Monday, May 13, 2013

Building Bridges




As we consider matters of the heart, the Kindergarten has given thought to connecting our hearts to others. 

How do we build community beyond the walls of our school? A powerful question to answer when you are very young.

We started the school year with the image of a string connecting all members of our community. If we say hurtful things or neglect to take care of each member  in our community the  strings are no longer connected and our community stops working. 

 This image became tangible on Martin Luther King day with the help of Renee, our PE teacher and our eighth grade buddies.  Renee gave the students a ball of yarn and asked them to offer it to a friend across the circle. Soon the ties that bind a community were visible. We could actually see the connections that exist between our hearts. 


We invited the Circle  Preschool, an inner city early education center, to visit us at our campus. The children began to plan the gathering. They felt it was important to include games that forged bridges between themselves and the visiting children. We played Telephone, Apples and Oranges (London Bridge is Falling Down) and included the game Renee had taught us. 

We began to build connections between our two communities.











 


A: I felt connected when we played telephone because we welcomed them with our message.





D: I liked it when I ate my snack with Mar ( from the Circle Pre-school). It made me feel good.

Tanne: I liked when we had snack together because we never have visitors at the table with us.














R: I liked it when we tossed the strings. I saw that when we tossed the ropes they were looking at me and when I saw them they smiled at me.








J: I was liked when we tossed the yarn because the yarn was love.

C: When we played the games I felt connected to them because they were new here and I wanted to them to be liked.









 





I: I liked when we said goodbye because I felt connected. It was only the second time we saw them and so I felt love inside.
















2 comments:

  1. Just discovered your blog.. and love it. Cant wait to share this with our Early Years teachers. Looking forward to sharing your learnin journey.

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  2. What a beautiful story! As a watcher from the sidelines, I had an inkling of some of this, but seeing it here as you have put the story together is just so, so sweet, it fills me with love yet again. Thank you

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