a 19 month old across the street from us died on saturday after suffering from injuries caused by abuse…reportedly the worst local authorities have seen on a child in 28 years.  we didn’t know this family, we didn’t even know the child existed.

i make a plea tonight that the child you see in your day is looked at with honor and respect.  i beg for this world to stop hurting children.  i long for the day when the pain and fear that engulfs adults doesn’t trickle down to the children.

smile dearly at your young ones.  pray with compassion for adults who are at the end of their rope.

we gave up our big snack tables for train town.

then we gave up the tub table to have a bridge connected village.

there were some major engineering techniques tried out.

inch by inch

row by row

that is how

our structures grow.

one of the best things for one of our classes is the revival of the talking stick.  we simply pass it around the circle and children can say something or pass it on.

without prompting, the talking stick is used as a microphone.  most recently, each child had a piece of playdoh to play with while listening (there are some LONG stories) and when they got the stick, the playdoh became the round top of the microphone.

my favorite is when we teachers take a turn and suddenly the most mundane facts are honored.