A Child’s Perspective
The Sonoran Desert is full of subtle beauty. Our campus offers a tucked away oasis of desert gardens for students to investigate and explore. Children seem to have an innate ability to wonder at the beauty that surrounds them, and spring has brought beautiful blooms of color throughout the desert landscape that continues to ignite their amazement.
Three-year-old student looking through a View Finder to focus in on details
Our youngest class, the Quails, has taken a special interest in nature walks this year, visiting both the Memorial Garden and the Chapel Garden on campus. Each time they visit the space, children make deeper connections and expand their knowledge. On their first nature walk, they simply observed the desert around them, noticing the distinct features such as the sand, water, and variety of cactuses.
“It’s a big cactus!”
“Not small, big!”
“It has spikes.”
“It’s green. It has one arm.”
“It looks like a circle one.”
Small groups revisited the space again, bringing clipboards to document their observations. Then again, with View Finders to focus in on smaller details.
“Look at this tree!”
“It’s bumpy.”
“It looks white out today.”
“That’s because it’s cloudy.”
On their next visit, digital cameras were offered. From behind the lens, the child’s unique perspective is illuminated as they approach from different angles, zooming in on the details and noticing the colors, the subtleties, and the contrasts.
“I just love cameras”
“I pictured it!”
“I took the pictures of the bugs!”
“I took a picture of the air (sky) because it’s my favorite color.”
“I took a picture of the bug cactus!”
Examples of photographs taken by three-year-olds
The Quail class has explored their desert context this year in a way that has been meaningful and purposeful. Across our school, each classroom has taken a unique approach to thinking about the desert that surrounds us. We are excited to highlight these works in our annual Atelier Exhibition (formerly known as “Art Walk”) the week of May 16th – 20th. Each class will have their own time set aside for parents to join in an End of Year celebration and viewing of the exhibit. See class schedule below.
Monday, May 16th
Cottontail 9 AM – 10 AM
Jackrabbit 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Tuesday, May 17th
Javelina 9 AM – 10 AM
Quail 11 AM – 12 PM
Wednesday, May 18th
Owl 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Thursday, May 19th
Gecko 9 AM – 10 AM
Roadrunner 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Friday, May 20th
Cottontail 9 AM – 10 AM
Tortoise 11 AM – 12 PM