Welcome back!


As we all know, summer is near. I absolutely love this time of year... the weather is warming, and the children  buzz with excitement for summer vacation (as do I!). It brings to mind this poem I recently discovered:

"Closing Day Thought"
-Leland B. Jacobs

I wonder if our schoolbooks
are lonely all the day
While through the long vacation
in cupboards put away?

I wonder if the blackboard
seems rather out of place
Without a single piece of chalk
to mark upon its face?

I wonder if the schoolroom
is sometimes lonely, too
While standing bare and empty
without a thing to do?

But this we can assure them.
When summer days all flee
We'll join them in September
and keep them company.

 At the end of this school year, the students and I will reflect on our academic growth. We will consider the tasks we've accomplished and the knowledge we have acquired in our journey- but I propose that the journey should not end in the late days of May. Though we are departing from our classroom and tucking our schoolbooks away for the summer, it is important that we keep our minds active so that no degree of curiosity (and progress) is lost! You might say "children deserve, no, need a break." I couldn't agree more, but since when is learning such a drudge?! Go to a museum, take a day trip to a nearby historical landmark, tend a garden, or try out a recipe for chocolate cake (cooking is a science!). Learning opportunities dance about us, waiting for a willing partner to discover its trove of treasures for the young, curious mind.


Continue the journey,
Miss Bastin







May poetry page. (2010). Christian Center Elementary. Retrieved from http://www.cceschool.org/hayes/Poetry%20Page-May.htm