Bluebirds of Happiness and Rose-coloured glasses

September 20th
Haida Gwaii is known for it's stormy fall weather, and this week we have had our share of wind and rain fall.  Luckily, there have also been quite a few bursts of brilliant sunshine, resulting in some stunning rainbows.  During a silent meditation on Wednesday, on little girl blurted out that she had seen a rainbow on her way to school that morning, and clearly couldn't wait to share the news.  This week we have been discussing the power of positive thinking, and I have begun introducing mindfulness and visualization techniques to our morning yoga ritual.  One of the parents brought a Tibetan bell to school, and it really seems to help the children quiet their minds by focusing on the sustained sound.  We discussed how colours can represent emotions and we worked on some colour visualizations.  On Tuesday, each child created their own bluebird mobile, hung with strands of coloured plastic, pieces of wood and feathers and paper hearts.  We strung our 'Bluebirds of Happiness' together on a long branch, and hung it above the table.  We discussed what was special to us, and drew pictures of our favourite people and things.  Our science lesson involved 'tie-dying' milk, by dropping food colouring close to the edges of a bowl, and squeezing dish soap in the centre.  The class took turns drawing and explaining their predictions, and were all excited to watch the dye move and change colour.

We finished the week with a Friday afternoon mushroom-picking adventure in the forest with one of our amazing parents, Glynn.  He taught us how to select and identify mushrooms, and how to cut and clean them.  At the end of the hike, Glynn demonstrated how to take a sample from inside of a tree to identify how old it is.  The children took turns counting, and after a few tries we learned that our tree was approximately sixty five years old!  The weather was gorgeous, and we climbed into the van with at least a few bags full of chanterelle mushrooms to share.

We returned to school and presented the children with their 'Home Bags', that Bobbi-Lee, Jessie and I spent a few evenings sewing.  This week, they were filled with jars of homemade  plum jam (my first attempt) a paper bag of chanterelle mushrooms, and of course, new agendas.  

I hope you all have a relaxing weekend, and see at least one rainbow in the sky.  Bye for now!  xo