The Group of Seven

The Group of Seven was comprised of  Canadian landscape artists dating back to the 1920's. They were best known for their abilities to capture the rawness of nature most often associated with Canada.

Pebbles and Bark

This little boy came upon a large grooved rock. Wiggling his fingers into the pores, he pulled out the pebbles that were nestled inside. He looked up at the tree. He stood up, rubbed his hand along the bark and discovered that it too had tiny grooves like the rock. He inserted his fingers into the tiny spaces. An idea formed. He took the tiny pebbles and inserted them into the tree bark. "I put it back!' he declared proudly.

The Garden

The garden is a magical place where children watch tiny seeds give way to plump tasty vegetables and herbs.  There is much to be said about the educational value of keeping a garden in the school playground. Children observe the cycle of growth, learn that sun and water are needed for healthy plants, use math language as they measure and graph, and their taste buds explode with the rich flavours of tomatoes, carrots, celery and much more. The herbs in this picture were ground and used to bake tasty foccaccia bread!

Lauren, Angelo and the Dragon

Meet Thomas DD Dragon

The wonderful world of imagination; the place where dreams come true.

"The theoretician believes in logic and believes that he despises dreams, intuition, and poetry. He does not recognize that these three fairies have only disguised themselves in order to dazzle him.... He does not know that he owes his greatest discoveries to them. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wartime Writings 1939-1944, translated from French by Norah Purcell

Yet the child sees them and has no fear in asking for the impossible. 

"Even in the montains you can find a city!"

On a cold December morning, nestled in the mountains, this city waits for its inhabitants to begin their busy day!

Are there Cities Everywhere?

Many years ago a child's world was limited to school, home and the immediate community. This is no longer the case as many children have become seasoned travellers; they vacation with their families, travel overseas to visit relatives or enjoy homes on different continents.

These little voyagers have an interesting perspective on life andwhen they return to school they are always  full of stories about their many adventures.

During a class project on cities and communities one of the children took a trip to Mexico. Upon her return to school she  made an interesting contribution to the project by supplying her classmates with photographs of the city she explored on her trip.

"Don't you know, " she said with exasperation, "there are cities everywhere but they are different than our city. In some cities there are apartments and in some cities there are houses with flags!"

The Magic Of Christmas

The Polar Express

Needless to say this time of year is one of the best times to focus on stories. Not only reading them to the children but listening to the children tell their own as they become captivated by the festivities of the Holiday season.

In the Polar Express a young boy dares to believe in the magic of Christmas and so he climbs aboard an enchanted train that takes him to the North Pole where he receives the first gift of Christmas.

This group of SK children is busy at work making the backdrop for the class production of the Polar Express.

Can Toddlers Work with Symbol Systems?

Aidan clearly demonstrates that even children as young as two can work with loose materials to represent their thinking. After looking out the classroom window on a snowy day Aidan sits down to make this beautiful tree.

" A tree with snow, " he says with satisfaction as he gazes at his work.

From Brushstrokes to Winter Tree

With a paint brush in hand and a simple brush stroke technique this young girl transforms a blank canvas into a beautiful "Winter Tree."

The Fountain

A trip to Casa Loma sparked the Fountain Project.

The children were intrigued by the fountain in the Conservatory.
How did it work. Where did the water come from?
They had a few their theories of their own.

"The water comes from under the floor and gets pushed up."

"It comes from a pipe in the ground and then gets pushed through the spout."

"It comes from a hose."

A fountain was made using a variety of materials that the children selected. In this particular picture the children tested the hose theory. Naturally they enjoyed watching the water pour around the fountain. But what happened after the water was shut down puzzled them.

Why didn't the water recycle?

What was the missing element?

They decided to dismantle a real fountain to find out why.

Wiley Wire

Working with wire can be quite challenging as it tends to have a mind of its own. Now try asking a young child to make a wire figurine of her body in motion!

Literacy

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Literacy is more than the ability to read and write. It is the ability to attend to a story, to follow the elements of the story line; beginning, middle and end; to identify the characters; the setting, the morals of the story and to connect the story to real life experiences.
Our teachers strive to find innovative ways for their students to engage in the world of literary development.

These masks were made as part of the props for a production of The Three Billy Goat Gruff.