Cordula Hetland
I
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2013 19:13:23 -0800
Subject: Wow! An Appreciation of Your Chiildren
From: wdolde@gmail.com
To: butterflygarden@gmail.com; jmarhanson@gmail.com; nicole.m.wundrow@boeing.com; fgraner@sealife-productions.com; lucyfyanz@gmail.com; whidbeyashley@gmail.com; tierralinda@live.com; cherub1111@gmail.com; giuseppe.grillea@gmail.com; withinwires@yahoo.com; batisteclan@whidbey.net; franceskenney@gmail.com; vs_nik@yahoo.com; mollymom3@yahoo.com; awundrow@gmail.com; mkohlhaas@gmail.com; dyannedea@hotmail.com; gtruesdell@sealife-productions.com; klpeggar@nps.edu; ntoombs@gmail.com; wdolde.nursery@blogger.com; hansoloalaska@hotmail.com; lilystarproductions@yahoo.com; megL2008@live.com; pyanz@hotmail.com; hetland_cordula@hotmail.com; kristin.codda@gmail.com
Dear Golden Forest Families,
It was a delicious day at school. I stood with Kristin observing the children and revelling in and marveling at the flexibility and flow of their social creative play. Children found delight in playing with familiar friends, and new constellations formed with all sorts of new possibilities--and it was all happening at the same time, organically, as if it could not be orchestrated any better.
I am very appreciative of all that children, parents, teachers (thanks to Molly and Cordula and Kristin for helping children tune to such a happy place in my days of absence), and forces beyond my comprehension have done to create this moment to cherish and return to.
Boys played with girls. Girls played with boys. Areas went through beautiful metamorphosis. The sand pit went from gross motor pit digging, to a bakery, to a road construction zone. Different groups of children flowed into and out of the area completely in tune with what was going on there at that moment. Pirates engaged in creative ship building projects that lasted a long time, then transformed into a lengthy treasure hunt and excavation. Drivers discovered how deftly they could pull a wagon around the playground and visited all the groups on the playground, delivering. We opened up a new straw bale, and we watched groups of children creating nests and sitting on their eggs.
Our real chickens seemed particularly free and in tune today; a pleasure to watch. Two children and I freed two birds from the school's compost bin.
Many children helped Kristin (substituting for Molly) with classroom tasks such as cooking and cleaning, with a good will and great merriment. I lost count of the number of intrinsically motivated compliments ("That's a beautiful candle this child made. . ." "I really like your painting . . ." "These eggs are yummy . . .") and kind words I heard throughout the morning.
Indoors there was a beautiful flow from high activity to quietude, rising from within the inspiration of the children, rather than being imposed from without by me. After a much enjoyed snack, our children were eager to practice "walking the plank" (a transformation that has occurred over weeks; pirates speaking about and building planks metamorphosed into bold children volunteering to walk the plank--sensing an excellent opportunity to climb and jump--to almost every child wanting to have a turn to jump off a plank), which transformed into a gymnastics spring board and a pool diving board, which then transformed into a house, and then moved to another part of the room to become a very large house that could include many children. We flowed in and out of our painting time (4 children paint at a time) with grace and ease. Different groups of children (princesses, moms, drivers, babysitters, pirates) moved into and out of the play kitchen and found just what they needed their to enrich and enhance their play.
Even though many toys were out and the clock indicated a proportionally narrow amount of time for cleaning up, children and I felt full of energy and delight, and we tidied up the room with even more celerity than I envisioned.
I plan to summon forth images from this day at school frequently. It lifts my spirits so much and helps me anticipated and hopefully evoke more such wonderful moments with our class in the future.
With warmth and light and appreciation,
William
No comments:
Post a Comment