Mockingbird MicroSchool

Light and Shadows - The presence of Light and Shadow as exploratory tools in the classroom allow the children to build their relationship with these beautiful concepts in a way that deepens their connection with the world around them. It is a core value in Reggio-inspired classrooms and we are excited to dive into this child-directed and inspired study. This study started as a few students were fascinated about the flashlights in the quiet room. Often that is the first material they would ask for and we noticed how it created a sensory calming environment and sparked their intentional and focused thinking.

- Larissa M. - Teal House (18-36 months)

Purple House (Preschool) Library Break Out Space - We are pretty happy with how our library in Purple House is coming along. Mockingbird founder built these bookshelves and cozy nook for the class so students can break away with a teacher to read books or do quiet activities. We're excited to engender our love of books to these growing humans.

Families in Austin are asking for more out of early childhood and we are building it...together:

We had a blast at our 2nd annual Community Event. It's important to pause, reflect, and be extremely grateful for everyone in this awesome little community we are building; and that's just what we did this weekend.

The connective tissue that brings everyone in this picture together is a strong belief that human development between 18 months and 5 years old is one of the most (if not the most) important milestones in a person's life. It's when we build our sense of self, our self esteem, our connections and attachments to the world, learn to regulate emotions, resolve conflicts, and how to be a person. The neuropathways being set in these little brains will be used for the rest of their life. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone in our community and can't wait to see how our 3rd annual appreciation event grows even more.

THANK YOU!

We have such a phenomenal teaching team at Mockingbird. Our whole community places so much value on the impact we have on humans from 18 months - 5 years old and we traveled up to to talk with the next generation of future educators. This cohort all has early childhood majors and Madison was invited to do a Q&A at her alma mater to talk about her path, life at Mockingbird, and boundary setting in the workplace. Great job Madison! Thank you for all you do!

RSVP: https://invite.social/microschool

FUTURE STUDENTS WELCOME! Everyone in the Mockingbird community believes that 18 months - 5 years old is one of the most important developmental periods in a human 's life. If you feel the same and want to meet other like minded families, we would love to meet you!

We were inspired by talking to great teachers coming from 's Early Childhood graduate program. It's encouraging to see so many passionate teachers coming into the field. Congrats to all the graduates!

We are starting to add more numeracy into the classroom. The students are consistently inspired to write by simply having clipboards around the classroom to`incorporate into their play. We set up a table with fruits and vegetables, clipboards and pencils, and some blue unit cubes for measuring. In morning meeting, we asked the students what they know about measuring, and we had many connections with using a measuring tape and being measured at the doctor. We introduced the idea of using the blue unit cubes to measure a WHOLE fruit, or a HALF fruit (they split in half). They were also encouraged to use the cubes to measure other items in the classroom! Clipboards are for writing down our findings, or other inspiration from the provocation!

Practicing spatial reasoning, building attention span, and learning cooperation/teamwork during some light table exploration.

Sensory play is a precursor to STEAM learning. Teal House curriculum is full of activities that fill students "sensory cup" so they are ready for more focused work when they enter into Purple House. Here, students are engaged in a sensory activity with that follows the interest of the class around nature (clouds, falling leaves, etc.)

Our teaching team has instilled in students, curiosity and respect for animals and nature. Students found a praying mantis and got the opportunity to put to practice, all of the observation skills they have been learning outside. The two shown here were enamored with such an interesting and novel creature.

We're loving the cooler weather this week! We'll spend as much time as possible outside now that the heat seems to be relenting for the year.