February 13th, 2020

We had a very special Mystery Guest today.
​The clues:
​
1. She loves cats.
2. She loves moldy colors.
3. She loves to play in the Tucker Room. 
4. She's very creative. ​

Many of the children were convinced it was Rachael, even though she was in the room. The clues did fit her perfectly. But it was Helen, who shared some very special books and information with us. 

We listened to parts of The Planets, Op. 32 by Gustav Holst. Listening to the Mars movement, the children heard drums and thought of impending doom. Listening to the Venus movement, they thought of flowers and happiness and heard violins and horns. Helen also shared with us that the planets are all named for Roman gods and each has a symbol corresponding to the god or goddess's persona. She lent us a book about the planets' names and namesakes, and a book about Greek mythology. She also shared three Story Orchestra books. We listened to parts of Swan Lake today as she read the story, and we were captivated. What a beautiful and enriching experience! 

Today was a big day in Tucker for another reason. Today we initiated a ritual of celebrating failure! Inspired by a "Wall of Failures" Jen created at home with her sons, we brought the idea to the Tucker Room children and it was an instant hit. When we shared the idea at morning meeting, the children were enthusiastic and Austin exclaimed, "When you fail, you learn." Austin then declared it "Failure Day." We talked about failing as evidence that we tried something new and challenging. Failing can be frustrating and sad, but it can also be motivating and even fun. It’s always an opportunity to reflect and to grow. If there’s no chance of failure, where’s the excitement? Today we embraced failure in a big way. In blocks, movie-making, the message center, everything. So many attempts, so many fails, so many successes…and we celebrated them all. Happy Failure Day!