Leadership

I've been taking the kids through the "Mind-Up Curriculum (Brain-Focused Strategies for Learning--and Living)" for grades Pre-K-2. We have not yet taken the step of mindful breathing exercises but we will. First, I am leading them through a series of exercises to heighten their senses, and really get them to thinking about focus and calm and what you can notice when you tune in on something very specific. Two weeks ago, we discussed the anatomy of the ear and they made "weird whirring whirligig" sound makers, which hopefully didn't drive parents crazy. Last week, I brought in several sound making things and had them close their eyes and try to filter out everything else that was going on and just listen and identify the subtle noises (coins jingling, a deck of cards being shuffled and a match being lit were easy ones, grinding a pepper mill, biting into an apple, and spraying from a bottle where the hard ones.) Next we will look at vision.

We continue to explore the anatomy of the brain and I am learning along with them about the function of the hippocampus, amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex, and the RAS. It's fascinating stuff. We are also continuing to talk about emotions. Jealousy was a popular topic last week. If there are social/emotional issues to do with school brought up at home, I encourage you to encourage the kids to tell me about it and we can make an agenda for leadership class that includes their topics of interest.

In Roxaboxen, the children have sanded big staff-like sticks and decorated them with beads and feathers, and they've painted some signs for their shops and homes. It is feeling like it's time for some order to be established, so we will draft a set of laws/rules this week and perhaps build a road leading through the village. I haven't yet managed to snap any photos as I'm so busy with the kids and am unable to keep track of my cellphone, but I will try to make this happen soon.