Circus Minimus to the Max!
This was an exciting week for everyone at the Waitsfield Elementary School. Master Kevin of Circus Minimus has kept us moving non-stop; twisting, turning, bending forwards, bending backwards, pretzel turns, and as human carousals. It is amazing to see what he is able to teach us to do. Honestly, I think Barnum & Bailey need to step aside after our second week of training. I am even in the show participating in a death-defying act with Izzy as my partner. You won’t want to miss it.
Master Kevin has prepared a different country theme for each group. Our country of focus is China, which is why Master Kevin has asked us to dress in orange, yellow, or red or any combination of those colors. I do not want anyone to go to any expense outfitting his or her child. Borrow clothing if need be from parents, siblings, friends, or neighbors. I am asking that the articles of clothing be solid colors, as bright as possible, and have no writing on them.
In class we are celebrating Chinese New Year learning about the origins of the celebration, creating artwork, writing and reading about the holiday, and just having fun with the topic. We read a story about a Chinese family preparing for the New Year in which the grandmother in the tale tells the girl child about the ever important dragon. We made dragons with a combination of metallic crayon designs, metallic paper, and construction paper. According to Chinese legend, “the Dragon is not a horrible monster but rather a protector against evil spirits. He is a symbol of goodness and strength. Typically a New Year’s Dragon is made of silk and paper and brightly painted. The head is a large mask, made of papier-mache and bamboo. The men of the town put on the Dragon costume and weave up and down the street, puffing smoke as spectators light firecrackers”. I am in hopes of having a New Year’s Dragon parade this coming week.
The kitchen gods done at home this week were fantastic. I was really proud of each person’s work and thought that went into what he or she designed as his or her own Kitchen God. Each person applied his/her learning through the story read in class and applied it to his or her interpretation. Legend says, “At this time of year, special attention is paid to the Kitchen God, whose picture hangs in the kitchen. All year the Kitchen God watches over the household like a hawk, carefully taking notes. Traditionally an altar for offerings is placed in front of him. To keep him happy he is given the plumpest and most delicious morsels of food and sweets before each meal. Then just before the New Year holiday, families, generously slather his lips with honey so that only sweet words will come out of his mouth. He travels to heaven to make his report to the Jade Emperor, ruler of the world. The Kitchen God’s words decide the fate of every family, but the legend tells how each family can determine its own fate.”
We also made lanterns out of paper to hang with the Kitchen Gods. Upon the lanterns are adjectives describing each person’s Kitchen God. Each person was given a base shape to work with and then given colorful papers to embellish his or her own lantern using a collage method with scissors and glue.
Friday morning, the A.M. kindergarten class shared in our joyful creations. They made the dragons and lanterns with us and also left with an explosion of fireworks made from red, blue, silver, gold, and pink glitter and glue on black construction paper. Beth Libby oversaw that table which was delightful as I listened in to my kids expressing encouragement and delight to the kindergartners they were helping.
As an aside, there is a simple beauty watching the interactions of various age groups whether it be kindergarteners and third graders or babies and adults. I believe those interactions are the truest moments of simple and profound learning. Every one of my children thought of the kindergartners first. They watched and encouraged the tiniest participants perform tasks they couldn’t wait to perform themselves, but they remained patient. Some forewent completion of work to assist the young ones in being successful. It was a tremendously active, enjoyable, and rewarding morning. I told the children there are so many days when I begin daydreaming about our day before it happens with anticipation and excitement and that morning lived up to all my dreams of my purpose as a teacher/facilitator and promise of the youngsters we love.
Thursday night is the BIG TOP will be up and welcoming everyone to the Waitsfield Circus. The show will begin at 6:30 p.m. The children should arrive in costume at around 6:10 and meet me in the classroom. I hope this will allow each of you time to look at our classroom displays. All are welcome to attend.
