Revisiting & Reconnecting

Context

Two different 2-3 year old classes were combined into a new classroom, the Little Garden, for the 2013-2014 school year. In an effort to bring the two groups together, the teachers strategically revisited a topic common to both groups from the previous year – the blueberry bushes.

September 20, 2013

Something very special about the two groups of children that came together to form our Little Garden community is the connection they share with the blueberry bushes on our side yard. It is a unique situation to be in where two classes come together having a very similar shared experience, and it is one that we want to make the most out of as our year starts together!

During our planning weeks before the children came back to Cow Hollow, Tim and I (Petra) reflected on how exciting this is, and we agreed to jump right into having blueberry experiences upon returning to school. It is important to us to place value on the relationships the children have formed with the plants already, and to honor their prior experiences in the space and with each other there.

The First Small Group Visits the Blueberries

We decided to approach this in small groups to start, to support the children in having intimate experiences connecting with each other, the grownup, and the plants. I took a small group (Finn, Laney, Sara Beth, and Peter) last Thursday, September 12 to start. We began with a meeting on the Side Yard porch to check in. We looked at photos of their process last year - the group connected immediately to their images and began telling stories about what they experienced!

Petra: What do you notice in the pictures?
Finn: That's the blueberry!
Petra: What do you remember about the blueberries?
Sara Beth: We helped it, to make it grow.
Laney: Plant them too!
Finn: Maybe I helped too! And Teacher Bryn.
Parker: We were doing the blueberries. We were picking them. The blue ones are ready.
Sara Beth: The green ones smell bad, they're sour.
Laney: (Looking across the yard to the blueberries) The heart!!
Petra: Oh, yeah! Laney and Sara Beth, you should tell us about the heart...Parker, and Finn and I were in the Treehouse when your Nest class made it. Let's go check it out!
Laney: We made it cause we love them (the blueberries).