As some of you may have heard, I had an amazing holiday last weekend. I went back to Montana to celebrate with two of my former preschoolers (along with lots of other family members and friends), their graduation from medical school. While at the party many other parents of young twenty-something adults, who used to be my preschoolers, approached me to share what their grown kids were doing. It was truly fulfilling to hear how most had followed their passion in life, reaching out in the world to make their dreams come true. So many years later, this is my dream come true for each of them, too. It is yet my dream for your children who are now 3, 4 and 5 years old...

You may have heard me say that once a child is in my class, he or she is always one of "my kids." I care about my students, and their families, forever. Years later, I cherish still laughing and crying with them.

Already I know that this coming weekend will bring tears as I gather with others to both grieve and celebrate a little girl who lived fully for 9 years. How I wish she could have lived to be 90! Already, I miss her courageous and beautiful presence and possibility in our world. It is a privilige to have known her, to have been a part of her brief but shining life, to be in a circle of caring through the days of sunshine and storm. Now her glorious rainbow arches beyond us, into the great unknown.

Hug your children, grow their roots, nourish them with your time and love, let them take reasonable risks so they learn to persevere through the challenges. Encourage their positive dreams, great and small. When it's time to try their wings, stand back, let your heart fly with them and hope?, pray?, meditate?, wish on a star? for the best possible outcome. Raising children well requires the greatest love, faith and risk-taking a parent will ever know... I look forward to more celebrations with you in twenty years or so!

International Children's Festival

May 20, 2008

The International Children's Festival was fantastic! With the help of many parent volunteers, our children were guided through a morning of thrilling perfomances and cultural celebrations. Our first show was with the four person Australian circus troupe,"Circa." Three gymnastically gifted young men ("the leaper," "the strong man," and the "double jointed guy") joined with a spirited, peppy, coordinated and flexible young woman to give the audience a dynamic spectacle of circus acts. From the witty to the gross, slapstick to brave, all the children loved it! We adults were impressed with how much four people could do in such a short time! Circa was billed as "46 CIRCUS ACTS IN 45 MINUTES!" and they finished a very intense performance with 7 seconds to spare!

With 40 minutes between performances, we had just enough time to visit bathrooms, wash hands and picnic on the grass outside the Pantages Theater.
We sat in nearly the same place for the second performance as we did for the first... right up front!

As the theater darkened, we heard the sound of one drum emerging from backstage. Slowly, a lone drummer made his way out to center stage, dressed in native Guinean regalia. He was soon joined by another male drummer, two female dancers and an entire ensemble of female master drummers... LES AMAZONES! With pounding enthusiasm, we were treated to the indigenous music of the west African country of Guinea. This group broke stereotypes and taboos with their music... In Guinea, drumming is traditionally performed ONLY by men. These women literally had to struggle to follow their hearts to be heard by the world. In so doing, they brought a message to the children of peace, hope and the passion to follow a dream to fruition. In the strength, power and grace of these women one could see and hear their dedication to courageously stand up to boundaries and barriers, to examine cultural beliefs and perceptions while challenging social conventions, to move beyond what the outer world accepts to the inner world of living one's dreams. Somehow, this was all encompassed in the rhythmic interplay of the drummming and joyous exuberance of the dancers. Beyond the rich cultural experience, this was and is a life lesson to be, we hope, retold and recalled many times in the years to come!

Many thanks to all of you who helped make this amazing day possible!

Grandparents and Special Friends Day

We had many special hellos and goodbyes today... We welcomed our grandparents and special friends to our circle. Every child had an opportunity to introduce their guest(s) before we started singing. We have been learning songs that go back a few generations, so that we, children and seasoned adults, could enjoy singing together. Our selections included many old favorites such as "Red, Red Robin; Miss Mary Mack; You Are My Sunshine; I've Been Working On the Railroad; Home, Home On the Range; Row, Row, Row Your Boat; I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee." To celebrate our trip to the zoo last week, we ended with Raffi's song, "Baby Beluga." To honor Ms. Amdahl on her last day, we gave her the book we made and she read it to us. Every child was so excited to see his/her "own" page! It was very moving to me to see Ursula so beautifully remembered by everyone, and to know how many loving hands and hearts came together to make this such a special day for her, too. Ursula shared that she will miss everyone very much and will visit us in the future. She plans to email some photos and stories from her new school! After circle, we moved into fingerpainting onto long pieces of paper... you will see what colors your child chose by the paint on their clothes! (We didn't have enough aprons for everyone.) Our guests leaned in and made their own swishes and swirls with the children! We dispersed to five different sinks to wash hands, then proceded in waves out to the playground for ice cream cones... so many choices! Pointed cone or flat bottomed? Flavors? H-m-m-m, which to pick...Vanilla, Chocolate or Strawberry? Again, there were many adult helping hands scooping, giving, wiping spills. In the sudden quiet that followed, I was amazed at the tranquility of the playground... I guess that I had never noticed how much intense concentration it takes for a young child to successfully eat an ice cream cone! There was a united focus among the children, revealed upon their smiling, sticky faces... Just as cones were finished, Casie Myers walked outside, so we had a perfect opportunity to introduce her as our new Assistant Teacher. Already the children have a degree of familiarity with Casie (pronounced as Casey), because she has also substituted several days in our class. Our goodbyes ended with a hello... and new anticipation.

It was a pleasure to welcome all of our special guests into our classroom community! Judith