and so we went to find art.
and after we ran so far,
and climbed so many stairs,
we could see the sky.
and there we found
a beautiful stone lion waiting for us.
we must have climbed to the top of the world.
and we were in the clouds.
Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. ~Twyla Tharp
what a great day at the farm, where we met farmer chris, who taught us many things.
we learned that eggs come in all colors, and shapes, and sizes.
we learned that the littlest of baby goats will follow us, just to be part of a group.
we learned that even a strong-looking pony, needs to be gently cared for.
we learned that it was nice to have someone waiting there to greet us when we returned back to the barn.
and when the farmer on a tractor gave us a bumpy ride on a wagon,
we learned the world is even bigger than we thought,
and filled with many more wonders ahead,
yet to discover.
—
“Children are born naturalists. They explore the world with all of their senses, experiment in the environment,
and communicate their discoveries to those around them.”
The Audubon Nature Preschool
part of my life as a full-day kindergarten teacher is having lunch with the kids 3 days a week. it’s especially fun because the pre-kindergartneners also share our table, and while we might not get much time to eat, it never fails to be exciting and i am endlessly fascinated by their take on the food.
here are some chickeny stripnuggetstick things
here are some fishy stripnuggetstick things
they are never quite sure what to ask for, or what we’re having, when wanting more.
every year, someone declares themselves to suddenly be a ‘bege-tarian’,
because they like animals.
and they stop eating any meat,
but somehow they don’t identify our nuggetstickstrip items as meat,
and i understand completely.
and i loved the day when one of them asked for syrup to go on their foodstripnuggety item.
why do you want syrup, i asked?
aren’t these french toast strips?, they answered.
i’m not really sure, but let’s go with that.
—
Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.
Mark Twain
it was building day in kindergarten and all kinds of things were being built.
both those one could easily see and proudly carry home, and those one could carry inside forever.
I personally believe we were put here to build and not to destroy.
Red Skelton
——
image credits: j. kurtz
s, age 4, has taught himself to read. here, he has a teaching moment, when he reads a challenging non-fiction book, about the amazing story of two unlikely animals who became the best of friends. the animals were drawn together, through circumstance and fate, and each found what they needed in the other, becoming somehow better, and changed forever, by being together. as s reads aloud to his classmates, they begin to understand this, and learn that all things are possible.
“Teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two loves together.”- Scott Hayden
—–
* title quote credit: a saying, alternately attributed to Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni and the Theosophists.
it was a morning spent with the kindergarten on an ice skating adventure. filled with tip-toeing on skates, scooting on boots, giving rides on cones, running on ice, holding hands, tumbling, crashing, laughing, noses running.
and all this, as our little hockey playing and figure skating kinders skate on by.
when it’s time to warm up with hot cocoa and donuts, they find themselves on equal ground, and they are all exhausted and so happy. and then, even our hockey players cry when it is time for moms and dads to leave, and for us to return to the cozy comfort of the circle rug in our classroom once more. and some of us feel newly discovered muscles in their legs the next day, that are apparently never used in this way, and take it real slow when going down the stairs.
I would say my sense of adventure outweighs my grace – Kathy Ireland
——–
image credits: freshcardsgifts.co.uk, partylistyles.com
image credit: wwll vintage gas ration ad
i love my carpool. there are only two of us, but any more than one living thing in a car at the same time, and i consider it a pool. on most days, we drive together to and from school, in our cars with character – mine is ‘diablo rojo,’ and m’s is ‘sharfonda.’ driving together has many benefits: not only do we save money on gas, and help preserve a smidgen of the world’s energy supply, but the company is wonderful.
we are very much alike, and talk about everything. and make up poetry and tell stories and laugh and go off on tangents and share philosophies and cry and sing. and get lost occasionally, as neither of us has an innate sense of direction. we compare our students, ‘m’ teaches english and poetry at our high school and i, on the opposite end of the spectrum, teach kindergarten in our lower school. even so, we find that many of our student and family and teaching issues are very similar, and we listen and support each other and offer advice. our drive usually takes us about 45 minutes, if all is well along the way, and we don’t end up in some place we hadn’t planned on.
but – on some days, things happen. life may be challenging, we are worrying about someone or something, there are issues on the road, there is a tornado watch, a blizzard, a rain squall, or construction events, or we feel like we are driving through a video game, and we have had it, and need some extra support.
we discovered our cure one day, when it had been a particularly challenging drive. and m suddenly yelled out, ‘quick, turn in! it’s a tim horton’s and we need to go there now!’ i was behind the wheel, and diablo rojo did as requested. as we entered the drive-through we decided that we needed (and deserved), a few ‘tim-bits’ (delicious tiny donut holes), to help us make it the rest of the way and to instantly give us a pick me up. we quickly scanned the menu options:
Timbits:
10 pack – 1.50
20 pack – 2.50
40 pack – 4.75
we decided it was a 40 timbits kind of day.
and we were soon on our way, making up timbit haiku and laughing once again.
image credit: http://www.newswire.ca
Chef Andrea Nicholson, of Top Chef Canada, with the Tim Hortons Timbits cake she created.
Nearly four feet tall, the cake contains more than 1,500 Timbits.
for chef andrea, it was a 1,500 timbits kind of day, must have been a tough one.
—
But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold. – Oliver Wendell Holmes
finally all back together in school this week, and the kindergarten made the most out of enjoying what mother nature had left behind for us to play with. we headed out to go sledding on a ‘hill’ that could best be described as no more than a 23-degree angle, though to see their eyes upon approaching it, it appeared to be their first encounter with the swiss alps. even so, it was a challenge to get to the top, as the snow was quite deep and their legs were quite tiny. but motivated they are, and they hiked up to the summit, over and over, jumped on sleds, headed down, and marched back up.
all except for one little guy. he stayed on the sidelines, even when invited up, and instead rolled around and ran around and laid in and laughed and ate all the snow he could handle. when it was time to leave and stomp back in, he began crying and yelling out, ‘you didn’t let me go sledding!!!!!’ his outburst was met with great understanding by my class who simultaneously burst out laughing. it was at this point perhaps, that he realized he had made his own choices, and this was not a great argument. the sobbing stopped.
There’s no fear when you’re having fun – Will Thomas
when everyone made it back inside, they warmed up, had a snack, went to music class, made puzzles, read books, ate lunch and suited up for another trip outside, this time to the playground. once out there, they saw that their familiar playground had been turned into a winter wonderland. there was fresh, fluffy, deep, white, sparkling snow everywhere, totally untouched by any other kids!
they jumped in it, rolled in it, made snow balls and snowmen and snow castles, played with ice chunks, went down the slides covered with snow, filled buckets with snow, made snow angels, snapped icicles off of their playhouse, climbed things, tried to run in the snow, and loved every minute of it. after a long time spent playing on our ‘winter beach’ we headed back inside once again. after taking off all of our layers and hanging them to dry, everyone was absolutely exhausted. it was nap time. and we had earned it.
image credit: mnh.si.edu
When you’re really having fun, you’re always doing it a little bit in a way that you’re not supposed to.
That’s when great things happen.
image credit: metro.co.com
today, they are back. we are all to be reunited at school once more. we have survived the holiday vortex, the polar vortex.
i feel sure we will create our own vortex in no time. i smell adventure in the air.
Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty – Jacob Bronowski
during my first year of teaching, i discussed the concept of respect with my class of 3rd-5th graders. after, we each wrote something about what respect meant to us. this was written by an 8-year-old, and was my favorite:
i suppose i should have known it would read something like this, coming from my little guy who was a pragmatic vegan buddhist.
An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.
today, with no school and home once again, i’ll make a simmering pot of tomato basil soup in honor of my young writer. this one’s for you, r. i think you would respect it, i know i will.
Writing and cookery are just two different means of communication. – Maya Angelou
I didn't have my glasses on.... 