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Mushrooms and tracks
Our small group ventured out to the forest this morning. We left the centre with an intention to link our experiences with the charcoal to the forest. Our experiences from the day before lingered with ideas of mark making, tracks and circular marks on the paper. We set out to pay attention and notice these connections on our walk in the forest. At first our walk was fast paced, and the children quickly moved. We had to intentionally pause and slow down. I stopped at a puddle where a large impression was embedded into a mud puddle, drawing the children to come back, pause and look at what we had…
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Lines & Charcoal
November 2 Lines—the children have noticed that charcoal easily makes lines. Perhaps it is the intensity of the lines charcoal makes that fascinates the children. Perhaps it is the power of lines themselves that keeps the children engaged? A few moments tell us that lines are not just marks on paper. It seems as if the lines have come alive for the children. A child shares a line with me tracing a thick charcoal mark on the paper that starts where he is and ends on my foot (about a metre away from him). I immediately pass the line back to the child who quickly marks another long, thick line…
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Searching the Forest for Charcoal
November 1 Today we divided the classes into two groups. One would remain in the classroom and continue their charcoal markings and the other group would be given the opportunity to see if they could find charcoal in the forest. During the previous days, the children had been encouraged to consider connections between the forest and the charcoal. Many of their charcoal creations expressed these interconnections. The group of children venturing outside seemed highly motivated for the opportunity to pursue charcoal in the forest. They eagerly anticipated such encounters. When we got to the forest, the children searched in many spaces for traces of charcoal. Some children located dark-looking wood…
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Charcoal in the forest
Today we divided the classes into two groups – one would remain in the classroom and continue their charcoal markings and the other group had the opportunity to see if they can find charcoal in the forest. The children were encouraged to consider connections between the forest and the charcoal during the previous days. Many of their charcoal creations expressed such consideration for these interconnections. A small group of children venturing outside seemed highly motivated for the opportunity to pursue charcoal in the forest and were eagerly anticipating such encounters. On the way out of the centre, a child in was asked by a child where we were headed. He…
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Experiencing and Experimenting with Charcoal
October 30/31 In preschool room 2 our explorations with charcoal yielded exciting possibilities. Our interaction with charcoal today represented an experimental and experiential step into the unknown for children and educators alike. Our room embraced the mystery of this new experience. The mystery had been building and unfolding since its announcement to the children of preschool room 2 on Monday. Then on Tuesday morning the children arrived to a room radically transformed from the one they knew on Monday. Many of the room’s familiar items (shelves, tables, carpets, building blocks, etc.) had been relocated and replaced with large rolls of white paper taped to the floor. The children were very…
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Tensions and Possibilities in Our Encounters with Charcoal
October 31, 2018 There was much enthusiasm about the possible interactions with paper and charcoal. Charcoal has been used by artists for a very long time, dating back to 15,000 BC. The children at St. John Early Learning Centre are invited to join these long artistic traditions within many cultures around the world. To set the scene and foreground the importance of charcoal as an art material, we placed large pieces of white paper on the floor and offered children thin willow charcoal sticks. In this initial exploration in the classroom, the children begin to understand some of the properties of charcoal. Charcoal is brittle, fragile, and easily breaks when…
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Slowing Down Time Through Charcoal Encounters
I wonder about time… We live fast-paced lives instilled early on to talk fast, move on, check in but something keeps happening to me during these intra-actions that move us into a different time zone where a minute can become an hour. During the charcoal encounters, which often happen with a single child, I lose track of time. I don’t remember what else was happening or who else was there. I am caught trying to remember when it happened – before or after the walk? All I can remember is an intensity -that distinct squeaking sound. It is less disturbing than scratching a chalkboard but it makes my inner ear…
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Charcoal experimentations
Our explorations with charcoal yielded exciting possibilities. Our interaction with charcoal today represented an experimental and experiential step into the unknown (for children and educators alike). The room embraced the mystery of this new experience as the mystery had been building and unfolding since its announcement to the children on Monday. On Tuesday morning the children arrived to a room radically transformed from the one they knew on Monday. Many of the room’s familiar items (shelves, tables, carpets, building blocks, etc.) had been relocated and replaced with large rolls of white paper taped to the floor. The children were very curious about this sudden transformation and what it revealed about…
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An Invitation to Slowing Down, Paying Attention and the Art of Noticing
October 30, 2018 We are inviting the children to engage in the arts of slowing down, paying attention, and noticing. Because the children and educators are interested in visiting and sharing stories about the nearby forest, we want to extend what happens in the forest into the classroom. For the past few months, we have been observing children’s engagement (even fascination) with sticks/branches/logs in the forest. To connect to children’s interests, we are inviting children to explore charcoal and paper. It matters deeply what materials we invite into our classroom. Paper and charcoal link us directly to forests—they start in forests… The sticks that children are fascinated with become charcoal…
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Working with Charcoal and Paper – response
Its interesting how Shelley and I track charcoal beyond its materiality. It is not about charcoal, but it is about charcoal…bodies and movements with charcoal, paper, and the floor together, on the ‘inside’ inspire/reflect/remind us of bodies and movements with pathways, critters, plants, wind together on the ‘outside’ so then does inside-outside blur? Can it? or do they remain separated? and Why!
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Working with Charcoal and Paper
