at first

everything he made

he did not like

then he made

something that

didn't work

but he made the

hard Christmas cookies

into ornaments

peace

by TPT

================

fight

make up

share

by CL

============

Peace is

drinking hot chocolate 

after school

with my brother

by TO

=========

Peace is

me and my dad

flying kites

at the park

by CH

=====

Peace

frogs catching butterflies

together

by SD

==========

trying to make

the world

a better place

by KN

=====

crayons

drawing a picture together

not fighting

blue draws the sky

red and green

work together

to draw

a flower

by KS

=======

peace is

oatmeal

in the morning

by CJM

====

Peace is

sharing

chocolate chip cookies

by DI

At Open House on Wednesday night I felt like I didn't have enough time to fully explain what CE is about.   I will be posting my usual sheet that explains the CE philosophy, but I think I will first share the whole list of what the children understand CE to be.  I always value what they share.  (I already shared at Open House a partial list of how the children describe CE.)  

"What is 'CE?'"

•   to tell God about your feelings
•   CE is when you make peace
•   when you thank God for family and friends
•   CE is where you love people
•   if anyone gets in a fight, CE is where you solve their problems
•   where you learn to be kind
•   where you learn about God
•   where you pray to God
•   to learn what other people like
•   to learn how to not hurt someone's feelings
•   where you learn that other people have feelings
•   where you learn to share
•   where you learn to be respectful, caring, and loving
•   where you learn to be nice to other people
•   where you learn what peace is about
•   where you learn to be fair
•   where you learn to be polite

A group of 19 children compiled that list in about five minutes.

Last week we played a get-to-know-you game where the children filled out their favorites and then had to go around and see if their favorites matched anyone else.  This week we went one step further.  I asked them how it felt when they found someone who had the same favorite as them:  

•   excited
•   good
•   happy
•   proud.  

I asked them how it felt when they could not find someone who had the same favorite as them:  

•   one-of-a-kind
•   surprised that no one else liked that
•   sad
•   left out
•   proud
•   happy because I'm the only one
•   so-so because I'm happy I'm one-of-a-kind but mad because no one else likes it.  

I had them repeat after me that "I am special even though I like the same things as others" and "I am special even though no one else likes the same thing as me."  We talked about how either way is okay.  

I don't know why a few children felt comfortable, even proud, being the only one who liked sponge candy and some other children really didn't like being the only one who liked dragonfruit.  I think it reflects human nature to want to be the same as others.  Yet I think that internalizing that it's okay to be the only one who likes something may help children fend off negative peer pressure, and perhaps even be able to intervene and help stop someone who is being mean to another person, whether that person being mean is a friend or a stranger.  

When they went around asking each other whether they share the same favorite, some people of course said no.  I could feel the slight sense of rejection, so we practiced saying "no" to each other-- not a "no-I-don't-like-strawberries-and-I-don't-like-you," but a "even-though-I-don't-like-Pokemon-we-can-still-be-friends" kind of no.  They were able to copy the friendly "no" inflection.  We also brainstormed adding more words, like "No, but I think I saw on Kennedy's paper that she likes it," or "No, but I may like something else on your paper."  

The next class we went one step further, and the children practiced saying "no" to me with a kind/nice inflection when I asked if they wanted to play on the tire swing.  I emphasized that maybe they didn't feel like going on the tire swing but they still needed to tell me no in a way that did not make me feel utterly rejected.  We again brainstormed more words they could add to simply saying no:  "no, but maybe I could play with you after I finish my snack,"  "no, but you can play on the slide with me if you want" (I thought that was a great one that a child came up with!), "no, but maybe next recess we can play."   

These are skills we will continue to practice all year long-- and all one's life! 

I.  Prayer is a time to talk to God

A.  To ask God 

1.  that we will be safe

2.  that he will give us good things

3.  to wish to God what you want your life to be like

4.  for things we need

B.  A time to thank God

1.  for what he gave us

2.  for [something] the earth, nature (animals, mountains), sun

3.  for helping me

4.  for loving us

5.  for Jesus

6.  for making us

C.  To pray for someone

1.  who died/who died so they will be safe

3.  who needs help

4.  who we love-- my mom, dad, aunty, people in my class, my dog

5.  who is sick

6.  who is on a trip

7.  to have a good day

8.  to make a wish for one another

D.  A time to share your feelings with God

E.  Tell God how good something is

F.  Say to God you care for him

II.  Prayer is a time of peace

III.  We pray to make something better

A.  An "owie"

1. Prayer keeps you healthy and stay alive

IV.  Prayer is when we listen to God

V.  We pray because we care about people, animals

1. Prayer is giving God a gift, hoping God is okay

We will definitely be delving further into this discussion as the year continues.  

The preschoolers discussed why it is important to listen to the teachers and each other.  Some of their responses included "if you don't listen, you won't know what to do,"  "if you don't listen, you'll go on time out,"  "if you don't listen, you have to go to your room,"  and "if you don't listen, you might get lost."  We talked about what our bodies look like when we listen.  We also practiced pretending to listen to different people who were sitting around our circle-- our voices were off, our bodies were sitting up, our legs were criss-crossed, our hands were to ourselves, and we turned our faces and eyes to face the speaker. 

I hope you as well as your children are transitioning smoothly back into the school routine!   

In CE this week I asked the children to look around our classroom and share their observations of the physical differences between the CE classroom and their regular classroom ("the CE classroom doesn't have any chairs," "there's a bathroom connected to the CE classroom," "the CE carpet is softer").  Yes, the CE House is a real house that someone used to live in before our elementary school moved in.  No, Mrs. Abe does not live or sleep here.

I also showed the children a picture that had several cartoon faces of different emotions on it and asked the children to try to identify which face they feel like and why.  We call this time of sharing feelings "Ohana Time."  I talked briefly with each child as they wrote and drew how they felt and why, and heard their different responses: "nervous about starting school," "happy to see my friends," "miss my mommy," "happy because my grandma's picking me up,"  "tired because I had to wake up early." 

Another activity we did was a getting-to-know-you game, where children stood up if they liked _____.  Then we did part 2 where children stood on one side of the room if they liked _____ and the other side of the room if they liked ____.  Another important aspect of the game was when I asked them each time, "Is it ok for some people to like chocolate ice cream better than vanilla ice cream?"  Yes!  "Is it ok for some people to like vanilla ice cream better than chocolate ice cream?"  Yes!  We want to accept our differences and not make little comments that belittle someone else because they like something different, especially if only a few people were standing on one side.  We also talked about how even if our close friends are standing on one side of the room because they like pepperoni pizza, it's okay to stand on the other side of the room away from them because we like cheese pizza. 

Please remember that your children are going through a transition phase, so they may require more patience and understanding from you, they may require more sleep, and they may require more "down" time.  It may be hard to remember your elementary school days, but try to remember when you first started a job.  You had to figure out what your boss' expectations were, and you needed to learn to communicate with new co-workers both in a social setting as well as in a work setting.  You even needed to learn how to navigate the new environment-- where the xerox machine and the bathrooms were located.  Even if you were excited to start anew (or especially if you were not excited to start anew), I'll bet you felt some stress.  That has been your child's world this week.

I am SO excited to start this new school year and look forward to learning more about and supporting each child this year.  I am also really looking forward to all the exciting questions we will pursue and thoughts we will ponder!  What a privilege it is to teach your children.