CE - Abe

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:46:59 -1000

Since this week is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday, I read the children a picture book about Dr. King. The kindergartners looked quite perplexed as I read the book, and midway someone finally raised his hand and asked, "What does it mean that they're 'white?'"

Getting judged by the color of one's skin was incomprehensible-- the part they took away was the fact that it wasn't fair or nice that someone (of any race) made a woman (of any race) stand up from her seat on the bus.

I shared all this with Ms. Rivera, and her remark was, "Maybe it will be this generation..."

Caring for our community

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:35:53 -1000

I realize there have been pleas to give in just these last several weeks (UNICEF, canned food drive). I want to emphasize that it is not necessarily a certain amount that we as a CE program are seeking, but that the children are encouraged to share something.

I consider myself a pretty frugal person, but it always amazes me at how much excess I as an American have. For example, for UNICEF, I clean out the change my husband dropped on the dresser over the past year-- just think if every American donated the change off his dresser. Or for the canned food drive (which ends this Wednesday, November 25), for some reason, I always have too many cans of corn and an extra box of cereal in my pantry. I am thankful for the privilege of being an American who has a job-- in my life I have spare change and a some cans of food that I won't even miss.

When you take the time to help your child put change into that UNICEF box or go through your pantry with your child, and he gets to carry that can to school and put it on the pile of cans for St. Patrick's food pantry, you are helping your child develop the habit of giving. I wish you could see the faces of these children carrying in their UNICEF boxes and their canned food-- there is a sense of worth in being able to help someone else and they are feeling good because they are doing good. And of course, the recipients of our efforts benefit too. Thank you so much for your support of our programs and your child's emotional and spiritual development!

Canned Food Drive on November 16-25

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:56:10 -1000

We have changed gears from thinking about how to help children around the world through UNICEF to helping people right in our own neighborhood. Mrs. Bailie's and Ms. Field's 1/2 classes are in charge of the Thanksgiving canned food drive. I hope you enjoyed their informative letter to the Elementary School that was emailed to everyone. One student commented to me during recess one day that he can't wait to bring the cans to St. Patrick's food pantry!

The only comments I want to add to their letter is that canned food can be brought to the Dining Room and placed under the mirror on the side wall. Also, like the other service activities, participation is totally voluntary. Each family knows their own situation best and should choose when and to what extent to participate in an activity.

The students are very excited to help others. In fact, a few children have already brought in cans just from talking about it in CE class-- even before the letter was emailed to the families! How wonderful that children are talking about helping others at home on their own.

What is a "need"?

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:16:43 -1000

This past week we passed out boxes for UNICEF. We understand that participation in UNICEF is a family decision and all participation is voluntary. If you do decide to participate, please return the boxes (or if you've misplaced the box, children have brought just a bag of coins which is fine also) by next week Friday, November 6. If your family chooses not to participate, please simply discard the box.

We started talking about needs vs. wants in light of the upcoming Halloween event-- and Halloween means it is the "season" of UNICEF.

Hello, Duveneck Elementary!

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:20:29 -1000

Ms. Field's class had the opportunity again this year to meet via webcam with Mr. Young's class in Palo Alto, California. I met Mr. Young while I was living in Palo Alto (my family moved back to Hawaii about two years ago). Palo Alto is known for its excellent public schools and the families there (many parents work at Stanford University) are very supportive of education. When I was there, the people of the city voted to increase its taxes in order to direct more money to the schools. Typical of public schools here, the PTAs raised money every year to pay the librarians, and art, music, and P.E. teachers. Mr. Young was on the technology committee for Palo Alto Unified, and now he is one of a few teachers in the district who has a SmartBoard in his classroom.

If you tell the truth...

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:49:45 -1000

Continuing our exploration on prayer, the kindergartners shared plants they thank God for. It was neat to see how they are so interested in creation, whether animals or plants. I was also interested to see which plants they shared about -- "the red flower at my house," "the ginger plant at my neighbor's house," "sugar cane," "this plant (she was holding a plumeria from the playground)." I enjoyed hearing their stories and am glad I can get to know them better. In addition, being aware of and being thankful for nature also helps them respect and care for it more. I know in my life I am usually not too aware of plants (unless I kill the one in my office). I liked having the opportunity to reflect upon what plant I am thankful for.

At a recent chapel, Chaplain Koyama shared a story about when he was a very young boy he took candy from the ice cream man's cart and never told him about it. He said he wished he could've told us that he made it right and confessed, but he never did tell the ice cream man. He shared how to this day he still thinks about it and feels bad about it. This provided a terrific springboard to discuss honesty.

We encounter many situations throughout the day where we need to decide whether or not to tell the truth, whether admitting we looked at a friend's paper on a spelling test or confessing that we stepped on someone's toe by accident when trying to get in line.

Blessing Ms. Amanda

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:46:08 -1000

This week the kindergartners continued thinking about prayer as well as shared about their favorites so we can get to know each other. Since the students mentioned prayer being a time to thank God, they have since brainstormed people they thank God for ("mommy," "daddy, "sister," "grandma"), places they thank God for ("the water park," "Disneyland," "the beach," "my house"), and animals they thank God for ("bunnies," "cheetahs," "giraffes," "snakes").

Before they brainstormed animals they thank God for, I read one page each about spiders, caterpillars/butterflies, and snakes from a book with photos. After I read about each animal, I asked them, "How does a spider knows how to spin its web? How does a caterpillar know how to turn into a butterfly? How does a snake know to sheds its skin?" They looked at me with big eyes, and most shrugged and said, "They just know." A few said, "God tells it." The children were so enthralled looking at the photos in the book and listening about the animals-- they really appreciate creation! I think we adults need to re-learn how to marvel from them.

No, I Don't Like Strawberries, But I'm Still Your Friend

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:07:32 -1000

I can't believe we've already finished the third week of school. Time has gone by so quickly. Even though it is the third week of school, I think some children are still adjusting, which is totally normal. Many of them look awfully happy, however, even during their transition! Please let Ms. Rivera (the elementary school counselor and CE teacher for 3rd-5th grade) or me know if your child would like to talk about anything going on during school or at home.

Getting to Know You

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:15:57 -1000

This week I asked the children every day to sit next to someone they didn't know that well. I was impressed at how earnest they were in trying to accomplish that task. I even heard a few say to themselves, "I don't know ___ as well. I'm going to sit next to ____" and then went to seek that child out. We continued to play different getting-to-know-you games. We also did mini-interviews, and introduced each other to the class. Since the 1st and 2nd graders are more able readers and writers, they did an activity where they filled out a questionnaire about their favorites (favorite ice cream, favorite main dish, favorite activity at home, etc). Then they had to find someone who had the same favorite as they did. They seemed to enjoy going from person to person and trying to find someone with the same answers at first, but some got tired when they couldn't find someone who liked the same thing as they did. Next week I'll share what they discovered and their feelings about it.

Welcome!

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:30:53 -1000

Welcome to a wonderful new school year! It has been such a pleasure to see the children again and meet new friends.

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.

Some Things Change--Some Things Stay the Same

Thu, 21 May 2009 13:57:21 -1000

Several children asked me what happened to the books left over from the Earth Day Book Swap. We gave the remaining boxes of books to Ka Pa'alana, an organization that works with homeless families. The children enjoyed the Book Swap and got great satisfaction from participating in it. Not only did they love browsing through the books and getting "new" books, they also liked that we gave books to homeless families.

I asked the children three questions to reflect upon this 2008-2009 school year, and several of their answers are posted below (in no particular order).

Celebrating Earth Day

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:29:56 -1000

This week we had our Earth Day book swap. Trying to be "green," Ms. Rivera and I only posted the information about the book swap on our blogs last week. (I incorrectly assumed that when the specialists' blogs are published, an email notification goes out to the parents; we corrected the situation by asking Mrs. Hussey to email a notice about Book Swap this week.)

It was so much fun to see the children excitedly poring over the boxes of books, then becoming engrossed in the books they found. How wonderful that they have such a love of reading! Not only was it an Earth Day celebration, it was also a celebration of reading. Every child got to browse through the books, whether he brought a book to swap or not.

Kind Words and Earth Day

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:46:51 -1000

17 April 2009

Dear families,

We will be doing an Earth Day Book Swap during your child's Character Education class next Wednesday through Friday, April 22-April 24.

If you bring a book, you can swap it and take home a "new" book! You can bring in just one book or as many books as you wish (is it time do some spring cleaning of those shelves at home?)-- the most you can take home is five books, however, because of the time it takes to look through the boxes for a book.

Or if you don't wish to participate, that's fine too. (Some children mentioned that they love all their books and didn't want to bring any in to swap. If your child changes his mind after seeing the neat books his friends are taking home, he can come during lunch recess another day).

Any books preschool level through 5th grade would be appropriate, so you can bring in a book that you've outgrown and take home a more challenging book.

You can bring your book(s) to the CE house or you may bring it the day of your CE class.

Any remaining books that are not swapped will be donated to a worthy cause.

Mahalo,

Lori Abe and Shirley Rivera

Character Education

April Showers of Blessing

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:49:31 -1000

Thank you so much to all of you who donated canned goods and personal hygiene items. As I stacked the cans and boxes of food against the wall in the Dining Room (the area where we are collecting canned goods was overflowing), I was touched by the generosity and thoughtfulness of each family. I know in the busyness of working, soccer/baseball/swimming/karate practices, preparing meals, washing laundry, cleaning the house and paying bills, bringing canned goods for the canned food drive is yet one more thing to remember. You won't be there to witness it, but when that hungry family sits down to open and eat the cans of food you brought and the homeless person washes up with the soap you donated, they will thank you for blessing them...

Mrs. LeBlanc's and Ms. Revard's classes, the two 1/2 multiage classes who were in charge of the canned food drive this semester, had a blast drawing their posters and writing their speeches. They were literally dancing with excitement and nervousness the day we went to each kindergarten through 5th grade class to make their public service announcements. They did a wonderful job-- the children here at MPI really excel at public speaking because they do it so often.

What is peace? (part 3)

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:17:09 -1000

The other week Chaplain Koyama talked about friendship as a spiderweb in chapel. I found this intriguing, and tried to take his metaphor one step more in CE (I did this abstract discussion only for the older kids). I mentioned that because we are all different, we are going to disagree sometimes-- that's a given. Thus in our spiderweb of friendship, there are times when flies will fly into the web, disrupting the web. However, we as spiders need to take care of these disturbances, wrap up the flies, and take care of them, or else they will destroy our web of friendship and leave it in shreds. I told them that these skills of taking turns, sharing, identifying and sharing our feelings, and saying sorry (topics we've been discussing in our books and activities on peace) are skills that we will be developing all our lives in order to continually maintain our spiderwebs of friendship.

Thus began our introduction into our next subject, being a good friend.