Yoga class! (and tykes)

This week we have new tykes and these new tykes, while adorable, don't really speak English. It's interesting (if totally predictable) that a different group of kids has a completely different dynamic. This week they are quiet and willful- they may not be hollering- but they make their desires known anyway. No problem. Even without the English.

This week they are also destroying the garden in new and different ways. Last week they destroyed the garden by digging holes and transporting mud around all over the place. This week they are just ripping all the petals off the rose bushes in the centre of the play area. To each their own.

Today it was raining a bit so our brilliant plan to go to the Diana memorial fountain had to be scrapped- so instead we built a gym in the hall. I love doing that- the kids all run around like crazy in a private, enclosed space. So pretty much all I have to do is periodically count them to make sure we still have the whole bunch of them and holler at them to quit it whenever they start pulling their friends around by hula hoops around their necks. Must be careful of tyke necks.

Here's an interesting question. One of the kids we've got currently is clearly, to my mind, on the autism spectrum. He doesn't make eye contact, he doesn't really respond all that quickly, he spends a lot of time lying on the floor, and he doesn't really talk. So I asked the teachers today what sort of support they get for special needs children. There are plenty of special needs at the school. The language issues are the most immediately obvious since so many of the children are foreign, but there are a fair amount of behavioural and developmental issues as well- for instance on Monday we had a six year old soil themselves. Not only that she tried to pretend like it hadn't happened...which seemed age inappropriate. Anyhow- basically there is not that much support for the teachers.

In other news: YOGA! I've been to two sessions now at this cute little holistic medicine office in Walthamstow. I found it by looking up the style of yoga I did in Baltimore and then plugging that into the yoga alliance site which is an organization that certifies yoga teachers. The teacher, Hayley, is wonderful and because it is at essentially a doctors office rather than a yoga studio the room is really small which mean that there are only four people per class (all that the room can fit) and that equals lots of personal attention. Which is brilliant. So now I feel all bendy and healthy and great. I've been using a spot that was free because someone was on holiday, but I'm on the list now so that as soon as a permanent spot opens up- I get it. Nice.