Join the Christmas Box Challenge!

 - Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold -

- Joseph Chilton Pearce

After you have opened all the presents and eaten the food, give in to the universal urge to Play.  Children the world over, and adults alike, need to play whenever they can.  Play is in all animals, including us.  We are biologically driven to play.  So don’t throw out those boxes.  Join The Grass Stain Guru in The Christmas Box Challenge!

Have a playful Christmas!

- Anja

Coffee grounds Christmas decorations

Who doesn’t like coming home to the smell of coffee? Especially after a day of Christmas shopping. We wrote earlier how at our preschools we use coffee grounds in our garden. We also use them to make fossils. Now here is another idea how to use coffee grounds in the lead up to Christmas. Make Christmas decorations!

Use 1 cup of used coffee grounds, 1/2 cup of water, 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of salt. Mix the ingredients together and roll out the dough. Use Christmas cookie cutters to make the shape. Make a hole for the ribbon or string before you let them dry. Once dried, decorate them the way you want, we decorated them with glitter.

Once finished, you can put your feet up with a cuppa while the children decorate the tree, with coffee grounds!

Now that will fill up your room with aroma!

- Anja

Letting go - making a mindshift

We know that for a lot of our tamariki leaving something behind is very difficult.  We have seen their discomfort with leaving their clothing, boots, or slippers behind at preschool or when some other treasured possession has been left at home. 

One of our tamariki arrived at Little Earth wanting to show us his tiger worms he had found. His mother had commented to him that they wouldn’t be happy staying in the bug catcher for long so maybe he could find a new home for them at preschool. However, after arriving at preschool, our young friend said that he wanted to take them home.

After showing his friends we suggested he could transfer the worms to our worm bin.  But no, he had different plans, “I’ll put them in my cubby”, he replied. His friends pointed out to him that the worms didn’t have much dirt in the bug catcher, and where was their food?  Our young friend found a quiet space in our window seat and looked at the worms, obviously thinking of all of this.

After a few minutes he came up to us. “My worms are sad now”.  “I wonder why they are sad”, we said, and he told us, “They don’t have enough dirt.  They don’t have food”.  So we asked him, “What would you like to do with them”?  He pointed to the worm bin - “In there”. 

We all joined watching our friend as he transferred the worms from his bug catcher to the worm bin.  We could see he was still feeling anxious about his decision.  We were all so impressed by his choice to put the care of the worms ahead of his own feelings of wanting to hold onto a belonging of his. 

At our preschools, our goal is to not just offer some activities promoting sustainability but to actually help our children and families make a ‘mind-shift’ into more sustainable thinking.  We want the idea of caring for the Earth to be so embedded that conscious choices are made.  The decision to offer the worms a more suitable home is such a wonderful example of informed decision making and is a really exciting part of our children’s journey and growth. The Earth really is a great Teacher!

- Anja

Care and compassion, we are all part of the web of life

 "He nohonga ngātahitanga ahau me te taiāo"

 - We live as one with our natural world -

Kaitiakitanga is the practice of looking after something, just as Tane, in Maori legends, looks after the forest and Tangaroa and Hinemoa look after the oceans.  We have been working with our tamariki to get them to understand that to take responsibility for our environment we need to be caring.

At our preschools we help our children to look after their relationships, not only with the environment, but also with each other, and their place within.  Our aim is to bring harmony and well being to all involved. After all, we are all part of the web of life.  It is important to explore these relationships, to introduce the children to the concept that everything is connected and inter-related, whanaungatanga and whakapapa.  We have a past and a future and our choices and actions make a difference.  We show our tamariki how to be respectful to all that is around us, kaitiakitanga, that we are part of a community and act in harmony with nature.

One means of doing so is the garden at both our preschools.  The garden provides our children with many opportunities to cultivate their curiosity about nature and gives them a sense of community and responsibility.  In the garden, children see and experience how their actions either help or harm the environment.  It nurtures their aroha, a feeling of love for the natural world, and of the urge to protect or take care of it, manaaki.  These are important values we'd like to instill in our children as our future guardians.  Aroha is more than love, it is about compassion for the environment and understanding the environment and our place in that environment, our connection with the natural world.   A connection that, according to Richard Louv in his latest book "The Nature Principle" is fundamental to human health, well-being, spirit, and survival.

Respect, care and compassion underlies all we do at Tawa Montessori Preschool and Little Earth.  This weekend I will be attending The Natural Phenomena, an outdoor nature education early childhood conference in the "Wild Woods" in New Zealand.  I will be presenting a workshop on the interconnectedness and interdependence with the life force of every natural thing and how to introduce our tamariki to care and respect all things and the correct ways to interact with them.  We must care for our natural world, be good guardians or kaitiaki.

If you are attending The Natural Phenomena, come and say hello. 

- Anja

Touch the Future - Introducing the Nido

Our youngest people are our stakeholders! 

Little Earth is currently developing The Nido, a new parent/infant programme, geared towards sustainable parenting practices, based on a culture of respect.

Last month we opened The Nido room at Little Earth, a special place where parents can come for classes and workshops, to learn and to share knowledge and to connect with other parents.  Our philosophy is inspired by the works of Maria Montessori, an Italian educationalist, and guided by research from Joseph Chilton Pearce and Emmi Pikler, pioneers in parent and infant relationships.

The aim of our Nido programme is to tighten the bond between parent and child in their journey of creating a magical childhood, based on respectful relationships and in harmony with nature.

The first 3 years of life is a critical period in a child's life.  The young child is constantly learning, absorbing everything in her environment.  At the Nido we acknowledge that the young child will develop according to nature’s plan in a culture of respect where they can be a free and equal human being.  The Nido classes will explore various topics that deepen the parents’ understanding of their important role as the child’s first teacher.

This weekend I will be attending the 'Heart Dancing Class for Facilitators',  a course facilitated by Pennie Brownlee.  This course is the first facilitator course in the 'Heart Dance revolution'.  It is a dream  coming true for Pennie who is a well know early childhood educator facilitator in New Zealand. She has worked tirelessly for nearly forty years educating parents and teachers in respectful parent - infant relationships with the aim to grow communities which have the well-being of children central, communities based on respectful partnerships.  I feel privileged to be one of the inaugurate course participants and to be able to spend a whole weekend in the companionship of Pennie and other great people who are passionate about adults - children partnerships. 

For those who would like to know more about the 'Heart Dance Revolution', I recommend Pennie's book "Dance with me in the Heart, the adults guide to great infant-parent partnerships".  You can also read 'The Partnership Dance', one of her many published articles.  Here at Little Earth we are excited about our Nido classes and the prospect of creating a caring compassionate community.  If you want to join us at the Nido or want more information visit our website.

- Anja

Akonga, a community of learners

Recently we achieved the GREEN GOLD Award from Enviroschools.  Last week we celebrated our GREEN GOLD Enviroschools achievement with a visit from our sister preschool Tawa Montessori Preschool.  Children and families from Tawa Montessori took the train up to Kapiti.  After a “Thread the Earth Lightly” candle walk in Nikau Reserve, and our special forest walk song "Ko Te Ngahere", we had a picnic at Little Earth.   The Enviroschool team send their Green Gold fairy to congratulate us.  The special award and flag was presented to Little Earth by a delegation from the Wellington Regional Council and the Kapiti Coast District Council.

We continue our journey at Little Earth, not only as an Enviroschool but as akonga, a community of learners, children, teachers and parents.  While the children are our stakeholders, we, the adults are their mentors and it is important we not only empower and engage our young children, but also enact.  We know how our planet is in peril, we know we have to make changes to the way we are living. Here, at Little Earth we want to do something about it.  We want to give our children, the stakeholders, the skills and attitudes to grow into global citizens who will act as responsible caretakers.  Nature has no reset button.

Little Earth sparkles with GREEN GOLD! You can read more about our GREEN GOLD award on the Kapiti Independent website.

- Anja

New life in our milk bottles

Our recycled milk bottles at Tawa Montessori have done us well.  It’s been nearly a year now since we first put them up.  They weathered a hot Summer, a wet Autumn and a cold Winter.  Now it is Spring and while the bottles are still in good shape, the plants look a bit sad.  Our new planted pansies are getting a hammering from our chickens who love to dust bath in our flower beds.  We decide that the milk bottles may be a much better home for our pansies.

Take the milk bottles of the shed wall and fill the bottles with new soil.

Get the pansies out of our garden and plant them in the milk bottles.

Water the plants and put a rod through the handles of the bottles to hang.

Fasten the wooden rod to the shed wall and done, they are ready to flower.

Children love working in the garden.  As they plant the flowers, they learn that flowers and plants are delicate and need to be handled with care.  They learn about watering, and the properties of dry and wet soil.  They can admire the instant colour beauty and observe the insects that visit the flowers.  Projects like this are not only a great way to introduce children to gardening, they are also a concrete hands on introduction to sustainability and environmental education.

- Anja

Healthy eating (4), making our own egg spread

With Spring in full bloom, our chickens at Tawa Montessori Preschool and at Little Earth are laying eggs again.  The hen at Tawa Montessori has gone broody, but at Little Earth we thought we can make egg spread for on our bread.  This healthy snack is fast and easy to make.

This is how we make our own egg spread:

Ingredients: a dash of salt, two eggs, melted butter.

Boil two eggs and let  them cool.

Shell the eggs and mash them in a bowl.

Crunch the shell and feed it to the chickens or worm farm.

Add a dash of salt and melted butter and mix it together.

Yummy, especially with pesto!

Slowly our garden is able to sustain our needs for our food preparation at preschool.  The children put a lot of love and care into the garden and animals and they are now enjoying the fruits of their labour.   We have noticed that they are more and more connected to the garden and the animals and taking more ownership.  “The egg is from our hen,” they will say, “I will feed the chickens now. They will give us more eggs”.  We are not only eating healthy, we are also developing a more sustainable and caring community.

- Anja

 Links:
- Healthy eating (1), making our own pesto
- Healthy eating (2), making our own lemon honey
- Healthy eating (3), making our own bread
- Healthy eating (4), making our own egg spread 

Spring in Aotearoa!

Spring has arrived in Aotearoa, there is no doubt about it!

The fruit trees are in full blossom,

and the hen has gone broody.

Now the Spring showers are arriving too!

First we try to catch the rain,

but  who can resist a puddle?

All we need is a raincoat and a bowl,
and we pour and pour,

and we catch and catch,

and we get wetter and wetter.

Spring, who doesn't like the Spring?

- Anja

Healthy eating (3), making our own bread

At both Tawa Montessori Preschool and Little Earth we bake our own daily bread. We used to have our freezer stocked with supermarket bread to make our morning and afternoon snack. We noticed there was quite a lot of wasted bread in the compost bowl. Now we have less waste and healthier bread. Our children love to bake and are used to different baking technique. They are independent with the skills associated with baking. Making our own bread is another ritual in our day that contributes towards our  sustainable and respectful community.

Here is how we make our daily bread:

Ingredients:

4 cups high grade flour
1 tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 ups lukewarm water
1/4 cup oil (we use rice bran oil).

Directions:

- Mix yeast and water and let it stand for a while.
- Combine flour and salt in a bowl.
- Pour the yeast mixture and the oil into the dry ingredients.
- Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and then knead until the dough isn't sticky anymore.
- Cover and let the dough rise (about 45 minutes).
- Knead and then cut the dough into 12 parts.
- Shape the dough into buns.
- Bake at  220 C for 10-15 minutes or until brown.

In the morning, the yeast, oil and water are added to the flour and salt.

Then the mixing begins! Lots and lots of kneading until the mixture is not sticky anymore.

The dough rises in the warm classroom, then the buns are rolled and shaped ready to be cooked. Once the buns have cooled down, we cut them. They are now ready for morning and afternoon tea.

 

We have noticed how the children enjoy contributing to the morning and afternoon tea.  They work with care and attention, wanting to do a great job!  We hear comments like “The crust tastes GOOD!” and  “I like the bread.” It is a good reminder that we, the adults don’t have to make the bread for the children (serve), but we can help them to do it themselves.

We also learned that having whole wheat grains in our bread is much healthier than white bread so now we bake whole wheat bread every morning. It is yummier and much better for our bodies.

The gift real work brings to a child is independence.  Maria Montessori noted that one who is continually ‘served’ instead of being ‘helped’ is deprived of becoming independent, of being truly free.

(The Discovery of the Child, pgs 55, 56, 57)

- Anja

The Natural Phenomena

See you there!

- Anja

Green Gold for Little Earth Montessori

On the 9th of September, 2009, we celebrated the opening of Little Earth Montessori preschool.  Today, exactly 2 years later, Little Earth achieved the Enviroschools Green Gold Award.  We are very proud of this achievement.  It recognises our efforts to develop Little Earth into a truly sustainable community. 

Enviroschools is run by the Enviroschools Foundation,  a charitable national trust that provides leadership, support, and opportunities that empower children and young people to work in intergenerational ways to create healthy, peaceful and resilient communities.  The awards scheme is designed to encourage schools to become actively involved in environmental education and to undertake environmental initiatives that will make a real difference in the community.  There are three levels of awards, bronze, silver and the prestigious green gold.

Last year Little Earth received the silver award.  Our journey didn’t stop there.  We continued to strengthen our connection with nature and the environment to create an embedded culture of sustainability and to encourage our children to enact as part of their daily thinking and actions.  Today, Little Earth has a whole school approach based on the five Enviroschools guiding principles.

- Respect for the diversity of people and cultures
Integral to to achieving a sustainable environment in New Zealand - one that is fair, peaceful and co-operative and makes the most of our rich cultural traditions.

- Learning for sustainability
Children are engaged in the physical, social, cultural and political aspects of our local and global environment.

- Sustainable communities
Children are part of a sustainable community that acts in ways that nurture people and nature, now and in the future.

- Empowering students
Children are empowered to participate in a genuine way from their own unique and creative perspective.

- Maori perspectives
Maori perspectives and knowledge of the environment enrich the learning process and offer insights unique to the culture, honouring the status of indigenous people in this land.

The four Enviroschools key areas of school life that have an effect on sustainability and the children’s learning are incorporated at Little Earth.

- place, including physical surroundings
- practices, including operational sustainable paractices
- programmes, including a living curriculum
- people and participation, including organisational management.

Achieving the Green Gold award is a huge accomplishment for our preschool.  It involves a lot of hard work, commitment, time, resources and, most importantly, support from our community.  Our children, our parents and whanau, our teachers, and our management have all worked together and created a community based on a culture of respect for  the environment, all living creatures and for each other as well as for themselves.

A team of Enviroschools delegates, teachers, management and parents spend the day to reflect on the journey Little Earth has undertaken.  We created a koru to visual represent our journey from humble beginnings at our Tawa Montessori Preschool in 2005 until the Green Gold today, finishing with small koru rippling out as our journey continues.  The koru represents the fern frond as it opens, bringing new life to the world. The koru also represents peace and tranquility along with new beginnings.

LITTLE EARTH - GREEN GOLD

We have a living evolving school vision which involves strengthening our connection with nature.  The outdoors serves as an extension of the classroom.  The Enviroschools Guiding Principles are woven into all aspects of our school life.  Caring for our environment is a fundamental value woven throughout our programme, influencing all our decisions and actions.  Our children love and appreciate nature, developing  an understanding they have shared responsibilities for the environment and humanity.  Supported by adults, they make decisions and take action in their community.  At Little Earth sustainability is embedded in our daily thinking and actions. There are many examples of changes that show we are making a difference.  The vibrant and healthy environment at Little Earth supports our community towards sustainability.  “The community come to us and we come to the community.”  Maori perspectives enrich our journey.  We honour the diversity of people within the community, combining intergenerational wisdom with each other’s unique perspectives.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you, our global network of readers, for all the support, enthusiasm and inspiration we have received over the years.  Sharing your ideas and experiences, and giving feedback through blog comments, emails, direct messages, tweets, Facebook and Skype are invaluable.  You are all part of the journey.   

The Green Gold award is a long term commitment of Little Earth to sustainability.  It is not the end, the  journey continues.

- Anja

Healthy eating (2), making our own lemon honey

Tawa Montessori Preschool has several fruit trees growing in their garden.  We have an apple tree, a pear tree, a mandarin tree and a lemon tree.  Our lemon tree is heavy with lemons. This year we decided to use the lemons to make lemon honey.

This is how we make our own lemon honey.

Ingredients: 50 gm butter, 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar, and a few lemons.

Harvest the lemons.

Wash the lemons.

Squeeze the juice of of the lemons, lots of them.

Use a zester to get the rind of the lemon peel.

Add melted butter and sugar.

Collect some of our chicken eggs.

Add the eggs, the lemon juice and rind and mix and cook in the microwave.

Sweet!

Gardening, cooking, serving and eating, composting— these are truly basic things, but the lessons they could teach are drowned out by the clamor of the media and the insidious temptations of consumerism. Kids today are bombarded with a pop culture which teaches redemption through buying things. School gardens, on the other hand, turn pop culture upside–down. They teach redemption through a deep appreciation for the real, the authentic, and the lasting—for the things money can’t buy—the very things that matter most of all if we are going to lead sane, healthy, and sustainable lives. Kids who learn environmental and nutritional lessons through school gardening—and school cooking and eating—learn how to lead ethical lives. —Alice Waters

- Anja
 

Alice Waters, “A World of Possibilities,” in Margo
Crabtree ed. The Edible Schoolyard, (Berkeley, Learning in
the Real World, Center for Ecoliteracy, 1999), p. 15.
71 Author’s Interview with Rochelle Davis, Illinois Healthy
School Campaign, July 9, 2004.