Parents On Site and IN On the Play!
The parent partnership is so comfortable and so ingrained that it is difficult to describe the process in which it is shaped to a person outside of the cooperative model! Yet it is the very source of our school and every participatory model school's longterm success and exactly the reason we are able to hold to a play-based model. Parents, once they are involved, arrive naturally to the play-based model.
Just Fine!
That is how things go on a playground as the play is given room to shift, flow, and take hold naturally. And I didn't immediately notice that people had moved into this new den until one of the new resident's called out to me, "Lesley, I don't want to be a guard of the house."
The Shed Climb
This opportunity, without calling the children over or making it a Big Moment, attracted others. In short order, other children climbed up. But it's important to note that only a handful of children tried it and even fewer climbed to the roof.
Play is Passed From One to Another
Play arcs and play destination messages are passed from older children to younger. Recently, we held a parent training our parent educator called, When Nothing is Everything - the Value of Free Time, and during the discussion period I asked the parents how many of them played in free-ranging groups of mixed ages where the oldest child was 8, 10, or older? Almost all of them raised their hands. When I talk about how play is passed from one child to another, I am talking about older children, 7 through 10 teaching younger children what to play.