The pictures and videos below do a lovely job of highlighting the varied and evolving use our community makes of each corner of our space at 5400 Karl Rd. As you will see below, we've had a busy few weeks of new spring growth and skill building in our unique space!
The Children's House East Kitchen
Left to right, top to bottom: Mia on apple chopping; Yaz on water pouring; Rita on getting cheese out of its wrapper; TJ and Wally on the card game Sushi Go; Roshi on egg shell crushing (to feed the plants); Calvin on more apple chopping; Sir on name tag sanitizing and drying; Rita, Roshi, and Carver on flower arranging; Yaz on snack (a big salad); Roshi on veggie chopping, Sir on bread cutting, Oliver on supervision!
Rita slices the cheese!
Carver cuts bread!
Children's House East Arts, Crafts, and Writing Area
Left to right, top to bottom: Lyanna on the Bow Tying Frame; TJ on "Pin Punching"; Lyanna on the Bow Tying Frame (again); Calvin on Lacing Frames; Calvin and Roshi live it up after successfully counting to 1000; Kiki on Metal Insets; Mia on addressing an envelope to Lyanna; Wally on hard boiled eggs (a great lunch option).
Carsten attempts to quiz Roshi into a connection between his (already well established) understanding of basic addition facts and the decimal system. I cannot imagine a better example of the value of a mixed-age learning community.
Wally adds a possessive 's' to his attempt to write "TJ's Cookies"; Yaz geeks out over a CMC provided lunch of veggies, sesame dressing, nuts, and high-fiber bread.
The Children's House East Carpet
Left to right, top to bottom: Kiki's very first Metal Inset (an "Easter Egg"); Lou beams over the completion of the "Roman Arch"; Lou's best cartography; Rita and Mia collaborate with the Movable Alphabet; Rita and Roshi begin the (big) 45-Bead Layout; Carsten supervises Oliver and Hannah in Golden Bead Multiplication (this is a great illustration of our "process over product" approach, pun intended); Wally and Carsten pour over the transcription of "there are a few cookies in the house with the man"; Lyanna completes writing "Mozambique"; Lou works on an Addition Chart; TJ flashes a peace sign after counting to 100; Asa's complete Birthday Walk mat; Calvin compares the first Cylinder Block to the Red Knobless Cylinders; Carsten works on an Addition Chart; Calvin leads Asa, Julian, and Oliver in a game of Golden Bead Addition; Maryanne and Calvin work on a Dot Game together; Carsten tackles a Stamp Game Subtraction problem; Carsten begins the monumental task of copying all fifty states (never completed, understandably); Roshi's first Africa; Lyanna thinks through matching the 'banana' word card to the blueberry picture card.
Carsten and Lou work hand in hand to match pictures of flags and people to country names (with the help of our Country Atlas).
Lou, Carsten, and TJ work through a Stamp Game Division problem with me (Taylor).
Lou and Wally riff on our Stamp Game work together. Lou is doing another Stamp Game Division problem; Wally is exploring the often irregular phrasing of the date and number "2020" (we don't typically say 'two thousand twenty' we say 'twenty twenty').
Wally takes one of the first turns with The Bells, a recent addition to our Children's House.
Carsten and Hannah quickly follow suit.
Mia reads a community favorite: "The Book with No Pictures" by B.J. Novak (yes, of The Office fame).
Oliver does the hard but rewarding work of writing the word sanitizer; it may seem painstaking, but this is every inch the process of Oliver learning to read like Mia above!
A completed game of Treasure, left to right, top to bottom: pin puncher; sandpaper globe; leaf tray; box; crayon; color tablet; bead chain; pencil.
The results of a strange, child-centered game of back-to-back measurement (using a flat board and a marble to break ties like the one between Oliver and Roshi). That day, Yaz was our shortest child while TJ was the tallest.
Left: A busy morning with Sir counting to 100, Lou on water colors, Calvin on the USA map, and Carsten and TJ on matching flags and people to country names. Below: Lyanna works with Maryanne to sound out phonetic words with two-letter blends.
Hannah and Roshi work through a Golden Bead Subtraction problem with a litte help and encouragement.
Wally, Carsten, and Rita lovingly recreate the 45-Bead Layout for Sir.
Another example of Oliver learning to read through direct phonics-based training.
Rita gets a little peaceful reading practice in. Our headphones—in The Peace Cube and over by the couch—have been a big hit over the last year.
The Nap and Rest Room
Roshi uses the weighted blanket as a mask one day while catching a now rare nap.
The Hallway
Calvin attempts to wrangle the crowd with a reading of our popular CMC Train Station Lobby sign.
The Staff Lounge
On Earth Day, a group of four boys helped me unpack, clean, and sanitize various thrift store finds (a big shout-out to the Volunteers of America on Indianoloa Ave.)!
The Movement Room
Left to right, top to bottom: an unofficial meeting of the rainbow watch committee; a picnic lunch on Family Guide Conference Day (with winds close to 20 MPH, eating outside would have been a chore); Roshi shows off his building.
Roshi somehow does some of his best building/pattern recognition while surrounded by kiddos impersonating stunt people.
"The Field"
Left to right, top to bottom: a game of Ring-a-Round-the-Rosie; Asa and Lou share big opinions on small geese; Roshan's self-portrait; Carver backwards on the Plasma Car; Oliver covered in mud; three good friends.
Lyanna works hard to follow the maze with her balance bike.
Two very special visitors (their riders determined it was best to take a break during a funeral a couple of doors down from us). . .
Chasing a lawnmower.
"The Garden"
Julian takes tree climbing to new heights at CMC (we now have limits); Calvin and Oliver sit to discuss their next move; a big group of boys (along with Stormy and Mia) work to build trenches out from our drain pipes; the children plant KRCC's Easter Lilies with me (Taylor); Carsten and Julian hang from the smaller cherry trees while Lou and Lyanna roam the grounds; Yaz in a Yew; Carver with daffodils; Roshi on a rock; Carsten playing "bucket head"; a commercial for Totes.
Wally and Carsten play good ol' Cone Head!
Yaz climbs into the flowers.
Roshi jumps and slides between two hula-hoops.
Carsten tests the limits of our tree climbing policies, as well.
Wally and Carsten lead a rousing game of pirate ship involving a "test-of-faith" where one stick must be placed in each shoe.
The (Raindrops on Roses) Picnic
Rita, Wally, Kiki, and Sir climb to the top of the Park of Roses observation pavilion (and back down again).
A whole lot of toad observation (and taunting).
On our way out of the park (and towards the island)!
We owe another big thanks to our team—Yung, Anna, Maryanne (doing her Montessori practicum) and Stormy (our new substitute)—and our families for keeping CMC going strong this spring. We hope to see many of you at our Summer Solstice Picnic Potluck and Open House on Monday, June 20th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM to celebrate the longest evening of the year!