the kinders made a wonderful house for rocket the turtle,
with many rooms and spaces,
including his very own garden and library.
—
“until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things,
man will not himself find peace.”
-albert schweitzer
kinder gets up close.
—
“you can impress from a distance, but you can only impact up close”
-howard g. hendricks
kinders explore light and shadows.
—
‘find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows,
the light, and the dark which that thing provides.’
-junichiro tanizaki
sweet kinder spends her free choice time playing with the doll house.
when i stop over for a visit and ask why all the people are facing one way
she tells me they are waiting in line for the one bathroom.
(if you look closely, all the way to the right,
you’ll see the one toilet with someone sitting on it,
as well as a chef serving food out of a window,
and more people and animals scattered around downstairs)
what an amazing real world scenario.
how can i not love every single day of my job?
—
‘waiting in line is a great opportunity to meet people, daydream, or play.’
-patch adams
kinder climbs to the top and reaches back down.
—
“the way I see it, if you climb the wall,
you reach back down and help the next one up.”
-carolyn aronson
spent time in my classroom
doing some pre-planning with my team
and saw how thorough
our summer cleaning crew had been.
i especially loved the note they left on the chairs:
they did not merely say
‘chairs cleaned’
but instead they kicked it up a notch to an ’11’
the ‘disinfected’ level
for the kinders’ chairs.
i can certainly appreciate that.
—
“growth itself contains the germ of happiness.”
-pearl s. buck
kinders find tiny ants, roly-poly’s, and baby spiders
when playing on the sidewalk
and decide to create a playground for them
using all of their pretty chalks.
—
“everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
-confucius
out walking with the kinders
i come up behind
an unlikely pair
who generally aren’t together,
mid-conversation.
one who is learning to cope
with separating from a twin,
the other who is having a hard time coping
with separating from a best friend.
the only real separation
is that the friend/twin in each case
wants to seek out other friends
and expand their horizons.
one says to the other,
“i know she wants to play with other people
and when she needs to do that,
i just let her go.
i know it’s what she has to do
and then she comes back later.”
the other responds,
“wow. how do you do that?”
she answers,
“it’s just what you do.”
i am amazed by
this four year-old’s insight and advice,
as many adults
still have not mastered this understanding.
—–
the only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on.
it is never of any use to oneself.
– oscar wilde
—
image credit: google images
as our year together
comes to an end
sharing
an oval rug
a room
a building
the great outdoors
the community around us
we venture into new territory
making the leap
across snake rock
something new
and not so scary
with big kids
to lead the way
and
teachers
standing by
quietly watching
as
they grow into
their next adventure
with little fear
with great excitement
and
just a few tears.
—
“ listen to the mustn’ts, child,
listen to the don’ts.
listen to the shouldn’ts.
the impossibles, the won’ts.
listen to the never haves.
then listen close to me—
anything can happen, child,
anything can be.”
– shel silverstein
we did not give up
after
our sea monkeys
never hatched
and
did not live
to rule the kingdom
of kindergarten
and now
we’ve welcomed
‘lobo’ the fish
yes, it means wolf
named by
our spanish teacher
whose only pet was a dog
and ‘lobo’
feels like
what a pet means
to her
and to us
and we tried
to make
his new home
look like the ocean
and sparkle like the sea
and say hi to him each day
and feed him when he’s ready
and invite him to nap when we do
and let him hear us singing and playing
and give him clean water when he needs it
and we hope
‘lobo’
is as tough
as a wolf dog
and lives
a happy life
with us
for a long time.
—-
do not tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly,
don’t tell them where they know the fish.
– mark twain
I didn't have my glasses on.... 