Freedom is not free.
Veterans are heroes.
Today is the day to say ‘thank you’.
At school we thanked a retired Air Force Master Sergeant.
He talked with the children.
They were in awe.
They hugged him.
They sang “God Bless America”, and he joined in,
as everyone looked at the big American Flag.
We made him a homemade American Flag.
We couldn’t paint enough stripes, but we added enough stars.
He was touched, quite moved.
Children will remember meeting and thanking a Veteran.
Jennie
When play occurs outdoors in natural elements,
it draws children in. It whispers,
“Come and play, I have everything to give you.”
The leaves were bursting with color.
Ladybugs were everywhere.
Sticks and rocks are great for building.
The playground has a new Farmers Market in the playhouse.
It is filled with gourds and mini pumpkins,
and of course leaves, sticks, and rocks.
These are the greatest tools for play.
They’re open ended.
They make children want to think and explore.
We are nearing the end of fall.
The trees are almost bare.
The cycle of nature spurs new ideas, new play.
In the words of Albert Einstein,
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
When nature calls to children (and it does), I am reminded of
The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein.
Everyone needs to read this classic book.
Here I am, reading the book aloud:
I will always champion for play and for nature, because they give children the gift of learning while having fun.
Jennie
Play = Life Skills.
Children who play can better attend at school.
Children who play have greater academic success.
Children who play make friends.
Children who play develop kindness, heart.
Children who play are problem solvers.
(This is just the tip of the iceberg, key parts of a long list.)
We all hear that play is important for children. I know it’s important. It’s their work; how they learn to make friends, negotiate, solve problems with objects, and solve problems with other children. Play is having fun, and it’s also very hard work. Learning how to pump a swing and ride a bike is a mountain of a challenge. So is learning how to ask for a turn, and to stick up for yourself.
Therefore, children who play grow into adults who have the skills to become good citizens as well as good people. Isn’t that what’s most important? Take the flip side – when a terrible, evil situation happens at the hand of one person (Columbine, Sandy Hook for starters), I immediately think of what they were doing when they were four-years-old. They did not have a place in which to play? Did they not interact with other children? If they did, most likely it was infrequent. Therefore, they didn’t develop any life skills. So, when someone wonders if play is important, yes it is!
The importance of play doesn’t end after preschool and kindergarten. It becomes even more important when students are older and face more academic challenges. Play stimulates the brain and triggers creative thinking. It’s a recipe for success.
Play wins, every time, for everyone.
Jennie
~Happy Halloween~
Today at school was a Day in the Dark.
Children wore pajamas.
Gloria did, too.
We played with glow sticks and
black playdoh on tin foil.
We built with MagnaTiles
creating structures that housed light.
We painted with glow-in-the-dark-paint
and used a blacklight to see our art.
Halloween can be scary, and children can be apprehensive. Instead of costumes, we wear pajamas to school (teachers, too) and collect non-perishable breakfast food items for our local food pantry. Giving always feels good.
Jennie
P.S. Gloria is going Trick-Or-Treating. The child tells me she is going to be a ghost.
There is a difference between spirits and ghosts. Spirits are the soul that has survived when a person dies. Ghosts on the other hand are tied to a location where they died, often a tragic or sudden death.
I believe in spirits. Often the very youngest of children see spirits. Here are my three encounters:
#1) While visiting our son and his family nearly fifteen years ago, we were in the car headed to visit the Norfolk Zoo. Our granddaughter was under the age of two. She was in her carseat beside the window, Hubby and I were beside her in the backseat. She was always a gentle child, quiet and happy. We hit a traffic light. On the side of the road (her carseat side) was a big cemetery.
Everything changed, as if an alert button had been pushed.
She immediately whipped her head around to look at the cemetery. She began waving and ‘talking’ with great excitement. She smiled and giggled. It seemed that the traffic light was the longest one ever, as this went on without a pause for quite a while. The traffic light turned green. Our car moved forward, past the cemetery, and our granddaughter returned to her normal self. No one in the car could speak.
#2) When I was away at summer camp as a child, I had ‘moved up’ to the older kids’ area- cabins, not tents.. Salt Rock, WV was rural with beautiful rolling hills. The dirt road up to the cabins was very dark at night. One evening I was walking the dirt road alone, headed to my cabin, and my father suddenly appeared. He had died in a car crash when I was five, and there he was, the way I remembered him. Blurry, but it was him. Neither of us said anything. I felt good and smiled, and then he was gone.
#3) Many of you remember Milly the Quilter. Milly had been vibrant and a big part of my preschool class for ten years. She was my mother’s age, but that didn’t matter. We became friends. Milly and her famous quilts are in many places of honor, and our car rides to-and-from quilt presentations were some of the best times together. Oh, how we laughed! I knew her health was failing. Her daughter had called to tell me she was close to the end.
And then I got the call, “Jennie, can you come and say goodbye to Milly? Now? I don’t think she can hang on any longer.”
I never drove so fast in my life. My heart was pounding as I raced to get to her bedside. I was five minutes away, approaching an overpass. Suddenly I was hit by an enormous wave of peace. Milly was there with me, smiling. It was the strongest sensation, yet only lasted for thirty seconds. I knew Milly had died.
When I arrived at Milly’s bedside five minutes later, her daughter said, “Jennie, I’m so sorry. Milly died five minutes ago.” I said, “I know. She was with me for a moment. It was overwhelming. She was happy and peaceful and saying goodbye.”
I’ve always believed that our physical body is a living shell for our spirit. I hope you are lucky enough to encounter a spirit one day. It’s an experience you will never forget. You may not see the spirit, but you will certainly know it is there with you.
Jennie
P.S. Thank you to Don Ostertag at Don Ostertag: Off Stage for encouraging me to tell these stories. His recent Guthrie Theater post (which is wonderful) triggered spirits and ghosts.
It’s been 24 hours since I posted my brief letter to families about inviting Gloria home for a weekend Gloria and the President She is now ‘booked’ through Thanksgiving, including going Trick-Or-Treating and being at Thanksgiving dinner. 24 hours. Bless you, Gloria.
Jennie
After watching the President speak to the nation and Hubby’s lightbulb question, here is what I sent to families tonight:
Hi Families,
My husband and I watched the President address the nation tonight. The speech was full of passion for addressing and condemning hate, and understanding and accepting people. At the end, Hubby said, “This is Gloria. Is anyone taking her home for the weekend?”
Yes, it was Gloria. And, I neglected to tell families that Gloria can go home with your child for the weekend. She has a Peace Quilt and a journal of her many adventures. She might be shy, but she is a good friend, and someone who truly gives children love, and an open door to acceptance. Let us know if your child would like Gloria for a weekend.
Best,
Jennie
The Gloria weekend sign-ups have already started.
As the sky darkened,
families enjoyed a pizza dinner on the playground.
It was the first time everyone was together.
Families brought pumpkins and went to work
carving them into jack-o-lanterns.
We set all the jack-o-lanterns along the stone wall.
Families looked and smiled,
as if it were their ‘magnum opus’.
Then we gathered in a big circle,
each child and family holding their jack-o-lantern,
snuggling together.
It was dark.
We gave children glow sticks.
I played the autoharp so we could sing our favorite song,
“The Jack-O-Lantern Song.”
Music was the frosting on the cake.
Magic happened at school.
Jennie
A Teacher's Reflections 