This week was very different from the weeks we are used to having in the studio.
Our main guide, Hetal, went on a planned vacation and I, Shira, stepped into her big shoes and brought along a new learner for a week (my younger son, Nadav).
The learners came back after a long vacation, very eager to meet their friends and getting back to their routine. The excitement was over the roof when they saw their 2 new studios with all the new materials.
The learners dived right into learning, which was magnificent having the long pause they had in their learning environment. They started to set up their daily goals - what are they going to work on today and what they want to achieve in each area. Some of them set up higher goals than they actually did or can do, which is a great lesson for them - to be very true to yourself and set up reasonable goals for you. I can say that after 5 days, they are getting better in setting their own goals.
During circle time, Mariam introduced the idea of fractions to the learners with a social experiment. She took an apple and divided it into 3, very unequal pieces, and told the learners that she gave each piece to 3 of her friends. The learners felt it’s unfair that one of the friends got a tiny piece while the other got a large one and they started thinking about ideas to make each of Mariam’s friends get a fair share. A new apple was then appeared and the learners instructed Mariam how to cut it equally. Many learners chose to work afterwards, on fractions materials and went deeper in their understanding of the concept.
During outdoor free time, the learners built a house from milk crates. It was a collaborated work of all learners: some were builders, others prepared meals to be served at the dinner table, but all of them had their own part in this amazing team work.
We finished our week with board games and DEAR time (drop everything and read).
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