As soon as I saw this ABC news clip, I knew I had to re-post it!
In Vashon, Washington, teacher, Erin Kenny has a unique view of Kindergarten education. She has developed and launched what she calls a “Forest Kindergarten” – a Kindergarten class that meets outside EVERYDAY no matter the weather.
Friedrich Fröbel, a German educator, opened the world’s first outdoor kindergartens (children’s gardens), more than 150 years ago with the belief that young children should play in nature, away from an emphasis on too many numbers and letters. Today, Germany has several hundred of these Waldkindergärtens, or “forest kindergartens,” in which children spend their entire class time outdoors year-round. Similar schools exist in other European countries, however there are very few of these programs yet in the United States.
I love it when every once in a while a WEIRD idea like this gets some coverage and ruffles the feathers of all of us who are so accustomed to the “normal” way of doing things!
What do you think? Could you send your 5-year-old out into the forest everyday for “Forest Kindergarten”?
I captured a few key moments from this momentous day in the Sheets clan. We are SO proud of our Ella!
My favorite part of this video is near the end when Ella changes gears and asks about what Ezra did all day. Her genuine concern for her brother is no act – she is as sincere as they come!
In September, 2009 the leadership and congregation of the Shippensburg First Wesleyan Church made the decision to place 6+ acres of undeveloped land on the market for sale. For the past 24-months, this adjacent lot continued to stay on the market with the occasional interested potential buyer but no sale.
This past week, on Thursday, August 25th, I had the privilege of joining our treasurer, trustees, and a buyer at a local lawyer’s office for the official signing after the successful sale of the undeveloped lot.
I cannot begin to describe all of the God-things that took place before, during, and after this signing took place – to say that things came together in a miraculous-fashion is only a glimpse into how God truly orchestrated things and revealed Himself as our Provider in His perfect timing.
I was recently having a conversation with a friend who is also in the ministry and he acknowledged the fact that sometimes churches fail to celebrate the “little” things. Sure we have “mortgage burnings” and we show up in hoards for new construction and groundbreaking ceremonies. We celebrate New Life in Christ and I’ve always loved being a part of the shouting crowd as folks are brought up out of the waters of baptism. We should celebrate all of these things – and I’m glad we do.
But the truth is that many celebration-worthy events happen probably every week in the lives of our churches and sadly they are only revealed to a select group of leaders or acknowledged quickly as a “win” and we often move right along to the next order of business.
On the day of the signing this last week I brainstormed with my wife how in the world we could truly celebrate this event in the life of our church family. Her suggestion: Party Poppers. You know what they are – you can pick them up at the grocery store in the party section and they’re quite small and dare I say… lame? We both knew we could do better!
A quick stop at our local fireworks store netted us an arsenal of what I’ve been referring to as “commercial grade party poppers”. Some of these bad-boys shoot up-to 25-feet!
This morning at the close of our service I announced the God-provided sale of the property and a bit about how oftentimes we would be quick to give thanks and move on to the next order of business but that today we were going to CELEBRATE what God and His hand of Provision has done for our church!
The congregation gave a favorable response, I brought up our trustees and treasurer and we celebrated this seemingly “little thing” in a big way!
I did mention that I would be MORE THAN happy to do the cleanup after our celebration, so you can guess what one of my first tasks will be tomorrow morning!
What ‘little thing’ do YOU need to be celebrating in a big way?
Just finished uploading a video chronicling our family-adventure at kindergarten orientation the other night. I am still having trouble stomaching the fact that my baby girl is starting kindergarten in a few days.
I’m wondering if I can fit in her book bag so that I can protect her while she’s away from her parental units. Any tips for this father-of-a-kindergartener?
I’m having trouble finding out any real details on this video, mainly because everything I find is in Spanish. But from what I can interpret, Jotta A. is a 12-year old singing sensation who appeared on a “Raul Gil” show and sang Michael W. Smith’s song, Agnus Dei.
The video is making its rounds in Christian-circles and I think is a powerful illustration of a young man using God-given talent to bring glory to the Lord!
As soon as I saw this ABC news clip, I knew I had to re-post it!
