Staying True to Our Word - What a Summer! What wasn’t happening here at Leila Day this Summer? We stayed true to our word and spent lots of time in the water, either here playing in the sprinklers, or over at the Rice Field Splash Pad. We found the shade of the forest and played down by the river. All the children got to witness and experience the incubation, hatching and first few days of life for 5 beautiful chicks. Click here to read full newsletter

Summer in Motion It’s hard to believe that we are starting our third two week session of our Summer Program, which means we are officially through the halfway point of summer here at Leila Day. The two week sessions fly by. With slight changes in the staffing from week to week and the mix of familiar and new faces with the children, each day feels safe and inviting as well as fresh and exciting. Click here to read full newsletter

The Shape of Gratitude The “ending” of the school year is arbitrary in so many ways that we have to work to find an authentic arc of the “year” and properly make a transition to the Summer. I find that authenticity in expressing gratitude and appreciation to all the people who have been a part of this Leila Day school year: the parents and families; the teachers, staff and board; and the children. Click here to read full newsletter

Narcissism, Curiosity, and Growing Up Curiosity either gets a bad rap (“curiosity killed the cat”), or it gets talked about as if it only exists in the mind, cut off from our bodies, biology, relationships, experiences, and the culture we live within. But for parents, educators, and caregivers, nurturing a child’s curiosity is at the heart of the teaching and care we provide for them. Click here to read full newsletter

Are You a Carpenter or a Gardener? Recently I cut my hair and was delighted with all the responses, especially from the children. Some of the younger children were genuinely apprehensive that I wasn’t the same person (it is also true of younger children that some just don’t even notice it). Some of the older children gleefully proclaimed that I was a “fake Charlie.” One particular child said, in front of his mother, with a calm sense of reassurance, “you look like a normal bo

What it means to be human On March 18 my daughter texted me in the morning “Happy St Patrick’s Day, do you remember that green sweater you used to wear when I was little?” Do I remember? My grandmother knitted it for me when I was 13 years old! And it still fits (kind of). Not that I was going into South class to explore St. Patrick’s Day. No, we were wrapping up our exploration of the Hindu celebration of Holi, a festival of colors, love, forgiveness, repair, and the coming