Life Academy Makes
Life Academy recently finished their first round of making projects as part of our collaboration. This project gives students the opportunity to express themselves and create And now, onto soldering
Expanding Possibility: the Transformative Nature of Scribble Machines
Wednesday, December 18 was not only my birthday, but also the Lighthouse Community Charter School Winter Expo. Parents are required to attend three events each school year and the Winter Expo is one of them. My mind goes to the single parent, exhausted from a 12-hour workday, having then to trek across Bay Area rush…
Wall Climbing Whatsits
One of the Creativity Lab’s top priorities is to get our community comfortable with the idea of making things, and perhaps more importantly, to learn to be persistent when things get tough and to learn from mistakes made along the way, whatever the project. Take for example the challenges 2nd graders have faced trying to…
Kindergarten Sews
Sewing gives our students so many possibilities to create. This quarter, our Kindergarteners have been learning the basics of sewing using burlap, yarn, and a big plastic needle. Our Kindergarten teachers suggested sewing as the focus for the second quarter because they thought it would be an appropriate challenge for five year-olds and would help…
Families Scribble, Tape, and Electrify
Families engaged in creative play together – an outcome we want to build as we integrate making into our school’s practices. Recently our fourth grade teachers invited their students and families to engage in creating scribbling machines, circuit boards, and a little bit of tapigami. Scribbling machines are fun – they instantly engage people to…
Building and Space Design
Our middle school students have teamed up with Hamilton + Aitken Architects to collaborate on a five-week-long project that has two major goals: first and foremost, we want to introduce our young designers to the concepts and practices that make up building and space design; secondly, students are working to generate ideas and input for…
Kindergarten Sculpts with Sand
Continuing their work with sand, kindergarteners were given the opportunity to work with a mixture of sand, water, and corn starch – which will harden and keep its form over time. In order to make the mixture, you have to heat it to activate the properties of the cornstarch. They were also given a variety…
Topographical Tapigami
“Getting smarter takes work, just like getting stronger physically or becoming a better ball player does. Sometimes it even hurts! But when you feel your brain becoming smarter, all the hard work is worth it!” (Independent School Magazine) Our 4th graders recently started building a topographical map of California using tapigami. They were each given…
Kindergarten Starts with Sand
Our plan for Kindergarten this year is to explore different media each quarter, giving them an opportunity to experience and experiment with a variety of materials. The new group of five-year-olds entering school have been starting with sand and water. We started with dry sand. It didn’t take long to discover that it doesn’t stick…