This Month in Rabbit Run...

​Hi Rabbit Run!
 
Fall is in the air! We have been up to a lot this October in the Rabbit Run classroom. We studied the Monarch butterflies and their migration south at the beginning of the month. We are still seeing Monarchs flying across the gardens, playgrounds and paths, but the children have let me know that there are fewer now, and they are probably mostly in Mexico already. Then we learned about Diwali, or Deepavali, a Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh celebration of light. We had two families who celebrate Diwali visit us in the classroom to share some of their traditions for this festival of light, and they also shared some food and treats! We learned about Rangoli art, the diya oil candles, the preparation of the home through cleaning, the tradition of getting new clothes, and visiting family and friends to eat, light sparklers, and watch fireworks. It was a lovely celebration and the children were so excited to welcome families from our community into the classroom!
 
While we won’t be doing much in the way of Halloween celebrations inside the classroom, we will be learning about Día de los Muertos- or the Day of the Dead. We will be making an ofrenda, or offering, in the classroom, and I invite everyone to bring photos of friends, family, pets, or any loved one who has passed away and who your child would like to remember and celebrate. We will begin building the ofrenda tomorrow and add to it throughout the week and into next week. You are also invited to bring little objects that remind you of loved ones who have passed away, or some of their favorite foods. (Please remember that little objects are often greatly admired and coveted by children, so please don’t send anything that you would be devastated to lose. And please be sure to label photos and objects so that we can get everything back to you safe and sound!) We will be discussing the celebration in a very “First Plane of Development” way. Here is how we will talk about it.
 
The Day of the Dead is a celebration that began with the indigenous people of southern Mexico. Indigenous people are the first people who lived on that land. The holiday lasts three days, October 31, November 1 and November 2. Friends and family gather together to remember people they love who have passed away. They create beautiful ofrendas with marigold flowers, sugar skulls, candles, painted skulls, photos, and favorite foods of loved ones who have passed away. They tell stories about them and talk about how they miss them. They may feel happy and sad at the same time. Sometimes people go to the cemetery where their loved one is buried and they decorate it with flowers and candles and their favorite foods. Some people spend the whole night there celebrating in the candlelight. Some people dance and have parades where they paint their faces like calaveras. Every town has a celebration that is a little bit different. Although, Day of the Dead celebrations began in Mexico, now they happen all over the world, in places like Peru, Bolivia, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Guatemala, Belize. 
 
This celebration is a way to help children understand life and death, and to celebrate the lives of those who have passed away. Many children have told me about dogs or cats who have died, as they try to wrap their minds around what that means. I have also had children who have lost siblings, grandparents and close family members, and for whom this celebration has given them a chance to talk about and process what it means to love and lose someone. I hope that this bright, beautiful celebration will help build positive relationships to life and celebrations of those we love who aren’t here anymore, as well as open up opportunities for them to talk and process what it means when a loved one (human or animal) passes away. I will share photos on Instagram as we begin to build the ofrenda this week. I will also share photos of the books we will be reading and the photos that I will add to our shelves. 
 
Lastly, I want to share a short video of a child working in the classroom this week (see attached). This clip shows Loyal working to wrap a rubber band around a pumpkin. I find the video to be important on many levels, primarily in how it shows us how hard it is not to help a child when we see they are struggling. As you watch this clip, notice what your own hands are doing. Are they fidgeting? Are they mimicking his hands stretching and pulling the rubber band? Are you tempted to reach into the video and pull the rubber band over the pumpkin? What is your mind doing? Are you feeling impatient? Are you assuming it is too hard for him, that he can’t do it? Do you want to hold just a corner of the rubber band to aid him? Do you want to use your voice to tell him how to do it? Do you want to hold the pumpkin for him while he stretches the rubber band? 


I know that I myself want to do all of these things! It is in our nature to help- we want things that are hard to be easier, for ourselves and for our children. But wait until you get to the end of the video. Do you see his smile and joy? Only in letting him work through that struggle will he achieve that joy and satisfaction. Only in letting him begin again and again will he build perseverance. Only in discovering what does not work, will he discover what does work. For a child to get better at anything, they must practice. And practice means failing. And getting back up and trying again. We call it friendliness with error, and it is something that is hard for us to model for our children because it is something many of us still struggle with- perfectionism, a desire for immediate success, instant gratification. 
 
Dr. Montessori said, “Never help a child with a task at which the feel they can succeed.” Loyal did not ask for help. He knew I was there, he knew he could have asked me, but his development guided him through a hard task and all the trials and errors associated with learning a new skill. He persevered. It sounds small, after all it's only a pumpkin and a rubber band, but when we adopt this mindset and apply it to every interaction with our children, what we are doing is giving them the opportunity for true independence. We are letting them build perseverance that will carry on into learning to read, write, do arithmetic, make new friends, play a new sport... perseverance is the foundation for embarking on any new adventure or learning any new skill. One of the hardest things to do is to wait and watch, but when we do, we often discover something we did not know before. You may discover your child really can dress themselves, or get into the car themselves, or wipe themselves, or clean up a mess independently. You may discover how much you actually do for your child that they are capable of doing for themselves! Next time, when you see your child struggling through a task, just step back, take a breath, count to ten, and watch...
 
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to seeing everyone for conferences soon! Also, please follow us on Instagram @rabbitruncottage to see photos from daily life in the classroom! 
 
Warmly,
Elizabeth