this is my favorite hide and seek spot of the season.
well done.
—
Feb27
Category Archives: children
Feb25
dinos in snow.
today we took the dinos
out of their safety zone and into the snow
they went
in the playhouse
down the slide
in the hollow log
in the sandbox
climbed up
jumped down
made footprints and snow angels
roamed on dinosaur island
played tag
went to a party
loved the snow
they all had a such a good time and were worn out.
“my son’s always showing me pictures of dinosaurs and asking me what their names are.
i don’t know, so i make stuff up:
that, son is a thesaurus.”
-craig ferguson
Feb23
common ground.
my class has recently become enamored with a giant box of dinos
they play with them every day
create wildly imaginative scenarios
ask questions about real dinos
reassure me that the ones in our room are not real
one day when playing, a child asked
“would they wear masks if they were alive now?”
another jumped up to say
“never, ever, ever, ever, try to put a mask on a t-rex!!!!”
and an instant class book was born
what a brilliant title
others jumped in to offer reasons why you shouldn’t try to mask one
brainstorming was in full swing
some became illustrators
it is a fascinating and funny work in progress.
dinos may have left the earth forever, but books will never die.
—
“stories are the common ground that allow people to connect, despite all our defenses and all our differences.”
-kate forsyth
Feb19
candyland.
the heat is on and a candyland championship game is in play
my absolute favorite game and the competition is tough
there is no crying in candyland.
—
“life is like candyland, there are many paths to take,
sometimes you run into lord licorice, but the end will always take you to the candy castle.”
-jack barakat
Feb18
hostage.
ted’s
where i spent many hours of my childhood
famous to many as a woodward drive-in restaurant and hot rod cruising spot back in the day
famous to me as the scene of many family dinners and celebration spot
and that one suumer day
when my older sisters and i walked up to ted’s
all on our own
the hostess seated us in a booth
feeling very grown up
pooling all of our change
looking at the menus
ordering 2 plates of french fries and lots of ketchup to share
when we finished, so proud of ourselves
the waitress dropped off our bill
my older sisters knew math
realizing that we didn’t have enough money to pay the bill
my sisters somehow negotiated with the waitress
to leave me in the booth while they ran home to get more money
i sat in the booth quietly waiting for their return
feeling what it meant to be a hostage
without ever having heard the word in my young life
i’d still like to know
how they got the waitress to agree to this
how they talked my mom into letting us go up there alone in the first place
perhaps we snuck up there
and what they told my mom when they returned home without me to get more money?
i’ll ask my sister the next time we meet.
not at ted’s.
—
“every happiness is a hostage to fortune.”
-arthur helps
Feb13
crumb.
i will never forget
it was a friday
show and tell time
sitting on the floor
they took turns going around our circle
each child sharing their special thing
other children kindly looking at it
showing appreciation for what the others shared
then we came to n
who clearly had forgotten to bring something
yet said “i have something too”
he proudly walked around the circle
both hands together
gently cradling a single crumb
that he had picked up off our floor
showing each child
talking about his crumb
as the others
were all so kind
smiling at his crumb
complimenting him on his crumb
accepting the crumb as his special thing
without judging his crumb
my favorite show and tell special thing of all time.
—
“the wise learn from the experience of others, and the creative know how to make a crumb of experience go a long way.”
-eric hoffer
Feb10
*happy lmtwgrblkufgdw.
so happy to be celebrating
*Love Makes the World Go Round;
But, Laughter Keeps Us From Getting Dizzy Week: 8-14
i feel lucky to have a job that keeps me laughing.
who else gets to say/respond to such great things at work?
–
“you need to have pants on.”
“try not to touch every person in the room”
“i know you washed your hands this morning, but it is afternoon now.”
“fish don’t really like to be hugged.”
“try to bend your legs to sit on the sled, that is called making them stiff and that is different, try to bend…..”
“did you call me grandpa?”
“it’s important to have both shoes.”
“before we start we all have to promise not to cry if we don’t get to the candy castle first.”
“behind you is that way.”
“why did she call you beth?”
“if you put that in your nose, it might not come out.”
“your snowpants are backwards, let’s see if i can help you fix that.”
“you want to be called something new?”
“i’m pretty sure these are your boots because your parents put them in your bag and they have your name on them.”
“your mom is having a baby but you’re not supposed to tell anyone yet?”
“i’m not sure that ranch dressing is good to drink.”
—
each day is the best day ever.
never a day goes by without a laugh or ten.
—
image credit: puffin puff pastry, google images
Feb9
child’s story.
one of my favorite things is to hear a child tell a story.
—
image credit: nicolette sowder, wilderchild
Jan30
snow panda.
the brave little snow panda masters the road
with a few big challenges along the way.
—
“this would not be a problem if i were driving a snowplow.”
-aaron allston
Jan26
the genius of each.
as i worked on report cards over the last week
putting together my notes
gathering my thoughts
sharing my stories
telling their stories
i was reminded
that each child
has
their own gifts
their own challenges
yet each shares
without fail
a curiosity
a sense of wonder about the world
a desire to learn
and does so
in their own way.
—
“Do not train children to learn by force and harshness,
but direct them to it by what amuses their minds,
so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy
the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”
-Plato
—
image credit: Radhusets Julkalender 2012 – Arte del libro, Arte dell’illusrazione
