5.15.23

Today we took class outside! And oh what a glorious day. We sang songs, did some yoga to warm up our bodies and went on a sensory walk around the neighborhood. We focused on a different sense on each block, with special attention to sight, sound and smell. Spring is humming in the air and there was so much to notice!

4.7.23

Today we once again focused on mindful listening….and became Quiet Coyotes! We channeled our inner coyotes and went on a listening walk around the neighborhood, tuning into our senses of sight and sound.

3.13.23

Last week we focused on quieting ourselves on the inside so as to be more tuned in to what is going on around us. This week, we shifted our awareness to the wide range of emotions we may feel on the inside, as well as how we may show the world how we are feeling on the outside. We played a series of games to allow students to practice learning to “read” the emotions of others. Over the next few weeks we will build our vocabulary around the wide range of emotions we feel.

-Ann

1.17.23

This week for mindfulness we read Babar’s Yoga for Elephants. Throughout the book we joined Babar in different yoga sequences. Finally, we used the yoga poses we had just learned to act of the day in the life of an elephant.  It was so much fun to see the kids work together and challenge themselves with something new!

12/12/22

Hello Community School Families!

This week for mindfulness we read Little Cloud by Eric Carle. After finishing the book, I asked each group what the little cloud was good at. We discussed how although little cloud is really good at changing shapes, he might struggle with something someone else finds easy. Just like little cloud and his friends, we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. Next I had each student decorate their own cloud and helped them write something that the love or makes them happy. We then joined back together to share our clouds and talk about how all of our little clouds join to make a big “cloud family” when we work together.

11/21/22

Hello MCS friends and family!

For this week’s mindfulness lesson, we learned all about positive affirmations. We read I Think, I Am by Louise L. Hay and Kristina Tracy. I love this book! It starts out with a wonderful explanation of what a positive affirmation is and an example of how it can bring positive changes to our lives. The following pages give examples of negative things a child might think throughout the day as well as affirmations we can tell ourselves instead. As we read through the book, I asked the students to repeat each affirmation with me. At the end of the book I asked the children to draw a picture that made them smile and helped them write their favorite affirmation along with it. Finally, we practiced our affirmations one more time.

11/9/22

Hello MCS families!

This week for mindfulness lesson we read Zoo Zen: A Yoga Story for Kids by Kristen Fischer.  I love this book because it’s a super fun introduction to yoga for kids and a great resource when we need to get our bodies moving or find peace and calm. Each page of the book features a different zoo animal and a corresponding yoga pose. We paused at each page and I encouraged everyone to try each pose while reminding students of the importance of listening to their bodies and what felt good to them.

After finishing the book I asked all the students to lay flat with their eyes closed and we did a quick meditation. I asked the students to focus on slow deep breaths and think about my questions quietly and their heads. Some of the questions I asked included checking in with their bodies and their hearts to see how they were feeling that day and asking themselves what they needed to help them feel their best. After we opened our eyes I invited the children to share how they were feeling if they wanted and ask them what their friends and teachers could do to support them that day. This activity went so well and I am really excited to incorporate it into our daily routines.

Teacher Gabby

10/31/22

Hello MCS families!

This week our mindfulness lesson was all about celebrating differences! We read Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima. This book is about a unicorn named kelp living in the ocean, surrounded by narwhals. Kelp knows he is different but since his friends accept him so does he! We followed the book with a discussion about how everyone is similar and different. We talked about differences we can see and also differences that might not be noticeable right away. Finally, we talked about why it’s important to show kindness even though we may not understand someone’s differences. I was so impressed with the students’ responses to our discussion and am looking forward to continuing with the topic next week.

-Teacher Gabby

10/17/22

Hello everyone!

Mindfulness this week was about using our senses to discover fall! I started out by asking the students what season it was and what they had noticed changing outside recently. Next, we took advantage of the sunshine and went on a sensory scavenger hunt on the front lawn. Students were asked to find five things they could see, four things they could feel, three things they could hear, and two things they could smell. I had the students share what they had found and then brought out some fall items for us to explore as well. Everyone had the opportunity to feel different types of gourds and smell different spices. For classes that had time we finished circle off with some fall movement, acting as if we were leaves floating down from the trees.

10/10/22 Blog Post

Hello all! This week for our mindfulness lesson we focused on playing mindfully and respectfully. To start, we read The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. It’s about a young bull named Ferdinand that prefers to sit and smell the flowers rather than join in rambunctious play with the other cows. After reading the book we discussed the different ways the cows enjoyed spending time and that even though we may play differently than our peers, that it’s alright. We learned that even if we play more roughly than our friends it’s important to be mindful of others and make sure everyone’s safe! Finally, I had each class come up with a list of ways they can keep each other safe on the playground. After creating and agreeing on the list each student “signed” the sign with their fingerprints.

10/3/22 Blog Post

Hello MCS friends and families! This week’s mindfulness lesson was all about connecting to the here and the now. We started by reading I am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness by Susan Verde. Not only does this book have beautiful illustrations but it is a wonderful starting point for talking to children about connecting to the present moment. Throughout the book we paused to notice our emotions, our breath, and our surroundings. After finishing our book, we took time to find peace and connect to the present moment with a short yoga practice and “belly wave” meditation. It was so fun to try out new poses together and explore the idea of meditation. 

9/19/22 Blog post

Hello MCS friends and families! This week’s mindfulness lesson was all about connecting to the here and the now. We started by reading I am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness by Susan Verde. Not only does this book have beautiful illustrations but it is a wonderful starting point for talking to children about connecting to the present moment. Throughout the book we paused to notice our emotions, our breath, and our surroundings. After finishing our book, we took time to find peace and connect to the present moment with a short yoga practice and “belly wave” meditation. It was so fun to try out new poses together and explore the idea of meditation.

9/12/22 Blog post

Hello Community School Families! If we haven’t met yet, my name is Gabby and I’m so excited to be the mindfulness teacher this year! 

We started our mindfulness lessons off by reading The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. I love this story because it teaches children that they are loved even when their loved ones are away and offers families a tool to use when someone’s feeling nervous about starting something new. We followed up by discussing how we felt leading up to and during the first week of school. Finally, we made some great handprint art to go along with the book.

Our second week of mindfulness was an absolute blast! We took advantage of the sunshine and read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud on the front grass. This book is a MCS staple and all the teachers regularly return to language used in it. After reading the book we played a life-sized board game where children were given scenarios and sorted them into either bucket filling activities or bucket dipping activities. The kids loved this game and I’m looking forward to returning to it in the future.

This past week we read Take the Time by Maud Roegiers and talked about different ways to take time for ourselves. I was so impressed with the thoughtfulness and variety of everyone’s contributions. You can see a few examples in the pictures below!