Our First week of School

I am always very excited to get back to school.
I genuinely miss my young friends,

and I am eager to meet and get to know new friends.

I am curious to see how much my friends have grown over the summer, cognitively and compassionately.

Olivia and Jade are finding rhymes. 

Lochlan is matching aleph bet magnets to our aleph bet poster.

Jade is helping Maya with her shoes and socks after the sand box.
Mason asked Nora if he could paint with her and she said "Sure of course!"

I love the discovery of new personalities and their contribution to our vibrant young community.

As I reflected on my topic for this first blog, the goals for this year, I realized one of my greatest goals  is already being met.

2/3's of our class are returning friends.
My friends who were once the youngest are now the leaders and they stepped into the role with grace and compassion.

(not on film, overheard) 

A new friend, Kyllee needed help opening her bar at snack,

Olivia: Yeah I can help, I totally have it I can get. I got it. Here you go. No problem.

Olivia was so quick to help.

Maya mentioned to Sophia that she misses her mom sometimes too, 

and says "moms always come back."  

Sophia gave Maya a nice smile, and then they played together.
After a disagreement between Sadie and Lochlan, Morah Jillian overheard:
Sadie: I'm going to give you a hug. I'm glad you feel better. (Hugs and kisses his cheek)
Lochlan: I'm going to give you a hug, I'm sorry you were sad. (Hugs her)

Miles didn't have a spot yet at the snack table, Lochlan invited him to sit by him.

Not surprisingly, the classroom has been active and full of engaged busy children with busy hands and curious minds.

When new friends eagerly began to contribute to paintings or collage activities THAT OTHER children were creating, my returning friends looked at their new classmates with surprised, yet kind eyes (while looking at me with eyes that said, "What is going on? Why are they touching my art?")
I didn't need to prompt what to say, I smiled back and I heard, "Please don't paint with me. You can paint when I'm done." "You can use this stuff to glue."
If a young new friend ran to the front of the line, an older more experienced friend calmly said, "Please don't cut, that's not nice."

Joining a new class and a new environment can be a lot for a young friend.
When greeted with kind vs. harsh words, they know they are welcomed and have instant friends.

These kind and considerate words will lay the foundation for friendships and teamwork that will lead to exploration and discoveries.

As these friendships strengthen compliments will become plentiful.

Lakshmi: I like your robot.
Matan: Thanks it has all the colors and I keep making it taller. I like your robot too.

More compliments and good feelings will lead to more confidence and the bravery to try new things and build new friendships.

Maya told Jade she liked her art, Jade invited Maya to play with the letters with her.

All of this is possible from encouraging young kids to use kind words.
Kindness does matter, its positive effects are seen everyday with your children.