Palo Alto Tender Tracks Tues. Feb. 11, 2014 Day 41

Waxing Crescent Moon
Huddart Park

Serena was absent today.
I am going to go straight to highlights of the day because, there were many:

•Playing an exilerating running up and down a hill game.  Half the children formed a line with Jill and I, like the game Red Rover, Red Rover, the other half would run up the big hill, touch a tree and then run back to the line and see if they could get through it.  This didn’t start out this way but evolved into this game.
• Looking at a skull with almost the entire class (I think Zara and Eden were with Jill in the bathroom).  I brought out my Bone book and we looked at a lot of skulls to see if we could identify it. They then got very curious about all the other skulls in the book.  Everyone was deeply engaged.
• Four of the children needed to get something in their rattles to make them rattles so they went with Jill to collect: Finn, Zara, Zac, Julian. The others were with me as we set up the little natural sterno stove I had, put the big can over the fire, put the pitch we gathered last week and the first day of school in to melt, then put in the Rabbit Scat that they just ground up in the mortar and, made glue! Then glued their rattle heads onto their handles.  WOW it was just like you see in old artifacts!  So fun. The rest came and we were able to do all of them. Juliette and Cole went into the bus to get the rest of the pitch that I had collected.   Pounding the Rabbit scat earlier was fun too.
•Blind fold drumstalk down the hill: Cole, Zara, Eden and Julian wanted to play. They stood at the top of the hill, put a blind fold on and then listened to the drum, that the rest of us played, as they walked down the hill to the sound of the drum.
•After all of this they all relaxed from their fullness of the entire morning and played peacefully.
• LOT’S of stories throughout the day from the first thing on the bus, stories that were relevant and needed and well taken in due to what was going on.
Julian: Loved building clay homes and such with Cole and Zac and at end of day playing Fishing, with Juliette.
• Zac: He had such a good time making all that was needed for the “glue”.  He had such a good time with the skull and all the games we played.
•Cole: Was far more easeful today and so enjoyed all the things that we did together.  He really liked that he was able to get the Whale in the bus today too.  We now have their names in a book so that each one who wishes for the Whale can have a turn.
• Zara: She was her playful as well as sensitive self.  She believed that she got stung by a bee ( it did not appear that she did but I was not about to discount her) so I involved the other children with helping take care of it. They got her some mud that they had been playing with earlier and covered her foot.  She was heard telling Eden how good it felt the way she was rubbing her foot and taking care of it.  It was so lovely.  And then, somehow, the hurt transfered to the OTHER foot and Eden, Zac and Ridham helped get her what she needed.  So much love and tenderness that was shared.
Eden: Happy playing house and being involved with all of the above.
Juliette: Really, the same as Eden. Juliette, is truly growing up and it is beautiful to see her on going care for others. She is testing out alternate ways of being yet always coming back to her true nature.
Ridham: As I write Ridham’s name the first image that comes to me is of him doing a crazy dance and showing me how to do it. So, we both were throwing our arms and legs all over the place dancing in very silly ways!  It was truly FUN!  He too was a part of it all and that was grand.  He and Zac continue to play with each other and Ridham seems to be a bit of the leader in their play.
Finn: Finn loved running up and down the hill, finding pebbles for his rattle and playing in the sand. This was a new place for him and he took to it with ease.