A Program of Dharma Rain Zen Center

Hard at Work

The children at Frog Song have been busy, busy bees learning about themselves, each other, and the world around them! At Frog Song we create space for daily open-ended work periods where children are given the freedom of choice and freedom of movement, and are allowed to make their own choices of what to do as they move through their morning. In doing this we show them that we respect them and they learn how to meet their own needs, exist within a caring community and learn how to make choices (a skill that will come in hand for the rest of their lives!) After all, they have a way better idea of what choice will best fit their ever changing needs than we do. We never interrupt a child who is fully engaged in “work,” which is anything a child might be engaged in that serves them in their development. This could range from putting a sock on their foot to tying an apron to making a book complete with pictures and words that match. Check out the pictures below to see what some of the children been up to!

This child is scrubbing his boots after a muddy nature walk!

Here is a 2.5 year old doing a flower puzzle and a 4.5 year old doing the map of South America. It is building skills with small puzzles that helps older children work on larger, more challenging ones!
This friend needed to do something with his body and decided that getting out the yoga mat and trying all the yoga poses would help him get his physical needs met.
Here an older child is making a book of all the different bones in the human skeleton.
A young child is fully engaged in painting with watercolors.
This young friend is learning about the water and land formations of gulf and peninsula. She is currently using the water baster to transfer the water back into the pitcher to clean it up.
This young child is learning about the water and land formations of gulf and peninsula. She is currently using the water baster to transfer the water back into the pitcher to clean it up.
Here an older child has made soap by grating soap and using a mixer to mix it in warm water. Now she is wetting and wringing out a cloth so she can clean dirty floor tables with it!
This child is grading colors from darkest to lightest!
Here a child has noticed that some plants are dry and need some water! This activity is very popular after a long break or a weekend.
Here a child is getting a lesson how to make a badge. She has already mastered how to thread and tie a large needle and is now working on sewing a button onto two fabric shapes. This is the first activity in the sewing sequence that allows the child to use basic skills to create something using aesthetic choice!
This child noticed she was hungry and decided to make herself a quesadilla!
This young child wanted to try typing her own apron after watching teachers tie it slowly many times! She may not have this skill yet, but it is these little moments of attempting that help her build the skills to do it herself one day.