Winters come and winters go, summers come and summers go.

Today we continued following along with Christmas story about our winter "Tomten". 

Last Friday we were in Italy, and now we had to cross the South Atlantic Ocean to Brazil. 

 The children pasted his tiny foot prints over to South America.

We had one of our mothers come and talk to us about growing up in Brazil. She told the children about all the holiday festivals, decorating trees, specialty foods, singing Christmas carols and a very special game of, "Secret Santa". 

We placed all the children's names in a hat and they drew out a secret friend. They began right away with the gleam of Christmas cheer in their hearts creating presents. 

The children kept themselves delightfully entertained with making small gifts, and drawing pictures. 

They loved the Christmas stories about Brazil. Christmas time is in the summer there, and can you believe it, Santa wears shorts?  They just loved this sweet visualization.  

This was a heavenly landscape from one of our artists. 

The rest of the morning the children created this sweet Brazilian Christmas trees.

 It was a delightful day for creating harmony in our classroom as we shared our love with our classmates. 

Tomorrow the "Tomten", doesn't have to travel too far. Where could he be traveling to next?

Blessings all.

A tiny babe in a manger lay

Tonight's entry is the continuation of our festival of the lights ceremonies that we are currently celebrating in our classroom for Christmas. We have traveled to Italy to discover the mysteries surrounding the creche scene and the birth of Christ. Saint Francis of Assisi  is credited with creating the first nativity scene in 1223.   

A few years ago, I added this tradition back into my classroom as a celebration of Christ's birth and the true meaning of Christmas. For the young child it is that joyful expectation of the birthday, that lies ahead. 

One of my favorite songs written for the Christmas Season is one that J. Donald Walters wrote that we sing each Christmas in our temple and community. It is called the Christmas Mystery. 

These are the cards that the children select their parts from our play. 

I wanted to share with you the words and the pictures that I took this week, as we acted out our sweet play to celebrate the birth of Christ.  At the end of the play, we switched all the children around several times so they could experience different parts. We ended the day, working on our creche scene ornaments that the children will take home and hang on their Christmas trees. 

Long ago there was a little shed,

There three mighty kings did bow their heads

To a gentle babe of low degree,

Whom men call the son of Mary.

Who tell to me this mystery?

How a tiny babe in a manager laid

Could so many hearts to love persuade

This holy son of Mary. 

Shepherd's came and knelt in wonder there,

Seeing him in light beyond compare,

And his eyes that told them all love was he

Whom men called the son of Mary.

Wonderful it was that Christmas Day,

How from far and near they came to pray,

How far they glimpsed his majesty

Whom men called the son of Mary.

Could it be that in that little one,

Spirits universal love did shine?

If it's true, he lives in you and me

Whom men call the son of Mary.

                               
  We ended this special day creating our ornaments and singing.

Silent Night from chandi holliman on Vimeo.


Joyful Blessings,
Chandi 

May this day be merry and bright

 At this time of the year children begin to ask all types of interesting questions. Isn't it fun?

 You can see their little minds are just churning away. 

How does Santa Claus really get from the North Pole on a sleigh? Does he really exist? I also love to watch the older children just go along with the fairy tales just to rekindle the familiar warmth of their childhood memories. I can't really remember when my children were told about Santa Claus?  Naturally I try to stay clear of anything commercial in my classroom and inspire the children's imaginations.

I believe that as a parent you just have to be ready each Christmas for that ultimate question and be able to think fast on your feet. Are you willing to tell the truth or play along with the child's imagination of believing in our myths and fables that we are accustomed to during the holidays?

While we were in class this past week, the children began to tell the story of Santa Claus that has been passed down from generation to generation. I was trying to tell them one of the fables that has been told about Saint Nicolas. 

Some of the children blurted out,"They are the same, Chandi." I said. "Santa Claus and Saint Nicolas are the same? Interesting? How do we know?' They all jumped in with their answers. 

I began to tell them that the story of Saint Nicolas is a folktale.  The folktale is a story, passed down verbally from generation to generation. Each storyteller tells the stories a little differently, making them more interesting and fascinating as the ages passed. Different folktales bear the characteristics of the culture, folklore and customs of the people from which they originate.

Intentionally in the Education for Life methodology we try to make teachings practical and real for children. I had to come up with something fast to make my point. This is called a direct experience using a practical method . So all at once I thought of the game,"Telephone". Maybe this will bring out the point of teaching about fables and folktales. 

I had all the children gather in a circle. I started the game, gently whispering a small part of the Saint Nicolas story immediately to my right. Then that child told the story to the partner on his right, thus continuing around the circle. When it got about half way through the circle, the whispers became completely different. Joyful smiles appeared along with silly glances towards me as they whispered. 

 In our anticipation a new part of the story had just began. As it went completely around the circle, there were many joyful laughs and surprises. The story was always very different from the one that was first whispered. The children love this game and they could quickly experience how a story could change over the course of many years and even centuries. 

Christmas is for the children. I love the familiar stories but also the sheer delight of the little daily experiences that make Christmas magical.  I am blessed to be in their company.

May this day be merry and bright.

Until tomorrow. 

 

Give me a light to light my way!

The holidays are a magical time of year with many celebrations happening all around the globe. Our classroom is not an exception. We are celebrating our theme:" Festivals of the Light." This continues this year through December and part of January.

Last season I shared many holiday celebrations, but since this was my second year with my students, I have created a new format for December.

 At the Living Wisdom School we only have two weeks to share the holiday traditions with our children before our Christmas vacation. I will share daily our festivals as we move through each country. 

We began the week with one of my favorite children's stories. It is taken from the Swedish tradition, about a small elf who travels secretly around the farm, talking with the animals.  He begins his evening with his secret rounds doing his caretakers duties in his gentle, loving way. He whispers encouragement to all the sleeping animals and children. The book has such beautiful captivating illustrations and poems.

  Today I was able to draw some of my own illustrations of the Tomten, and made copies for the children to practice their own pencil drawings.  In Prekindergarten we begin to use our pencils for many small muscle coordination enhancement skills.

The children also drew small foot prints. We have a large world map that the footprints will be glued on as the children follow the Tomten's secret travels around the globe this Christmas. The children love the little Tomten.

  The first holiday celebrated is Saint Nicolas Day, December 6th.   

In the spirit of the Tomten and Saint Nicolas we are playing a game with our stockings. As the children secretly do kind deeds for their friends, small stickers are placed in their stockings. The original stockings originated with these Nordic folklore traditions.  At the end of the next week, the stickers from each stocking will be traded in and counted for special treats and gifts. 

 December 6th is Saint Nicolas day. The children all lined up there own shoes today and placed a small gift for Saint Nicolas and his horse inside each shoe . 

True excitement will happen when the children check their shoes tomorrow morning and see the gifts that Saint Nicolas has left.

Tomorrow we will light the way for the "Tomten", as he journey's once again secretly to another country to explore. Our next destination:Italy.

Tune in tomorrow for what the children and the Tomten learn about Italy's Christmas celebrations.

Blessings all.

O Moon, Full Moon

O moon, full moon
You are very white,
Everything looks beautiful
Under your light.... 

 I wish I could say, the moon was visable this evening but it was overcast in Seattle.  This doesn't damper our spirits though at the Living Wisdom School. We love celebrating the full moon each month in our classroom. Today was no exception.

We began the day, with a story about the "Milky Way . This is such a wonderful story and stirs their little imaginations. 

We followed up the story with our morning activities. We had our activity stations set up and the children rotated through the each one.

 Today we had a new galaxy play dough, which was shared by my friend and colleague, Sally Haughey@.http://fairydustteaching.blogspot.com/ What a hit this was. A galaxy of stars and moons.

The next activity was counting moons in the galaxy. Our pre-kindergarten class is practicing how to cut, paste and they love to explore all types of art materials. These were silver moons that each child cut. They were self- sticking metalic paper. They used white pencils for writing the amounts of stars and moons they counted today.

The final activity were making our traditional moon biscuits. They love cooking in our classroom.

To finish out the day, our "full moon", guided our parade down the hallway.  

Another joyfilled day in our classroom by exploring the galaxy and the space that expands into the heavens. 

Happy full moon day.

We have a winner on "Inside Out"

   

    My 10,000th view page  WINNER!,  Mother of two children at the Living Wisdom School, professional singer, healer, and beautiful soul!  Thank you for your quick reply Eva Tree. 

Blessings all! 

Come Gather Round/ Books for the Holidays/ Free Giveaway

Christmas is just around the corner and parents are beginning to ask me, "Do you have any suggestions for good spiritual stories for my child?" I have loved children's literature over the years and now many of my favorites I read in my classroom, or at home to my grandchildren. My favorite stories have a theme or a spiritual quality that I'm trying to convey to the children.

There are many things I look for in children's literature. But here are some guidelines that I use when selecting books.  These are some of the questions that go through my mind, when I am quietly selecting a new story. 

         1. Are the illustrations beautiful? Do they uplift the spirit? Do I gain a greater insight from the story 

              through the artwork? Is the technique that the artist's used something we might be able to expand on?  Might the story be used for dramatic play, games, or by exploring additional art techniques? Can it create a week/ month-long theme for learning at home or in the classroom?

         2. Does the story uplift the child's spirit? I have seen some wonderful books that are beautifully 

              illustrated but the story leaves you a tad bit puzzled?

        3.  Do children love it so much they ask for it again and again to read it?. That is the real clincher.

I also do not select books with cartoon, movie or television characters. I am a firm believer in uplifting each child with beauty, color, imagination and uplifting joy. 

We are approaching a mile stone in my blogging history this month. The "Inside Out" blog has almost reached 10,000 page-views. I am so humbled and would personally like to thank each and everyone that has occasionally stopped to read this blog. 

As my thank you, for the person, who I can tell is the 10,000 visitor to read my blog this month I will send one of my favorite books from the list below. Please leave your name with a comment below. Did I leave your favorite book out?

This books I have used several times and have created Education for Life themes around the qualities expressed in the books.

Below are a few of my favorites.                                    Qualities, Themes 

• All the rainbow fish books   Marcus Pfister                 Friendships, forgiveness, sharing, love
• Holey Moley              Marcus Pfister                       JOY, love, cooperation,
• Milo and the Magic Stones “   “”                             Choices, joy, service to others
• The Little yellow leaf   Carin Berger                         Seasons, friendship, expansion
• Badgers Bad Mood  Hiawyn Oram/ Susan Varley    Friendship, creating good habits
• Angels, Angels, Everywhere   De Paola                    Love, joy, expansion, wonder 
• Art Lesson                              De Paola                   JOY, love of art, friendships 
• Diamonds in the Snow          Marcus Pfister               Light, nature, winter, seasons
• Gift of Nothing           Patrick McDonnell                  Your presence of love is the gift
• Just like Heaven            “”           “”                           Love all around us, even on earth
• Grandfather Twilight        Berger                                Light, wonder, nature
• Oma's Quilt                     Bourgeois                          Love, change, excepting life
• Big All Series and Shrimpy  Clements                       True friendships, courage, love
• Brave Charlotte Anu Stohner and Henrike Wilson    Courage, faith, Do it now, joy 
• Moles' Music David McPhail                                    Inspiration, music, expansion
• The Kissing Hand        Audry Penn                            First day / school Mothers love!   
• You are Special         Max Lucia                                Self esteem,                                                  
• Each Breath I Smile    Thich Nhat Hahn                     Meditations, nature, peace
• Great Kapok Tree      Lynne Cherry                          Endangered species, love for all
• Everybody needs a Rock  Byrd Baylor                     Nature, earth, deep understanding
• Mother Earth     Sibylle von Olfers                            Earth, contentment, acceptance
• Story of the Root Children Sibylle von Olfers            The story of the Season
• Fox makes Friends   Adam Reif                             Friendship book for the beginning of school year
• Little Yoga (Toddler Book)                                       Yoga Book
• Gossie and Gertie Oliver Dunrea                                Toddler friendships
• Photographer Mole Dennis Haseley                           Happiness, joy, families
• Chubbos Pool        Betsy Lewin                                 Happiness, joy, friendship
• My love for you all year long                                     Nice collage book on loving.
• “Little Cloud “          Eric Carles                                Art calmess, peace, stillness
• Om Baby    Schamet Horsfield                                 Community, Peace, Harmony                    
• Fletcher and the Falling Leaves  Rawlinson               Fall, love, nature, acceptance
•   Stone Soup   Jon Muth                                          Building Community, Harmony                  

                                                                 

   For Older Children

• Monkeys and the Mango Tree                              Indian Stories and Parables
• Tenzin’s Deer    Barbara Soros                              Harmony, love, wisdom
• Zen Shorts  Jon Muth
• Little Secret of Friendship  J. Donald Walters        Focus one a day.                                                
• The Little Troll     Thomas Berger                          Friendship, service, expansion
• The Gardener          S.Stewart                              Love, faith, serving,joy under all circumstances      Caldecott Award Winner
• The Three Questions  Jon Muth                             Expansion,service, harmony, peace          

                     
I hope this can give you a starting point for some new literature to share with your family this holiday season. 

Please leave a comment if I have left your favorite storybook off my list. 
I will continue to write book reviews for these and others on my favorite lists in the coming weeks.