Thanks, once again, to the selfless parents and teachers out there who share their work with everyone for the good of all our kids. It really does take a village. I’m glad you’re in mine!!!

It’s a good thing I love the song. And right now we’re singing it as we learn about farms. Why? Because it helps teach farm vocabulary!

At least the way WE sing it. That is, we begin with a cow, because everybody knows what cows are. (And on that farm he had a cow, EIEIO!) Then we sing about the baby of the cow, the calf. Next, we sing about the boy cow, a bull. Of course they all “Moo”!

We sing about chickens, chicks and roosters … geese, goslings and ganders … ewes, lambs and rams. We do a lot of singing. Not only do they learn easily that way, heartfelt singing – and is there another kind? – is a great way to get a bunch of preschoolers’ ya-yas out this time of year.

In school to become teachers, we were taught that we needed to be – and create – life-long learners. This is a goal that we seek to accomplish with every child. It’s why we teach!

But until today, I never connected that goal to my monastic spiritual life. Sure, I knew we were called to always seek, work and develop our spiritual muscles. But the idea of life-long learning never made it out of my education workshops and classes. Until now.

We are and need to be life-long learners in many areas of our lives. Intellectually, emotionally, socially, and yes even spiritually. But this learning must all be put into practice. As Casey says, “It is not just a matter of doing but a matter of first learning and then doing.”

When we are able to do what we have learned, we become practitioners; disciples. We welcome God along every step of our journey. Further, as Casey concludes, “The important principle is, however, that we do seek to be guided on our way to God, believing that if we are sincere in our search, God will never leave us without indications of the way that leads to life.”

God is the ultimate teacher … always supporting our desire to learn. If you would like to discuss this more, email me at smacdonald@smmsisters.org. I love to share ideas!

We begin every day with a routine on the Smart Board. The kids check in as they arrive, moving their names from one end of the board to the other. Then our Leader for the Day takes her wand up to the board and helps us go through our steps: prayers, Pledge, Welcome Song (it comes from Dr. Jean, one of my favorite children’s musicians).

We sing a lot of songs! Before we had the Smart Board, we used CDs (still a long way from the old vinyl, I know). Today, though, our board allows such easy access and big screen viewing we all love it!

Another great development – at least for the Catholic preschool scene, where we don’t want a lot of uncontrolled distractions or inappropriate video tiles on our screen – is a site called “Quietube.” All you see is the video you want. No ads, no unwanted videos, no anything but the video you’re looking for. Be sure to check it out!

My most recent triumph happened when I figured out how to put the great Quietube videos directly into our Smart Board program. (I had been trying lots of different ways to quickly access them, including emailing myself the links in a Word document. Very tedious.)

Here’s what I did: I found pictures of the videos (try stopping them on the shot you like, and then using your “Grab” application to copy and save it). I uploaded those pictures, linked them to the videos, and put them into the Smart Board. Now the kids just touch the picture they want to sing and dance to, and, Voila! We’re singing and dancing!

I uploaded my first children’s Smart Board song onto the Smart Exchange site. Check it out and use it if you want. And holler if you need any guidance with this. Sometimes I feel like we’re all reinventing the wheel every day. If I can help you NOT reinvent it, cool!

Of course preschoolers do not read on their own, so that means our minutes include being read to.

You can tell that the children are being read to, because they “read” on their own all the time. They choose storybooks from our library corner and create their own narratives. They move their fingers and eyes from left to right as they “read,” and anticipate what will happen from the pictures.

This will be a great skill to have once they are trying to decode words! It will help prepare them for a life of rigorous intellectual activity, a goal underscored by the Church’s own rich intellectual tradition.

Most important, though, is the children are learning a love of reading. This will not only enrich their own lives – and their children’s lives years from now – but all of society. We ARE a village … and it takes every one of us to care and support and love it. Reading helps in every way!!!

(BTW, this photo is of last year’s class.)

So, last Wednesday in the preschool world was difficult. We just struggled to do everything. We quarreled, cried and forgot how to share. We were tired and sulky. I think we were all ready to go back to bed.

Whenever a day (or moment) like that strikes, I think of John Cassian’s little phrase, “Oh God come to my assistance. Oh Lord make haste to help me.”

We pray that phrase at the beginning of morning prayer every day. It’s become part of me … and a good thing, too! It calms me down to pray it on the Wednesdays of life.

Why? When things are out of my control or not going smoothly Cassian’s prayer helps me to remember it is all in God’s hands. It calms me down so I can deal with the wet pants, the crying preschoolers, those who have seemed to forgotten how to share.

It is also a great line to use with the preschoolers when they are upset with each other or a situation!

Try it sometime. If it can calm a teacher and a room full of 4-year-olds down, it can do wonders for anyone!!!

Earlier this week, huge storms crashed over our heads as we prayed Lauds in the chapel. Great strikes of lightning, deafening booms of thunder and sheets of rain filled the air around us. “The clouds poured down water, the heavens resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth.” (Psalm 77)

Our community has been praying these prayers together every morning since 1874 (okay, the Sisters were different … but you get the idea). We weren’t about to stop for some little old storm.

Then: an immense clap of thunder lit up the sky like daylight and, boom! No power. We were in the middle of singing a hymn. The organ whined down to silence … but not us. We kept right on singing, tilting our books toward the window for more light. Sister Charlotte left the organ without missing a beat and took her place at the piano to continue accompanying us.

We lifted our hearts maybe a little higher that morning as we moved together, without a word, to continue God’s work in chapel.

This may sound funny, but I think we all felt particularly blessed by the experience. The sense of unity and purpose was quietly amazing and beautiful.

So the U.S. Postal Service has nothing on us … at least when it comes to prayer!!!

At the beginning of my teaching career, I was truly Master of the Marble Mess. I used box lids for paint trays and ended up with paint on the tables, chairs, myself, the kids and the wall-to-wall carpet. (That’s another story!)

So, I began to use deeper boxes. But these proved troublesome too, being hard for little hands and arms to manipulate.

Then an idea came to me as I was eating lunch one day. See-through plastic containers with lids would be just the right size … and just the right amount of CLOSED. I tried it and, wow! It worked great! The once-wild marbles no longer go flinging onto table, chair and floor.

The kids can see their marbles as they click, click, click over the paper and against the sides of the containers. The painting effects are just wonderful, and it really is fun to watch and listen as the kids concentrate on their task.

If you’ve never done this fun activity, all you need is some tempera paint, a tight-lidded sandwich container, a marble and piece of paper. Have fun!

This week we are talking about Easter … which is still going on. (The Easter season lasts till Pentecost.) We use Easter pictures on our Smart Board (here below with our leader of the week), and Easter themes in literacy and math.

We talk about how much we love our plastic eggs and bunnies, hula hoops and bouncy balls. Easter baskets are a highlight of the year! But we also say we mustn’t forget about Jesus!

We have a poster about Easter time to help us remember. It has pictures of Jesus with the disciples, a dog … everyone. It’s been a great tool to help the kids imagine what life was like with Jesus back then … and how – in a lot of ways – it’s just like now. That is, Jesus is with us and dogs and everyone!

The kids are especially drawn to the poster, stopping to look at it and talk about it frequently.

You can never underestimate the power of a picture!!

The Triduum is our most sacred time of year. We walk with Jesus’ apostles through the days of terror and loss. We go into silence to deepen our contemplation.

Then, at 8 p.m. on the 3rd day, we begin our Easter Vigil with the lighting of the new fire outdoors. (We burn last year’s palms.) We enter the chapel carrying the Paschal Candle lighted with the new fire, singing Christ our Light.

For the 1st time in 40 days, we once again sing Alleluia! Jesus is risen … and we are resurrected with him. The birds are singing … the flowers are blooming … God is in heaven!

After Mass, we enjoy a wonderful social hour, conversing again, laughing again.

May your Easter be joyous. Blessings from my family to yours!!!