International Children's Day 2013

To mark this year's International Children's Day, a lovely poem on the origin of life and joys of raising a family.

www.angelfire.com

Beginnings

In the beginning

was one. 

Crouched in a cave

where bats first hung,

where webs were firs woven,

dreams first spun,

crouched one,

alone.

And then one day

into the gloom

another came;

the fire was lit

the cave was warmed,

the howl of the wind

became a song

and two

were one.

Soon winter passed,

and into the sun

from the dark of the cave

one summer dawn

crept three:

the third was a child in arms,

the three were

                                       a family, new-born.

Judith Nicholls in All in the Family Poems collected by John Foster

Happy International Children's Day, y'all!

Santa Claus is coming to... ESMA!!!

Christmas is a time of gathering, of family reunions and, mainly for children, a time for Santa Claus to pay a visit. Last week on 23rd December adult students were invited to bring their own children to school, to spend a different day with them, interacting and playing. What I witnessed was ... wonderful! Wonderful bonds between mums and children and / or teenagers - YES! There is nothing to be ashamed of; a mother is always a mother no matter how old we are!
We started the day going to the movies and around 1pm we were already heading to school for a shared meal - all very tasty homemade food prepared by ANSC 2 mums!!! (Congratulations, ladies, you are wonderful cooks!). Afterwards there were several activities - from reading and performing a story, game playing,... to drawing. The kids were fantastic - really! They behaved so well - no tantrums, no sobs, nothing! All mums were helpful and all looked after everybody's children, even Catarina's eldest son who was always attentive and looking after his twin sisters. It was a great day, in a great atmosphere.
The most exciting moment was yet to come - Santa Claus with gifts for all. You cannot imagine (???) how excited kids were: they cried and jumped for joy when they heard Santa's HOHOHO...
Before showing you the pictures I took, I would like to thank teacher CLAUDIA SOARES - she has really been unique with her professionalism and dedication; teacher JOSÉ MIGUEL MENDONÇA, a perfect Santa Claus, and teacher NATÁLIA COSTA from the schoolboard, who dealt with logistics making this Christmas celebration possible. I cannot forget the mums / ANSC ladies nor the presence of other teachers (teachers Clara Luís, Conceição Aires, Sandrina Tralhão and Sónia Antunes). A huge THANK YOU!!!
Now, be my guests!

International Children's Day 1st June

I couldn't skip this date, really!

Let's appreciate the gift of life, of having children around us!

Happy Children's Day, children (and parents) !!!!!!