Taller Colibri Philosophy

The parents and teacher at Taller Colibri have collaborated on creating this statement of our philosophy and intent at the school. We are just about to conclude a successful first year.

On Curriculum:
--A child-centered curriculum promotes motivation and self-determined challenges.
--A project-based curriculum helps to ensure a multimodal approach, addressing diverse learning styles.
--Find the teachable moments instead of pushing a prefabbed agenda - in each situation and with individual children
--Contact with Oaxaca's culture, natural attractions, language, traditions and historic places is an integral part of the school's identity.
--Real learning emerges comes from the freedom to explore (especially within the natural world, or with the help of interesting resources and materials.)

On structure:
--A multiage classroom promotes deeper learning and more open peer relationships.
--The day follows a rhythm that reflects the needs of the students, moving between outdoor, indoor, whole group and individual activities.
--The school is cooperative. Members make decisions together and share work and responsibilities.

Educational philosophy:
--Traditional academic knowledge is no more valuable than other types of knowledge and ways of interacting with the world
--ACTIVE learning and CURIOSITY about the world are the most important things to foster and help inspire.
--Learning is fun. We all learn from each other (teachers are students, students are teachers).
--The best way to 'teach' children to care for the natural environment is to give them time and space to enjoy it - children naturally love the world
--Trust the growing process of each child - do not push children to achieve outward measurements of success
--Let kids be kids
--Model kindness
--Learning can be messy

Field Trip Friday

One of the best features of the Taller Colibri school in Oaxaca is Field Trip Friday. These are trips led by parents on a rotating basis. We've done regular field trip stuff like the local zoo, to more exotic stuff like a visit to the ruins at Yagul, more than 1000 years old.



On Fridays, we meet at the Organic Market in the Xochimilco neighborhood of Oaxaca City to catch a delicious breakfast.



From there we move on to a short seminar with Maestra Suzanna, then we head out to the field trip location.



This past week we had a great time, heading up toward the mountains to the north of town for a picnic and a swim in a cool stream on a hot day.



The kids found a huge rock to slide down. They had to pour water on it to get it working right--an experiment that dovetailed nicely with last Autumn's physics unit.
We also experienced some little leeches first hand, and boy did we get those things off quick!
It was a bit buggy up there, but we wisely brought along some medicinal clay from the Donahi neighborhood (from another great field trip Friday mission)--we coated our legs with it and the bugs couldn't bug us.
A good time was had by all.

Slug Hunt

One of the coolest things about Taller Colibri is that the back yard is a combination science lab / semi-tropical jungle. And it's gorgeous.



And let me tell you, preschoolers Genevieve and Samuel have discovered the perfect way to start the day at Colibri... SLUG HUNT!

Carnivorous Plants

This past week at Taller Colibri, the kids have been working with carnivorous plants--as any parent knows, most children just go nuts for them! Lucky for us, we were able to find some for cheap at a gorgeous organic nursery here in Oaxaca -- we scored a sundew plant for all of 30 pesos, less than three bucks.



We also scored a venus flytrap and more to bring to the school site, where the students can enjoy watching the plants eat a few bugs.

The picture here is a drawing I made of a sun dew plant. Okay, so they don't really have eyes, I just added that for a dramatic effect.

Next up, Taller Colibri is doing a unit on magic. We'll look at the life of Harry Houdini and learn some tricks.