19: A New Chapter
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
-Edith Lovejoy Pierce
A new year often marks a fresh start where one makes resolutions to live a better life or to become a better person. I like the idea of looking at it as a new chapter with a blank page that will be filled up with our stories of new experiences, new learnings, and new growth that will take place within the year.
The Kinder 2 children came back from the break all geared up for the new chapter that awaits them this year. They had many stories to share about their adventures (and misadventures) as well as the new things they learned and discovered over the break. Here are the stories they shared:
Jinnosuke
Santa Claus came to my house during Christmas. He gave me so many presents. I got a book, Paw Patrol, and apron and pants. I also got crystals! Not crystal bears, but lots and lots of crystals. I feel happy.
Atsuharu
I went to the beach with Mommy, Daddy, my sister, and brother. We swam in the water. There was no shark in the water. Everybody had fun.
Yanchen and Rino
Yanchen and Rino had a happy day during the break. We played together at the park. We also had a picnic. We ate pizza. It was yummy! We played on the swing and slide. We also went skating and made a snowman. It started raining so we went home.
Emi
It was snowing outside our house. We played in the snow. We built a snowman. I was happy.
Haruto
It was snowing outside our house. There were big snowmen outside. We went outside to touch the snowmen. We played in the snow. I threw a snowball at Mommy!
Eimi
I went to the mountain with snow with my daddy, mommy, and brother. I played with the snow. I made a snow ball and threw it at daddy. It hit daddy! Then I made a snowman with daddy. The name of the snowman is Snowball. I had so much fun!
Eda and Diego
We rode on the boat going to Kyushu. When we were there, we climbed up a volcano and we saw the biggest chunk of ice EVER! Then we went back to our rest house and stayed there for 2 days. Diego’s family was upstairs, and Eda’s family was downstairs. We had so much fun together.
Mana
My sister and I made the Christmas tree. We saw Santa’s present under the tree for Christmas. I got a pencil from him! It was nice. I was happy.
Arisa
One morning, I woke up and I took a bath. I felt hungry but I only drank water. Then I slept again for a long time. 25 minutes!
It seems like all of them had a wonderful winter break. It was beautiful to hear that they found meaningful stories even in some of the mundane things they did over the holidays.
Many of the children also shared stories that we connected with our yearlong unit on the different seasons. Winter is here and just the other day, it started snowing in Kobe! The children made their own snowflakes to mark the beginning of a new season.
After sharing our holiday stories, we went right ahead and picked up where we left off our inquiry last year: a closer look at different materials and how to use them sustainably. One of the materials that’s close to the children’s heart, as it’s something they often use, is paper. I asked the children this question:
I let the children watch this short video about the process of making paper, but it was surprising to note that most of them already knew that paper comes from trees.
In our discussion as a class, some of the kindergarteners piped in their thoughts that deepened our inquiry:
How come trees give us many of things?
If we use a lot of paper, will we cut a lot of trees?
If we cut all the trees, how will we be able to breathe?
People don’t just cut trees here, they do it everywhere — even in Spain!
I asked them back:
How well do we use our paper in school?
We went around the room and became scavengers for a whole period, in search of the many ways we use paper everyday. We discovered that we use them for our artwork, bags, toys, wrappers, books, and even our baskets! We also discovered an ugly truth: that we don’t often reuse paper and we collect so much paper waste!
So I asked the children (in simpler words): if people can have their own stories of renaissance during New Year (or whenever they want to, actually), why can’t the things we use have their own stories of rebirth, too?
And with this, we gave our pieces of scrap paper new life.
First, we tore them into little pieces.
Then we soaked them in water and waited for a day, and we made paper pulp!
We scooped the pulp using a screen and removed the excess water.
And voila! We made new paper!
One of the children said, “It’s called recycling.”
For sure it is. 😃
Doesn’t it feel good to give old things new life? If you want to learn how to make it, have a look here
This week, we also read the book called, “What Do You Do With an Idea?” by Kobi Yamada. This is one of the few children’s books that I personally love as I feel that it’s applicable to anyone, no matter how old they are.
It starts off with a boy who had an idea, which is represented by an egg with some legs and a crown.
It’s an amazing depiction of a concept so abstract, that even children can understand what it is. The story navigates the journey of the boy in learning how to take pride and ownership of his idea, regardless of what the naysayers think. When he did, his idea grew and grew until it has become a part of who he is.
In the end, the egg that had feet and a crown (aka the idea) hatched into a beautiful bird nestled in a vibrant picture, far from the greyscale world that it started with.
The children imagined what their ideas would look like, too, if their idea eggs will hatch. Have a look at their creations using the recycled paper they made:
Eda's Idea
Can you decipher what they imagine their ideas to look like?
All of us have ideas — some are big, some are small, some are still bits and pieces in our head. So what exactly do we do with them, according to the story?
We use them to change the world.
“Buuuut hoooow, Ms. Pam? How can an idea change the world?” asked one of the children.
I smiled, and wrote the question on the board. “Many ways,” I said. “But you just did the first step. You asked.”
Every new year is a chance to write a new chapter in our life. This is how Kinder 2’s new chapter looks like:
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
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