Before lunch on Wednesday last week we took a walk outside to look for signs of winter with Mrs. Farber's Friends. We used our senses to see, hear, smell and feel signs of winter and then compared them to the signs of fall we had seen. Although the children were willing to eat some snow/ ice to taste winter Mrs. Farber and I assured them it wasn't necessary. I consider myself lucky to be reminded by the children on a daily basis how much joy there is in little things. They were all so thrilled to look at snow and describe how it sparkled, to stomp on the ice and think about whether it was soft or hard, to run their hands over the ice and snow and to stand still for a minute to listen to what winter sounds like. They were enthusiastic to be outside and breathing the cool air into their lungs and looking to see if it made clouds as we breathed it out. And spotting a nest sitting high above us on a naked tree branch caused them to yell with excitement and clamor to the tree for a closer look. The next time you're outside, just for a second, appreciate some signs of winter and capture a bit of the pleasure we felt just being outdoors last week.
You would think that planning a Winter Sports Day for 6 classes of primary students would be easy. The primary teachers have, after all, organized events like this many many times. And we began the planning in October- so in plenty of time. We met no less than six times and sent many emails back and forth, the bulk of them this last week. We altered activities countless times to try and fit the weather and diminishing snow. And in the end we had to cancel the planned winter sports due to the slippery ice and questionable conditions on the fields and stick with safer activities. But did Team Awesome enjoy the afternoon in the sunshine playing with their friends? You betchya! And next January we will try again.
Wednesdays before lunch Mrs. Farber and I often take the children outside to do some learning activities. The subject of the lessons vary- sometimes its science, sometimes language arts and sometimes, like this past week, its math. But its always fun. The children are introduced to concepts that might be new to them and have the opportunity to play with those concepts outside. Because everything is better in fresh air.
 As adults we often want to 'save' children. From hurting themselves, from making mistakes, from a broken heart, from doing things the hard way. But there is something to be said for dealing with the tough times and learning to persevere. Adversity is life's Buckley's: it doesn't taste good but it's good for you. A couple of teaspoons of it each day is not a bad thing.
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