I still remember the night. It was January 3rd, and I went out for dinner with a friend. I came home a few hours later to a flood of text messages and emails: somebody set a fire to the shed in our Kindergarten outdoor play space. Most of the materials stored in the shed as well as the shed itself was ruined. I went over to see the area a few days later, and I’ll admit that I was initially shocked by the damage. What were we going to do? With one more day of Winter Holidays left, I connected with the rest of the Kindergarten Team and we developed a plan. A week later, I can sit back and reflect on what happened, and the pleasant surprises that were to come.
I will admit that I felt emotional when I first saw the damage. It wasn’t about the materials lost, but about the fact that our space — one that brings much joy to kids and families — had been violated. I really wondered how students would react when they saw the area. While we practice fire drills at school, nobody expects to have a real one. Would kids and parents be concerned about school safety? How could we address these concerns? I think that things now feel as they do because of all of the little steps that happened throughout the week.
- As a Kindergarten team, we sent out a note to parents on the weekend letting them know about the fire, and about our new entry routine. In our note, we mentioned how upsetting this was, but also how we would support students with a regular classroom routine. We really emphasized how excited we were to see everyone again, and addressed how our change of entry plan would still lead to a seamless transition between home and school. By preparing children ahead of time for changes in routine, we were able to reduce much of the stress.
- We let the students take the lead in the fire conversations at school. All of the children knew about what happened before school started again, and many came to see the playground prior to coming back to school. Instead of leading a discussion about what happened, I watched my teaching partner, Paula, as she let students take the lead in the conversation. Kids shared some theories about what they thought happened, how we could still continue with a regular routine, and what might happen to the people who did this. Grounding seemed to be the most popular theory. Children make sense of their world based on what they know, and you could see this here. By letting children take the lead, we were able to reduce the possibility of our own feelings impacting on how kids were feeling. A little Self-Reg in action here!
- We developed a new normal. We know that kids like routine, and that it helps reduce stress throughout the day. When Paula and I spoke last weekend, we developed a new routine that we knew could stay consistent throughout the clean up process. While there was an initial adjustment to our new entry routine, kids settled into this “new normal” quickly, as we persisted with it throughout the week.
- We considered how to reduce transitions. What we really liked about our old entry routine is that we could seamlessly transition from our outdoor classroom space to the forest. We could really be responsive to kids, and vary our timing for heading out to the forest depending on how the kids adjusted to this outdoor classroom space. If we noticed that kids needed a run, we’d go out sooner, and if we saw kids creating and socializing with their peers here, we might leave later. How could we do the same thing without our outdoor classroom? We figured out a way to still let children have a snack (their morning “normal”), connect with friends (something else that they love to do), and have a few choices within the classroom (from drawing/writing to reading) to still allow them to settle when they arrive, but allow us to move with ease between the classroom space and the forest when kids are ready.
- We acknowledged and appreciated the community connections, which came from this unfortunate event. Our parents are absolutely amazing, and so very supportive of us and the school. It takes time to move past an experience like this one, but I think that kids and adults have adjusted as well as they have because of our amazing community. They’re open to helping and will do anything that they can. From fixing a picnic table to the multiple offers of materials to use, there is nothing that these parents won’t do. We are so very grateful! Their positive attitude and helping hands have really helped with the aftermath of this fire.
While I think that all of these points have made a challenging situation so much better than ever expected, it was our observations this week that caused Paula and I to stand back and think even more.
- No matter how young they might be, there’s value in getting kids involved in making a difference. When we first went out to the forest on January 7th, the students quickly found a few surprises among the trees: a picnic table and a huge wooden bench from our Kindergarten playground area. They were determined to bring both out of the woods. What they liked best though was when our principal, John Gris, asked them to bring these items back to the Kindergarten playground. At that moment, they knew that they were doing real work and making a real difference. Day made! This was a good reminder to me that no matter what our next steps after this fire might be, there’s value in letting the kids take the lead. Just as we co-create the indoor classroom with kids, we can co-create the outdoor one. The Kindergarten Program Document speaks about solving real problems as part of the Belonging and Contributing Frame, and there’s nothing more real than this.
- Kids are connecting with texts even more than before — and in the most incredible of ways! Our new routine involves looking at books when children first arrive at school. Some students do so on their own, and others do so with some friends. What Paula and I did not expect was just how much students would love this reading time, and the incredible growth that they would demonstrate in their decoding and comprehension skills. Maybe our latest round of V.I.P., which connects with storytelling, has helped increase this reading interest, but for whatever the reason, this interest in certainly there. While many students liked to look at books in the open shed space outside, it was usually an adult reading a book to children. Now students are reading and talking about books with each other, and this interest has extended way beyond this entry routine. With our kids, we’ve turned our dramatic play space into a bookstore, and it’s amazing to see the number of conversations around books. When I think of our Board’s strategic directions, this new entry routine is definitely supporting the reading goals.
- We’re really able to focus on connections with both kids and parents. With our old routine, we used to greet the kids at the gate. I would wait outside in the morning, and Paula would be inside supporting the children as they unpacked their backpacks. Since kids would then come back outside to have a snack and play, I would be trying to chat with parents at the gate, while also supporting children during play. It was difficult to make genuine connections with anyone, as there was also the supervision aspect involved. With our new routine though, I can connect with parents and kids as they arrive, but not worry about being pulled in two different directions, as Paula is in the classroom supporting the children as they grab a snack and begin to read, socialize, draw or write. This has certainly led to more genuine connections and a better focus on the people who are in front of us.
- We don’t have to wait as long to head out to the forest if we don’t want to. With our previous routine, we usually wouldn’t head out to the forest until at least 9:20, as Paula was in the classroom alone facilitating the entry routine. Now I’m back in the classroom by 9:05, so we can both support kids in this morning routine, and then head outside as soon as the children are ready. Sometimes we capitalize on more reading and conversation time with children, and sometimes we head to the forest and connect with the kids there. We can now be totally responsive to kids!
- The children are a lot calmer when we go to the forest space. All of the Kindergarten classes used to meet together in the outdoor classroom space. This meant that there were over 70 children in the one area until our class went to the forest. Our kids certainly loved connecting with friends in other classes, but with numerous kids in a smaller space, students were often dysregulated when they initially made it to the forest. Many of them needed a big run before they could settle into play. Now though, the conversations in the morning are quieter. Instead of beginning the day with a big gross motor activity, they’re starting with a snack, a book, and/or some paper. The volume is down. Everyone is breathing. And you can actually feel the calm when we head outside. An unexpected upside to a terrible event!
Are we still upset about what happened? Absolutely! To think that people caused this damage, and in a space belonging to kids, is very upsetting. Throughout the week though, we were reminded of some very important points.
- You can stay focused on a problem, or you can stay focused on a solution.
- An adult’s responses directly correlate to how kids respond.
- Let the children take the lead … in conversations and in actions.
- Nobody is too young to make a difference … even in a small gesture such as moving a bench.
- Accept help from others.
- Try to find the good, in both people and in unfortunate events.
This could have been a horrible week. It could have been a sad and stressful one, but instead, it was a great first week back at school. There can always be a little positive, even in the most terrible of situations. With special thanks to our amazing principal, parents, community members, and students, we made it past the fire and have found a lot of good in our new normal. Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by something bad? While our shed and our toys may be no more, our spirit is certainly very much in tact!
Aviva