Paddle To The Sea....

Seb's class have been reading the book "Paddle to The Sea" over the last few weeks. It's about the adventures of a little carved wooden canoe called Paddle who journeys along a river from central Canada making his way towards the sea.  To accompany the story and help bring it to life in their imaginations each child carved their own little cottonwood canoe. Last week to celebrate finishing their reading of the story the class decided to have a celebration during which they would each launch their canoes into the Bow River and let them head off on their own adventures and perhaps even make it all the way to sea! The class made colourful felted flags for the parade to the river's edge where Isobel and I and a few other parents joined them for the ceremony. Seb's teacher read an excerpt from the book and Seb and a few others played their recorders while we sang a special song the class had written for the grand occasion. Then one by one, each child launched their boat out into the river and we waved each one off on it's journey. Oh and each canoe had been given a name (Seb named his Sandy) which was written on the bottom of the boat along with the words "please put me back in the water", just to help them along their way. It was all so sweet! Now Seb and I keep talking about where we think Sandy might be now.

First Day of School...

Last week Seb and Bel both started school. They're both at a new school together which is great! Seb started grade 2 and Bel started kindergarten. I cannot get over how grown up Seb looks in these photos! What the heck! Where's my wee little boy gone! 

I am beyond happy that so far they both seem to love their new school. I've been working myself into quite a state about whether or not we are making the right choice in moving Seb from the school he's been at for the past two years. In my heart I feel that the new school will fit him better and hopefully  encourage him to enjoy the experience of learning rather than being stressed and worried as he so often seemed to be before. On his first day I asked him what his favourite part of his day had been and he answered "everything!" You can't get much better than that can you! 

His first day also meant his first proper trip on the school bus, Neil rode with him on the way there and he made the trip home all by himself. Since then he's been riding the bus everyday and has been happy as a sand boy :) ( Getting to the bus on time in the morning is proving to be quite the challenge for me though!)

Miss Bel's first day at Kindergarten couldn't have gone any smoother. She's with many friends from her Shooting Stars Pre-school group and the rhythm of their days are very similar too so she felt at home right away. So much so that she barely looked back at me when I dropped her off! She will be riding the bus with Seb every morning starting later this week and I'll be collecting her from the school as she finishes a little earlier than he does. 

I was so nervous about everything changing and how they'd both react, I can't tell you how much of a relief it is for things to have started off so well for both of them! 

A day at Alpenglow...

Last month Isobel started preschool. It's a Waldorf inspired school here in Canmore and I really love it! The school itself was started a couple of years ago by a group of local families inspired by the outdoor focused Forest Schools of Scandinavia and has grown hugely in popularity in a short time. When they started out the school only offered early childhood programs but this September they began offering Kindergarten and grades classes for the first time. We were hoping to register Seb for Grade 1 but weren't quite quick enough with our registration. He's on the wait list and I'm hoping that next year he and Bel will both be there. In the meantime, Bel gets to go to school three afternoons a week in the early childhood program. Alpenglow is an outdoor immersion school which means that they spend at least half their time outside no matter what the weather. The Waldorf philosophy focuses on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. Music, movement and story telling are used as teaching tools. There is a strong focus on the natural environment and every activity is influenced by the changing seasons and the natural world. There are no high tech toys or gadgets, no i pad's or screens. The classroom is simple with lots of simple, natural wood and woollen toys along with home-made playdoh, felting supplies and beeswax crayons.  It's such a warm and comforting environment and really does have an almost magically calming affect on the kids. The idea is that this form of early education helps children develop their natural ability to learn in any context, through communication, interactivity and creativity.

 Here's a typical day at Alpenglow.....

We meet in the back yard for a welcome circle and songs. Usually we'll head straight out for a nature walk. This particular day we started with some gardening, the kids have all been helping prepare a bed for planting bulbs. We picked up dry leaves and added it to some soil and turned the earth in the beds ready for planting the bulbs. 

Then we headed out for the walk. We took the wagon with the aim of collecting rocks to edge the planting beds. Along the way we stop and look at the ducks and the squirrels and pick rose hips and crab apples.

Sometimes we'll stop by the creek and simultaneously throw in little stones and listen to the music these sounds create. 

We collected lots of rocks and filled the wagon before heading back to the classroom. 

We stopped to watch a cheeky squirrel nibbling pine cones on the fence.

Before heading in to the classroom the kids go to the bathroom and all wash their hands then hang up their coats and take off their shoes. 

They each sit on a cushion in a circle ready for story time. Each change in activity is introduced with the singing of a pretty song. The story is quite a magical experience with the whole thing enacted in little wooden figures using play silks and props from nature.

The story is followed by another song to the children offering blessings on the their play. Each child waits patiently to be rubbed on the shoulder by a magic wand before rising from their cushion and heading off to play. 

During play the kids are free to play with any of the wooden toys, play silks, costumes, pebbles, pinecones, blocks and fabric dolls. They can also choose to colour with the beeswax crayons, play with the home-made playdoh or take part in another craft activity. 

When play time is over the kids are all involved in putting everything back in it's place while we sing the song "Many hands make light work". We wash our hands again and then it's snack time! My favorite part! Each child bring a washed and chopped piece of fruit or vegetable to class and at snack time these are shared out for all the class along with some gluten, dairy, sugar and wheat free muffins provided by the school and baked by the parent volunteers during baking bee's. I love this idea! We always end up with a great selection of tasty and healthy snacks, a little different every day. On Thursday's we have a soup day. Each child brings a cooked and chopped vegetable which they each get to stir into a vegetable stock in a crock pot at the beginning of class. At snack time the delicious shared surprise soup is served!

Before every snack a candle is lit in the middle of the table and we sing a song thanking mother earth for her fruits.

At the end of the snack one child is given the special task of snuffing out the candle. It's amazing how much excitment and pride comes along with such a simple gesture.

Finally, class finishes with a goodbye song and rainbow hugs!

You can see that Seb was here on this particular day which is another wonderful thing about this program, siblings and parents are encouraged to stay and join in whenever they can. 

I honestly am so happy that we found this lovely little school, it has inspired me in so many ways to keep my parenting simple and focus on the magic and wonder of nature and of the small things that awaken the imagination in these precious kiddies of mine.