Snow Days

We will be making up snow days on Feb. 21, 22 and 23rd.
So our winter break will just be one day, Feb 24th - no school on that day.

Friends Party and Mid-Winter Themes

On February 14th at 11:45-12:15 the children will celebrate friendship with games, poems, and songs. Parents are welcome to join us and be a part of the fun. Bring Valentines to share! Making valentines is a great project to do at home, and the store-bought valentines with fun pictures are enjoyed by the children as well. So bring whichever is the most fun for your family and child. We will have lunch before the party. I will have a tray for fruit at the party. Please bring a fruit to share. Are you inspired to cut pretty shapes out of fruit or arrange a special plate? That would be great. We will not be having cake or candy.

Valentine's Day offers a wonderful opportunity to gather all we've been learning about being good friends: using friendly words for requests, using polite words such as "please" and "thank you," using our strong voice instead of hitting, listening and responding, negotiating sharing agreements (ex."when can it be my turn?" "I'm almost finished, then you can have it.")taking turns, and, my favorite, asking for help when it is needed. Friends laugh and have fun, and they sometimes cry, and sometimes they fight and make-up. We celebrate being human and all the things we can feel and all the choices we have. We celebrate the joy of being together, the things we have in common and all our differences, too.

Other themes that we have been playing with are houses and homes, for people and animals; staying warm and cozy in the cold; stars and moon, and lighting up the long, dark nights of winter.

The scarf and costume basket has been opened every day lately and we have pale blue for the sky and the element of air with a variety of whistles, red and orange for fire with shakers, drums and stomping with brown and green for earth, and blue silky fabric for water that the children have been surfing and swimming in! Lovely improvisational dancing and music.

As we move into spring, we of course will notice growing things, including the children! As you may have heard from your child, playing doctor has been a favorite game. This leads beautifully into our spring-time focus on body-awareness and all that we can do, and what makes me healthy and strong.

I hope I see everyone on the 14th!

Winter Themes

We looked out the window today at the rain and listened to the wind, watching the leaves falling. The trees are almost completely bare. It's time to change our cozy room table from bright, colored leaves to evergreens with lights. We bring greenery and trees and lights into our homes to remind us of freshness and life and to counteract the gloominess of the season.

All the energy of the trees is going deep into the roots. The bears that we have been "hunting" for weeks (with our binoculars and cameras) are snuggling deep in caves for the winter. The frogs and turtles are burrowed in the mud and so much of our world seems to be sleeping. This is the season for staying warm and cozy. We are thankful for food to eat and warm clothes and home.

I love this time of year and the richness of the story of Christ's birth. We celebrate the mystery of ife, the sacredness of birth and the shining blessing that newborns bring. In this season of increased darkness, the light of Truth shines brightest.

It's also a time when we give each other presents! Little elves are busy, busy making things to give away on Christmas morning (it's so much fun to have secret surprises!)

Pink Play Dough

Bunny Rabbits in the Garden

Put salad on the kids' plates and more than likely it will be met with pickiness. But put them near the garden and they can't stop nibbling!!
Today especially they couldn't stop eating the greens.

But then, who could resist?

Happy Fall

What a beautiful day today. I raked a pile of leaves and Nayelli right away jumped in. The others soon followed. Halloween pumpkins served as perfect pails to collect nuts and leaves.

There was an occasional slight breeze that would send leaves floating down; some twirling fast, others lazily flip-flopping their way to the ground.

We sang one of my favorite chants:

When I rise, let me rise like a bird, joyfully.

When I fall, let me fall like a leaf, gracefully.
With no regrets.

I love this photo of Nora, captured just as

she looked up to see a falling leaf.

I love Wyatt's soulful, contemplative look here. I had just asked him, "Where did all these leaves come from, Wyatt?" he didn't answer for a while, then said, "Tree" in a quiet voice. The mood of the season.

I threw leaves in the air and took this shot at the same time. Nayelli was trying to catch the leaves in her

pumpkin.

musings

Just had to write this down - so funny.





Wyatt and Nora are busy playing with the bean tray. I am in the kitchen preparing for the day.


Persi: (in a stern voice to Nora and Wyatt) Go in the kitchen! GO!


Ella: (calling from the kitchen) Persi wants Nora and Wyatt to go in the kitchen. Persi? Will you say that in a friendly way? You can invite your friends to come in the kitchen with you.


Persi: (to Wyatt with sweet voice) Wyatt, you come in kitchen?


Wyatt: no


Persi gets frustrated and tries to pick him up.


Ella: (now in the living room, with quiet sing-song voice) Wyatt can say yes. Wyatt can say no. Wyatt can say maybe so.


Nora: I can say yes or no, too.


Persi: (standing now with arms waving open, her voice dramatic and sweet and strong) Friends! In the kitchen we eat snack!





I couldn't help it - I burst out laughing. I wonder what would have happened without that interference. I asked, "Who wants snack?" and all said, "Me!" And we all clean up the beans (teamwork!) and go in the kitchen for snack.





All this has me thinking about leadership and authority, manipulation, persuasion, and the balance of power. To be invited to do what I want you to do offers you a choice. If I ask and you say no, I do the sometimes difficult work of letting go of the outcome. As an adult, leading this little tribe I am responsible for, I often must communicate "what we are doing" with no choice involved. I have a handful of skills that creates an atmosphere of cooperation and harmony, such as acknowledging the child's message, "You say 'no, no, I don't want to' you really don't want to!" often diffuses resistance and the child will comply with my request once he/she feels heard.



In case your wondering what the kids are doing while I'm sitting here musing, check it out:
We made blue play dough today!



I think there's a bit of "election blues" in all this, too! Will we ever get to the point in public decision-making where we can communicate clearly, acknowledge the other position and make choices based on the good of all concerned?

As one of my teachers would say, "Stay in the question!"
I don't have answers. One question leads to the other and I try to be present and aware of as much as possible in each moment. I'm aware that the simple things I try to model for the kids: that I am intently listening without judgement, that I care about their tender feelings, that I will always do everything I can to maintain safety for all, that I will provide a peaceful space to be in by maintaining a dependable rhythym to the day, that I will never condone violence . . . . . these simple things are NOT present in our public, shared space. As we try our best to maintain harmony in our homes and treat each other with respect, we are in dissonance with the prevailing culture. That's why creating community, creating culture is so vital. That's a big reason I'm so delighted ddoing this work.

Meanwhile, the kids are done with play dough, and I gotta go!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on all of this!