Category Archives: children

Jan4

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

 

 

 

 

Dec9

move-in ready!

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this looks like my kind of place!

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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

 

 

 

 

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image credit: facebook, ty to b. miller

Dec1

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

Oct29

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

Oct25

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.

Oct20

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

 

 

 

 

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

Oct18

taking flight.

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when playing outside

the kinder found a dead bird

they called out to everyone to come over to see it

 they said goodbye to the bird and told her that they were sad that she had died

  we put a circle of pretty leaves around her to keep her safe on her journey.

—

“teach them to be kind to animals and they will grow up to be kind to people too.”

-rumi

Oct6

questions and ideas.

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while on our recent visit to the farm

one of the 3-year old kinder

asked the farmers why the windmill wasn’t spinning

after a short discussion about the wind and movement

he put it all together and was happy to know the answer.

when we sat next to each other on the bus for our return to school

he turned to me with a big smile and said,

“you know, i just love, love, love learning.”

and it almost brought me to tears.

—

“the capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.”

-brian herbert

 

 

 

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image credit: kobi yamada, apg sales and distribution,

 

Oct5

on the farm.

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the kinder visited the farm today

met farmers megan and amy

said hello to the animals

had a tractor ride

saw the community garden

walked into the pumpkin patch

said thank you to the land and the plants

for making and sharing the pumpkins with us

they’ll give back

by planting the seeds from a pumpkin

to make new pumpkins at school

 said thank you to the farmers

who taught us so much

who day in and day out

make all of the magic happen.

 

—

“we have neglected the truth that a good farmer is a craftsman of the highest order, a kind of artist.”

-wendell berry

Oct3

stuck.

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the kinder are learning about the magical powers of glue.

 

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