Teacher Margaret's "View From My Window" - December 4th

Dear Westfield,

The new trimester has begun. For older students, this means a new mix of classes. For younger students, new themes, topics, anchor texts, and projects signal new opportunities for growth and learning. Across the school, we are leaning into our Winter Concert theme of Share the Warmth, Share the Light.

Next week, we will engage in our December Buddies and Service Project, creating 50 Blessing Bags for The Unforgotten Haven to support individuals experiencing homelessness. The warmth and joy your children generate when they are working together find material expression in this project. Preschool 2 children experience this same Light in their bodies during morning circle when they get their moment in the center of the circle, and they dance! PreK students are singing about their Light in “This Little Light of Mine”. Their bodies resonate with the music. Ask them if they know what a bushel is. They are emphatic in shouting that they won’t hide their Light under a bushel.

light

In the Hebrew Torah, the story of Genesis, the Dark is the canvas onto which Light is created. This time of year in the northern hemisphere, we experience the way Light and Dark fade into each other - one necessary to appreciating the other. Take time in your homes this month to celebrate the gift of shorter daylight as an opportunity to slow down, read a story together, take an evening walk through a neighborhood lit by holiday lights, and sing by candlelight. Talk together about caring for your Light, getting rest, and nurturing the Light in those you love.

Holding you in the Light,

Margaret

______________

Our December Query takes its cue from the themes of Advent: "There is, it sometimes seems, an excess of religious and social busyness these days, a round of committees and conferences and journeyings, of which the cost in ‘peaceable wisdom’ is not sufficiently counted.” How are you claiming your leisureliness this month?

Announcements: