5: Oh, The Places You'll Go!

You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

People say that taking adventures is one of the best ways to learn. Whether they're escapades to new and exotic places, short and leisurely vacations, or our daily mundane commutes, the moment we step out into the world, we give ourselves an opportunity to learn.

As we continue our inquiry on the different forms of transportation, the kindergarteners looked into the "wheres" or the amazing places that these machines take us, to give us a better appreciation of why we need to learn about them.

OUR DAILY COMMUTE

There's always comfort in the familiar, whether it be in the things we do, the choices we make, or the places we go. Sometimes, the familiar becomes mundane but for children, they matter. The daily routines we set are essential in helping children feel safe, developing their habits, and teaching them to become independent.

For our inquiry this week, we started off with what the children already know -- what they're comfortable with -- as this is where they would find their voice and prepare them to share more meaningful stories in the future.

How do you go to school?

In our sharing, the children realized that some of them go to school the same way.

"How come I don't see you?" one of them said.

"Why do you think so?" I said.

"Maybe our house is far from each other."

Since we enjoyed finding out how our friends in Kinder 2 go to school, we want to deepen our research by finding out how the DSKI community goes to school.

We started off by reading a book called Bumper to Bumper by Jakki Wood, which shows us different forms of transportation that are caught in traffic. We tried to guess which ones are on the way to bring the children to school.

Firetrucks, helicopters, and boats couldn't possibly bring us to school, right? Let's see what the students, teachers, and staff of DSKI have to say.

While we were waiting to gather information, we found out some deeply troubling news.

A boy (whom we named Boogie) is lost and couldn't find his way to school. Of course, the kindergarteners were off to the rescue! Using the drawing skills they honed the prior week, they made swirly, zigzagged, and curly lines to help Boogie find his way.

After trial and error (and drawing many lines along the way), we helped Boogie find his way to school -- with detours to the ice cream shop and the park. 😆 I bet his classmates and teachers were happy to see him!

Sometimes, the familiar does become mundane. In times like these, it's good to think about what Bill Moyer said:

Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous.

There's beauty in the familiar, especially when we're curious and creative. Sometimes, we might even find an ice cream shop along the way. 😆

SHORT TRIPS WE DREAM OF

Trips sometimes gives us breathers from our daily life. Aside from giving us a break, it also restores our energy and rejuvenates our spirit. I asked the children,

If you were to take a short trip somewhere, where would you like to go?

These are what they came up with:

Haruto wants to go to the beach and the mountain.

Chanin wants to go where many buses, trains, and cars are found.

Kanato wants to go to Universal Studios Japan.

Koh wants to go to the swimming pool.

Sarah wants to go to the castle.

Emma wants to go to Disneyland and the zoo with Tamaki.

Hana wants to go to the forest.

Tamaki wants to go to Disneyland and the zoo with Emma I.

Yorinobu wants to go to the park and Shizuoka.

We put all the places that we want to visit together and guess what we made?

A COMMUNITY!

It's the perfect example of team work makes the dream, work.

Don't you think so?

Now, we can visit these places anytime we want.

BIG ADVENTURES WITH OUR FAMILY

Sometimes, adventures that we take with people we love (or even by ourselves) turn into some of our treasured core memories. These experiences leave marks that we take with us for a long time or sometimes, they even change us for the better.

I shared one of my core memories with Kinder 2 -- a trip that took me to different heights and taught me more about myself and what I am capable of.

Of course, the children had a chance to share some of the best trips they've taken, too, and the different forms transportation they used along the way.

Koh went to Adventure World.

He rode the car and the train.

Clara went to Gifu.

She rode a car.

Yorinobu went to the beach.

He rode the train.

Emma went to Ishigaki.

She rode the airplane.

Chanin went to Tokyo.

He took a plane and rode the Shinkansen.

Haruto went to Okinawa.

He rode the airplane.

Tamaki went to Tokyo.

She rode the airplane.

Hana went to Bristol.

She rode her bicycle.

Kanato went to the Kyoto Railway Museum.

He rode the train.

Sara went to the beach.

She rode the car.

You know what's different with this sharing compared to the one about their daily commute?

The stories of the children were full of color, excitement, and pride. They were absolutely thrilled to share their adventures -- especially what they did and what they saw. Their classmates were enthralled by their stories, too.

One thing that I personally discovered in this Show and Tell?

Our adventures into the big world take us to far distances,

but they also make our connections with other people deeper.

Just one of the many things Kinder 2 taught me.

-----

Adventures are always fun when we take it with someone.

I asked the children:

Who do you like playing with?

Chanin

Tamaki

Kallea

Clara

Emma C.

Kanato

Yorinobu

Hana

Koh

Haruto

Sarah

Emma I.

I'm sure these are the people whom the Kinder 2 children would like to go on adventures, too.

But what if our adventures introduce us to new friends? People who we thought we have nothing in common with, but would actually turn out to be our kindred spirits?

I introduced two unlikely friends to Kinder 2 who were once alone,

but found that they have so much in common.

The kids' reflections were so meaningful:

"I think they're sad because they don't have any friends."

"Laughing at others make them feel bad."

"Friends help each other."

"He didn't give up."

"They are smiling because they have a friend now."

And of course,

It's always good to be kind.

I told the children that we take these adventures everyday with our friends. And whether or not they're the ones who we always play with, it's good to put these reflections into practice. They'll never know, they might meet a new friend along the way.

To cap off the week, we went off on a mini-adventure to look for sticks and stones.

Of course, we did it with a new friend.