April ramblings....
Holding on to hope....
When you stand in the presence of children it is hard not to smile, and boy do I need that these days!
As I listen to the news on abortion laws, gun laws, and book regulations just to name a few, I can't help but feel a heavy weight descending on my heart and soul. Over the last few months I have found myself with tears falling out of my eyes as I drift off to sleep after reading the latest news articles.
While some say, "Don't read it," I believe it is our responsibility to be aware of what is going on in our community and our world at large. It is the same for our students. In school we learn about recycling and cleaning up after ourselves, all in connection to taking care of the environment and knowing our own responsibilities. We begin to explore our world and the world at large as we read and talk together.
We learn about respect and empathy as we practice and live amongst each other in the classroom, strengthening skills of communication daily. From listening to each other, to checking in with each other, we play and live alongside each other for many hours. When a friend falls we run over and say, “Are you ok?” We ask a friend to play with us, or sometimes we ask for space to play alone. We share ideas, and give ideas. An early childhood center is a great place to see all of the social skills of collaboration and problem solving at work. At what point do we become adults that can no longer work together, or hear each other's ideas without feeling our ego has been attacked? At what point do we stop listening to each other respectfully?
In the classroom we read books and ponder which stories are true and which are fiction. We tell each other stories from our lives and ponder as truth and fiction become a daily question in our time together. A friend says, “I am going to Disney this weekend” as is common since we live in Florida. Yet we never know if they are talking about this weekend or a past weekend or a weekend coming up, and in truth as they are learning about time and they are early childhood students they don't know either. Pondering truth is a healthy practice and one to be challenged for life!
As I stand on the playground or walk through the classrooms as an Early Childhood Director, I can't help but smile at all that I see in this setting. I can continue to help children practice respect, communication, and collaboration. We can play together in school while searching for the truth in all that is presented in stories we share with each other throughout the day.
I am going to pocket some of what I see at our school so that tonight when I put my head on the pillow, I can hold on to the hope that exists in our world. I can still listen to the news, and be aware of what is happening while feeling hopeful. The children offer me this gift. Their skill set as young human beings show all that is possible in our world.
Feeling hopeless? Go sit with a child and let them guide the experience. Lean in to their joy, their curiosity, their honesty, and their creativity and fill your pocket with hope. That's my plan for today.
Omg Robin, I love that and I love the way that you put your reflection on the “paper”. It makes me pause and rethink about a lot of things! Thank you for that! 💕
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your reflections on adult life! How hard is it?! Or is it that we make adult life difficult? I really don’t know. But we as educators, we must have the ability to stop, think, reflect on the world and on the attitudes we take every day and, if necessary, take a step back and reformulate ideas. why not change? why not be more flexible? How can we “teach” children to work together, to respect opinions, different points of view if many times, we, as adults, are not able to do that! I still believe that example is everything and serves as a mirror attitude for the children around us.
Respect, communication, and collaboration is the key, thank you for mentioning that!!!