"Play is not just for Preschool!"

Ah, once again I am amazed.  I am inspired. I am feeling empowered.  There was a quote a while ago on Kelle Hampton's blog that read, "Pay attention. Be amazed. Tell about it." Well here I am.  I have been paying attention, amazement abounds, and I've been gearing up to tell about it.  Last night we attended the monthly parent meeting at the preschool.  Each month as the meeting draws near I am filled with mixed feelings. There is the anticipation of what we will learn, the joy of seeing warm, welcoming people, the mini-date with my husband in the middle of the week, combined with the exhaustion of the long day that will take us late into the night. The meeting ends at 10pm, but by then my mind is wired, filled with hope and wonder for the children.  Filled with a reflective look at myself and what I do in my own life and classroom to make these hopes become reality.

Last night we listened to the presentation from "The Big School". I remember the first year I attended the February meeting.  The words touched me deep and as I raised my hand to speak I was struck by how I unexpectedly began to cry as I shared. I am not sure I can find the words to share this enlightenment, but for me it was a definite point in my life where I began to take a harder look at myself and what I could be doing better.  It all comes back to...

PLAY!

Today Mason had his preschool Valentine Party and he has been prepared for this day for a couple of weeks now.  He told me two weekends ago how he needed to start his Valentines because last year it took a long time to draw them all out.  The boy insisted on drawing a monkey on each one and addressing them to each classmate. The teachers wanted them to simply sign their name, but that didn't make any sense to Mason.  How impersonal!  So this year he would start early.  He worked for hours that Saturday and drew different pictures for everyone.

Valentine Party here I come, magician hat and all!

Today he woke and was ready for the fun.  He "dressed up" and could hardly wait to go.  I was heartbroken when he asked who was going with him and we said we had to go to work.  He said, "But it is my last Valentine Party at Preschool."  (My breaking heart!)  I am sad when I think of this being his last year there.  He has grown SO much in that magical place.


"Play is not just for Preschool!"


"The opposite of play is not work, it is depression."


It is our job to make sure that we don't lose sight of the power of play.  It is critical to our survival.  In my last post I shared some glimpses of our Superheroes. Mason, Ellie, and I fell in love with play that day.  We created so much, not so much "stuff", but SO many memories.  As things were winding down Mason said, "Mommy, I just have so many ideas coming into my brain today.  They just keep coming."  A few minutes later he was making paper giraffes for Ellie.  "Ellie, do you want another giraffe?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Because when you love someone you just keep making things for them," he responded as he handed her the baby giraffe that would complete the paper family.

This little superhero project has sparked such energy that it has spun just about out of control. And I mean that in the best sense possible.  I took this project to my classroom and connected it to writing narratives. Some of my most reluctant writers have asked to write for homework.  They ask to take their things home because they don't want to stop working.  Today one boy asked me if he could bring in the Lego superhero he made at his house that is an exact replica (without a cape) of the one he built and drew in class. He wants to bring it in to have all 3 types when he shares his book with the class.

Today I stretched my sanity to the edge of the cliff and hung on for dear life as my 1 to 34 ratio put me to the test.  Wait, I did have 2 students absent, but I was still significantly outnumbered. They are publishing their stories and it is fantastic.  We are practicing real life in this experience. The art of patience.  Time management, "What will you work on while you wait for me to edit?" Did I mention I need a team of editors!

Three students did something funky and lost all that they had typed, ugh! We ran out of cut cardboard to create our hardcover books, so my hands got a workout trying to cut more without the ease of the box cutter. It is a complete balancing act.  How do you keep the momentum without spinning out of control?  How do you work one-on-one while many are wanting their turn with you? Somehow we kept afloat and tomorrow I am excited to see the finished products.

To find the joy you have to dig in and get your hands dirty.

This work is messy.  It is tricky. Exhausting. Yet it is what they will remember. It is what I will remember. If only we could bring a bit of play to all the "work" we must do.  Without play, it is so easy to see the negatives.  The lost student work, the restarts, the running out of cardboard, the interruptions, the girl that looked for her cover for a half hour and was on the verge of restarting...

...but then she found it. She was back on track.  She typed her story and she saw it through.  The boy who created his entire story in text boxes so he could create a comic book and add in a secret compartment with the safe that the evil villain tries to steal from the bank, and a pouch for his superhero to rest in when he is not flying through our classroom. The girl who typed hers at home has spent her class time cutting and pasting her text onto pages and waited, oh so patiently, to figure out how she might bind them into her book because she had a different approach.  As she waited she kept adding.  She was like Mason, the ideas kept filling up her brain and her book.  She created a map to line the inside cover. An envelope that houses "Top Secret" information and is nestled into the end of the book, a dedication page, an author's purpose page, a summary on the back.  This work doesn't happen with simply filling in worksheets and bubbling in tests. This work doesn't happen when we must all be on the same page.

I am paying attention, I am amazed, I am telling about it.
Pass it on.