Today's Lesson in Creativity

When I dropped off my kindergartner at school this morning, I saw a group of 8-year-old boys having a blast playing a game of catch. When I looked more closely, I saw that one boy was barefoot and that the group was playing football with his shoe. "How resourceful!" I thought. It reminded me of how, as a new parent, I spent lots of money on toys and games only to discover that my kid preferred to play with the empty box.

Our children have an amazing well of creativity. If we let them, they will find a way to have fun inside an empty paper bag.

Observing with SOUL

When observing children, there are a few key ideas to keep in mind. Gwen Elliott, of Canada College’s Early Childhood Department suggests the following guidelines:

S - in SOUL is for silent. Silently observe what the child is doing:  simply look intently at what is going on.
O - observe the nuances of what’s taking pace. Really see for yourself how this child is interacting with materials, other children, teachers, the space.
U - understand what is taking place. Take the time to know what the child is doing. Give your full attention to the activities. See from the child’s point of view what is happening.
L - listen to the language and sounds the child is using. Yes, this is the music. This is also how young children communicate in words or nonsensical sounds of their joy, involvement, enthusiasm, fear and concern for you.

Put this all together and we have S.O.U.L.: silently observing, understanding and listening.

In our MWF class we are enjoy observing the children learning to play together as a large group.
They had a terrific time on an Exploration Hunt recently.  Lots of team work happened as they followed their maps and looked for the hidden treasures.  Checking and rechecking the map puzzles helped the children to find their treasures.  “Where do you think it is?” “Where is it buried?”  “How far down is the treasure?” we heard many of the children discussing.

(Posted on behalf of Teacher Lolly)

Learning about friendship

“It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.”
-- Author unknown

In our MWF class the children continue learning about how to be a friend. One boy recently said to another boy:  “If we are nice to you, you will be nice to us.“ It is very exciting to watch children grasp the meaning of friendship and kindness.

“When I was young, I admired clever people.  Now that I am old, I admire kind people.“
-- Abraham Joshua Heschel

(Posted on behalf of Teachers Lolly and Theresa)

Small kindnesses

“Too often we underestimate the power of touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

-- Leo F. Buscaglia

In the M-W-F Class we are learning more each day about cooperative play and friendship. We’re learning that sharing, taking turns, and making others happy is also a personal reward.

One of the children brought some notes from home to pass out to friends at school. Upon opening the note, one of the children looked very carefully at the drawing inside and said, “This is very special.”  It is wonderful to see the “acts of caring” that happen in our class each time we are together.

-- Posted on behalf of Teacher Lolly S., MWF Class

Letting go of expectations

I had one of those magical days with my 3 year old this week -- the sort of day you hope for as a parent. I realize now that it all came together so well because I just relaxed and followed my child's lead.

It all started on Monday, when I feverishly crammed all of my errands into the few hours she was at school so that we could have a free morning on Tuesday, with nothing to do but hang out. Emma wanted to go to Happy Hollow in San Jose, which sounded OK to me since we have a membership and I have mastered the art of rushing down there, "doing" the park and getting back up to Redwood City in time to pick up my older daughter from kindergarten.

Unfortunately, when we arrived at Happy Hollow, I discovered that it was closed because of the reduced fall/winter hours. Before I broke the news to Emma, I decided that I needed a backup plan to distract her from the tears that I felt were inevitable. I whipped out my phone to check the hours for the Discovery Museum, dreading how much a few hours of "fun" were going to cost me. I felt lucky to discover that the museum was open. When I explained to Emma that Happy Hollow was closed but we could go to the Discovery Museum instead, she said "no thanks." She wanted to go to a park near our house, which we had visited a few weeks before with some friends.

I tried to talk her out of the park, explaining that our friends would not be there. I tried to explain that we were already in San Jose and that we don't often get the chance to go to the Discovery Museum. But, she was having none of it. She wanted the park. I finally decided that the park was a heck of a lot cheaper and easier than the Discovery Museum -- especially when you factor in all of the rude, pushy grade school kids who always seem to be at the museum in the mornings. So, without even getting out of the car to stretch our legs, we drove back up the 280 toward our house and went to Little People's Park in Portola Valley.

The parking lot was deserted, and I was certain that Emma would be disappointed when she discovered that her friends were not there. But when we walked through the gate, Emma's enthusiasm for a vacant playground became infectious. The two of us ran up and down the AstroTurf hill, we swung on the swings together, we played "ice cream shop" in the little playhouse, we slid down the slides together, we each got our own rocking horse, and we ate our snack side-by-side on the jungle gym. It was truly a magical morning with my little one. I found that by letting go of my expectations about what would make a perfect outing, I was able to just "be present" and enjoy my child's zest for life.

Do you ever feel like you spend so much time, effort, and money to give your children what you feel are "perfect" experiences when all they really want is our undivided attention and a lazy morning at the park?

Lessons learned from a playdough mom

1. Even if this month's colors are black and orange, don't try making black playdough unless you have a ridiculous amount of food coloring. Otherwise, red, blue, and yellow mixed together make a shade of dark brown that will hopefully make everyone think of beautiful chocolate labs, or chocolate.

2. If your cream of tartar is chunky, no, the electric mixer will not pulverize the chunks, and they will be very visible in dark-colored playdough. You will then spend a half hour trying to smash the chunks in the finished playdough when the task could probably have been accomplished in much less time by hand at the beginning.

3. Use a non-stick pot, and don't add peppermint oil because then it not only smells really good, but your children will also be unable to resist eating it despite the saltiness.

File that idea in the trash can!

My 5 year old and 3 year old love a good competition. So, one night -- in a desperate attempt to get them to eat their dinner -- I offered a reward to the child who finished first. My 3 year old promptly stuffed a handful of green beans in her mouth and started to choke. Uhhh... I won't make that mistake again!

Parenting seems to be an endless series of trials and errors. What ideas have you tried that left you a little wiser?