The Power of Play

 

Perhaps play would be more respected if we called it something like, “self-motivated practice of life skills” (Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn). 

 

 Ted Talk by Peter Gray:  The Decline of Play

 

 

 

 

In addition, a colleague of mine has a daughter in pre-school and sent this link to me.  It was an interesting read.  A healthy classroom has a balance of play and academics.  At the primary level, a lot of learning looks like play from the outside.  Half the time I don't even think the students realize they are learning because it's fun! 

 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201505/early-academic-training-produces-long-term-harm

 

 

 

 

Sports Day

Another successful Sports Day is behind us.  Kids enjoyed all the stations (laundry relay, water relay, obstacle course, equipment shuffle, ninja thieves, sack race).  The highlight of the day seemed to be the tug-of-war.  The yellow team came out on top, and much to my surprise, the staff actually managed to beat all our grade 3's!  Thanks to PAC for setting up coffee and tea for the adults.  In addition, thank-you to the adults watching who stepped in to help out whenever they saw a need.

White Hawk Project

After a recent trip to Costa Rica, a student in Division 1 has been inspired to help fundraise for the White Hawk Foundation.  The children have made cards to sell alongside baked goods that will be donated by families wanting to help out.  The sale will take place May 20th after school in Glen Park.  Proceeds will go towards this project.  See link below for more information.

http://www.whitehawkfoundation.org/

Card making in action!

Sea Crow Field Trip

How lucky were we to dodge the rain and the hail that fell all over Vancouver?  Pretty lucky!!!!  On the bus ride, we hit some rain at about MacDonald and 16th, but once we arrived at the beach, the sky cleared up (at least towards the West) and we saw some sun.  It was a great day.  The kids worked so well together and created incredible Sea Crows to whisper their worries to.  A BIG thanks to all the parents who came and helped out.  We really appreciate it:)

How was school today?

The staff has always talked about putting together a list of questions for parents to ask their kids about school.  With the craziness of day-to-day operations, things like this can get pushed off and forgotten.  Looks like we don't need to generate that list anymore...someone else has!!  The following link provides really great questions that may ignite some deeper conversations about your child's school day.  This blog in general, has excellent articles that really articulate what's going on in education today and it aligns beautifully with my philosophy as well.

http://cultureofyes.ca/2015/04/20/how-was-school-today/