Our tea party beginnings are changing into something more real as the children relax into being Nursery Schoolers. They are busy being with one another and learning the room, and the routine, and their teachers. They are busy seeing who they are, and who those other people are, in the context of the Nursery. From the outside it can look less smooth, but really it means they are more comfortable now. They feel safe enough to assert themselves and let their hair down, so to speak, as they go along with their days.

My task is to help them understand that we all take care of each other, that we all matter, that we all stay together, and that whenever a problem comes up, we can solve it. When the milk spills, we can wipe it up; when someone wants a turn on a trike or a swing, they can each help set a time that seems fair to both; when someone takes something someone else is using or holding, they can call a meeting and figure it all out.

They are learning that they have a lot of time to play and to make their own choices and that they also have responsibilities that go along with that freedom and that, at certain times or in certain circumstances, their choices are limited. They are learning that their feet stay on the green rug up in the loft instead of climbing the railing — a safety rule. They are learning they can be barefoot in the sand box or on sand hill, but that everywhere else they need shoes — another safety rule. They are internalizing the boundaries and the idea that we stay together when we are on the Tire Swing Side or on the Cycle Circle Side.  They are becoming more reliable about letting Ben and me know their plans — say if they need to go to the Trike Shed for sand scoops or inside to the bathroom.

They are getting more and more practice meeting with one another to solve problems. Really these meetings become the grease to their social machine and will be the foundation to their work later in the year — in their imaginative play and big block constructions and other ideas and plans they want to do together. Some already have a sense of how meetings work and for some it is a new concept. For all of them, it's a new year and they're still getting comfortable with how it works together.

To get a meeting started at this time of year I may ask, "Is everything okay?" And then we take it from there. I'm there to encourage them to find a way to talk directly to one another instead of through me. I may say something like, "Oh… I'm here to help, but you can say your words to: child's name, and then they'll know you want to talk to them." It can take a lot of courage to tell someone that you're not comfortable with something they've done when you don't quite know who they are yet and while you are also trying to manage your own very complicated feelings of the moment. It can take a lot of courage to listen to someone tell you they weren't comfortable with something you've done.

All of this is big and important work and is the foundation of all of the many things they will accomplish together.

As each day passes, they each log more and more time with one another and with Ben and me. Over and over they are seeing the way the routine works while they are getting a sense of the expectations and their responsibilities — and, of course, the fun of it all. They are digging in sand, riding trikes, climbing, running, painting, using tape and scissors and markers, singing songs, dancing, looking at books, listening to stories, playing with toys, making new friends and solving problems along the way.  Doing all of this is a thrill; it's glorious fun, plus being complicated and challenging work done five days a week and in the company of eleven other peers. They are all working very hard and I imagine they are tired when they come home.

On Thursday, we had gone outside after rest time stories. A Nurseryer who had been on edge was steadily running out of her remaining social energy. She was upset. It was easy to tell, that for her, problems were harder to solve and that people were harder to be with. At that point, one of the Younger Groupers came by with a cricket in his hand. It engaged her, and when he left, he let her take care of it.

It seemed to renew her energies. Ben went over and his gentle presence and guidance helped her understand how to keep the little cricket calm and comfortable so it would stay with her. As thrilled and excited as she was, she quietly talked to it like it was a little puppy. It sat on the cozy spot on the soft inside of her thumb for 15 minutes. It slowly waved its antennae, washed its adorable little face and soothed her in return. While we were getting ready to go inside for our afternoon snack, it began to sing over and over again. We could see its plump body get plumper still, expanding and shivering with each little song.

When it was time, she sent it back to nature, helping it find just the right the spot she knew it would like — well camouflaged on the bark of one of our sugar maples. As she left it there, she said a gentle goodbye, "I will miss you…." She paused a moment and as an afterthought said, "Send me a postcard." Somehow Ben found a moment to create a cricket's tiny postcard to put in her cubby for her to discover later as a cap to the magic.

No matter the stresses of the moment or the day or the week, there is a kind of magic that can come from the opportunity to log time and experience in a natural setting. As she soothed and cared for the cricket, the cricket responded in kind with it's own calm energy. As she soaked up the experience, she was soothed and cared for in return.

Even with the challenge of being so hot and sweaty during our very muggy days this past week, the Nurseries seemed very pleased to be together while they used the room and outside and learned the Nursery routine. One child had the idea of turning off the lights which seemed to help a bit. We also kept the fans on high and the water table accessible. Early in the morning, the children gladly took on the task of filling the water table with buckets, pitchers and many trips to the sink near our refrigerator. No one seemed to mind getting sloshed with a bit of water down the front on the way from here to there.  Ben discovered the wet mop, and he and I kept up with the occasional puddles.

Explorations with school made play dough in cobalt blue and a big batch of lavender silly putty, both straight from the refrigerator, also helped them cool down throughout the day — their hands at least. As they got thirsty, they poured their own cups of water from the pitcher we keep near the Teacher cupboard, or they got their water bottles from their cubbies for a drink.

The concept of setting times together — to plan for going outside and coming back inside as a group, or for setting an agreed upon number of minutes with one another for taking turns on a swing or a trike — are beginning to make sense to them.

We are singing songs: "Where is Thumbkin," and others, plus Mother Goose and finger plays. There has been talk in the group of songs they know and like including "Big Rock Candy Mountain," and "Wheels on the Bus." On Friday afternoon while snack helpers and I were making snack, Ben played piano while one child played harp and several others sang by the rocking chairs. 

We are also reading lots of books, Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too, Angus and the Ducks, Angus and the Cat, George and Martha, Some Dogs Do, Quick as a Cricket, and Mouse Soup, to name a few.

Lucy from the Older Group, has come down several times to hang out with us a bit during her free time. On Thursday she read Chico Bon Bon, by request for our after morning snack story time. Chico Bon Bon is an all time favorite of many Nursery groups, and she remembered it fondly. Visits from the older children make a lovely way for the Nurseries to begin to expand their horizons into the wider school community. We have a list now for Nursery children to sign up to have a visit in the Kindergarten. There are three children so far who wanted to sign up and I expect more to follow. We have had two Kindergartners visit us in the Nursery as well.

On Friday afternoon, at the end of their very busy week, I watched as they all collaborated together, all of them, in a fine session of imaginative play in the Loft/Kitchen Corner. One child upstairs in the loft had just announced that he was recording the foods the baby liked (he was marking them down by using chalk on the long chalkboard.) Another said she was the mother. One child was lying on blankets surrounded by food — the baby. Others were delivering food. Yet another, in layers of dress-ups with her hair damp and sweat beading on her forehead, announced with great satisfaction and enthusiasm, "I am glorious!"

A moment later a Nurseryer noticed me with my digital camera — I was trying to capture the gloriousness of it all. She smiled and said, "Take my picture."

I said, "Of course…," and snapped it, with her approval. She paused a moment and finished up by saying in explanation, "Ann, we're working together."

I couldn't have summed it up better!

How remarkable. This is the beginning of their year together.

It was great seeing these children, old friends and new faces,  as they began to figure it all out:  the whats and whens and wheres and hows and whys of the Nursery.

We are all busy learning one another right now in this brand new year. I am already seeing glimmers of some wonderful group building skills that they bring with them out of who they are as individuals.

Many thanks to Ben for helping with this early process and for being such a wonderful center for them as they pick it all up.

We talked about how, on their Thursday (or Friday), we only had some of our group, but that we would all be together on Tuesday after our weekend. Several in the little group on Friday wanted to talk about the rest of the group and the others they would see on Tuesday. Some of them have already connected with one another around town and at the school picnic on Thursday.

We are off to a grand start.

Playdough and silly putty, big block construction, paper and scissors and tape, paint and markers, endless games of Kitty or Baby or Puppy — add in Bad… (…Kitty …Baby …Puppy) for the thrill of added tension to the story line — favorite songs and stories, dressing up, making cozy spots, trikes, skates, sand, mud, snow, working out plans and problems and ideas, add in friends, friends, friends, mix it all up together and you get a sense of the Nursery in winter. It's busy and rich.

We all had a lovely time getting back together after our long Winter Break at the end of December. I always consider those two weeks that we are away from the day-to-day of our routine and one another to be an essential part of the Nursery program. It's family time, of course, and also processing time. They come back together again after Break, eager to return and I think with an understanding that they have missed being with one another and the amazing things they can accomplish together.

Earlier in January, the Nurseries planned for Shape Days. They immediately came up with Squares, Circles, Triangles, Rectangles. A pause to think and they added Octagons, Ovals, Stars, Crescent, Hearts, Diamonds, Flowers, People…. I asked if they knew Semi-circle which some did and after actually seeing the shape they wanted to add that in. They continued on into puppy, kitty, horse…. I suggested that if we added Line to our list then they could draw any shape they wanted which they decided to do. And so there we are Squares to Lines with a lot in-between and All Shapes to end with.

Name Days have been brought up from time to time all year long and I know we will begin to do serious planning later in February as we finish up Shape Days. There is a lovely story on the origins of Name Day to be shared as we get closer to the celebration. There will also be our maple trees to tap and pajamas and pancakes and school-made syrup again.

More to follow....

Halloween — and all of the building anticipation and tension it brings — is over. Our trip to Peifer's Orchard for cider and pumpkins and the relaxed wagon ride we took out to the apple trees to pick (and eat apples) made a low key antidote for some of the Halloween excitement that overwhelmed the Nurseries from time-to-time over the last number of weeks. My child self says, "Oh, what fun it is, too bad it's over." My adult self says, "Oh, thank goodness we are on the other side and heading toward Thanksgiving!" Halloween can be a tense time for many children.

This past week we finished up our Color Days celebrations with Rainbow week. We had a rainbow of glitter paint appear along with shapes to paint and to glue onto  a length of foam core for a rainbow display.

Nurseries made a delicious Rainbow soup on Wednesday. Even the self proclaimed non soup eaters said it smelled good. There were a number of soup eaters and several Nurseries had seconds and thirds.

We made a Rainbow fruit salad on Friday. There was much activity cutting the red, green and purple grapes, plus cantaloupe pieces that the Kindergartners shared with us. They added pineapple and blueberries to finish up the rainbow.

Now that Color Days are over, there is discussion about other things we could plan. People talked about different ideas; Name Days was one.

They have also begun to really use the Big Blocks for construction and there are several Nurseries who are truly inspired by the challenge of clean up when it is time to put them away. The blocks are big and these children are strong.

Nurseryers are not available yet to bring the room to life, but this photo of our freshly painted Circle Table may give a preview, at least, of times to come.

I always renew the surface with a fresh layer of turquoise paint toward the end of the summer and it's become so much a part of my ritual for getting the Nursery ready for fall that, at this point, the many accumulated layers would probably make an interesting archeological dig!

 Anyway, by the time the table has cured to a clean surface, it usually feels like the school year is getting ready to take off. And with these last few days and our daytime temperatures already down to around 70°, it feels like we are already into early October.

You have probably already heard from several sources that this Saturday (9 A.M. to 2 P.M.) is our All School-Beginning of the Year-Work Bee. It made sense to welcome us all to a new Antioch School year while we get ready to take off into September. I'm also using this little posting (with photos) as an exercise for me to get back into the habit of making more use of our website and to learn how to accomplish some neat publishing tricks that are made possible with our new web based software. So bear with me while I take it on. 

Joomla (our web design software) seems to be cooperative with a clean format. I hope that learning to use what it has to offer will help me keep all our necessary information more accessible to all of us. It should also help it come to you in a more regular, organized, and attractive way. Just let me know how it seems to be working as a way to get information back and forth to one another.

Again, welcome!

Our wonderful snow was used and enjoyed to the last flake.

Nurseries arrived that first snowy morning and were immediately outside and experiencing, coming in to warm up and then getting into gear and going out again as the temperature continued to fall. By the second morning when they arrived, the temperature was only in the single digits. I told them we would have to wait for it to warm up a bit before we could go out that morning.   

"It's okay, Ann, I've got mittens." The concept of "too cold" made no sense to them.  By the time it hit 16° or so we were outside!

I asked, "What will you do when you get too cold?"

"I will tell you my plan and come in to warm up!"

They are experiencing the natural world first hand and are growing wise about listening to their bodies. The week before, we started singing "Over the River and Through the Woods" in honor of Thanksgiving, and "…stings the nose and bites the toes," has real meaning to them now.

Along with the snow came sledding on Dirt, Tunnel and Sand Hills with school sleds and many sleds from home. Back in October the Nurseries wanted to know if they could jump off the end of the big tunnel which has been incorporated into a huge, grassy, sometimes snowy hill. I told them I would take their question to a Faculty meeting. We teachers quickly decided that this could be a wonderful opportunity for an All-School meeting. Of course, the whole school was very busy with many things, but the Kindergarten picked up the Nursery question, helping to keep the ball rolling by sending their request to all of the groups to meet. I told the Nurseries about the meeting that was being planned. I told them that the meeting was about jumping off the end of the tunnel, but now we really needed to talk about sledding. Analyzing this on the spot, one person said, "Well, ________, [Kindergartner] hurt her nose [sledding]," in explanation.

I said, "Anyone who wants to will be able to talk."

Then around the room Nurseries said, "Well, I won't say anything."

"I'm not going to say anything, either."

"I won't either."

I said, "You don't have to, of course, but you can if you want to."

We all gathered in a huge circle in the Art/Science room. Nurseries sat with their Younger Group (YG) partners and Kindergartners with their Older Group (OG) partners. Teachers were scattered around the room and Galen from the OG led the meeting superbly in the style of the best of democratic leaders, including all voices, often respectfully restating what each speaker said until each speaker in turn was comfortably in agreement that their words were well represented — and that the group understood.

Interestingly, some of the earliest hands up and voices heard amongst all the students belonged to those three Nurserers who had decided a day earlier that they wouldn't be saying anything. Sitting there with their YG partners, they were strong and sure and clear. They talked about not jumping on top of someone who was sledding downhill. How it wasn't good when sleds crashed into each other or people standing at the bottom. How you shouldn't jump off the sled while it is already moving. Toward the end, one of the most articulate and analytical Nurseries, after having just spoken quite logically five separate times about sledding and traffic flow, added that one possible way to do it would be to have a sled that would just fly over any of the others that might be in the way. Finally, I thought, he is also reassuringly four and fanciful after such a long run of serious. Galen didn't skip a beat and respectfully nodded his head.

These Nursery children have already had a lot of practice with gathering to meet at transitional times in the classroom — clean-up meetings, stories and songs, going down to Art/Science. I know they've seen how this part of the Nursery routine can smooth things along as we move from one part of the day to the next. It is still early in the year, but a week or so before our All-School meeting, they began to use this form with one another to circle up and solve a problem. It was a few weeks ago that one child came to me and asked to have a meeting with the whole group.

"What will it be about?"

Covering all bases he said, "We need to talk about how we can't push or bite or hit or scream." 

I knew that two Nurseries had just had a meeting together and guessed that things just didn't seem quite resolved to the one who was calling the all-group meeting.

We did gather up (it was also the time they had set for stories) and then he proceeded with the meeting, standing next to where I sat in the rocking chair getting ready to read C.W. Anderson's Blaze Finds the Trail. He was formal and very calm and precise, "Everyone, I want to talk to you, we need to talk about…." What followed was about ten or more minutes of the children talking about what they did when they felt frustrated.

"I have a brother and if he bothers and bothers me, I go up the stairs and there's a gate and I go in the gate and I close it and he can't get in and I'm in my room." 

"I take yoga and if I get frustrated I do Volcano," demonstrating how with breathing, posture and hand motions.

"If I get so mad I take a deep breath and let it out like this [slowly] and then I think about my birthday.

Continuing all around the circle, they calmly and softly shared their feelings and their techniques for managing frustration and anger. Siblings seemed to be the main focus of their discussion, although toward the end of the meeting, one child chuckled a little bit and said, "Well, my sister and I really get along pretty well, I think."

All the way around the group and then finally the Nurseryer who was the reason the first child chose to call the meeting, felt comfortable enough and, I think, so supported, that he could interrupt his own account of what-he-does-if-he-gets-angry and turn to his friend and say a deeply felt, "Sorry, ________," and then continue on. Apology accepted.

This is one of those Nursery moments that usually doesn't come until much later in the year. They seem to be naturals at this kind of group process.

The beginning of the year in the Nursery is so much about learning where you go and when you stop:  physical boundaries inside the school and outside on the play yards, plus listening to boundaries set by friends and their feelings, plus those you set out of your very own feelings.

For the Nursery it begins in the concrete. Physical boundaries are so much an essential part of the program, that the first real thing we do on our first real day is to go around each play yard to touch and see all the trees-that-say-stop so everyone will have a clear understanding of the visual boundaries and their own responsibilities.

Sometime within the first week or so I know that someone will need to get the roll of red tape and put down a line across the Nursery doorway to remind everyone that we all have to have a plan to go out into the hallway. It often becomes a group craft project with scissors and tape, and many people cutting and sticking tape pieces along the threshold.

I also know that sometime later on in the year they will be ready as a group to make a list of their safety rules and plan to use the hallway. This year it has come quite a bit earlier than usual. By the third week in October, after weeks of watching the Kindergarten use the tents and big blocks in the hall outside the Nursery door, they were ready to sit together and make their list of rules.

I know it's a pretty exciting prospect to the Nurseries — to be using the hallway along with the Kindergartners. The Kindergartners are already experienced models after having logged many weeks in the hallway this fall. Once cold weather has set in, it will be great to have the hallway as a sunny place to expand into from the Nursery room.

We've had our first play in our own room on a stage that the afternoon Nurseries built. The dialogue and story was pretty simple. With this first play it was mostly about building the stage (big blocks), deciding on the characters (Ninja Turtles),  gathering the audience (many chairs with one teacher and two Nurseries), and making their costumes (flexible tubes fastened around their bodies). Later on in the year, they may want to use me as a scribe to write down their dialogue and perform for the Kindergartners. We will see.

They loved the Dayton Philharmonic's String Quartet outreach visit! The story in music was a version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Nurseries got to sit with their Younger Group partners. Later that day before morning songs and stories, Orion had the idea to do his own piano performance of "Hot Cross Buns," introducing it to his audience and receiving our applause at the end with a nod of his head. To my amazement  all of the others decided to do performances also. And so we have created a Piano Performance list to post along with Kindergarten Visits and YG Partners.

Halloween tends to be a time of wound-up, tense feelings for Nursery aged children. Even for older children it can be a bit scary. It was one of my favorites as a child and (surprise) one of my least favorites as a teacher. But, actually this Halloween has had a pretty calm and relaxed feel for these children. When a more frenetic energy began building last Friday afternoon (the 31st and cold and rainy), I asked if they would like to clean up early so we could make muffins — and they did!

So Halloween has come and gone and now we are heading into Thanksgiving. They are planning for a cosy Pajama Day sometime after our Color Days that end with Rainbow this coming week. It will be interesting to see if someone thinks of pancakes to go along with the pajamas.

Thank you Deborah, Madhya, and Dirk for coming along and being our drivers for our Peifer's Pumpkin field trip! 

Ann

There are many children in the Nursery who seem very tied into the changing of the seasons. Looking up and watching the leaves coming down, Nurseries will comment in passing or in wonder, "The leaves are falling, that's why it's fall." With a little wind the hackberry trees make a great display on the Cycle Circle Side. Leaves are turning red, and yellow and orange on the Tire Swing Side. We are waiting for the sugar maples to really start dropping their leaves so they can be raked. For now the children collect them, along with seed heads of various grasses. The red raspberry canes along the garden fence are still a draw for the Nurseries. You can always hope you might find one tucked away. . . .

We've begun to have some chilly days and rainy days and it's interesting to me to see how the children's energy is beginning to shift toward more inside building with big blocks, playing with play dough, or communal drawing at the circle table. So far the constructions are cooperative and by the group. They are shaped as a flat platform, stage or walk way. They often will ask me to write down their words for signs so they can post it on their work: "Don't break or knock down my construction. You can look at it and touch it."

They are experiencing the power of the written word. There was a little group sitting together at the circle table on Monday wondering together — and to me — about how to spell "tap." On my way from here to there I said, "Well listen to how it starts," making the initial consonant sound. On my way back. I saw t-a-p spelled out on a paper in brown marker decorated/illuminated with a bit of yellow and orange. By then the whole group had made a plan with me to go outside and had dispersed to the Cycle Circle Side.

Oh how I wish I had witnessed the group process that finished decoding the word for them. I am in awe of how they were able to take off so naturally into their process and then move on to their next thing. I wonder, why did they want the word "tap?" I love it. Occasional mysteries are good for the soul.

Running games with the Kindergartners, or Younger Groupers, and also among themselves, are still a big focus along with swinging, work in the sand, enjoying the merry-go-round and our new tunnel with its huge grassy hill. (Thank you Liz and Pete Griffin and John Grote!) Getting the trike shed key on the red ribbon from MJ is a big thing for some. Being snack helper. Going down the hall on with a friend to MJ's for snack supplies. Visiting the Kindergarten and studying the list to see who is next. Reading books: The Collected Curious George, Mouse Soup, Where the Wild Things Are, In the Rabbitgarden, Keep Your Mouth Closed Dear, to name a few. Singing songs. Art/Science with Brian. Music with Dennis. Planning for Color Days and anticipating what's next. These are some of their favorite things.

On the morning of Friday, October 24 and one of our many Orange Days, the Nursery will go on a hayride to a Peifer's pumpkin patch. Each Nurseryer will get to pick a pumpkin to take home.

Ann

Last Thursday Nurseries decided they wanted to pick out one of our garden pumpkins that the Kindergartners had harvested from their last spring's planting. Nurseries decided it should be the biggest one (of course) and found two likely candidates. They weighed them each on a balance scale with Brian to compare and decide. They scooped the seeds and pulp last Friday. The skin was pumpkin orange but the flesh was yellow-ish, so this Thursday we made two pies from scratch for Yellow Days. There was one to share with our Younger Group partners. The other is to share with Kindergartners who got us started with the idea of pumpkins and pumpkin pie in the first place — when they shared theirs with us. This is a lot of complex group process for so early in the year. They love it and seem to be naturals.

We have already started our regular Thursday music time with Dennis (Farmer). Yesterday we worked on (had fun with) vocal warm-ups in the Kindergarten room with Dennis.

This week we celebrated red and yellow. Next week it will be blue and green. They will be making their shopping list this Friday. So far they have mentioned blueberries and avocados. We shall see.

Conferences are coming up in the next two weeks. Please look for the sign up sheet on the Nursery door this coming Monday.

Ann