soren lcg

Dear Maple class families and friends,
It was such a delight to have one final "normal" class before the end of the year. The play was a wonderful experience, but it felt so good to back to our familiar routine, although we missed Annie, Sam and Grant. We squeezed a lot into the day, just wanting to get back to all of the pursuits we enjoy. We began the day with some painting. Sue told a story beforehand, and soon happy little red-suited gnomes were scampering down green hillsides under sunny blue skies on our papers. Afterward, we gathered for circle and said our verses, learning a new song - "I Wake in the Morning Early". We heard a jataka tale about how a clever monkey outwitted a conniving crocodile, and then formed monkeys, crocs, pomogranates and rocks out of beeswax. We moved next to beanbag passing, and our hands moved "like ripples on a river". Cathleen also taught us a new passing verse: "Think at first then act upon, But when acting, think thereon." Good advice for life in general! We also used the four directions to challenge ourselves while catching the beanbags. A quick handclapping game of "A Sailor Went To Sea-Sea-Sea" helped us transition to form drawing, during which we created a three-part drawing depicting an "advent spiral", a "square spiral" and "triangular spiral". Throughout the year Cathleen has guided the children through ever more involved drawings, and it is wonderful to see the focus and confidence with which they now approach their form drawings. We had a nice, social snack and handwork session, then rehearsed the "Skye Boat Song" on our recorders. We sang "Shalom Chaverim" as a round, sent the "friendship squeeze" around the circle, then out to the playground we went. It was a pleasant, busy day.
A note about next week...We will be watching the Willow's play "Briar Rose" at 1:15 next Tuesday. You are welcome, as always, to stay and watch the performance with us. Next Tuesday is also the last class of the year, so we will be ending early and gathering in the Fellowship Hall at 3:00. Each class will give a short performance (please be sure that your child brings his/her recorder next week) and the Red Oaks will have a graduation celebration for those who are leaving the program. The children will then walk back over the rainbow bridge to their families.
Finally, an announcement that I make with a heavy heart. I will not be returning as a Lilac teacher next year. This was a hard decision, and one made based on a number of factors. First, my family's situation requires me to seek full-time teaching work, as my partner Jenny is facing a lay-off due to budget cuts in her district. While it is possible that she will find another teaching position, we are facing the possibility that she might not. (And here I become unapologetically political - one of the results of No Child Left Behind is massive budget cuts to ESOL programs. I guess it's okay to leave children behind if English is not their first language!)
My other reason has to do with the children and what they need and deserve. For the past two years I have earnestly tried to provide (along with Anne and Cathleen) an enriching, enjoyable, Waldorf-inspired experience for the Maples. Not a week has gone by, however, when I haven't wished that I had more of everything to give to this program - more time, more expertise and more experience. The pull of family, work and community involvement meant that there was never enough time or energy to do the program justice. The children are getting older now, and they need and deserve a teacher who can give them even greater challenges and opportunities for growth than I would be able to in the coming year. My hope is that a teacher who will be able to bring more experience and more energy to the class will be hired in my place. Anne, whose quiet wisdom is in many ways the heartbeat of the class, will continue to be the Maples' teacher, and the board has not yet made a decision regarding the second teacher for the class. I want to thank you all for the time and love you have given the class these past two years, and above all for sharing your incredible children with me. I will be talking with the children on the last day about this change, and would like to leave it up to individual families to decide whether it is best for them to tell their children in advance or not. I feel immeasurably blessed for having had this experience, and hope to always be in some way connected with Lilac Children's Garden.
With much love,
Sue Morgan