Continent songs to sing at home!

A Spooky Lunch

To XP or not to XP, is that the question?  

I remember when my son started in the Toddler program at Children's Garden.  He was a mass of blond curls and a whirl of energy. As a parent I was nervous.  I was dropping off my heart masquerading as a two year old each day. I 'd no doubt he'd bite someone, pee his three pairs of pants and come home grumpy and exhausted.  But I was also a teacher and had the rare advantage to witness the magic of our school first hand. He flourished. After Toddlers he spent the next two years in primary and a third in XP. 

His final year was a big one for many reasons.  His parents separated, he was hospitalized for a rattlesnake bite and was contending with more than his share of of uncertainty. The community didn't skip a beat.  Teachers added materials to the classroom to help the children understand loss and snakes.  They empowered. They encouraged. They learned. They grew.  He laughed and played.  He bloomed. With a sixteenth birthday around the corner his XP year remains a pinnacle memory for us.   I wouldn't exchange it for anything in the world. 

 

When trying to weigh options for our child's next steps, parents are often faced with the difficult decision to stay at CGMS or enroll their child early in an elementary school of choice to secure a spot for the years ahead. I understand.  It's a big choice.  And yet...

As the studio teacher, I work with children from the early days at Children's Garden through their graduation/continuation.  The children who stay for their XP or kindergarten year are a big part of our community. Their growth and leadership make the mixed-age classrooms sing.  The environments are designed to support all children.  Our oldest absolutely flourish and inspire the next crop of children to do the same.  The longer XP school day prepares for the journey ahead, equipping them with deep, often lasting, relationships and a tool box of understanding, skills and confidence. In the studio their deep thinking and big ideas often determine our direction of study and creative expression.  

Watching this Spooky Lunch video you get to glimpse a prime example.  This year cooking has emerged as an extension of the XP Feed the People campaign, which involves creating monthly XP lunches and making sandwiches to give away to people in need several times a week.  Which I do, meandering through downtown, passing out handmade goodies wrapped in tinfoil and care.  They are making a difference.  Not because I asked them to, but because they came together as a community to dream of a better world.  That is XP.