Ms. Gabriela's

Elsa and I visited Ms. Gabriela's children's group this morning to see if it would be a good fit for Elsa to take part in come next fall. Ms. Gabriela lives in our old neighborhood, Midway Woods, just a stone's throw away from Oakhurst, and the neighborhood in which several of our close friends still live. She runs this children's group out of her home, where she has a dedicated large space in the back of her house for activity, as well as a sizeable backyard for outdoor play. Inside there is an eating area with child-sized wooden tables and chairs, braided and woven rugs, wooden toys of all varietys, dulcimers, xylophones, toy kitchen implements, blocks in the form of cut-up tree branches, wooden rocking horses and rocking boats, and all sorts of whimsy floating around the cozy space. Outside there is much room to run, and there is a sandbox, swings, a treehouse, chickens, wagons, balls, and gardens.

I was impressed as soon as I walked in the door. Some of the children were cutting up apples on their individual small chopping blocks (we are talking real serrated knives here), which were to later be used for homemade applesauce. (This is apparently a common activity and a much repeated snack.) Others were twirling yarn with Ms. Gabriela to create a necklace out of the clay hearts they made earlier in the week (they made homemade playdough to create the hearts as well). Once finished with that activity "Grandma" (Ms. Gabriela's mother-in-law, who she says is always with her to help out) cleaned up the table area while the children ran off into various corners of the room to play at their heart's desire. Gabriela would sing beautiful little tunes just out of the blue, and at one point sat in one of the little chairs on a rug in the middle of the room and sang as she cut up a pear. The children would come over sporadically and snack on a slice of pear and sit and listen to the song, and then to the story Ms. Gabriela began to tell.

After the play (and Elsa joined in some, playing with the dulcimer, a toy wooden rotary telephone, etc.), everyone sat around the table again for the first warm meal of the day (around 10:30 a.m.). A candle was lit in the center of the table and a song of thanks was sang, as the children all held hands. First Ms. Gabriela pulled out a mason jar of local honey (from Oakhurst, actually), and gave each child a spoon dipped in a touch of the golden goodness. Elsa and I each got a spoon ourselves, and we both loved it. Quinoa pasta was then served with a red sauce and Parmesan cheese, and one child was chosen to serve the bowls to each child (by a game of eeny, meeny, miny, mo). Each place setting had a very small placemat, a small cloth napkin, a normal-sized spoon, a small bowl, and a tin cup with a handle. Warm rooibos tea or water was served into the cups. Elsa had a bowl of the pasta and ate nearly all of it (with my help -- she can't quite yet wield the spoon). A mix of vanilla and plain yogurt was then served for dessert, and I thought it was ingenious that she would only give them the yogurt once a child made a place for it, either in their empty bowl or their empty cup. (This didn't take much effort, though, as the majority of the kids came back for a second or third serving of pasta!) Elsa downed her yogurt as well. After another song was sung (holding hands again), as the children finished eating, they were asked to put their dishes in the wash basin. There was a bucket set on one chair to collect any food not eaten (for compost), and a basin set on another chair where they placed all of their dirty dishes.

As they felt the desire, the children bundled up and made their way outdoors after the meal. Soon we were all outside, and Elsa had fun running around with her little friend, Lily. I am friends with Lily's mom, Heather, and Finnan (Alison's son) also attends, though I don't believe today was one of his scheduled days.

After some time outside, and a face plant into the dirt by Elsa (she was fine... just a bit of dirt on her face and in her mouth), it was clear Elsa was getting quite tired, so we made our way home. Apparently another meal was to be served, though Gabriela says the kids never eat quite as much at the second meal.

If you can't tell, I am quite excited about the prospect of Elsa going here. Ms. Gabriela made the comment that the most important thing for children at this age (most of the kids are between the ages of two and five) is that they are healthy. She tries to serve organic food as much as possible (parents help out by taking turns providing cases of organic apples), and she believes that this is the age that children excel at being imaginative and playful (with a bit of structure thrown in) and that there is plenty of time later down the road for them to learn their ABCs and 123s.

I think what Ms. Gabriela has going is fabulous, and if we can make it work, I hope Elsa gets a chance to experience the fun one or two days a week come fall.