From the Archives - Have a Popover Froggy

Occasionally, I glance at the insights from the DRC website. I have no earthly idea why this post from exactly 9 years ago when we were brand new and still above the thrift stores on Main Street, is consistently one of the top-viewed blog posts each month. Taking a critical look back, besides a few necessary tweaks here and there it holds up well. So with that introduction, I present...

"Have a Popover Froggy!"

10/27/2015

I realized while I was walking Saturday morning that my head was up - I was transfixed, actually engrossed, by the newly bare trees, the multicolored leaf-covered forest floor, the little bird (nuthatch?) flitting from tree to tree, the clouds scuttling across the sky, the small delicate hoof tracks along the side of the road, the black swirling water of the stream, and the raucous, flock of geese flying overhead. I was not consciously paying attention to my footsteps - at all; walking was entirely automatic and seamless.

At that moment, I fully comprehended the concept of trust. My mind trusted my body (Or, is it the other way around?) to negotiate the many obstacles that are all part of a dirt road to get me to my “turn around tree” and back home safely.

This “a-ha moment,” as always, was immediately translated into thoughts about my everyday experiences with the young people at Deep Root Center.

Even though trusting each child's intrinsic motivation, interests, and desires is at the very core of our philosophy and methodology it hadn't cemented into my psyche until that moment.

Expecting and, yes, believing that each child inherently knows what they need goes against every cultural message of control and direction that we have heard our whole lives. These memes have become so ingrained in our society that even I sometimes find myself questioning (worrying) what other people will think when they witness or hear about the slightly chaotic, community-oriented, unstructured, and interest-based daily activities at DRC.

In those moments of worry, I want to direct, lead, demand, or even curb my students away from their natural tendencies of self-direction.

Before I go any further, I want to explain that the title (quote) comes from one of my favorite cultural reference points, The Muppets-Frog Prince, circa 1972. Even though Sesame Street and The Muppet Show were two of my childhood staples (And yes, are the basis for most of my cultural reference points), I had never heard of The Muppets-Frog Prince until my kids were young. Mike's family had the record album from childhood; Ian and Kenzie begged to listen to it at least once daily. We quickly adopted the Evil Witches line, “have a popover froggy,” when she tried to stop Kermit the Frog from exposing her evil behavior, as our humorous way of saying, “Be quiet” or "Hush up.”

“Have a popover froggy” has been my daily (possibly hourly) silent mantra to remind myself to step back, get the hell out of the way, and hush up when I am interacting with the kids at DRC.

With this new understanding of trust, I am now even more intent on discovering and exploring additional means to foster and support all the energy, ideas, movement, creativity, and pure genius that swirls around me every single day, that will not only sustain and nourish the kid's educational experiences but will offer me the opportunity to grow and learn, as well.

Stay tuned for the individual stories that will document our collective narrative about those moments of success when everything clicks and those tales of our experimental and exploratory attempts that did not quite achieve what we hoped for. At the end of every day, each learning experience is not only invaluable on its own but also within the context of every other moment that surrounds it.

* The YouTube link to the Frog Prince Movie I provided in the original post 9 years ago has been removed because it is owned by Disney.

DRC News

This past week was a bit of a blur - time just keeps speeding up...

The Pop-up Crew had a great time at the Massena Library & the Nicandri Nature Center.

A huge thank you to the SLU Women’s Lax team for coming out for Make a Difference Day and spending their Saturday morning cleaning, organizing, raking, and lifting & hauling.