Tag Archives: children

i love cinnamon.

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‘i love cinnamon and baking with my mom.’ – h

 class bakery day

 the children worked

very hard

over the last few weeks

learning

about bread

about baking

how sharing bread is a way to welcome others

 every culture makes and eats and shares bread

listened to books about bread and baking

practiced ‘baking’ with play-dough

baked real lemon bread at school

baked breads at home

bought breads at the store

made signs and decorated tables

learned about buying and selling using pennies

gave other classes pennies

that they had to ‘earn’ by working in their rooms

invited other classes, faculty, staff, and families

to come to our room for a big bakery event

said they would give pennies or free bread

to anyone who had no money or food

families supported their efforts

making this day so special

 everyone went home

very full, very tired, very happy.

the bakery in full swing

“anyone who gives you a cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven is a friend for life.”

-daniel handler

thank you.

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“I made this thank you note. I’m going to give it to my family.”

“what are you thanking them for?”

“I’m going to thank them for being my family.”

 

“if the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”

*Meister Eckhart

 

 

*Eckhart von Hochheim (c. 1260 – c. 1328), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, was a German theologian, philosopher, and mystic.

back to the future.

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back to school today

back to the kinder

who are not limited by conventions

and are open to the future. 

growing.

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as we watched 

the big kids perform

‘a christmas carol’

the kinder 

kept whispering

and asking 

‘why is that man so mean?’

‘why is he so crabby?’ 

‘how can he be that mean?’

I told them that later in the play

mr. scrooge’s heart will grow

and he will learn to be nice 

just like what happened to the grinch

 it made my own heart grow

 to think about

their innocence 

their naturally kind and compassionate state of being

how they could not even begin to imagine

why someone would choose to be mean.

‘i think being nice is more important than being clever.’

-ricky gervais

 

carefully.

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kinder carefully bathe their babies

each with their own method

including a squeegee

all were clean and happy.

“it is the nature of babies to be in bliss.”

-deepak chopra

light and dark.

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kinder create 

then it’s all dark

 turn on the black light

 their art comes alive

like magic.

“every moment of light and dark is a miracle.”

-walt whitman

kid congress.

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my grandson, Jackson (in the green shirt and shorts)

who loves

people, animals, kindness, dancing, laughing, and tacos

has become a part of a new kid congress

a group springing from the legacy of

 ‘kid president’

(who has now grown into a young man)

with a mission to show

that kids can help to change the world for the better

thank you to kid president for passing the torch

 giving more kids the opportunity to bring good to the world

i couldn’t be prouder of these little people with gigantic hearts.

(if you have two minutes, use the link below to meet the new congress)

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKidPresident%2Fvideos%2F482365435733994%2F&show_text=0&width=560

“children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.”  

John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States

 

 

credits: kidpresident.com, soul pancake

the teacher is the learner.

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what an honor and a pleasure

it was

to have spent two days 

with intelligent caring educators from many places 

coming together 

to

share, discuss, question, wonder, listen,

learn from each other

about leading

 respectful, compassionate, joyful, creative, curious, playful, democratic classrooms

for young children

where they begin

to discover and grow a love of learning

about the world near and far

every experience

preparing them for what is beyond

this comforting place

they call school.

 

“the limit of your present understanding

is not the limit of your possibilities.”

-guy finley

that’s going to leave a mark.

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“a child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.”

– Chinese Proverb

a little kindness.

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in our after-school art club

the children painted kindness stones

and hid them in the garden

for other children to find


knowing it would make them smile

when they discovered these secret stones

 hoping they would do the same for others

passing on their surprise and joy

upon finding a bit of kindness

left just to make them happy

and then hiding them again

for others to discover.

 

“a little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.”

-john ruskin