est ce qui est dans la dent ?

A quel âge est-ce que les dents poussent?

A quel âge est-ce que les dents tombent?

Comment faire tomber une dent qui bouge?

Why do I feel my tooth coming out crooked?

Tu as une dent qui bouge?
ça bouge beaucoup?
Un tout petit peu?
Non, c’est (tout petit) comme ça.
Alors c’est vraiment petit.
Moi, c’est comme ça.
C’est vrai, vrai, vrai, vrai!

In the classroom, we set up a dental exploration area, where the children can continue to explore this theme… We practice reading and writing the vocabulary that we use when talking about teeth. We count the number of teeth in our mouth, and identify the different types of teeth we have in our mouths. We set up a self portrait station where they can examine their mouths, and do observational drawings. We compare how much the drawings resemble their mouths. Sometimes, we play a guessing game to figure out whose mouth/teeth we are looking at!

“Cette dent est comme ça (makes rectangular shape), mais cette dent est comme ça (makes more rounded rectangular shape).”

I see a wiggly tooth, teeth that fell out, new teeth, and beautiful hair that has just been cut!

We also keenly observe for other learning moments that are happening. What topics are emerging from the children’s interests, from their ideas and theories?

Je peux bouger le soleil!

L and D use the mirror to make the sun move around the classroom. Other children watch and take mirrors to test this out themselves. Laurence then suggested a light experiment to build on this interest.