The Wonder of a Snow Day...

                                                                          Snow Day....

So, the recent snow has melted giving away to spring flowers and leaving me with a longing for the winter weather I once had as a child. Working with young children has been my life's work and it has afforded me so many opportunities to reflect on the joys and importance of an authentic childhood. The snow day that the children recently experienced reminded me of the wonderment and joy that children bring to their experiences... as the snow lay on our playground their was anticipation growing in the classroom. Teachers and children were putting on gloves, I was preparing my camera and rushing them along before it all melted. When the groups made it to the playground smiles creeped onto the children's faces, their eyes squinted, and then they were off, each child with a different direction, as well as a different direction!
The children experienced the snow in as many ways as there are learning styles; they tasted the snow, they touched the snow, stomped it, molded it with their hands, they threw it, and collected it, all with wonder and excitement.

 Most children liked the snow but not everyone...

Jaelyn really was unhappy about the snow. Tears came to his eyes the moment his group went to the playground. Natasha saw this and worked to introduce him to the snow by showing him a snow ball she made...

This was a moment full of wonder for both Natasha and Jaelyn, sometimes as adults we become so immune to the simple firsts that without the children guiding our work there is the possibility of us missing these firsts altogether. 

Ask any educator why they teach; it's certainly not for the salary, it's not for attention or possibilities of moving up some distant career ladder. They teach because they have the calling, a calling to care for children, respond to their wonder, answer their questions, relish in the "firsts" and for a moment relive that "first" for themselves.

Tracy Walters

3/2012