I made a table of class and activity schedules for the two groups of children, the little ones, with disabilities, and the older girls…. (After almost three years with the girls I still don't have language that flows comfortably from my mouth or through my fingers to distinguish the groups.) I've been away from the blog as I've put most of my time and energy into the teaching part of our program. I'm working on new ways of assessing our children, especially our younger ones. I want to know what they understand, how they feel, and what they want to tell us.
I like making tables and charts as a way of understanding what I'm doing. So here is the product of my efforts:
All of the above happens inside a plot of land 2160 square feet, and a house of about 1000 sq. ft. of living space. I've redrawn the old diagram, adding colors where we have painted room, replacing the "garden grass" with the sand because after four attempts at grass I gave up. I refresh the sand at times. The area is good for play. When we started, the plan was to eventually put on a second floor. But only the front room is new enough for that, and we would have to tear down the rest to rebuild. For that we would have to move elsewhere. That would interfere in the education, aside from cost and other such realities. But basically, the very best thing we can do for the children is to have a steady predictable life of nurturance and study. From where I sit (the yellow X) I see everything going on, and the kids see me. Usually I can write and be in the midst of all this with no trouble. The sound, voices, moving around somehow soothe me… I can relax because I know what is generally going on. Anyway, it works.
It's really a cottage. For now it is fine. It is crowded though. When the girls first came they filled up about half the floor of the big room. Now they almost stretch across. I look at them sleeping and wonder where my little girls went and how these big girls now take up the floor. The little ones sleep among the big ones, and sometimes it is even hard to tell which is which.
Three years ago, before we had the children, I saw some small pajamas in a store. I told Gibi I wanted to get four pair… and she laughed because we didn't know ages or how many. I said I'd get one of each size, 2 to 5. The pajamas somehow disappeared into all the stuff, but this year we found them. At night I see the four little ones in the four pair of pajamas I'd bought. Yeah, it is mystical. And I have the eight girls I heard calling to me in the US. It is all mystical. I live in a life that seems to unfold in some familiar way.
Souls sang to her heart,
Wild winds taking them afar,
Her nest-lings flourished.
I feel now that the souls carried by the winds, the ones I never forgot, have come home to me now. And my nest-lings still flourish.
Recent Comments