Photo Inspiration: Sing in the Meadows

Sing in the Meadows and everywhere
Sing out the blessings to everyone
Lift up your voices,
Lift your hands on high
Sing and the battle is one. 
Song by: J. Donald Walters

This is an inspiration photo entry today which was taken by one of our parents at the Living Wisdom School.
We had a double blessing in our meadow about a month ago. What an amazing sight for our children and a blessing for our new school location.

We were all singing in the meadows, when we saw this!

"All the World is my Friend" Starting the school year right.

We begin the year in our classroom with a song:

"All the World is my Friend

When I learn how to share my love

When I stretch up my hands and smile

Then I live from above...".

Below is the link for the song:

http://soundcloud.com/nayaswamirambhakta/all-the-world-is-my-friend

Each year I begin the month of September with this song. The children are beginning to recognize each other after a long summer break and this is a familiar children's song that we sing often at the Living Wisdom School. The lyrics reminds them about kindness, friendship, and acceptance. During the month I also plan activities around being reacquainted with their former friends and meeting new classmates as we begin our new school year.

We began the year with our own self-portraits. These were hung in the hallway above our cubicles to introduce our class to
the Living Wisdom school community. I was so pleased to see how well they did and how they remembered the key points of drawing their own Mother's portraits from May.  These are so sweet!

http://chandi-holliman.blogspot.com/2012/05/divine-mothers-everywhere.html

The next project is based around all the families being acquitted with each other. The activity begins with clay that is self drying. The children mold the beads into round shapes. The clay dries for several days and the children then string their necklaces. Each necklace has world beads and their pictures of each friend that is attached.  They are so excited about their necklaces and sharing stories with their families about their new friends.

The third project we made in the classroom this year are prayer earths.
We start with styrofoam balls and layer masking tape all around the ball. 

This is such a good project for small little fingers and building small muscle development.

 The next day after the ball is completed, I cut art plaster in small pieces.

It is then placed strip by strip into a container of fairly warm hot water.

The strips are then wrapped by the children around each one of the balls.

The balls are completely covered and left to dry for about three to four days.
We also attached a small paperclip down into the ball for a ribbon hanger.

After they are thoroughly dry the children paint their worlds.

The worlds are taken home to hang in their room.

When working with the preschool child these simple projects build on the direct experience of remembering, " All the world is our friend" and we can all joyfully live together in peace and harmony on this planet.

Spirit and Nature dancing together

Many of you may or may not know that one of my creative hobbies is birdwatching. I have been exploring the habitats of birds and migration patterns for over 30 years. I find it exhilarating to witness beautiful and incidental sightings of ordinary birds in their own habitat.

 About 12 years ago, I was taking a workshop with naturalist Joseph Cornell, we were learning how to use our voices to call birds in a dynamic way.  I can be honest with you, I have not mastered that skill but I found the joy welling up inside me that I might have the opportunity to be still enough to actually hold a wild bird some day.

Well yesterday was that day.

I always tell my students when we are going outside in nature, it is the animals kingdom " world" that we are entering. We have to be mindful and still to listen while we become aware of everything around us.

The children and I had just finished a beautiful morning circle singing, one of Yogananda's chants,

"I am the Bubble, make me the Sea."

 We all went around the circle, and shared while holding a musical heart.  Each child was invited to acknowledge their own unique expression answering the question, "What makes your heart sing?"

 The children were very still and receptive. But working with young children the energy can change almost at any moment. We had sat long enough listening to a creative storytelling session about nature and the children were clearly ready to explore free play in our playground.

The children had only been out for about a minute, when one of the little girls noticed a baby bird that had fallen on the ground. They ran to get me. They were very scared for him. We had an attack from a large crow about two weeks before, so they were very protective of this little young Chickadee.

I tried to pick up the bird, but he just kept trying to fly very low to the ground. He wasn't hurt but was a little stunned and shaken up. I slowly picked him up and placed him back on a tree limb but he quickly flew to a neighboring fence. There he became trapped.

Meanwhile the mother over head was very loud and had realized the baby was no where in the nest or in sight. I could not see the nest, but she was gathering food, and looking desperately for her.

In the meantime, the small bird lay motionless behind the fence. After about five minutes I came around the corner to retrieve her. She could see that I was not going to hurt her this time. I was able to carefully pick her up in the palm of my hand and speaking gently to her.

We all weren't sure exactly what to do? We have small bird boxes on the fence that were made for the Living Wisdom School, so we opened the top and placed the baby bird gently inside. We left the top partly open so the larger birds could not get inside.

Shortly about 20 minutes later, the little Chickadee jumped out on the top of the birdhouse. Then she jumped to the fence. Her mother then was able to see her and quickly jumped to the next post. The little bird in joy flew to his mother. They both then flew back up where the Mother continued to feed her. It was a rare site to see.

Now the children in our classroom witnessed the whole experience. What joy and relief  it brought for all of us to see that the tiny bird made it back safely to its nest.

 This was a rare drama to witness which could have turned out differently in many ways. We all were thrilled and our spirits were dancing together with nature so harmoniously right outside our classroom window today.

Here is our classroom story we finished writing together. This will be made into a book for the classroom.

Keep you heart still, enter the silence of nature and let me know what you find out there.

Joy to you 

Chandi

Divine Mother's Everywhere

 At the Living Wisdom School, the Month of May is a tribute to our Mothers.
About 8 years ago I began the tradition in our school of honoring our mothers, as a way of providing a platform for the children to express their love on Mother’s Day. 

  

Each year the children meticulously draw their moms’ portraits for our

 “Hall of Mothers". 

They also participated in a classroom interview, answering questions such as, “How did God make mothers?”; “If you could change anything about your mom, what would it be?”; and, “What are moms made of?” The questions always draw delightful smiles and insights into the child’s inner life.

Quiet moment reading the interview questions.

 The children in my classroom spend the week preparing the menu for the Mother’s Day Tea, practicing the songs that we will sing during our all-school performance, making delightful gifts, and practicing the art of manners and serving their mothers first at the tea table.

Serving our Mother's

Preparing our salad for the Mother's Day Tea

All the children singing at the Mother's Day Tea

 For the first time this year, we set up a photo booth so that moms could have their photos taken with their children. 

I am hoping that the joy and vibration from our simple event touched all of our divine mothers everywhere. 

Aum, Namaste.

It's Springtime, It's Springtime and Mother Nature sings

We are having a particularly glorious spring this year in the Pacific Northwest.

When the flowers begin to bud and the ground begins to swell with warmth, an inner glow also becomes apparent in all of us. I was raised here in Seattle, and over time the winter months have become longer, with an added gray cloud cover that never seems to clear. But our weather reports this spring are unusual in that they refer to a strange phenomenon called: sun breaks.  So you see, sometimes we just begin to feel the expansion of moving out of our homes and dig our hands in the soil or just listen to the returning sweet song birds in the trees.

I too have been away from my computer and spending more of my time with several large projects that take me outside in the fresh air.

In my Living Wisdom Classroom we have covered several new units this spring and also rekindled our annual events, the Mother’s Day Tea and our Living Wisdom Joyathan.

It would take weeks to describe all our daily activities to you in detail.  That means I will have some nice events to write on this summer, when school is not in session.

(Double click on photo to see all the projects)

But for now, let me say that we began the month with flowers and frogs.

When you first look at this, it might seem like a patented preschool education prescription for teaching--focus on words that begin with “F”--but honestly, this didn’t occur to me at all.  I choose my own curriculum by the energy of the students, looking at what will uplift them, along with the rhythm of what is happening right outside our classroom window. All too often a typical Early Childhood curriculum talks only to the intellect.  It doesn’t take into an account the child’s feeling nature and physical components. Too often we talk, talk, and talk with young children, when what they need are need “direct experiences”.  I have found, by working spiritually with young children that they already know much of what I am trying to teach to them.  I have witnessed that learning is for many an act of remembering.  They already know almost everything you are educating them about. It is a profound truth for me, this an awakening of the young soul. It is an awakening and remembering from the past. I don’t like to purchase online curricula. What I want to share with the children in my classroom are truths that are a part of their everyday world.   Some subjects that will educate children for a lifetime include: how to be a true friend, how to work harmoniously with others, how to show compassion, how to be calm in a hectic world, and how to find true happiness within their own being. These are my goals as an Education for Life Teacher.

I chose to focus on flowers and frogs this month for the expansion that I sensed that these subjects could bring to a child’s soul. So often we see children picking dandelions in the grass and making a bouquet for their mothers, or witness their delight in finding new flowers that they have never seen before in the organic gardens at our Living Wisdom School.

When we studied frogs, we were able to go out and look for them in a nearby stream.  We made frog habitats, drew their life cycles, created three-dimensional models of frogs, painted original stories about frogs, and stimulated learning with acting out stories from the classic, Frog and Toad, tales about true friendship by Arnold Lobel. The time in my classroom is both teacher and child directed. Notice I didn’t mention anything about teaching letters. Children can learn these from their parents or grandparents in a family setting. The classroom activities are rich with play, art and creativity to uplift the child’s soul.

These simple truths open their hearts in love for the experience of harmony and build on the capacity to love that we try to cultivate through-out the year in our classroom. Isn’t this wonderful?  We often forget about the simple experiences of childhood.

Look at this one!

Here are some of the samples of our time together.

A child handing me a flower that they picked for me. 

True friendship holding hands and picking flowers together

I want to end with a thank you to all our children in my classroom this month.  We have had a memorable spring as Mother Nature sang to us through her beauty.

Two more days to enter for the CD giveaway.

Just a reminder we have two more days for our  CD giveaway, Sail Away by Eva Tree. 
 Thank you for your lovely comments and feedback.

 Please enter by writing your comments below. 

Blessings,
Chandi

We will live in joy! Free CD giveaway.

 Living Wisdom Kindness Quilt and our bird biscuits.

 This has been a full week of inspiration with love in my classroom and
through the halls at the Living Wisdom School.

I had a hard time just finishing up on all our projects each day.  So,
in other words, it was a Valentine's week in my class. 

In the spirit of love and inspiration, I want to acknowledge one of our parents at the Living Wisdom School.
Eva Tree is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has a warm tone of complexity
and sings sweet heart-yearning melodies. 

I had asked Eva to write a song for my class this year that would express the warmth of being kind in the classroom.  Eva wrote a song, then came into the class to teach all of us.  We have been singing it ever since.  A magical aura of love emanates though the room while we sing.

During the week prior to Valentine's Day, I had an idea to create a game that I saw last summer.  I wish to give the credit to the teacher in Vancouver that first thought of this project, so I pinned on one of my "Pinterest" boards.

The game is as follows:  When a teacher or staff member notices a child being
kind, or displaying friendship, the child is given a heart to color for our "all school" art quilt.  The hearts will be attached together as a large quilt in the main entry of the Living Wisdom School for all to see.

At Valentine's Day, in a classroom setting, we want to expand the children's
love, and guide them toward a larger reality of sharing love to all. This can
be in the classroom, school setting, community, and also in nature.

This valentine project was designed to share the song and blessing for all within the
whole school.  I created a game that all the children and staff can
participate in.
We found through the week that the environment at school was benefited
when we all participated together.

An extra special valentine gift in celebration of love has been donated.
Eva will be giving one of her CD's on this blog site.

Please comment below and I will enter you in the drawing.  (I will include
the name her etc and link.)    
The drawing will be made on February 29, leap
year. 

Let's all share our love this month and all live in joy.

Recipe for Bird Biscuits at the top

3 cups of lukewarm water

1 1/2 Tablespoons of dry yeast

4 cups of whole wheat flour

4 teaspoons of salt

1/3 cup oil or butter, or margarine

3 cups additional whole wheat flour

1 cup whole wheat flour for kneading

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Stir in sweetening and dry milk. Stir in 4 cups of whole wheat flour to form thick batter.

Beat well with a wooden spoon

Let rise 45 minutes

Fold in the salt and oil.

Fold in additional 3 cups of flour until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Knead on a floured surface until smooth. 

Let rise for 50 minutes. Punch down. Should be doubled in bulk

Punch down. 

Now is the time to have each child shape some rolls for them selves. Let rise about 10 minutes. Cook at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Now take the remainder of the dough and add bird seeds. Need the seeds into the dough. Cut the dough into heart shapes. Cook about 10 minutes.

 
After they are cooked for 15 or 20 minutes cool them. The birds don't mind if they are hard.
Now take a darning needle and embroidery thread. Sew the garlands by stringing several hearts together in a garland.  Individual help may be needed if the children have a hard time sewing the needle through the bread.

 " Be kind to the birds". All the birds are loving the bird biscuits. Happy Valentines month.

Nature sings praises aloud

 

This week was our last ceremony for our winter festivals of the light that we have been celebrating since November.

I have started following on Facebook, a well known story teller and felt artist: Suzanne Down.  Suzanne is the creator and business owner of Juniper Tree School of Puppetry Arts in Boulder, Colorado. I have found her to be an extraordinary artist and storyteller. I hope to meet Suzanne in person and expand my felting skills by taking one of her many workshops she offers. In her January newsletter she included a story about the blessing cake for the New Year. If you feel to contact Suzanne about the story, she can add your name to her monthly newsletter. This sounded like a wonderful project for our new year celebration at the Living Wisdom School.

I began the night preparing my cake and writing individual Education for Life,skills for living qualities on all the stones. Each one was wrapped in a small piece of foil. Then I made the angel food cake and dropped each one into the cake. 

I spread all the pieces out evenly so when the cake was finished it would be easy to slice a piece that included a wishing stone. I then covered all the stones with the remaining batter and baked the cake as usual. 

We placed our New Year angel, candle and cake at the table.  We sang a short blessing, poured our peppermint tea and I sliced the cake. Each child pulled out their blessing for the year.

They placed their blessing rock into their New Years box. These boxes had been made the day before. These little boxes are very special for young children. They can hide all their magical treasures for the year inside.

After we finished the children and I gathered our coats, hats and boots to celebrate the morning outside our classroom. The sun had just come out and it was a lovely brisk morning. 

Magical events seem to occur after we focus on spiritual natures and today wasn't any different. As we walked outside one of the little girls' looked up and there was a bald eagle floating directly overhead,circling the playground. 

I turned to the little girl who had spotted the eagle and said: "That means good luck to see a eagle right after our spiritual ceremony inside." The eagle was shortly joined by a large group of crows that were following him. That too, was unusual for a band of crows that early in the morning.

Nature sings praises aloud. We were all deeply blessed this morning and for the opportunity to feel the deeper rhythms of nature all around us. I love when four year old children are so keenly aware and can spot eagles in the sky.  This seemed like an topping to our  blessing cake! What joy filled our hearts to see the birds soar.

Festivals of the Light

 Today was our last day together in Preschool before our holiday break at the Living Wisdom School. 

Our winter snow altar in our classroom.

 The time for celebrating our world cultures and festivals goes by so quickly each year. I never want it to end. There is something so beautiful and captivating with the early dark evenings and all the lights that adorn the suburban neighborhoods.  I love all the illuminate lights and sharing the "Festivals of the Light"  from around the globe that start in early November with Diwali.

Diwali pinch pots with olive oil to light the lamps. 

Yesterday one of our Mothers in our classroom came to share her experiences as a child and the celebration of Hanukkah. All the children listened tentatively and quietly. They also were about to sample many new delicacies from the Hebrew tradition. We heard new songs, prayers and of course played the Dreidel game. 

Chocolate Yiddish Gelt used in the Dreidel game

  

These were the little blocks that the children made for their family trees. On each side was a different symbol of love, gifts and with radiant stars of the season. 

His Christmas tree on his package for his Mom . We made many crafts with Christmas trees. Christmas trees first originated in Germany. I share the traditions each year from Germany since I was born there.

This is a double sided felted Christmas tree . The pieces are glued together with a yarn in between the layers, to hang on the tree. We used 'tacky" glue.  The sequins were the lights on our trees.  Very easy for Preschoolers. They love it.

May this season of light radiate your heart and may we share it with all whom we meet.

Many Blessings,
Chandi