There was once a time at the lower school when the teachers would decide the theme children would learn about, most often based on the time of year. The lessons were created around this theme and at the month's end it would be over. A new study area would begin the following month. With the older preschoolers we used what is called emergent curriculum. Where teachers are pulling out pieces of information from listening and watching their play to determine the study area. After discussions about why we didn't do this with the infants and young toddlers and how could we do it successfully, we decided it would be the most honorable act towards these children to foster their learning and growing through applying this emergent philosophy. 
    Now, at the lower school each classroom no matter what the age is submerged into their area of study for a month or more at a time. Teachers are reflecting on the work they see and hear to explore deeper with their children. Being able to learn with one another as well as from one another is a powerful experience. No matter what the age of the child, there is always something one can learn. Often when a teacher sets an invitation out for children, they are surprised at the new ways the kids discover to use the materials or the direction the investigation takes. These are the moments that need to be supported and allowed to grow. It is during this play they are learning skills that will strengthen who they are and what they believe they are capable of in the world. 


"What children learn does not follow as an automatic result from what is taught, rather, it is in large part due to the children’s own doing, as a consequence of their activities and our resources. Creativity seems to emerge from multiple experiences, coupled with a well-supported development of personal resources, including a sense of freedom to venture beyond the known." 
—Loris Malaguzzi, The Hundred Languages of Children

The transformation of a new year can bring new hope, inspiration, and excitement for the unknown, the possibilities, and the potential of what is to come. We start the year exploring light and shadows. We celebrate the light with a festival. It is a symbol for the positive nature the warmth of brightness shines onto all things. Children create lanterns to hold their light as they walk snow covered pathways. We sing songs together to strengthen our bond as a community. Indoors the children explore a rope light and place different objects on a light table to observe how the light shines through. 
   Discovering the layers of friendship, the Sprouts are encouraged to dig deeper what is means to be a friend, who is a friend, and what a friend does. We take turns creating together, playing games, and nourishing our environment. We sewed a quilt together, each friend designing a square to contribute to the warmth the quilt would create around a friend’s shoulders or lap. Everyone enjoys reading through our book of friends and naming each person in the class as the pages are turned. 
   With a new year brings new growth for the body, mind, and our garden! The Sprouts dug their hands into the soil to help start our seeds. The food we grow will help nourish us in our work and play. Together we water our seedlings with spray bottles and practice our fine motor strength. We are looking forward to the journey of caring for and watching our plants grow through the coming season. 

​In many ways, homesteading as an act represents a "radically peaceful" form of protest, sending the message that life does not have to be dictated by a consumerist culture, one in which personal gain and profit are considered more important than quality and global citizenship.  To homestead is to say, "NO.  I choose not to be dependent on market manipulation.  I choose to care about collaborating with those in my community, and stand together with fellow farmers, gardeners, textile artists, soap-makers, etc.  I choose to care about the global community, and take steps to reduce overconsumption and restore balance, particularly in areas where the desperation of people's situations is capitalized upon.  I choose to be AWAKE."

​All of which gets at the greater core of why we at Green Apple choose to homestead with the children in our care.  It is not just to pass the time by on a wintry day when we're stuck inside.  It is not just because homesteading projects indeed touch upon so many academic learning areas, such as fine motor skills, concepts of measurement, scientific inquiry, the list goes on!  It is because homesteading is a way for us to engage very young children in being part of a much needed change.  We seek to sensitize this future generation to the world around them, a world that is very much going to require the kind of ingenuity and resiliency that homesteading supports, and fearless condemnation of actions that directly oppose peace.

Please take a moment to read over the following articles on the importance of self-sufficiency and steps to take to become more self-sufficient here and here.  

Then, check out one of our favorite baking recipes for tortillas below.  The recipe easily doubles or triples to yield enough for a large crew.  In the winter, we like to eat these tortillas with roasted fruit and a little bit of cinnamon mixed in the dough.  In the summer, they taste wonderful with harvested herbs and tomatoes from our own school gardens!

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​With that being said, it can be alarming and frustrating to see these sorts of actions increase in your child, and sometimes it's hard knowing what to do.  At Green Apple, we look at the actions with a question in mind: "What is the message this child is trying to send me?"  Sometimes, the message is that "I'm hungry" or "I'm tired."  Other times, the message is "I'm exploring my physical strength, and I need you to give me a safer way of doing so."  For example, if a friend is pushing other friends down, we might give them a wagon full of heavy rocks or logs to push.  Perhaps the most frustrating message from an adult perspective is when a friend is telling us, "I am exploring where the boundaries are, and I need you to keep showing them to me."  We see this when a child continues to make an unsafe choice, and it's helpful to think at it from a standpoint of "This child needs me to keep the boundary for them so he knows that the same expectation holds true in this space each time, and he can feel safe and secure."   

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​In these situations, we always comfort and soothe a child who may have been hurt, and involve the friend who was physical in that process, such as coming with us to the kitchen to get an icepack, and having them nearby as we check on the hurt friend so they can see the empathy we are modeling.  In other situations, we may let two friends explore being physical with one another if they are not hurting each other, and stay nearby to step in with gentle guidance if it is needed.  We hesitate to intervene too early on, because so often these young friends surprise us with their own conflict resolution skills.

We encourage you to support your toddlers during these hard times, with the understanding that this is normal, and that it's healthier to think more along the lines of "How can I help my child process these physical feelings?" instead of "I NEED to get them to stop hitting/etc.!"  I'll end this message with a couple of great resources from Hand in Hand parenting, a website chock full of tools related to peaceful parenting and nonviolent communication.  

http://www.handinhandparenting.org/article/what-to-do-when-toddlers-bite/
http://www.handinhandparenting.org/article/when-your-toddler-hits-you/

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 As we observed our Sapling friends playing and exploring their surroundings, we continued to see and hear themes surrounding "gems" appear. We saw friends playing with them in the fairy garden. We watched on as friends made mosaics and patterns out of gems. We noticed friends unpacking heavy themes, such as, who can play with gems; boys or girls or both? We observed friends talking about them in regards to power and beauty in dramatic play.

With all that talk about gems, we decided to start a month-long adventure with gems. Here are some of the places this adventure took us...

Pictured below, are friends exploring gems through patterns, reflections, light refraction, reading, making gem slime, read-alouds, making crystals, exploring gem-like paints in water, and visiting the rock and mineral exhibit at a museum!

Please enjoy a poem written by one of our staff members, celebrating the sort of inclusive environment we hope to cultivate at Green Apple.
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"There is Room for You" -loosely inspired by the Tagore poem of the same title

There is room for you here.

There is room
for the way you dress and
the way you move 
and the way you talk with your voice
and eyes
and hands.
There is room for who you are
and who you want to be.

There is room for the way you smile
and the way you laugh,
and there is room for your sadness too.
There is room for you to say that it is not okay
and that you need help.

There is room for you here.

There is room for the ones who love you,
room for the stories and hurts,
and room for healing.
There is room for the way you whisper
and the way you yell
and the way you say 
you need more room,
and there is room for you to get it.

There is room for you here.
This space is not too small.
The world is not too small.
There is room for you here.

There is room for you.

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