Ophthalmology class in school bus!

December 11, 2015January 3, 2016 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

Children always laugh when they see my eyes like this!

One day, kids asked me: “hey, what’s happening with your glasses and they can make your eyes so big? We want to know how you see”!

I told them eye-doctor says I have Hypermetropia. “And how does he know?” they further asked. So, I brought them printed papers with numbers and pictures, like the ones eye-doctors use.

They started examining themselves

and also asked to be examined by their friends.

Then, I gave them my glasses to understand “how I see”. Children tried them in many ways and said “Woooooow, everything looks bigger through your glasses!!!”.

They got really excited by all this. Now, they may decide to construct an eye-clinic in class, examine other children and prescript the right glasses!!!

(by Spyridoula Patouna, teacher in pre-K class in Athens)

An I-don’t-want-it-to-end game!

November 4, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

Something special happened in pre-K class!

Everyone brought his or her favorite doll or teddy and turned it into an astronaut!

The space suit was made from aluminum foil.

When all astronauts were ready, went to the roof top of the school and flewwwwwww!! (wearing parachutes for protection)

An I-don’t-want-it-to-end game!

(by Spyridoula Patouna, teacher in pre-K class, in Athens)

Process-based learning

October 23, 2015October 24, 2015 / dorothysnot / 2 Comments

Free play in class is an important part of the day, for any play-based preschool.

Through play, children imagine, create, disagree, negotiate, learn to solve problems, explore materials – but also develop their relationship with other children.

The decision of our kindergarten kids to construct a privacy box for their medical corner, gave them the opportunity to master all the above, plus to connect play with maths.

Children got divided into groups and began to work. First, paid a visit to the local carpenter to pick their wood.

Then, returned to school and started to work….

grouped pieces of wood according to height, shape and size
measured the length of the room and distances between the woods
chose the proper pieces for their construction
picked the rest of the staff needed, such as screws, nails and glue
calculated the quantities
chose the right tools.

While doing the above, class entered into assumptions, cooperation, testing, made mistakes and worked together to produce a certain result. But mostly, enjoyed the process!

(by Stavroula Gaoutsi, kindergarten teacher in Athens)

Dad of Philip helps children connect their hand-made antenna

September 23, 2015September 23, 2015 / dorothysnot / Leave a comment

Last year’s pre-K class worked on a project about communication (how we talk and listen one another, when away).

(click on the picture above to see more)

Under this concept, kids decided to create their own antenna to be able to listen to radio, in class. And so they did. But, then had to find a way to connect it to the radio.