Slowing Down and Embracing the Silence

Working with charcoal and paper was a beautiful, albeit messy, way to slow down and pay attention for everyone. I noticed moments of true connection between the children and educators that I did not necessarily notice before the introduction of the paper and charcoal. I noticed Katlyn slow down and spend serious time quietly making strong connections with the children while they engaged with charcoal. There were beautiful connections between educator and children as they explored how charcoal made marks, how it made dust, how it was messy, but that messy bit on our hands could be turned into new mark making. At one moment it was so calm and quiet it was impossible to believe that there were eight preschool-aged children in the room. It was such a quiet and serene atmosphere that even the children, when they spoke, did so in such soft tones that it seemed everyone felt it and did not want to disturb the magical veil that had fallen over us. It was only after an adult walked into the room asking for something in a full-volume voice that the spell seemed to be broken. It was a tiny glimpse of how slowing down, focusing, and paying attention can help us to make these beautiful strong connections with children.