Category Archives: kinder

Apr11

kinder-garden.

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jane

today the kinder saw the space where they will create their garden.

 

—

“why try to explain miracles to your children when you can have them plant a garden?”

-*janet kilburn phillips

*Janet is a gardener who found that she had to employ a growth mindset when she moved to the United States from England. She had previously been creating English cottage gardens but encountered challenges when she tried to grow them in a drastically different climate and in heavy clay soil. After experimenting with her gardens she created a CD called English Cottage Gardening — American Style. She adapted and persevered and found a new way to succeed at something that she loved.

 

 

Jan24

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

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

Jul13

kinder-kat.

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What better place to learn your ABC’s and 123’s than inside of a giant building shaped like a cat?

The kids who attend Kindergarten in Karlsruhe, Germany, do so in a giant feline.

Constructed in 2011 and designed by artist, Tomi Ungerer and architect, Ayla Suzan Yöndel, the whimsical kindergarten is in a big white cat building that includes a door for a mouth below a whisker-lined nose, windows for eyes, and a classroom in its belly. For added fun, kids can even ride down its tail that doubles as a slide.

In terms of architecture that inspires a playful imagination, the Kindergarten Wolfartsweier is remarkable for its embrace of an alternative, animalistic design for what a school can be.

“design is where science and art break even.”

-robin mathew(s)

 

—

source credits: Atlas Obscura, My Modern Met, Milk magazine, inthralled.com,

 

 

Jun9

greenhorn.

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one of my favorite teacher gifts ever

a big, colorful, ceramic unicorn

chosen and painted by a student

body painted green, my favorite color

eyes painted yellow, her favorite color

accents painted black, because they look cool

and a unicorn

because it was a gift straight from the heart.

—

p.s. i named it ‘greenhorn’ because it looks like it has magical powers

 

—

“be a unicorn in a field full of horses.”

-author unknown

Jun2

odoriagaru.

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the kinder were literally jumping for joy

when watching the wind spin the pinwheels on the grass!

—

jumping for joy – leaping-for-joy (japanese)

 躍り上がる (odoriagaru: to spring up, leap to one’s feet) to leap + up.

 

Apr13

boxed in.

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when the kinder have a bunch of boxes

and decide to play

indoor hide and seek

the teachers know

 they will need a lot of help to find them all.

—

“some of the most wonderful people are the ones who don’t fit into boxes.”

-tori amos

Feb4

guts.

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bandaids are the hot item in my classroom

after a number of kinder came up to me asking for one

pleading their case

(many with very old ‘wounds’)

we gathered together

as they each shared

their personal tale of woe:

i got scraped, the paper cut me, it’s red like blood,

you can’t see it, but it’s ouch-y, something poked me,

my sister, something in my pocket did it, nail polish came off of one nail,

bandaid from home is falling off….

we finally got to our last person, who stated:

“this happened to me on the next day after tomorrow.”

—

“life takes guts.” 

 -lucille ball

Jan13

under the rainbow.

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my classroom is chock full of

multi-age kinder (3s-young 5s)

who stay with us for two years.

one of the very best things

is watching the older kinder

who were the younger kinder

just one year before

as they quite naturally and organically grow

to become the leaders/teachers/helpers/mentors

to the new group of younger kinder

who were at home

just one year before.

what a joy it was to watch someone older

spend a very long time

finding all the special markers she needed

to create an easy to see linear rainbow

for someone younger

who wanted to create

her very own rainbow picture

in her very own style

using all the special colors.

judging by their faces

when she finished her very own rainbow

they were both equally proud of the results.

 

—

“nine tenths of education is encouragement.”

-anatole france