concrete to the abstract to concrete expression

As has been mentioned before in the blog, education should proceed from the concrete to the abstract and back as children express abstract concepts in concrete form. I can think of no better example to illustrate this than the first and second grade classroom at Clear Spring School. As you know, the first and second grade students have been studying native Americans, and building representations of their lives and utilizing their crafts to come to a deeper level of understanding. What you see in the photos above, are their concrete expressions of learning, weavings from the southwest, teepees from the plains, and each object represents hours of study in concrete form. Tomorrow, if the weather holds they will add one more example of Native American culture to their studies, that of the people of the Pacific Northwest. We will make a totem pole.