How will what we do reach beyond the walls of our classroom?
CMA’s Cultivating Creative and Civic Capacities
While we’d like to think that all teaching reaches beyond the walls of one’s classroom, this question is especially relevant to Wonder School, where our mission is to foster purposeful play, critical inquiry, and a collaborative community approach to education — for children, for their educators, for a more creative and compassionate society. Compassionate societies need both love and justice, and we’ve been diving deep into both at Wonder School. This year at Wonder School, we asked “mystery questions” at morning circle about love such as, what foods do you love, what do you love to do, and what do you love about yourself. Wonder School kids shared that:
“I’m brave and strong”
“I can do front flips in the pool”
“I’m curious and special”
We read books about ways we can show love to our friends, family and community: Extra Yarn, How We Say I Love You, and a re-read of I Am Rosa Parks. Inspired by some of the protest signs in I Am Rosa Parks, we practiced writing the word “No,” because words are powerful tools in helping to make things more fair. We’ve also been tending to our space and each other — watering plants, sharing tea and stories, checking in with each other when someone is sad. We know these little acts of practical care help build a space where every learner — kids and grown-ups- feels supported to be their “curious and special” selves, but there are times when it can be hard to see the bigger picture.
So, it was especially gratifying to hear from our colleagues at Columbus State that Wonder School’s approach and curriculum are impacting not just the students placed at Wonder School, but the broader Early Childhood Education department as well — from our Creative Thinking Skills handouts being used in a variety of pre-practicum classes, to ECDE Resource Lab staff doing a survey of our books to ensure their lending library of picture books represents a diversity of lived experiences and engages children with big topics that need their smart brains. The work we do at Wonder School matters, and we couldn’t do it without the support of the whole CMA family including all staff, visitors, and members — so consider this our ‘love note’ of gratitude to you! ❤️
