Category Archives: children

tree huggers.

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 the kinder were very worried about a tree that had lost some of its bark

they spent a long time finding little chunks of bark lying on the ground

trying to piece it back together and fill it in like a puzzle.

some had questions about how it might have fallen off.

‘was it a big, big storm?’

‘did something hurt it?’

‘did it get sick?’

some had thoughts about the tree.

 ‘i remember this tree from when we played here.’

‘that’s kind of sad.’

‘don’t worry, i saw in a book that it will be okay.’

try as they might, they couldn’t get the bark 

to stick back on the bare part of the trunk

they left the pieces nearby on the ground around it

 used a stick to mark where it was

 gave it a hug before we walked back to our classroom.

“there’s nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend.”

-bob ross

reports.

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*frank the 6-month-old puppy with his report card that hailed him as the “life of the party.”


spending the recent past writing report cards
for the kinder
 always a fascinating trip down memory lane
seeing how far they’ve come already

an unlimited distance still to go
the good, the bad, and the unexplained
all the good hearts, dramas, tears, and laughs
each their very own person
learning as we go.

all of us.

*more of frank the puppy’s report card:

“We sent him there because he is truly the most energetic puppy I have ever met,” his mom told Newsweek. “Our older dog needed a break,” she joked.

When Frank came home with the report card, she was in stitches. “I thought it was hysterical when I saw it because I can only imagine that Frank is probably the class clown that’ll do anything for a laugh and that’s definitely his idea of the best time,” she said.

Described on the card as the “life of the party,” the report also says that Frank loved wrestling with his buddies.

“It makes my heart so happy to know that he has so many pals at preschool,” said Spahr. Working on etiquette skills in his preschool class, the report also told Frank’s owners that his best friends are Daisy, Cooper, Vader, Hudson, and even a dog named Angus Beef.

“my report card always said, ‘jim finishes first and then disrupts the other students.”

-jim carrey

 

credits: newsweek magazine uk, alice gibbs

snow very happy.

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“well, I know now.  know a little more how much a simple thing like a snowfall can mean to a person”
― sylvia plath

 

 

tribute.

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during the wake

we all gathered inside

close together

to talk, eat, laugh, cry, listen to music, tell stories, remember

celebrate a life

the children from 4-10

all played together

went outside

chalk in hand

 wrote a beautiful welcome to all who would come

and loving tributes to the one who had left.

“tears are words that need to be written.”

-paul coelho

words on a page.

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ten  years ago

this surprise postcard

appeared in my mailbox 

from a former student

now far away

addressed to peaches

my affectionate nickname

sent to me

when she was seven not yet eight

her only message

a beautiful poem 

summed up

 life

in three lines

love is love

life is life

there is nothing else to it.

i knew way back when

she was just four not yet five

learning

how to hold a pencil to write

she was a beat poet and roller derby queen of adventure.

“one should write because one loves the shape of stories and sentences

and the creation of different words on a page.”

-annie proulx

 

 

 

 

move-in ready!

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this looks like my kind of place!

i have such fond memories of childhood forts-

blanket forts

pillow forts

under the table forts

box forts

tree forts

garage forts

lower bunkbed forts

underground cave forts

behind the couch forts

secret forts

forts with passwords

anything/anywhere/anytime

we could find to makeover into a fort,

we did.

are you ‘pro-fort?’

is yes, what kind of forts did you enjoy?

 

“forte is french for fort.”

*buddy wakefield,  

*american poet, three-time world champion spoken word artist, and the most toured performance poet in history

 

 

 

 

image credit: facebook, ty to b. miller

pathway.

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the kinder discovered a pathway on a hill

covered in beautiful, kind, and encouraging stones

created by the older children

left behind for them to find

“what sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.

these are but trifles, to be sure;

but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”

-joseph addision

warning label.

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this is the kind of note that we sometimes see at arrival

pinned to a child’s school bag

giving us a heads up about how things are going so far.

i think adults should also be able to wear these as needed

in our lanyards or clipped to our clothing or bags

a simple statement of fact

 a quiet warning

when we arrive somewhere

no questions need be asked

just a smile and a nod will do.

“i really should come with a warning label.”

-tom upton, american author

dream big.

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watching the big kids and wishing you were on the other side of the fence. 

 

 

“dream big, little one.”

-a.u.

all over the globe.

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“the children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe;

and i’m beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this

may be incapable of morality.”

-james baldwin

 

 

 

 

art credit: kana handel, ‘war is not the answer’