Kids are like Seashells

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February 20, 2025

As the summer draws to end, I reflect on precious times of sun, sand, and water. Whenever I go to the beach, I collect little shells and aqua sea glass. If I’m fortunate, I’ll find a sea urchin shell. Shells have a way of reminding me of the children we teach and care for, no matter the age.

Here at Halifax Street, we try to refer to the little ones in our care as children, not as kids. However, shells of all shapes and sizes always remind me of a beautiful poem by Mary Madden. Here is an excerpt:

Kids are like Seashells
You are probably wondering why you have been given a seashell. It is a gift to you to help you reflect on another gift you have received — your children. Let’s take a few minutes to consider what the shell can tell us about them.
Maybe your shell is fragile, delicate, and easily broken.
So are your students. Handle them kindly and with care.
Maybe your shell looks beautiful.
Each child in your class has a special beauty.
Discover it and help others to notice it and appreciate it…
Maybe you noticed that your shell has pieces chipped away or broken off.
Some students have had difficult experiences
that have chipped away their positive self-image and broken their spirit.
Help to rebuild their self-image and rekindle their enthusiasm…
The shell you have in your hand is unique.
It was carried to shore by the ocean for you to select.
What will you do with it now that it is yours?
Each child in your class is unique, too.
Each one is in your hands now.
What will you do with your students now that they are yours?

The possibilities for the year ahead will contain difficulties, that’s a given, but the possibilities for the solutions are limited only by our ability to think, to connect, to ask, to grow, and to learn. May 2025 be a year of possibilities for us all. A year that we search for those possibilities and use our creativity. Let us learn as much as we can about our children to support their learning in all the domains which include the physical, the social and emotional, and the intellectual.

We are supporting our little ones how to cooperate and collaborate, how to express themselves in many languages not only the mathematical and verbal ones. We want them to be able to fully express themselves in the areas of dance, drama, drawing, painting, clay work, building, and more. Let us rejoice with the small steps taken and not only the big leaps. – Clare Williamson

We’d love to
hear from you!

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Halifax St Children's Centre and Preschool

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