I Like Myself! ~ Self-Portraits and Some Halloween Baking

Good Afternoon Parents,

I hope you are all well.

It was wonderful to share together, at Calvary, several nights ago. Your children were thrilled to recieve your Hopes and Dreams for them and to see your Scavenger Hunts completed. As much as I know they would have preferred for you to be home this past Wednesday eve, I think they each felt really proud to have you in their classroom space. It was as if they could still feel your presence on Thursday morning, and they were beaming.

So, Halloween officially kicked off this morning at Calvary School! I am sitting here writing to the wonderful smell of Pumpkin Bread in the air. Together, the Owls and Eagles measured, cracked, mixed, poured, and baked very yummy bread. An enormous thank you to Lisa, Cooper’s Mom, and Kelly, Clara’s Mom, for all your help in carrying this cooking project out. It was a big job! When it came time to finally eat the bread, you could hear a pin drop for some of our snack, as the children gobbled it up.

Yes, we are very excited about Halloween on the horizon! I know that Ms. Deb sent out, earlier today, an email about Tuesday’s festivities. Please make sure to read it. If you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to shoot me an email.

Parents, I would like to share several pictures and a few words about making our first Self-Portrait of the school year. It was very special. Before the children took pen to hand and began to draw, we read together the wonderful book I Like Myself!, by Karen Beaumont. It is a joyous, rhyming book about appreciating ourselves outside and inside. It is sassy, soulful, and straight from the heart!

I like myself!
I’m glad I’m me.
There’s no one else I’d rather be.
I like my eyes, my ears, my nose.
I like my fingers and my toes.

Inside, outside, upside down,
from head to toe and all around,
I like it all! It all is me!
And me is all I want to be.

We talked about the shape of our face, our eyes, our nose, and ears. Is our hair curly, or straight? Long or short? Too, we talked about this time being a time to celebrate ourselves. We don’t often take the time to notice and study our faces. Life is moving fast these days. But, how special it is, to slow down enough to sit with ourselves and reflect, appreciate, discover, and explore the beauty that is ourselves, our me-ness, every shape, every color, quirks and all! What I thought may be a quick process for the first time was, actually, somewhat lengthy for the beginning of the year. The Sharks took their time, using the mirrors before them as guides ~ stopping, going back, adding more, until each one felt complete. Now a little bit older, the children really enjoyed themselves.