Magdalen Buchmiller
The Recycling Project
This Spring, the Hoppin’ Frogs Preschool class embarked on a journey through project-based learning. An interest in vehicles sparked...
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Into the Forest We Go
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In the Reggio Emilia philosophy, there are two major principles woven together: Emergent Curriculum and Project Approach. The teacher’s...
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Magdalen Buchmiller
Seasonal Cooking Class
Building community is a high priority at Raintree School. Students and teachers connect every day, but it’s important for parents to meet...
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The cold weather is here to stay, so we turn to the famous Scandinavian saying: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.”...
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Ashley Hummert
Small Acts of Sustainability
Sustainability is a word and an action that often feels overwhelming, challenging, or daunting. But none of those things have to be true!...
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Chef Katie
Our Land Acknowledgement
“We respectfully acknowledge that we are on the traditional, ancestral lands of the Osage Nation. The process of knowing and...
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Sophia Sears
Celebrating Diversity and Cultivating Awareness
As educators we know that children are never too young to begin learning about diversity. In early childhood education, the practice of...
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Sophia Sears
The Magic of Mud
A little mud goes a long way, especially when you submerge yourself in a muddy puddle from head to toe! But at Raintree, we love the...
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Sophia Sears
Building Community
One of the best ways to build a school community is to encourage play and interactions across classes. While our friends often play...
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Sophia Sears
Symbols: Early Literacy
When most children first come to Raintree in their Nursery year, they are not yet able to read or write their names. Upon arrival, each...
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Sophia Sears
Dead Things
It was a beautiful Monday morning, and my class was outside on the playscape preparing to venture into the forest. As I went down the...
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Sophia Sears
Scrapping the Plan
The delights of children are not on any kind of time schedule. We take it when it comes and run with it as far as we can. So earlier last...
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Sophia Sears
Bread Day
What is in a simple slice of bread? At Raintree, it is packed with growth, learning, and connection. Bread Day is the standing Thursday...
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Sophia Sears
Operation Chickens
The Project Approach is a method of teaching where learning is integrated through the development of a student created and driven...
84
Sophia Sears
Sit, Watch, and Listen
We live in such a fast-paced world that our children sometimes struggle to slow down. At Raintree, we use Sit Spots to help us take an...
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Sophia Sears
Made with Love, from Seed to Table
One of Raintree’s foundational commitments is to serve lovingly cooked meals, from lovingly grown ingredients. This entails building...
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Sophia Sears
Loose Parts: Experimenting with the Unexpected
The founder of the Reggio Emilia approach said, “The child has a hundred languages, a hundred hands, a hundred thoughts, a hundred ways...
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Sophia Sears
The Peace Process
Young children are sponges who soak up knowledge from various resources. This includes, but is not limited to the environment around...
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Sophia Sears
Exploring the Senses
Building a mind disposed to scientific pursuits involves exploring the natural world in a meaningful way. By using a variety of senses,...
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Sophia Sears
Birthday Celebrations
At Raintree, we have many traditions to help us celebrate our students' birthdays. On their birthday, each child makes a special crown,...
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Sophia Sears
Get to Know the Carrots
What a journey we take at the lunch table each day! Here is where we get acquainted with new foods, develop conversation skills and...
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Sophia Sears
Autumn Provocation
Autumn is a magical time at Raintree. The forest comes to life with vibrant oranges, reds, yellows, and according to one student, “a...
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Christina
The Story of the Lemon Tree
For those of you who don't know, Raintree has a lemon tree that lives next to the Kindergarten classroom. This is a resilient tree that...
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Amy
The Peace Process Works for Grown Ups, Too
During our conferences, last week, we spoke a lot about the social emotional growth of your children and I have a story to share to...
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Amy
"Right Now" Learning
Speaking candidly, not all project times go as planned. And, as a teacher, we are planners. So, when times of learning and engagement do...
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Amy
The Forest Inside Us
Forest day started like any other: fort building, leaf rubbings & story telling when, all of a sudden... "I heard a BOOM!" "I think at...
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Amy
Beautiful Like the Creek
The forest is a refuge. Senses are sharpened, details are noticed and time slows to a pace that is more... natural. "I've never done...
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Amy
Blazing Trails
To wander through the forest in search of mystery… to tread upon unknown ground… to experience a space for the very first time on a quest...
299
Amy
Eat Pretty
You know that old adage you are what you eat? Well, have you ever stopped to think exactly how true that is? Put simply, healthy eating...
191
Amy
Because it Mattered
Last Fall, a group of three year old’s took it upon themselves to protect all of the mini beasts found in the forest. They wanted a place...
157
Amy
The Art of Observation
Photography comes from two words - “photo” meaning light and “graph” meaning to write, literally translating into the delightful phrase:...
111
ilya7690
Whose House Is This, and Why Are We Here? The Pedagogy of Raintree School
Lois Malaguzzi, Rudolf Steiner, John Dewey, Johann Pestalozzi, A.S. Neill, Richer Louv, and Teacher Tom - these are all educators who...
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ilya7690
The Rhythm of Forest School
“Make a circle. Make a circle,” so the song goes. And so goes the rhythm of our forest days at Raintree School. It begins with breakfast...
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ilya7690
Alters and Nets: or How to Catch a Fish in the Forest, and What's To Be Done When You Do
Leading children into wildlands is fraught with mystery. The constant rhythm of forest school provides intimacy with nature, but nothing...
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ilya7690
The World is Big and Small: Lessons from Beasties in Raintree School's Forest
“How do you feel when a bug is stepped on?” Big ideas start this way. A simple question on a beautiful spring day full of the potential...
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ilya7690
What Are You Made Of
Wild lands creep into your bones. Cold morning air seeps in. Sunshine settles on your skin. Your eyes presume beauty, magic, toothy...
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ilya7690
School Days
Regular days. That slow pace of familiarity. One day to the next, regular days fill our time. They mark our bodies, so we don’t forget....
53
ilya7690
Reminisce
The forest floor reminisces. Who has come? Who has gone? The reverberation of who is on their way. The ground constructs a story -...
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ilya7690
The Wonder of a Chickadee
The questions arrive unbidden. The wild does that; it forces questions. Perhaps gentle breezes coax the imagination to wake. Maybe...
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ilya7690
Always Add Sprinkles
It starts on a snowy day. I suppose it always should. It keeps so many in, but not us. We are Raintree: school for the adventurous,...
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ilya7690
The Needle and the Girl
You sew your own crown. That’s how it is done. Stitch by stitch, the pieces are put together. The fabric you’ve chosen takes shape –...
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