Just Another Amazing Day in Kindergarten!

Every year I continue to be amazed by what young children can learn if they are exposed to something, excited about it, and free from "academic pressure." A few examples from our classroom today...

During our "Newsbook" I had written the following "_____ saw a bee outside on the playground. Buzz, buzz, buzz!" After reading it together as a class, a student raised his hand and said, "I'm wondering why you made that B (letter) big and the other ones little." He was referring to the "Buzz, buzz, buzz!" It took me a second to realize what he was actually asking, then I was SO excited.... I mean how many "authentic invites" do you get to explain why the first letter of a sentence is capitalized! :) Of course I also had to play-up the great thinking he was doing since I am always reminding my students that is what we are supposed to be doing at school (and other places as well)!

Then during writing workshop another student came up to me and said, "I used one of those dots that means to stop reading." Being only two weeks into the kindergarten year I think I had casually mentioned what a period means maybe once or twice this year. No, he didn't use the correct punctuation name, but he knew what it was and why he was using it.... WOW!

Finally, as we are beginning our inquiry unit into bees we talked and drew about our schema for bees. Then we brainstormed some things we wonder about bees. Hearing things like, "How do they transport the pollen," and "How do they find shelter if they are far away from their hives and it starts to rain or snow?" reminded me of the natural curiosity and wonder of children. As teachers I believe it is SO essential to help them keep this as they get older. Without it, they lose an important piece of their authentic selves.