I don't know about you but for me the holidays seem to go by so quickly. As much as I say I'm really going to take my time and really enjoy each holiday, I find myself rushing through it to get a jump start onto the next one. And that is where I found myself a week ago when one of my teachers asked me where I had put all our pumpkins. It's December and I was so proud of myself for putting all our fall decorations away and disposing of our pumpkins. And I suddenly felt embarrassed that I was so hurried to get to the next holiday that I didn't stop to think that maybe our students would like to enjoy the pumpkins a little longer. Luckily, we have wonderful teachers that were not in the same mindset as me. So we scrounged up the pumpkins we could still find. Our children painted the pumpkins, did their own science experiments with them, moved them all over the playground, decorated our playground with them and finally decided on making the most inviting pumpkin patch. And I noticed since we ( the adults) didn't have any other use for the pumpkins, there was a calm and peaceful atmosphere while the children were exploring. The cooperative play was magical. Hearing their conversations and seeing them work together to build on their ideas was so inspiring. It was a reminder to me that I have to be careful not to bring the stress to our school environment. That I have to make sure I'm not rushing our children through their learning but rather meeting them where they are at and help them build from there.
