What matters to us and what we are wondering about connects us to each other.
As a way for us to get to know the children more deeply and gain an understanding of their interests and prior knowledge about the world, we asked them “what do you wonder about?’. We chose to use this question as the springboard to begin our journey of our collective inquiry.
To begin, we unpacked the meaning of the word “wonder” with the children:
Wonder means learning Julian
Your mind makes you wonder Archie
It’s when you don’t know something but you want to know it Enid
I wonder what would go into a dinosaur’s lunch-box Billy
I wonder why cheetahs are so fast Coen
Then the children shared their wonderings:
I wonder how gravity makes very heavy things like houses stay down Hamish
I wonder how things stay alive when they are so still Archie
I wonder if all of the prep children could be friends Hannah
I wonder when my friend River will be coming back from Fish Creek in a year Miro
I wonder if I could learn how to write properly Hannah
I wonder if all birds’ nests look the same Riley
I wonder why leaves fall in Autumn Harriet
As a team, we analysed the children’s responses and created a range of provocations inviting the children to share and express their wonderings – What we have discovered is that the children have a broad range of interests, wonderings and passions.
We look forward to deepening the students wonderings, interests and passions throughout the year in a meaningful and deep context through a range of project groups.