Indoor Voice 9/17/2018

A Word from Our Director
Community Goal

Throughout the year we will be asking the entire membership to focus on particular aspects of the curriculum. Our ultimate goal, or our key goal, is to concisely communicate the school’s philosophy to each family. This week our goal is finding answers!

Knowing Where to Turn for Help
The school is running beautifully! Thanks to everyone who has shown up for a workday, sat through a meeting, swept, cleaned, taken care of bumped knees and hurt feelings. It seems as though you are all settling in nicely and getting into the swing of things! In case the swing of things eludes you, here is a quick guide about who to go to.

FIRST AND FOREMOST: Try to answer your own question. Poke around in the cupboards/storage areas, re-read Indoor Voices, scroll through emails, check the parent manual, check the bulletin boards in the hallway, or check with a returning family.

IF THIS DOESN'T WORK please direct your questions as follows:

Questions about Children’s Program: Maria Chew - Director, maria@laurelhill.org

Questions about Curriculum: Anne Randall, curriculum@laurelhill.org

Questions about your Child: Your child’s teacher, and, if necessary, Maria

Questions about Committee Work: Your Committee Chair, or Anabel Corales (Marco/AM Prek) - Vice President, vp@laurelhill.org

Questions about Financial Matters: Amanda Hing Hernandez (Maceo/PM) - Treasurer, treasurer@laurelhill.org, Eman Mohammed - Business Manager, bizmanager@laurelhill.org

Questions/Issues about Staff, Members, other Personal Interactions: Sarah Egdal (Danielle/AM) - Personnel Chair, personnel@laurelhill.org

If you still cannot find answers to your questions, seek out Anna Jordan (Tess/AM) - President, she is the resident buck-stopper and will make sure your question is answered.

Gratitude!

Thank you to everyone for making our first billing cycle go so smoothly with the new system. Almost everyone paid on time and assumed responsibility for credit card/ACH fees. Much appreciation to our new families for joining us at the Philosophy Meetings. Hugs to everyone who is covering a maternity shift––true co-op spirit. Thank you to the Yard Committee for keeping the front of the school swept and to the Building Committee for having a great first work party!

- Maria Chew, Director

- Jason Kuo, Community Fundraising Chair (Hannah/AM)

Notes from Anne Randall: Process Over Product: What is it? Why is it important?
“Process over Product” is a very important component to our Laurel Hill curriculum and philosophical belief.

Kathy Hardy, M.Ed. writes in her article Children’s Art: It’s the Process, Not the Product that Counts:
“Howard Gardner, a well-known education theorist, writes that ‘artistic learning grows from children doing things: not just imitating but actually creating, whether it be drawing, painting, or sculpting on their own’. Many educators support this theory, adding that art activities contribute to children's capacity to make and understand meaning. Children's art creations stand for objects, feelings, or ideas. We see this at the earliest stages of a child's drawing and painting. A line may represent the ground, the sky, a smile, or a frown. A dot may be used to designate a place or direction. A scribble may mean an idea or a feeling.

The most important rule for guiding children's art activities is that the process is always more important than the product. "Process" means allowing children to explore art materials with freedom without the pressure to copy a model or stay in the lines. Process is experimenting with paints, watching the mixing colors, and feeling the textures of more or less. Process is gluing various sizes, shapes, and colors of paper together to create a collage. Process is freedom to experiment and enjoy the feeling of creating without being concerned with the outcome or the product. Process is creating something that is uniquely yours and not a copy of someone else's.”

The above excerpt beautifully explains the deep authentic meaning that truly represents Process Over Product. Laurel Hill is committed to allowing the child to explore with materials in an open-ended environment. The Five Basic Materials we use (Sand, Water, Clay, Blocks and Paint) encourage children to use their imagination and provide feedback through exploration. Respecting the child's process is by far the most important step in learning.

What does Process Over Product really mean?

It means NOT drawing for the children.
It means respecting the process AND the product.
It means NOT making the kids do art.
It means having H-U-G-E sheets of paper available.
It means seeing the possibility of painting with things other than brushes.
It means no more ditto, patterns and/or cut out art.
It means that a copy machine is NOT required.
It means it doesn't have to look like anything. Ever. Even if it is “Fish Week” (???) and it took you four days to plan and prep.
It means NOT making models or examples for the children.
It means refraining from commenting on the children's art.
It means having lots of time and materials to use.
It means NOT asking the child “What is that?”
It means NOT having bulletin boards covered with 24 identical Penguins and you saying “But I let them glue the eyes wherever they wanted.”
It means knowing the children need to use too much of EVERYTHING and being okay with that.
It means enjoying the exploration and experimentation along with the child.
It means silently observing all the rich learning that is happening in the moment.
IT MEANS ASKING THE CHILD IF THEY WANT THEIR NAME ON A PROJECT...IF THEY DO, PUT IT ON THE BACK, IF THEY DON’T... BE OKAY WITH THAT.
It means NOT saying “GOOD JOB.”

A Word from Our Director Community Goal

A Word from Our Director
Community Goal