Leaving the nest

We began the year with a worship story from Psalm 84.

Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O Lord of hosts,

my King and my God.

On that first day, I was nervous to meet you and wanted to welcome you and your children to school, most for the first time, at The Nest.

Now we are reaching the end of the year and my thoughts are returning to birds. The children are flying off, some to new homes out of the area, others to new classes, or to a different plan. I have been thinking how my role is to give "roots to grow, wings to fly".

On our walk back from the park, Amara saw two pigeons. We wondered if they had baby pigeons, which led to a conversation about nests and eggs. Melany thought the pigeons might have an alligator in their nest, like in the book Flap Your Wings by P.D. Eastman.

In the classroom we looked at an ornament of a pigeon made by Maureen White, a former art teacher at Mustard Seed. We named the different parts that make up a bird and noticed the small circle around the eye. Ms White has made us a set of the birds we see around us every day at the park; robin, sparrow, pigeon, starling. Students used these examples to draw and color their own birds.

At the end of the day we read Mo Willems, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! The illustrations looked remarkably like our own drawings. Much laughter and hilarity ensued, demonstrating how the children have grown in their tastes and appreciation of a funny book.

"Hey, the starlings legs match my shirt!"

As we are finding beauty in the everyday birds in our park, so we are finding beauty in the everyday lives of the children through our honoring time. A copy of your child's honoring words will be in their binder of art work that they bring home on the last day. 
Please send in a reusable shopping bag, labelled with your family name, to carry home spare clothes, shoes, etc.