Author Archives: tasha cowdy

At the heart of the IB Primary Years Programme is the belief that learners learn best through inquiry and finding out for themselves rather than being told, and that learning is deepest when learners have a personal connection to the … Continue reading →

Originally posted at tashacowdy.com KinderPals tweeted us to ask what Konichiwa means in English. After much tweeting back and forth, the KC children offered to make a book for KinderPals. KinderPals liked the idea. The KC children tweeted KinderPals to … Continue reading →

When we got back after the winter break, we found a twitter message from our Kindergarten twitter buddies in Canada, thanking us for the Japanese New Year cards we had sent. We responded by sharing some exciting New Year news: we … Continue reading →

One of the issues I constantly grapple with is the balance of open, guided and structured inquiry in an early childhood (3-7 years) setting. At three and four years old, children are hard-wired as inquirers; they engage in self initiated … Continue reading →

Cross posted at tashacowdy.com In our classroom area we have several different globes, a large world map and a big book atlas. We refer to these regularly during day to day discussions about story settings, current affairs, absent family and … Continue reading →

cross posted at tashacowdy.com Last week a colleague posted this video clip on the class blog of a kindergarten child trying again and again to balance on a home-made skateboard. The episode was captured on an iTouch by one of … Continue reading →

Originally posted on my class blog Kieran from the ELC came to our classroom this morning with a question: “How many days till he started Kindergarten?” Hmmm… Good question! How could we find out? The Kindergarten children thought about it. … Continue reading →

Our Kindergarten children have been engaging in an inquiry into where we are in place and time, looking in particular at personal histories and journeys. Before the unit started the adults discussed what key concepts would drive the unit, and … Continue reading →

Yesterday, at tidying-up time, I overheard the following conversation between Trenton, Nikhil, Hal and Leander as they tidied plastic tiles into the tile tub. Leander: Here is so many! Nikhil: Yeah, one hundred! Leander: I think one thousand. Nikhil: No, it’s more. … Continue reading →