A Tapestry of Play: A Glimpse into Long-View Micro School's Approach to Nurturing Growth Through Physical Play

The midpoint of our day at Long-View is the hour we spend at Pease Park, just an 8-minute walk down the road. But this isn’t just “a break” or “recess.” Congruent with the rest of our school day, it is an intentionally designed time to provide rich experiences for our learners.
Since the founding of the school nearly ten years ago, we have recognized the importance of unstructured free play and reflected on the value of this time. Live Oak Meadow at Pease Park is the stage where different forms of play unfold organically, contributing to the rich experiences that define our school. Learners play and interact in ways that they choose; adults are mindfully observant but not controlling or “managing” behavior. Opportunities for creating games and facilitating other positive forms of engagement or play are plentiful. And thus, so is the opportunity for learners to increase their understanding of conflict and practice effective resolution of conflict. During this time in nature, children can also feel calm, soaking up the proven stress relief that nature brings, and improve their senses as well as develop important sensory integration….

park timeLisa ZapalacDecember 20, 2023Long-View Micro Schoolfree play, park, recess, nature

Build Week 15 Takes Off

It was 9am on Monday of Build Week 15, and learners were already saddling up to head for the park – not yet sure what they’d be making across the week. When they arrived at the park, teachers handed each team two model gliders: one larger one made of foam and one smaller made of balsa wood. Then, equipped with a clipboard, three strings of varying lengths, basic information about gliders and two blank data tables, teams set off to run three test flights on each glider, measuring the distance of each trial and observing the differences in the designs of the gliders. By then, they’d gotten the picture: this week, they’d be designing for flight.

The “bird’s-eye-view” of our plan for the week might be helpful for readers: Teams design, build, and test small-sized gliders to maximize flight distance and an aerodynamic ratio, applying their knowledge of fluid dynamics to its role in flight. Teams walk themselves through the entire engineering design process, from brainstorming to drafting, including team-driven research (physics of aerodynamics and glider components that take advantage of that science), creating materials lists, constructing, testing and evaluating—all within constraints, and concluding with a final launch day/competition.

build weekLisa ZapalacMay 13, 2023Long-View Micro Schoolbuild week, science, math, engineering, park

The Importance of Unstructured Free Play

I have many fond memories of my childhood, but the ones that are most prevalent, and arguably times when I learned about problem solving and navigating sometimes contentious social situations, are the ones when I engaged in unstructured free play with other kids from the neighborhood. I’m talking hours upon hours of time playing tag, climbing trees (and falling out of them), building forts out of found sticks, and catching frog spawn from the creek with these neighborhood children (not all of which I got along with) until the street lights came on signaling it was time to go home…

Reflections from Park Time by Elizabeth Bayer Morgan

“Turtle,” yelled Esme as she stood with her toes nearly touching the water of Shoal Creek. Avi was standing next to her and held a long stick he was using to point to a rock near him. He yelled, “Right here -- a turtle! Come see!” Greta scampered down the limestone rocks she was sitting on, and William quickly put his sandwich to rest on his bento box as he hopped into the creek bed. The four children stood eagerly watching from a respectful distance as the turtle plopped into the water from his sunning rock. As I watched this scene unfold and the sun shone on us, I realized what a gift these children, and I, have....

Lisa ZapalacOctober 14, 2017park, nature, Last Child in the Woods, Creating Innovators, playtime

Park and Lunchtime at Long-View

Every day from 11:30 to 12:30 you'll find us at Pease Park, on the banks of Shoal Creek. Having worked at many schools in which lunch time was synonymous with a noisy cafeteria or dining hall and typically involved a slew of rules and a rushed meal, our routine at Long View is a welcome break.

There is something special about our walk down the street from our Lab . . . we decompress and have a moment of being out and about, amidst the noisy bustle of the street that leads to the UT campus…

GeneralLisa ZapalacSeptember 24, 2015Long-View Micro Schoolpark, lunch, recess, play