No Walls For The Small

I still remember my kindergarten teacher.  This is probably because her name was Mrs. Shanky...which made for some terrible playground rhymes!  Kindergarten is the first experience most of us have in a structured learning environment, and we have a lot to learn from the professionals who teach the littlest students.  Michelle Poussin, artist, crafter and kindergarten teacher. She is a person who day in day out witnesses the awesome freshness of youngsters, while maintaining a thriving creative life as well.  I thought she might have a few things to teach us...enjoy!

1.Tell us a little bit about how Magnolia Designs, your Etsy.com shop, came about.
Magnolia Designs came out of an idea I have always had for a boutique shop for children.  I chose the magnolia flower because of its beauty and uniqueness.  I have always been a doodler and have sketches from back in junior high school!  I always knew I would make my own products someday and my main inspiration for that is my mother.  She is a very crafty lady, and the bug bit me at a young age. 

2.  You work with kindergartners, which is such an awesome age for human beings!  What about your students do you find the most inspiring?  
I am inspired a lot by my students.  Kids know what they like and they will be honest about it!  I love how innocent, full of life, and honest my students can be.  They are so young, yet have so much knowledge of the world around them.  Their future is what inspires me to do what I do everyday.  They are not afraid to be creative or make mistakes, which a lot of us adults could take a lesson from. I encourage them through art, dance, music, and recycling products into new ones instead of just ‘throwing everything away’ like so many people do these days.

3.  Working with younger children, in your opinion what are the most pressing obstacles that they face today?
The biggest obstacle that children face today is all of the technology available to them.  They are not challenged to be creative, play outside, TALK to people to make new friends, or just be social in general.  This generation is being brought up in a very different society than all of us were when we were children.  We have become a society of convenience and this is reflecting onto the children’s behavior.  I do my best to teach my students how to communicate through many different medias, whether that be talking to each other, painting, dancing, singing, or even playing outside. 

4.  Your creative expertise is in fashion. What role do you see the fashion industry having in shaping children today?
Fashion has a huge influence on children today.  I would say that celebrities, more than the fashion industry, play a huge role in shaping children today.  Last year all of my students dressed like Hannah Montana and it has trickled into this year too.  They want to be ‘cool’ like the kids on TV or movies that they see.  I applaud the celebrities that still dress the age that they are and who do not try to be older or ‘sexier’ than they need to be as a teenager. 

5.  As a teacher and someone who spends a lot of time with a variety of children...in Las Vegas mind you! Is there any lesson they have taught you or any advice you may have for parents that only a teacher could share?

The greatest lesson that I have learned from my students is that it is ok to laugh and laugh often.  My favorite sound is children's laughter and that can brighten up any gloomy day that I am having!

The advice that I would have for parents today would be to be just that, a parent.  They look up to you as their parent and want to be just like you!

Hanukkah began on Wednesday after sundown.  Across the world people who share the religion of Judaism prayed together by candlelight, and do so every evening until December 8th.   It is a holiday that celebrates the Jewish victory over the Syrians in Jerusalem.  Jerusalem, a holy city of all three biblical religions is home to over 700,000 people...over 200,000 of which are children.

Both Israeli and Palestinian children are given no choice but to suffer the hardship of war, as are all other children living in war torn regions.  In the Middle East, United Nations has an organization called Children of Peace, which "seeks to protect all the children and their communities in Israel and Palestine - Bedouin, Christian, Druze, Jewish and Muslim."   The Druze faith is one I was not familiar with, so I looked it up.  It is almost a form of Unitarianism, combined with concepts of Islam.  One of its core values is that God is "the whole of existence" rather than "above existence" looking down from his throne.  If all religions truly recognized God in all of existence, there would be much more love and respect for the world as a whole don't you think?

Children of Peace provides funding to groups that bring the children of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank together, nurturing their common humanity, so they can trust in what unifies us rather than live in fear and division.  Through programs in the arts, education, and athletics children in this war-torn region are given the opportunity to grow and learn together. 

The brilliant Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest champion of peace in modern history, once said "If we are to teach real peace in this world, and we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children."

Hanukkah is a holiday celebrating the triumph of war and the miracle of the endurance of light in Jerusalem.  Hundreds of thousands of children living in this region of the world, two thousand years later are still suffering the same terrors of war that children in 168 B.C.E. faced.  Thanks to organizations like Children of Peace children of this area may just have a chance to let their little light's shine, ending the terrible darkness of war.

Something to think about as we light our own candles this holiday season.