capturing friendship

the little girl on the right hands a pouring cup to her friend at the water table.

Kindness begins so early.

Friendship begins so early.

Sharing.

Patience.

Connecting.

Give and Take.

It can happen in a brief lovely moment, especially when you are living the very young life of a two-year-old. Sometimes, you are just enjoying a sunny day and you need some water...

The friend on the left has received the pouring cup from his friend in the hat.

Hmm...had the boy offered water? OR had the girl started with the motive of getting water?

Educators and cameras cannot always Capture Friendship in the exact moment it is happening.

This was a moment that really struck me because these two children only came to school a couple days a week, and this was taken early on in the school year. Perhaps they had a previous connection, yet I don't know that for certain.

The cognitive process for both children to engage in this exchange was quite lovely to witness: The girl intentionally gave the boy the measuring/pouring cup.

In the first photo, it was difficult to see that the girl was holding a watering can, so we could have thought the giving of the pouring cup was a sweet gesture.

The second photo, we see the boy holding the pouring cup and perhaps seeing that the girl had a watering can.

The third photo, could be read as the girl having had motive to have the watering can filled OR the boy having seen that the girl had a watering can and he decided to offer water to her.

The whole exchange had no words to document.

Between the two children, there must have been something else they were understanding together, only between them, in the language of two-year-olds that usually relies a lot on eyes and hands.

In YOUR classroom or outside at your school...

if you look close, daily, you will SEE friendship happening in many forms. It might SOUND like friendship, it might FEEL like friendship, it might MOVE like friendship. Get your camera ready, have it with you always. You never know where friendship will show up, yet when you are around children you can't help but to discover it.

Look for it. Capture it. Share it.

"I know all about infinity"

eliza tells me all about infinity while balancing on one foot.

Children come up to teachers every day to tell us information, perhaps to share about a vacation, a play-date, their favorite shoes or what they have in their snack bag.

Children need to be able to express themselves, to have a sense of being an expert, and to offer unique knowledge about something.

Eliza had told me she had a big discussion with her father and really needed to pass on this news about INFINITY.

Teacher Jeanne: Eliza, were you just telling me about the biggest number?

What was it called again?

Eliza: Infinity...

TJ: Infinity? And how did you learn about that number?

Eliza: From daddy...

TJ: From dad. So, how big do you think infinity is?

Eliza: Well, if you add a bigger number it gets bigger!

TJ: It gets bigger! So, that's kind of surprise, huh?

Eliza: So, no one can ever count up to it...

TJ: Oh, my gosh...

Eliza: You can think you can count up to it but you can't...

TJ: Eliza, do you want to give me an example? What's a number that's pretty big like infinity but then there is a number bigger than it?

Eliza: A Hundred.

TJ: A hundred? And then, is there a number bigger than a hundred?

Eliza: Infinity.

TJ: Infinity is right after that?...

Eliza: Yes, Infinity is right after 100!

Eliza's new information about INFINITY was something she was compelled to share. It seems clear that some of her facts were answers to questions she had posed to her father and was now passing on her findings to me...

"If you add a bigger number it gets bigger!"

"No one can ever count up to it."

"You think you can count up to it but you can't."

This simple, short exchange with Eliza is an example of how children are empowered with language and build trusted relationships as exhibited by listening with her father at home and speaking with me at school.

Everything Eliza told me was true and she had absolute confidence in her facts. It didn't seem to matter to Eliza if I might have already known about infinity - she believed she was giving me new, valuable information.

Eliza was the expert on infinity.Period.

what if you had a pen?

the monster made of circles, squiggles, zig-zags, & curves.

The having of a pen.
Swirls. Numbers. Colors. Shapes. Books.
Letters. Words. Airplanes. Trucks. Monsters.
Invitations. Celebrations.


Children experiment with writing and drawing tools throughout the school day... PERHAPS during early morning time before many other students arrive at school.
PERHAPS during a small group experience to try out a new technique or new drawing surface. PERHAPS during the open work time where students choose where they wish to explore for long periods of time.

the swirls, the dots, the letters...this penned piece even has a handle for flying.

friendship book all in purple...sometimes you just need one bright pen.

yellow 'space stations' and black-penned monsters...the having of your own idea

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numbers are the most challenging shapes/lines to form when you are four.

making her own maze to follow in pen...well done.

Most of the children who have created the drawings, invitations, books, and designs in the photos today are four- or five-years-old.
The purposeful-ness of their work indicates that they have been able to explore and invent with pens for years leading up to these works. 

this boy started the school year uninterested in drawing or writing...voila!

can you tell that this girl named Sophie R. wrote a note to herself?

this boy had incredible hand-eye coord...he could mimic the fonts from different print sources!

these girls were hunting for words around the classroom for their 'word collections'.

one page in this boy's 'book of words' -  written in rainbow.

Their work indicates they value their own efforts on paper.
Their work indicates that the 'having of a pen' has given a voice and life to their explorations.
PERHAPS you will see the joy, the colors, the humor, the friendship, the focus, the calm, the intention.
The having of a pen. Is. A. Gift.

a program made by children for our performance play (credits written by the teacher).