lcg 12/14

Well we had a topsy-turvy, crazy kind of day, and it was great.

Many thanks to all the parents who were willing to be in the class when Sharon Balestra was not available at the last minute, due to a sick child.

I got to spend a lovely hour in Lynne's class, and celebrate Michael's birthday, and also see all the great things that happen in the Willow class. They are a busy bunch.

Catherine Burke wound up staying and knitting to start the day. Then Melissa came in and I think they did some creative bean bag passing. Thank you Catherine and Melissa-- I knew the evergreens were in good hands!

Then I finally came back, and we headed right down to Sue Morgan's Maple Class. Sue was also out with a sick child, so we went down to lend a hand to Anne Day, who was teaching alone today. We did some clapping games with the maples, and sang some songs for them. That was fun, and we look forward to more of that.

Then we came back and had snack. After some lively riddles, the talk turned to death as Emma Kilmer told us that her grandfather (Tom's father) died last week. Many children shared their stories of loss. It was good for them to be able to share that.

Then we moved right into another mirror form drawing, which looked very much like an evergreen tree. The children were most excited about that, so they all did a second drawing, which they were able to decorate any way they wanted, and bring it home. We squeezed in some singing while they worked on their second pictures.

Then we marched into "Glory to the Mountain." I forget exactly how it all transpired, but after one round of the song, a simmering issue came to a head, so we all sat down to talk about it. Nobody is to blame here, but I've been aware of some friendship issues in the class. My heart was breaking as I watched it all play out. Some children have felt left out by the very close friendship of others. There was also talk about some clubs forming in the class, which are open to all, but some of the children don't like the idea of clubs.

I then told a not very flattering friendship story from my childhood, where I was not a very good friend, and I even had a true story of being in a club, and things ended badly. We talked about the need for us to be a whole group while we're at LCG. I told them that they don't need to be best friends with everyone, but we do need to work together, and occasionally pick different people for partners, and to sit next to. I think it was hard for the children to put feelings into words, but I was so proud of them for handling this all so responsibly. We talked some more (they could talk all day...) and then we sang the friendship song, which I think I'll incorporate on a weekly basis.

I told a number of you about this all after class. Please let me know if you hear any feedback from your child. To be honest, I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants. I tried to be as gentle and loving as I could, and stress that nobody had done anything wrong.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts or concerns around this.

After that emotional time, we quickly recounted the story of "The Wind and the Sun" and drew and wrote in our main lesson books. I did ask everyone to sit next to someone else while we worked at the table, and that went very well. Then our day was over.

We are all looking forward to our solstice celebration next week. Julie Cosgrove is on for snack/clean-up. We'll need to be done with clean-up by 3:00. If anyone is arriving a bit early for the festival, we could probably use an extra pair of hands to help clean up.

Thanks, and peace to all of you,
Lynn