Busy bodies and busy minds at the studio! *Number & Letter Projector Invitation* The light table is gone and a new machine has taken its place! The kiddos were very excited to explore our projector! The large letters and numbers sparked their interest in the beginning. R placed the letter "D" on the projector. F said, "That's in my name!" R responded by saying, "No, this is in your name" and placed the letter "F" on the projector. F replied, "They're both in my name!" The chi

We have been a very busy group! *Color Mixing & Absorption* Our kiddos have fallen in LOVE with our watercolor mixing area! We brought it back out again for another week, but added sponges, cotton balls, and string. These simple objects furthered our discoveries and conversations about a variety of topics. The kiddos found out that the sponges and cotton balls would suck up all the color and liquid! But, when you squeezed the sponges you could get all the water back out again

FALL IS HERE! Our exploration of the Autumn season has officially started! *Fall Floor Book* We welcomed the Autumn Equinox by brainstorming about what we know about Fall/Autumn. We talked about the colors of fall and what holidays we celebrate. We also practiced our balancing skills in honor of the equinox - a time when both the sun and moon share an equal time in the sky. *Leaf Hunt/Outdoor Park Play* After our Shadow Hunt last week, our friends wanted to go on another hunt

A new season brings new changes and new experiences! *Shadow Hunt* We went hunting for shadows on our nature walk! We read Lines That Wiggle before our walk which helped spark our hunt! Our friends enjoyed looking for different kinds of lines to trace. *Outdoor Creative Play* Thanks to the beautiful weather we have had a never-ending opportunity to explore invitations outdoors! Introducing liquid watercolors to our friends encouraged them to invent new colors. We delved furth

We have had a fun-filled two weeks! Together we have experimented in color mixing, caught shadows, found insects, and shared many laughs! Take a look at our busy days below! *Rain Cloud Painting* W & T thoroughly enjoyed painting the rain clouds together. They mixed the paints creating new colors and shades. "I'm making a cupcake! A sugar cupcake!" - T *Outdoor Creative Play* Our friends F & R spent time trying to get the water out of the wheel. They kept flipping over the ti

What a fantastic start to our Monday group! The past two weeks have been filled with laughs, questions, discussions, and walks! *Together Time* After we all have physically arrived at the studio, we take a little bit of time together in the morning to fully arrive as individuals who are ready to learn! We began writing in our Whole Child floor book by brainstorming about how we felt on our first day. *Outdoor Creative Play* We have been lucky to have BEAUTIFUL days to spend o

Today we kicked off our Whole Child Program with our Wednesday students! We couldn't be more excited to expand Side by Side Studio to include a nature preschool dedicated to child-led learning and exploration! For our first weeks together, we will be learning about ourselves and each other. We will work with reflections and faces - practicing self portraits and recognizing facial features. Our main focus will be to establish our little community and figure out what interests

After a week break, we are back in the swing of our summer camps! This week we have a tenacious group of ALL GIRLS! We are very excited to have a jam packed week full of art and learning about how we can love ourselves and each other! GIRL POWER!!! Day 1: *Mindful Morning* We began our week by discussing what being "mindful" means. Our campers brainstormed the following: "relaxing, being quiet, concentrating, closing our eyes, and poses!" Following our idea session, we practi

What a fun last day of camp! Today's focus was on architecture and engineering! Day 4: *Together Time* This morning we began camp by discussing the topic of construction. We asked ourselves a series of questions: "What tools are used in construction?" "What kind of buildings or structures do we know? "Who participates in construction?" "Which materials are used in construction?" *Our Structures* Miss Tory passed around wooden square blocks to use as a foundation for our build

Today was stellar! We couldn't wait to have more fun with our campers! Day 1: *Together Time* This summer we attended the University of Tennessee's Early Learning Institute Conference. The conference centered around the ideology of taking children outdoors to experience nature. It was especially centered on the research of Claire Warden and her Floorbook Approach. A class's Floorbook, or in our case a camp's Floorbook, is a tool for documentation in which both the teacher and