Building Routines and Flexibility with the Owls (ages 5-7)

Red Fox Community School
Nov 25
4 min read

Updated: Nov 26

by Sarah Post

The start of the school year in the Owls classroom is filled with excitement and anticipation. We are excited to see old friends and meet new students joining our school as first year Owls. We anticipate all the fun things we know are waiting for us: Hawgolwood, field time, snack time, cooking, outdoor living skills, math games, making art, singing songs and reading poems, playing with blocks and the list goes on and on. After transitioning from our summer selves to our back-to-school selves, we find comfort and familiarity as we settle into our rhythms and daily schedules. Owls enjoy their morning routines (putting belongings in cubbies, reading the schedule and heading to the field), hand washing, listening to each other and expressing our feelings in healthy ways. Owls also work on listening to their bodies and building the stamina to make it through a full day. At snack and lunch times, we often talk about the importance of eating food to fuel our bodies. We give space for all the emotions in the Owls classroom. It’s okay to miss home and be ready for the end of the day. During our Closing Circle we reflect by sharing parts of our rose from the day: rose (favorite), bud (looking forward to), thorn (did not like) and stem (grateful for). Owls practice active listening skills during this time by keeping their eyes on the speaker and their voices off.

This fall Owls have been practicing being flexible in our minds and our bodies. Every day we read our schedule which is in many ways quite routine and anchors us to our day, but sometimes we need to be flexible when things change that are out of our control. One day this fall we had to stay inside during Hawgolwood time as there was a thunderstorm and lightning outside. Another time we practiced having a fire drill which interrupted our morning work time. We also enjoy a different kind of day every Friday when we explore our community through field trips and special guests. Flexibility is always a good muscle to flex figuratively and literally! Speaking of actual muscles, every day after morning field time, Owls take time to do some stretches and exercises in the classroom before we have our morning meeting. Pushing and pulling and stretching helps our bodies feel ready to listen and try our best. We like to try new morning exercises as well. Some fun ones we’ve learned this fall are boat, happy baby, full body stretches, dead bug, super hero and bird dog. Another routine that flexes our brain is sharing daily riddles. As we listen to the riddle, we turn our brains on and if we have an answer we keep it to ourselves until snack time to share so we don’t turn anyone else' s brain off. Oftentimes, Owls come up with equally funny alternative answers to our riddles!

Our first project of the year was spurred by investigating our identities. Owls read the books, Twig, All Are Welcome and We’re Different and It’s Totally Cool to start talking about what makes us unique. Owls used mirrors to study their features closely and we talked about the shape of our heads, eyes, noses, ears, and mouths. Then we experimented with lots of different shades of colored pencils to find the one that matches our skin tone. The result was a collection of beautiful self portraits the Owls are proud to have displayed in the classroom. In another book we read together, we noticed a fun activity and wondered what would happen if we tried it! What if we traced our bodies and made life size cut outs of ourselves? This was a fun and engaging way to keep investigating how we identify through our appearance and our style. The next step is an identity collage that will include many ways to share about ourselves for example, how we celebrate special occasions and holidays, our favorite foods, and our interests and languages we speak.

Another routine Owls love is Read Aloud. This fall in addition to many picture books we read all six chapter books in the Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo. Owls loved reading about the silly adventures of Mercy and how they always seem to end with hot buttered toast. We all agree life is better with hot buttered toast especially when eaten with eggs from our own chickens.

In the Owls classroom we know it’s important to have routines and to be flexible when the unexpected happens. Leaving space for questions and following the lead and personal interests of Owls makes for an environment that is fun and engaging. The balance of choice, structure and process is important. Fall is a wonderful time to give students the opportunity to slow down, think, build, create, learn from mistakes and be themselves.