I think Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. The trees begin to change and it’s nice to welcome cooler mornings after the long, dog days of summer.
The children and I began pulling Pumpkins from our garden a few weeks ago. It was exciting for the children who actually planted the pumpkin seeds last spring. I could tell that they had a more sincere interest than the others. We used them for decorations, drawing, drilling, seed roasting, rolling and we even constructed “5 Little Pumpkins sitting on a Gate.” There was great deliberation about where the pumpkins were rolling when they “rolled out of site”.
I heard my colleagues asking where all the great Pumpkin Patches are around town with the best Hay Ride. I knew I was blessed when I realized that I have eight awesome acres here at school and for a week straight we took a hay ride everyday! Zack would yell it out everyday! “The lower pasture Cindy.” Yes I have the best job ever! A friend of mine made the comment that my school is so clean! Hmmmm.. I wonder if it’s because we haven’t really used the inside much yet. It’s been pretty warm outside and the kids love throwing leaves and painting outside along with running, and of course, Tumble down Hill. I love Tumble down Hill!
Over the past few weeks I have often thought about “Halloween”–the whole Idea of “Trick or Treat”. I even heard the horrible “smell my feet and give me something good to eat.” Ahhhh it reminds me of how we live in this “me me me” society. I thought long and hard about how to challenge the kids developmentally when it comes to this self centered monster thing we create with CANDY! And don’t get me started about how I think it’s wrong to scare kids!
It was fun last week, when the children came to tell me that they were Super Heroes! I had Captain America, Super Man, Spider Man, Bat Man and when I asked one child what super hero they were as I helped build their cape they made the comment “I’m whatever he is.”
I knew that I could not make Halloween disappear! I’m not a witch of a teacher and that would be flat out mean. I knew that we’d have to celebrate! I just didn’t want to add to the self centered mindset that creates stingy children. Since all of the children loved making them last week, I decided that we would make new “Super Capes of Kindness.”
The capes were assembled from an old sheet that just happens to be camouflage material. Each cape was designed for the children who wanted one and after defining what it means to be kind, we were off! We went to the big barn and fed carrots to our horses, rabbits and even gifted the ducks with a pumpkin. We then headed down to the goats where they enjoyed their treats and even kissed a few kids through the gate. The children loved showering all of our animals with kindness and they were “Powered Up” when lavishing the animals with the sweet treats.
I was reminded that I feel my best when I am doing something to help others. Giving the children an opportunity to be Super Heroes at school brought not only a refreshing treat for the animals but it was a great teaching moment in allowing the children this rite of passage. I always want to be reminded that children learn by what is modeled. If we live in the drive through window of the world where its filled with chaos and self centeredness, then it’s really all that our children will know. However, sitting around the breakfast table this morning and chatting about how it feels to be kind made our waffle and pear breakfast taste just a little bit sweeter!
My goal here at In a Child’s Path Farm School is that children will automatically know that it feels good to be kind to others. Modeling is the best teacher! For now, we will call on our “Super Capes of Kindness” to promote getting “Powered up,” feeling good to simply show some love.
Cindy