It's Only Logical

L: Miss Ida, R called S hateful. And that wasn't nice. That was meanful.

Ah, the Wisdom...

After a walk outside....

Me: Man, my arms are itchy.

R: It's from lying in the grass.

W: Yup, grass'll do that to ya, Miss Ida.

...whoops!

(And both of them said it to me so matter-of-fact. I love this relationship with the children. We collaborate together and talk to each other as equals, always remembering respect, kindness and love. They weren't afraid to explain my itchy arms and I was grateful for their help.)

That's What I Always Say...

After losing playground time:

"But that was Myself that did that. And I told it I didn't want it to do that but Myself did it anyway."

It's Those Darn Fruit Cups

After the third trip to the bathroom in 20 minutes...

"What??! I ate too much!!"

I'm sure it has *nothing* to do with this being nap time.

Upon a Slender Stalk

A wonderful, elderly volunteer came to class last week to share with the children a "science experiment" with Lily of the Valley.

It took about 10 minutes and she gave a little presentation, asking the children to help: first smelling the flowers, then asking to give me some to put in water, then placing some in a jar of liquid blue ink (where she found the blue ink, I don't know!). The children were captivated and a few even correctly guessed what would happen.



Before she was leaving, I asked her to tell the children the name of the flowers. And then she said "When I was in Girl Scouts, I learned a song..."

Wait!!...And we sang:

White coral bells upon a slender stalk
Lily of the Valley deck my garden walk
Oh how I wish that you could hear them ring
That will happen only when the fairies sing

She was thrilled and asked if we knew it as a round. (I tried to teach them once but it was a disaster. E, one of the third year children, thinks she can lead one half of the class and me the other and that it will happen. Sweet children.)

Happy Earth Day!

The Unity Class children love the Earth. So Earth Day was no big surprise to them.

(And, yes, a lot of it probably has to do with their eco-lovin' Mamas and their Outbacks and Priuses, trunks full of reusable grocery bags and bins of aluminum cans and 1 and 2 plastic. But at least they're listening!)


We call ourselves peacekeepers and Earth Savers.



...also, there's life in the fig tree:


Apparently repeated attempts to climb and twisting of an exposed root do *not* kill a fig tree!

Well She Sneaks Around the World from Kiev to Carolina

It's a funny thing with these Montessori children. Once they see one friend working on something, it's all they need to get motivated. And lately just seeing me working on something gets them going. Fun game.

So we're into maps. A fun bonus to the Montessori curriculum for me has been learning more about geography. We have puzzle maps for the world, each continent and the United States. The kids like making ones to take home. Well, many of them do. Some just like taking apart and building and rebuilding and taking apart again...and again.

They start with the world, tracing the continent puzzle pieces and perforating them with a large push pin (and hopefully learning the names of the continents in the meantime!):


And a few discovered that they could trace the maps from a flat paper version (both of these children had made all of Africa already once by tracing and perforating each country's puzzle piece separately on construction paper...I don't think they regret it):




The biggest reward came for me when I overheard this conversation:

O: I'm gonna color this flag.

(shows to D)

D: Oh, that's Zaire. But it doesn't exist anymore. Now it's the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Boo-yah!

Overheard in the Classroom: So Close

L: We're playing Mother Theresa, Miss Ida.

(I smile, smug satisfaction.)

S: Yeah! Mother Theresa and The Simpsons!

...oh...

Later-

L to S: I wouldn't want you as my MOTHER!

(catches my eye.)

L: We're *still* playing Mother Theresa!

Can we take our jackets off??!!

Running and SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS *might* mean you're happy about the weather.

For Fun in the Afterlife

A: I told C she's gonna have a baby in her tummy.

Ida: Really why?

A: Because she has boobies. And you're going to, too.

I: But I don't have a baby in my tummy.

A: But one day you're going to.


Our earthly purpose I guess.

Overheard in the Classroom: Everybody Does It?

::knock knock::

(handle jiggle)

Ida: I'm in here...

(feet running)

W: Ida's in the bathroom. Her pooping.

L: Yeah. You have to poop in the big bathroom.

W: Yeah.




For the record, I was *not* pooping.

Meanwhile On Planet Never

W: Miss Ida? Did you say one time at circle that there was a man who got a splinter in his throat and he turned into a lizard?

Ida: ... No ...

W: Oh... (walks away confused)

Mindbender: Where Is That?

Ida: We're gonna do North America first because that's where we live.

R: I don't live in North America. I live in Gordonsville.

I: Yeah! Gordonsville is in our state, Virginia, which is part of our country, United States. And that's in North America, where we live!

::blink blink::

R: ...right.

And Everyone Wins

-Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends

My class loves to hug.

The standard greeting at our School is to squat down to the child's eye level and offer a greeting and handshake. We even practice on each other at staff orientation.

It's a wonderful lesson in Respect for the child, from teacher to child and child to teacher. I like that the child has power in the choice to say hello and enters or leaves school at his will. Plus his personal space is honored. (The handshakes also help us in our work greeting the elders at the Adult Day Care Center in our building.)

We often laugh, however, because as the children get more comfortable coming and going, they pause and wonder for a moment if it's appropriate to hug.

Interestingly, we've gotten to a point in Unity Class where there is no Pause.

C and I are hugged constantly, the children hug each other and rarely do group hugs turn into pile-ons.

I am happy with this. We talk a lot about our Unity Class and set goals for peace, love and harmony. The rampant hugging is a sign to me that the children are comfortable and happy and want to share that peace with everyone around.

On our current playlist:

Peace Train by Cat Stevens
Heal the World by Michael Jackson
This Land is Your Land by Woodie Guthrie
I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing sung by The New Seekers
It's a Small World sung by Mike Curb Congregation
Three Little Birds by Bob Marley

They like to dance. I might as well put flowers in their hair.

In Da Windows

When Children Motivate Each Other...

to find work:


and Shop at Target:


They immediately hugged each other when this was discovered. Hopefully that kind of reaction will last well into their teen years.

Color Potions?

shake it.

Now I call this color mixing...but it's taken on a life of its own in the Mad Lab that is the Unity Class.

Color Wheelin'

We're heavy into color mixing these days. All with the help of liquid watercolor. Tres convenient.



The finished wheel is bee-yoo-ti-ful in the windows.

Overheard in the Classroom: Breakfast

S: What did you have for breakfast?

L: Waffles with syrup... And butter. My mommy always gives me butter.

S: I had scrambled eggs and toast with kumquat marmalade.

Because I laughed out loud..."straight-up greatest hits"

As to the kids' menu, served to Malia, Sasha and the numerous grandkids Biden, it was straight-up greatest hits:

Hot dogs
Cheeseburgers
Macaroni and cheese
French fries
Grilled cheese sandwiches
Cheese pizza
Chocolate chip cookies
Apple and orange juices and soft drinks