Questioning the World in the ELC

Questions are a window into our world. If the role of school is to help prepare our children to understand, shape and grow the world of tomorrow, then questions are the only way to do this. For, it is only when young minds start to puzzle, wonder, imagine and explore that children can begin to identify with the world around them and come to see themselves as an agent for change in that world. Explore with us some of the questions our NIS learners are wondering about, right now…..

A teacher pointing a picture card on the table to a girl

Q: How can we share information with others?

The children have been collecting data about their likes and dislikes in preschool. This week they used a pictograph to represent data about their favorite fruits. With a...

Q: How can I make a cardboard roll flip high into the air?

In the ELC Kindergarten, teachers and children have been talking about what is an Engineer and a video they watched as a class inspired some students..

Boys and girls lokking at 'Starry Night" and having discussion

Q: Does color change the way we interpret art?

Kindergarten children engaged in collaborative storytelling inspired by two different versions of Starry Night to answer that question. One group of children was shown...

Boys playing with wooden train track at the Early Learning Center

Q: How can we work together to make the longest train track?

Some of preschool students have been very engaged with the train set in their classroom. They have been enthusiastically building a...

A girl in red Disney t-shirt drawing with a purple pencil

Q: How can everybody stay safe and enjoy our time at school?

The kindergarten children have been discussing:Why do they come to school? How do they stay safe at school? How can they...

Q: Which Materials are the Best for Our Outdoor Structure?

A group of the ELC Preschool children took an interest in the outdoor structure in the ELC garden. They began to make changes to "make it beautiful" and started working together to...

Q: Why can't we make an Onigiri (riceball) with this rice?

While preschool students were playing at the rice table, one student asked and the other students answered.
“If you eat this rice you will die!”
“You can’t eat this rice, it will give you a stomach ache”
“It’s not real rice”
The teachers asked the same question to the whole preschool class and found that lots of students believed...

Q: How did the artist make the dots in her artwork?

While they were exploring dots, one of the students got particularly inspired by Yayoi Kusama and two of her artworks, “Balloon Sculptures” and “Obliteration Room”. The student shared his interest and knowledge with his friends and invited them to create their own balloon art. This led to . . .

Q: How do you know you are friends with someone?

The ELC Kindergarten students read "How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids" by Carol McCloud. The story tells us that everyone has an invisible bucket we carry around. We can choose to fill each other’s buckets using kindness or dip from each others buckets. Then the teacher asked students.....