The Light of Day

First graders capture light and shadow
in their photographs.

"OMG, it's a disco rainbow!"

Naturally occurring rainbows are awesome to behold, no matter your age. But when you're a first grader and it appears in your cubby, that's pure magic. Even more so because Mrs. Lamonaca's first graders have been observing the characteristics of light. It is consistent with the Reggio Emilia philosophy. Embrace the natural world. Understand its affect on people and other living things.

Students here are encouraged to wonder, ask questions, share observations, and make sense of their world in a manner that is unscripted and mindful of their intellectual needs. Their study of light is inspired and purposeful. After all, the sun is a dominant presence in our lives. Why waste the sun as a source of energy or as an opportunity to develop inquiry skills in young minds? So they spend class time, playing with and making sense of light and shadows. They write about, sketch, paint, shape and even capture them in their own photographs.  To them, it's a natural way to study the natural world. Everything seems so much clearer in the light of day.