Reflecting on the Day

“What were the happiest and hardest things that happened today?” One family posed that question at dinner each night, and invited family members to talk about their experiences. This was their creative way of trying to understand how the day had gone for each of them. The situations shared by parents and children often started lively discussions.

Parents can feel frustrated when they ask “What happened today?” and children give a one-word response or grunt. Actually, it’s even hard for adults to give a satisfying response to a general question like “How was your day?” so most of us just answer “Fine.” Asking a specific question like “What did you do in the yard today?” gives us a better chance of getting a window into the day’s events.

We don’t want to feel disconnected from children’s experiences, and having a particular time to talk every day – whether it’s driving in the car or at dinner time or bedtime – ensures that we stay in touch with what they are thinking and feeling.

Questions about feelings are more to stimulate conversation than those asking for facts. Asking questions like “Were you proud of anything you did today?” or “Was anything frustrating?” helps children begin to reflect on and understand their experiences more fully. In the Nurtured Heart Approach, we want to give children positive recognition for paying attention to their feelings, for finding words for them, and being willing to talk about them.

For children who aren’t sure about their feelings or don’t have words for them, looking at pictures of people’s faces showing various emotions and pointing to them can be a good way to start a conversation about their experiences. Our director of admissions, Warren Wallace, has created a feelings chart that he has shared with many classrooms. Here’s a link to the chart on our blog.

Making time to talk about the day’s experiences and feelings about them allows children to learn that everyone has emotions and that feelings don’t last forever. Sharing reactions to the day’s events builds empathy and the ability to think about how to plan for an even better day tomorrow.

Cold-Weather Gear for Contra Costa’s Homeless

The Meher Schools is holding a holiday drive to fill 50 emergency backpacks with items to keep homeless Contra Costa County residents warm on cold winter nights. We’re conducting the drive as part of the White Pony Express General Store’s Clothing & Care Closet Initiative.

“Rising rents, health care, food, and utility costs are changing the face of homelessness,” says WPE in its description of the project.

“Unhoused people are the working poor, young families, retired seniors, people with medical-related disabilities, and college students. Often they are living unhoused in neighborhoods where they not so long ago owned a comfortable home or rented an apartment. Now they are trying to survive life dwelling in cars, RVs, and tents.”

WPE is asking for donations of these items:

* Large, sturdy backpacks * Sleeping bags * Mylar blankets * Tarps * Wool socks * Meal bars

They ask that all items be new. If your family would like to contribute, sign up here. Please leave your donations in the box outside the Office by November 19.

The backpacks will be assembled by elementary students who are at school November 22 and 23.

You can read a flyer here with info about the Clothing & Care Closet Initiative, whose motto is “Serving our unhoused neighbors with love and dignity.”

For information about White Pony Express, see their website here.

Halloween 2021: A Festive Relief from COVID Stress

Check out our Halloween video here!

Halloween has always been the most festive day of the year at our school, but this year’s celebration seemed even more festive than usual, probably because it offered a welcome relief from the stress of the pandemic.

In addition to the much-loved parade of costumed elementary students through the preschool yards, this year’s event included some special activities.

Following the parade, K–5 students marched to Halloween-themed songs on the big playground to give other students a chance to see their costumes, many of which were quite clever.

Kindergartners and first graders went “treat-or-treating” at the second through fifth grade classrooms, where they were given unicorn erasers, jewel and spider rings, stickers, and other non-edible treats. Some of the fifth graders and a couple of their parents had elaborately decorated the hallway outside Room 15 to create a Halloween atmosphere.

Each of the nine elementary classrooms was given a colorful piñata made by the fourth graders. Inside were Halloween “snap” bracelets. This is the third year teacher Amy Weinstein’s social studies students have made piñatas. She provided a fact sheet about piñatas so other teachers could use the activity as a “teachable moment.”