"It just makes me feel better"
Full disclosure: this is not about the school and yet it is very much related to how our teachers and parents approach childhood and play. We take purposeful steps towards shaping and reclaiming time and space for both childhood and play.
A Forest is More Than Just Oaks
"The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun," is often used when talking about building resiliency in children.
"Nobody should have to look at that"
"Nobody should have to look at that," one of our little ones huffed as she stomped down the path at dismissal. She pointed with her chin, while averting her eyes, towards the carefree child who was in front of her with backpack unzipped and gaping, contents hanging out like so much flotsam and jetsam.
"That is not the teahouse, that is a flower house"
This is what one of the older boys said to me as he stood on the seesaw, surfing, rocking back and forth. He was watching a group of older girls work through the open window of what was, as of this morning, the Children’s Teahouse.