About Me

Head of Lower School at La Jolla Country Day School (mbaier@ljcds.org)

Monday, October 10, 2016

Cultivating Wonder and Awe...

“All this he saw for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.” ~Kenneth Grahame

Children so often wonder and they are in awe of so many things.  As we grow older we often become more jaded and it seems to take more and more to feel awe.  We forget how to see things through the eyes of children.
 
When I heard the kindergarten wanted to take a field trip to Gale Woods farm, at first I thought “sure, why not.”  I was thinking as an adult who had already experienced farm life as a child (sometimes too much of it).  I wasn’t thinking from the viewpoint of a child that has never seen or visited a farm before.  When our students returned from Gale Woods and shared their stories of amazement, I stopped to reflect on this.  The wonder and awe that comes from seeing and interacting with new animals and seeing the plants they have studied in pictures in real life is priceless on the face of a kindergarten student. 

All of this reminds me that once I had such awe of farm animals and plants.  The reasons for that initial wonder and awe has not changed, but taking for granted the miracle of animal and plant growth has.  How can we become less cynical and more awed by the simple things in life?  I think it has a lot to do with gratitude.  When you live your life with gratitude, you see the simple things much differently. Today, I’m grateful the kindergarten students have reminded me of how wonderful it is to see sheep, chickens, and plants.  Looking and listening with the eyes and heart of a kindergartner has made me grateful and awed by the workings of a farm, once again.   I hope you are able to cultivate your own wonder and awe in those simple things once again as you see the joy and gratefulness in these pictures of our kindergarten students on their field trip.











Friday is a Spirit Wear Day!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Baier

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