Blanche Lonsbury

In a world that feels ripped apart, our little school's radical act of resistance is learning about each other. A long time ago one of my mentors introduced me to the concept of Family Culture Shares. It is a social justice act to learn about each other and what makes us human-what makes our families who they are and special? Well, this was the first of many and I'm so so looking forward to learning more about the people in our community! We had so many moments of connection and pride in who each of us are. Let's stay strong and connected 🥰

At the beginning of each session I spend some time reflecting on the environment and materials, thinking about what worked and what didn't work in addition to what else the kids might need as they grow and evolve. Every space is intentionally set up to maximize connection and exploration and now that it's summer we can do a whole new set of things! It was so wonderful to see the children explore spaces they had not spent time in before, inspired by new things and ideas, and learning about new friends.

Just gonna put this here that I have the most amazing job and I wouldn't trade it for the world... finding an Eagle Egg is just about the most wondrous thing I've ever done. 😍

We found a just hatched baby robin's egg yesterday! It had literally just fallen out of the tree. Nature ✨✨✨✨

We revisited self-portraits again today to see how with time their attention to certain details have changed (or not), note their growing their fine motor control, as well as to hear about any new ideas they have about themselves. It was so magical to see their arc!

One of my favorite finds this session. An honest AND child-centered way to learn about the land that we are on and enjoying.

Today we dissected flowers and learned all about their parts! It was amazing how transformative it was for them to have the language to describe the different parts and how that translated to their drawings!

Have you signed up for our Bear Cubs Class yet?! We have one spot left!

A story of repair. ❤️‍🩹 You'll never see anyone here at school "in trouble"... WHY? Because we just don't believe children do things maliciously and we assume good and innocence. 👇🏽

A group of kids were playing with their robots and broke one of their friend's robots. They proudly said to me, "we destroyed it!" (Can you hear the innocence in their comment?) I responded, "I can hear your very proud but I wonder how _____ feels? I know he worked really hard on this." They immediately looked thoughtful and as if they had not considered the other side. I followed up with, "I wonder what we can do to make things better?" One of the kids excitedly exclaimed, "I know! We can help him make a strong more powerful robot! I can make a list of all the things he needs to do." He got on to making his list and I walked him through how else he can help.

In the end, they were both so proud of the work they had done together and then stayed on the same "team" to make sure their robots stayed protected in the next fighting match 😆

We can give children our empathetic observations/ wonders about a situation and then (most of the time and especially with the older children) they can come up with wonderful ideas on how to repair ❤️‍🩹

What I love most about "Design Thinking" is its resonance with Indigenous wisdom. After delving into numerous problem-solving methods, I'm amused by how we circle back to 'ancient' or intuitive practices. Theorists like Nigel Cross, Horst Rittel, and Herbert Simon may have formalized design thinking, but children have always leveraged PLAY to innovate and create. They really are such creative geniuses. I am honored that my job is to provide these little thinkers with emotional safety, supportive environment, and thoughtful guidance/modeling.

Involving children in real problems and giving them real tools tells children they are valued. Why? Because they can see they are involved in creating, adding, fixing, collaborating, and problem solving in their community. They feel useful and connected.

Bug homes 🐝🐞🐛🐜🦟🪲🪳