Being Grateful

Being new to a different place orientates us to notice more things around us. Some excitement, a few pauses to notice, touch, lift, and look closer to more fully understand the changes we currently are experiencing in regard to moving to a new location. The more we observe, the more the situations around us will make sense. Some of the questions arise when we encounter similarities and differences like "Where is the front yard?" ,"Why do we enter through the side door?" and "Where is the back field?". As active learners, our observant minds ponder upon the changes and reflect through questions.  

The moment Elie arrives, her curiosity of finding KEVA planks, placed on top of a mirror box. as one of new additional materials is visible. She intentionally slows down her movement. By doing this, she opens herself up to the details of her surroundings. Being observant means it is not just about observing, but the critical thinking that follows which help us learn more about the world around us. 

Nora has a different way to experience her new environment. She sets  some chairs up and props the wooden figures on them. When asked about the character, she mentions "Mom". She too grabs the green figure and further says, "Papa". She arranges for the mom to be on the chair and the dad besides it, prior to her takes another object to say, "It is Nora". Her story continues with more words like "Felix", "castle", and "princess". Nora's stories focus on her emphasis on relationships. 

The way we build trust toward one another is by holding hands. Science informs us holding hands is another form of communication, like eye contact and sign language. Some even say holding hands is a deeper form of communication than words. 

Building understanding between what happened and what has been becoming, we choose to include our emotional perspectives too. When asked about how he feels, Vivaan refers to a song, we've been learning over the recent weeks, We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands and in specific mentions "the lakes and the rivers".

Luna, on the other hand, highlights another trait of connection between the two, by sharing her fondness of the oval table. The oval table is our communal space which is filled with laughter, jokes, lots and lots of conversation, and sometimes conflicts. Through her thought, Luna acknowledges this journey of change through things that connect. 

Another invitation we refer to communicate our thought is through our perspective drawing. Yoyo communicates his architectural design and perspective drawing by delving into the way KEVA planks work. Elie is more into being amused initially when invited to draw her thought with magna tiles. She puts herself  into her thinking moment for a while, and proceeds afterwards with clarity. 

On days when the temperature is on the higher side, we let our bodies come closer to the water to keep hydrated. Sometimes we use our sense of touch to experience the scientific concept, we attempt to connect with regard to our journey of change, like flow and motion. 

At this juncture we make a point to include another positive emotion to express our journey of embracing the change itself - gratitude. We would like to focus in the goodness of our lives and being thankful for the things we have. 

Through his drawing, Felix expresses feeling of gratitude for having a dog. Initially, he attempts to draw a dog; however, at one point he feels upset for he likes to have a  drawing of a dog that 'really' looks like a dog. Understanding how this frustration can be very real to us, we introduce a book titled Ish by Peter H. Reynolds. This storybook offers us to perceive how "ish-ly" is far more wonderful than "getting it right". 

We take an opportunity to embrace this learning process of accepting, respecting, and valuing ourselves at this very moment. Toward the end, Felix takes his own learning process in a more comfortable way knowing that it is okay for his dog to look 'dog-ish'. Way to go, buddy!

Going forward with our inquiry of feeling gratitude, we find out how sometimes our thoughts can be pretty similar or different. Luna mentions about the swing that she is being grateful for. Some friends refer to how grateful we are for our moms and dads in our lives. It is also a very touching moment when Yoyo mentions how thankful he is to having his teachers like Emelia and Manpreet. 

---

Kindest,
Children & Friends.