and this year
santa and his crew will even have plate decorations
and a keuring cup
in case they’re cold and in need of a cup of coffee.
—
“christmas, my child, is love in action.”
-dale evans (american cowgirl star)
Dec25
Tag Archives: children
Dec21
essence of life.
picture from a past solstice celebration
—
every year
one of my favorite things to teach and share with my class
is the story and traditions of the winter solstice
i get to play the sun
the children play the tilting earth and the seasons
who spin and dance and throw snow
as the season changes
the sun stays in the middle
offering extra light
to the other side of the earth now tilting toward it
knowing it will always return to them
even as our days grow shorter
they quietly rest on the ground
waiting, waiting
only to emerge
when the time is right
happy to dance once more
in the light of the warm spring sun.
—
*notes: here is my recipe for the winter solstice, and many thanks to all for your low-tech special effects support of this performance: torn paper snowflakes made by the children, many smiles, a bit of dizziness, a sun doing an interpretive dance, a person to turn off and on the classroom lights at just the right moment, a flashlight, a yellow paper sun, a dj to play the music (‘carol of the bells’ by george winston, and ‘here comes the sun’ by the beatles) at just the right time, and a class full of kinder/whirling twirling planets throwing snow, lying down, and awakening as emerging new life in the spring when the sun returns. somehow it all falls into place, each year a bit differently, as is the way of the world.
—
“spiritually, life is a festival, a celebration. joy is the essence of life.”
-agnivesh
Dec14
a day.
it was a 2 ice-pack kind of day
a bandaid, temperature check, coughing kind of day
but all in all a great day
we learned about the winter solstice
saw part of the big kids’ play
danced and sang in spanish
shared books
had an outdoor adventure
(add in a couple of scratches, a few sticky burrs,a clothing change, and lots of bravery)
but at the end of the day
we all had both mittens
and headed on home.
—
“there is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.”
-alexander woollcott
Dec9
cooking by committee.
we worked hard making
butter
and
savory monkey bread
and
gingerbread cookies
it took a team
lots of
shaking ,stirring, rolling. cutting, chopping, spilling, melting, cooking, waiting, cleaning up
loads of fun
little bits of magic
and
a few mishaps
thrown in for good measure
to make
a perfect day of cooking
tomorrow
we set our fancy table
and
sit down together
to share our feast.
—
“no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.”
-julia child
Dec7
hunters and gatherers.
they quite naturally
are always busy
little hands
hunting and gathering
collecting, counting, carrying
organizing, sorting,
moving, lining up
until it feels and looks just right.
or until recess ends.
whichever comes first.
and then there is a mad rush
to fill pockets, and mittens, and hands
with as much as they can hold
treasure to be transported home
to go through the whole process again.
—
“we used to be hunter-gatherers, now we’re shopper-borrowers.”
-robin williams
Nov19
the land of your childhood.
first snow of the year – outdoor adventure day
—
first time with sustained snow play for many
running, jumping, sticks, snow angels, footprints, chasing,
snow picnic, snow story, snowballs, duck,duck,polar bear game,
lost mittens, noses running, rosy cheeks
eating lots and lots and lots of snow
one said it was the best snack in the world
and it just might be.
—
“there is no land like the land of your childhood.”
-michael powell
Nov15
on the road to discovery.
when the problem is that
you have to drive and carry all of your equipment
it calls for an unconventional solution.
—
“the intellect has little to do on the road to discovery.
there comes a leap in consciousness,
call it intuition or what you will,
the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why.”
-albert einstein
Nov4
gifted.
after 3 days of conferences with parents
sharing stories of each child’s gifts
i’m all talked out
but really loved the conversations.
—
“we are all gifted, that is our inheritance.”
-ethel waters
—
photo credit: bbc earth
Oct15
words of wisdom.
kinder do hands-on research
writing their observations and making conclusions in their notes
“words of wisdom are spoken by children at least as often as scientists.”
-james newman
Sep30
in it.
with the return of the school year
comes the return of our outdoor adventure days.
—
“we could have never loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.”
-george eliot
I didn't have my glasses on.... 