What do you see?
Through the use of our light projector, we were intrigued, engaged, and inquisitive about the mechanics and theoretical reasoning’s behind the process of light and it’s wavelengths. Questions are unfolding; Where is the...
Prekindergarten Tag
Engaging with Colleagues at Havergal Junior School
One of Richland’s SK teachers, Mrs. Daniel and one of Richland’s PK teachers, Miss Howe, enjoyed a wonderful morning at Havergal Junior School. They were able to spend the morning in Havergal's...
Technology in Prekindergarten
Inquiring Minds brings you inside Richland Academy’s Prekindergarten classroom to discover how these young students connect with technology. Thank you to Mrs. Abreu and Ms. Howe for sharing their insights. The PK children...
Who am I in the group?
Inquiring Minds is delighted to share this post from our Prekindergarten teachers, Mrs. Abreu and Ms. Howe. Our journey began with exploring the words ‘I’ and ‘me.’ This concept of ‘Self’ began to emerge...
Capturing a moment of learning…
Inquiring Minds is delighted to share this insightful post from one of Richland’s Prekindergarten teachers, Mrs. Lisa Abreu. A pencil, a ‘Writing book’ and an iPad set the scene for a child’s discovery...
PK & JK ‘Messing About’ with the Hawkins Exhibit
Today’s blog post comes from Richland’s PK and JK teachers, and captures the experience they had with their students. After the official opening of the Hawkins Exhibit, ‘Cultivate the Scientist in Every Child’,...
THE ETHIC OF EXCELLENCE revealed through children’s sketches.
Inquiring Minds is delighted to share this incredible piece from Richland’s Prekindergarten teacher, Mrs. Abreu. Enjoy. As Interactive Learning centres were taking place, two children embarked on the beginnings of their identity panels...
“His Cage is His Habitat.”
This year, our PK and JK friends have taken a keen interest in animals, which is playing out in a number of different ways in each of the classrooms. Fregly, the school’s...
Learning unfolds through the Power of Collaboration in PreK
Inquiring Minds is delighted to share this wonderful learning story, as captured by our PreK Teacher, Mrs. Abreu. A book, our tadpoles, and water colour paints. L.H. and I.N. are curious and are...
Saving Baby Ducks – A Parent’s Engaging Learning Story
Inquiring Minds is delighted to share this wonderful story from one of our families of how they came to rescue a family of ducks – and the learning that unfolded. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Last year we noticed ducks swimming in the murky, nutrient-rich water above the pool cover. Once the pool was treated and opened, they disappeared. This year has been a different story!
We’d been seeing a male and female duck swimming in our pool over the last month. On Sunday of the long weekend Y. said, ‘Look Mommy, duckies!’ Well, there was the mama duck and 10 baby ducklings swimming in our pool! The nest must have been nearby but we still can’t find it. The babies were likely just a day old. Excited comments from Y. included: ‘I’m going to go swim with the ducks’; ‘They’re so cute!’; ‘I’m going to show S. the baby ducks.’ 
The duck family had to return to their natural habitat – but how?
While the rest of us stayed far back (in case mama duck attacked), Y.’s papa and our neighbour used the pool skimmer to collect the 10 ducklings and put them in a box. H. documented the whole undertaking on video.
We headed up the road to the Mill pond ensuring the mama duck was following us (poor things, she and ducklings were so stressed). It was critical she stay near her babies and not get scared and abandon them. We placed them near the pond. There were lots of people around and we had to hold them off so mama duck could be reunited with the ducklings. And then the poor mama was being bothered by the mallards, mating season apparently.
Throughout this adventure, I waited for Y. to make a connection with her ‘Baby Chicks’ exploration at school. As we related the story to her cousins who were visiting that weekend, I was delighted to hear Y. share with lots of giggles: ‘I hold the baby chicks at school!’ ‘J. blowed on the baby chick.’ ‘The baby chicks are so cute!’ 
That night we were very concerned. Would the baby ducks survive at the main pond? Perhaps we should have left them at the river across the street where it’s quieter. We couldn’t wait for morning to come! The next day we went to visit and saw mama duck with 7 babies swimming at the far end of the pond. It was a bittersweet ending but we were happy to see them in their natural habitat. H. shared philosophical thoughts about ‘the circle of life’. 
This past Sunday we visited again. The weather was beautiful and the Mill Pond was very busy, tonnes of people around and many feeding the ducks. We found the mama and baby ducks, swimming happily where we saw them last. We saw only 6 ducklings this time.
The baby ducks had grown considerably, chubby little things. Again, lots of excitement. Y.: ‘Happy Birthday duckies, where’s your mommy?’ ‘Oh, they’re so cute!’ ‘Baby ducks are sparkly.’ Indeed, the water made their feathers glistening in the sun.