Saturday's Parent Work Day: A Beautiful Success!

Thank you to everyone that came out on Saturday to help landscape our new campus. It looks beautiful! We had an amazing turn out of parents. It was especially nice to spend time with the new families starting in the fall. 

Some of the days highlights included: Wiley and Ariel digging with babies, Fermina and Daza, on their back. Tara, a proclaimed black thumb, successfully planted two thriving passion fruit plants. Lisa and Aidan scored a few plant donations from East Bay Nursery. The children helped to dig, plant, and water plants. It truly was a feel good day. 

Big props to Scott, Esme's dad, for helping to mastermind the project and for all the work.

Cindy, Alison's mom, provided baked breads, coffee, and pizza for all!  A very warm thank you for your generosity.  

We're moving in

The toddler teachers are experimenting with classroom layout. It feels amazing to walk into this light filled room. 

The beautiful shelving was built by Mark Carilli, Brian's dad, Steph's husband, and a recent part-time hire for the Nia House teaching team! Thank you to all the volunteers that have helped us move and seal this furniture.

Nancy, Eve, and Stacey are settling very nicely into our new office. New Resource Bank kindly donated their gently used office furniture. Cara and Erik Lemire, parents of Henry and Finley, spent a Saturday by picking up the entire office, delivering it to Nia House and assembling it. A heartfelt thank you!  

Nia House alum, Otto Harris, Goes Solo Shopping

Thank you, David and Tara for sharing this milestone in Otto's life!

He was always interested in shopping, and paid attention to what aisles things were in at Berkeley Bowl and Trader Joe's. A few years back we started having him go off to get items, then meet us back at the cart. We've always had an agreement that when he helped with grocery shopping he could pick out one thing for himself, which he loves doing.

Otto began asking how old he'd need to be to go grocery shopping on his own. We said we'd need to think about it. One day Tara and he stopped at the Berkeley Bowl info desk to ask if they had any limits to how young unaccompanied shoppers could be, and they said no. We talked about it and decided that when Otto turned ten, we'd give it a try.

So a few days after Otto's birthday we all walked over, and Tara and I got some coffee and relaxed in the cafe while Otto took the grocery list and got a cart. We gave him one of our phones so he could call when he was done. It worked out fine. I went in to pay when I got his call and took a couple pictures to commemorate the event. Otto has done the shopping a few times since, and continues helping out when we go together.

Otto's advice: Know the store like the back of your hand! The bulk couscous comes out fast.

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Nia House community, if you also shop at Berkeley Bowl- you can help fundraise for Nia House. We participate in Berkeley Bowl Scrip. For every $100 you spend, Nia House gets $4. For more information on how to participate click below.

The Construction Fence is Down!

The fence separating the construction zone and our yard has come down! At last, we can sense how the new campus integrates into the old. It looks and feels wonderful!

There is still a ton of work happening on the construction site. For now, it remains closed to parents and children. We are painting, finishing light installation, cleaning up, and moving in!

Yes, we are really beginning to transition our office into the new building.  This past weekend, an amazing group of NH parents spent their Saturday installing office shelving and furniture.  Cara and Erik Lemire picked up an entire office of new, used furniture for us from New Resource Bank's old office space.  New Resource Bank was kind enough to donate their beautiful furniture, and Cara and Erik hauled super heavy, beautiful furniture over the bridge to school.  All of our thanks to everyone who helped with the amazingly productive work day this weekend.

The building is looking super pretty and we can't wait to open it up for tours, but we do want to ask for your patience.  As the construction crew finishes their work, we want to be certain to give them as much space as possible.

We're almost done!!!

Save the Date for our Grand Opening Ceremony!

Please mark your calendars for Saturday, September 26th! 

Enjoy a Caribbean infused evening

of live music and dinner at

Nia House’s Annual

Silent  Auction.

The event will be held on our

newly expanded campus.

For everything you need to know, to make a donation for tickets, or reserve childcare, click here Grand Opening Ceremony. 

Viv & Rae Return!

Viv & Rae have been volunteering at Nia House this summer. It has been such a great treat and help to have them here. They demonstrate an intuitive understanding of what needs to get done to make the school day flow. From setting out beds, moving boxes, to quietly sitting with a small group of children- they have enthusiastically done it all.

 Enjoy this interview of Viv and Rae’s memories of their years at Nia House.

Memories of Nia House Learning Center

• Collecting clumps of sand in the sand box
• Playing in the teepee
• Piñatas and sesame honey treats
• Tita’s mango sticky rice
• Eating ants too!
• Cinnamon catching a bee in her pant legs!

 Do still maintain Nia House friendships?

Of course- Michael and Jesse, Anjali, Ella and Oscar, Anika and Tia.

How is it to be back at NH?

•  It’s fun to be back at Nia House and to help!
• Everything seems tiny!
• I remember learning to cross the monkey bars.
• I remember a sign up to have lunch with the toddlers- fun!! Lunch with Jeanie…
• I remember having to sit and finish lunch while others were playing.

Most important things learned…

Viv: When it comes to school work and learning, having your own speed is ok!

Rae: To respect other people and who they are, and to respect other people’s way of learning.

 How are things different, or the same?

 Different- Lunch is in the quiet area, not at the picnic tables.

The same- toddlers are cute. 

Some things never change- look at this picture of Viv and Rae! Toddlers are, indeed, cute.

Thank you, Viv and Rae, for all your help! You are wonderful role models for the Nia House children.

Thank you, Ashby Lumber

A big thanks to Ashby Lumber for their donation of $200 of and generous discount on wood to Nia House. With this gift, Mark (Brian’s dad) will build cubbies for the expansion. Rick of Ashby Lumber took a great deal of time to describe options and offered valuable expertise to our project.

We are so lucky to have neighbors like Ashby Lumber. Every donation we receive contributes to the service of quality education we provide. Thank you Ashby Lumber for supporting the work of Nia House. We encourage the Nia House community to get your wood and hardware at Ashby Lumber.

Thank you Ashby Lumber & thanks to Mark!

Made For & By Nia House

Bill Savidge is back at it again- making tables for the Nia House children. On Saturday, a group of dedicated and talented parents, and grandparent, got together to build new tables for our new classrooms.

Grandfather to Julian, Bill’s children also attended Nia House. When he was a parent, Bill built many of the tables that the children still use today.

Tim, Elliot’s dad, graciously opened up his beautiful, sunlit, Emeryville warehouse for the table making to happen. Tim shared, “A wonderfully productive day at the shop! 31 table tops cut, jigged out and lovingly hand sanded. Salvaged copper legs in the works. Stay tuned!”

Thank you to all who gave your Saturday to this exciting project. It is incredibly meaningful to know that the tabletops upon which the children work were lovingly made by our community.

The Warren-Boyd’s Make Volunteering Their Family Culture

Thank you Ashley, mom to Julia and Paul, for giving back to the community and blogging the experience. Your spirit will undoubtedly inspire the community.

Individually and as a couple, my husband John and I have had a long history of volunteering for causes we care about and it’s a big part of our identities. However, since becoming parents, our volunteerism has dwindled.

We started off so well! We hosted a get-out-the-vote calling party for Barack Obama volunteers during the California primaries while our son Paul, just two months, was snoozing away in a swing in the corner.   All three of us did neighborhood canvassing for Obama later that year in Nevada. Paul still loved his stroller as a 9 month old (hard to imagine now!) and his chubby body and blue eyes added a lot to our collective appeal to potential Obama voters. But when Paul became mobile and we added Julia to our family in 2010, the barriers to volunteering seemed insurmountable.

However, I’m proud to share that we’re back in the volunteering game! This last weekend, our family volunteered for about two hours at the SF-Marin Food bank (http://www.sfmfoodbank.org/).

We discovered the opportunity somewhat by chance after a friend of ours started working there recently and mentioned to us that the food bank will accept volunteers as young as 4 years old.   Most of the other volunteer opportunities we had explored, had much higher age limits and wouldn’t accommodate us as a whole family.

The kids were apprehensive as they had no idea what we’d be doing and it didn’t initially sound “fun”. But they really did understand why giving families food is important. And they had contributed to food drives in grocery store bins so we had talked about the role food banks play in helping families in need.

family volunteering_5-15We had such a wonderful time together. The kids dived into the work with purpose and gusto. As an added bonus, the food bank jobs were really extensions of Nia House work. Our first task was to separate oranges that were rotten from those that those that were safe to eat. Most of the oranges were cosmetically challenged but still perfectly fine to eat, which lead to a great discussion about how appearance doesn’t necessary tell us everything about a person. And they couldn’t have been more prepared to sort based on characteristics – thanks Nia House!

In our second task, we counted small bags of chips into groups of 20 for distribution to community centers and senior citizen facilities. Who is better prepared to separate things into groups of 20 than Nia House children?! The kids felt competent and in charge of their work as much as they do at school, which was wonderful.

I give the SF-Marin Food Bank huge credit for designing activities that were suitable and fun for families. A 90 minute plus shift was exactly the right length for our kids and the staff made our contribution feel valuable by adding what the total group of 50+ had accomplished that day. So we left feeling part of a productive, larger community and one we want to support long-term. Paul has recently started receiving an allowance, 1/3 of which is set aside for sharing with others. We planted the seed that he could give part of his share account to a food bank now that he’s seen what they do.

If you are interested in volunteering at the SF-Marin Food Bank, here’s more info: 

http://www.sfmfoodbank.org/volunteer-opportunities

A few tips:

• Children 8 or older can join in on Saturday projects
• Children between 4-8 can only sign up for Sunday projects
• Sign up early – volunteer shifts on Sundays fill up 3 months in advance!
• The Alameda County Food Bank accepts volunteers 10 years and older
• What other volunteer opportunities are out there for families with preschool and early elementary kids in the Bay Area? Please share – we want to keep up our volunteering and make it an enduring part of our family culture.

Expansion Project Video

Montessori for 3!

Image from: https://nbcprobasketballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/cd0ymzcznguwzdbhnduynddiytjhm2yyzthlmtjjotqwyyznpwu1nja1yjkzmjy1mjq4nwmwowmxmji2mgmxzmnjzguz1.jpeg

I’ve often heard a critique of the Montessori approach as “too academic.” Here we have a story in the realm of athletics, not academia, where the values imparted in a Montessori education are credited with extraordinary success.

The Golden State Warriors are in the Western Conference Finals. This hasn’t happened in 39 years! Their superstar player, the NBA’s most valuable player of season, and possibly the best jump shooter the NBA has seen, Steph Curry, attributes the shaping of his work ethic and achievement to Maria Montessori.

In an interview with Montessori Life, Winter 2013-2014, Steph Curry shares,

(Montessori) gave me a lot of confidence at a young age. I was able to learn the way I wanted and needed to, to gain a sense of achievement as I went along. I was able to push myself, and it taught me a lot of self-discipline and a work ethic. I always wanted to do more and get better.

 Check out this short video on the Curry family and the role of Maria Montessori in their life:

The Montessori approach is stellar at providing the foundation for academic success, but not for the perceived stringent academic approach. Sonya Curry, Steph’s mom, shares her appreciation of how Montessori instills foundations for life- “I love Montessori for the fundamental aspects that it affords children … independence, the intrinsic love for learning, responsibility, respect for yourself, for other people.”

Montessori offers the opportunity to achieve proficiency, to choose the same work, over and over again, following intrinsic motivation, until a sense of accomplishment and mastery is attained. Steph Curry affirms this, “Montessori taught me that anything I put my hands on and practiced, I could accomplish.” He’s doing it! Steph Curry is breaking 3 point records in the regular and post season. If you haven’t been watching, do. For your love of Maria Montessori, watch Steph Curry.

Go Warriors!

Office

Look how much has happened in just a month’s time! The framing is complete and our office is up. We can now conceptualize just what the campus will look like and it is looking good.

Bike to School Day is this Thursday!

Bike to Nia House Day is this Thursday!

Don’t let the rain discourage you. Hop on your bikes this Thursday for your commute to Nia House. We are an official Energizer station and will have goodies to share to honor all the bicycles that pass down 9th Street.

Parents, you are also welcome to come and help staff the table from 8-10am.

Contact Stacey at staceywood.niahouse@gmail.com if you can help out.

The Fun was Raised!

A quick and huge- Thank you!!!! to the Nia House community for all the hard work and good energy put into Saturday’s Yard Sale. The day was, indeed, a fun raiser.

The event was smashing. There was much bouncing, BBQ, beer, and bargains! Our yard adorned with your stuff staged impromptu dress-up and raked in nearly $4,000.

Thank you to our many donors. We are grateful for the investment the community at large makes in early childhood education through Nia House.

Cycles & Circles: Nia House’s Family History Project

Cycles and Circles: Nia House’s 2015 Family History Project

 This year’s Family History Project was markedly special. Honoring the themes of Cycles and Circles, grandparents were invited and a beautiful spring afternoon at Nia House ensued with a truly intergenerational celebration.

On behalf of the children and staff, thank you to all the grandparents that came. Your presence honored the children’s exploration and reverence of the life cycle. We are grateful for the opportunity to nurture the special relationship of grandchild and grandparent.

The Nia House children inspired many of the art installations at the event. Prompted to think of cycles and circles, notions of the cycle of happiness and kindness, bicycles, the solar system, water cycle, and of course the personalized Generation Birth Books were all created and displayed.

Everyone marveled at the great progress in construction on our new campus. A living wish list of needed Montessori materials for the expansion was displayed in our classroom. We are overwhelmed by the generosity of our grandparent and current family community.

“My path has been my own because of Nia House.”

I instantly admired the work of Nia House.
Having my son, Atticus, attend Nia House further deepened my sense of the value of this school and community.
Following a conversation with Milani Pelley, Nia House alumna (’89-’95), my love of Nia House is abounding and affirms again that Nia House is where children belong.

Milani, now twenty-seven years old, is a mother, 1st grade after school instructor, artist, and spoken word performer. She went down memory lane a little with me, recounting her days at Nia House- “I can’t imagine having started any other place.”

What she remembers of Nia House? Sour grass, Phea taking out splinters, the playhouse, eating lunch with Jessica and Denise, colorful plastic building blocks, Jeanie, Tita, and the “great presence” of Lee.; Milani remembers feeling free, free to explore and entrusted with helping out in the toddler room. This, she says, built her confidence, made her unafraid to lead.

“Nia House teaches young people how to be free.”

I wondered about the connections she made while at Nia House. Do these friendships last? They do.  It is a “Good feeling to go all the way back and still be on the same path.” Milani still encounters Ka’ra Kersey and Armando Davila, friends and fellow artists from the Nia House days. “All the folks from Nia House that I run into are on a path- they are creative and great people- Impacted by the diversity of the school. There is a creativity and spirituality coming from everyone.”
Milani shared a bit of her creative and spiritual side, describing a passion for writing and performing poetry as a spoken word artist. She recently performed at the 30th Annual Empowering Women of Color Conference at U.C. Berkeley. Milani also designs and creates jewelry with a spiritual focus, her craft inspired by numerology and precious stones.

“Seriously, I love Nia House.”

My love for Nia House grew after this informal interview, for Milani, now twenty years since her Nia House days, still captures the freedom, leadership, spirit, and love that feels present today. As a mother and teacher, the values she named are ones we pray are imparted in these creative childhood years.

Thank you, Milani, for your grace and artistry.

Wallls

Just this week, walls have been erected. Somehow the sound of hammering and the visual of vertical work makes it feel more real. Framing for our new kitchen walls are up!

Less Stuff, More Joy

Cindy Tsai-Schultz (Alison’s mom) strikes again with a witty and inspiring blog. She shows the way supporting Nia House’s Yard Sale can bring you joy in life. Thank you, Cindy.

With four hours left before Alison and I needed to board a flight to Colorado, nothing was ready. Snow and ski gear strewn on the floor of our bedroom.   I was cranky and sweaty and I needed to make lunch for the kids, walk the dog, clean the house and finish doing laundry so I can pack for the trip. Peter was in LA and was going to meet us in Colorado in a few days so I was solo with tons of snow and ski gear and kid for this trip.

FEAR overtook and I FREAKED.

I pulled it together and packed for Alison: regular clothes, ski clothes, ski gear, books, dolls, crafts, car seat, food for the plane, and iPad. Check.

Packing for myself was less than stellar. I did pack ski essentials – skis, boots, poles, snow jacket and pants, socks. The rest, not so good. 10 days in Vail with one t-shirt, one yoga pant, and a sweater and the clothes I wore on the plane.

But once we got to our final destination, the freak-out was long from my memory. Even with my poor packing skills. Vail was awesome.

This morning after hitting the snooze button one too many times, I was looking around and I realized that we have a lot of stuff. And most of what I do in my spare time is managing stuff. I am the official family stuff getter and stuff manager. And I’m don’t like it.

This got me thinking. In Vail, we were in a very small condo. There wasn’t much room for stuff, which was good because we didn’t have much stuff. The grocery store was a 3.5 mile walk (we didn’t have a car) so we went once, stocked up and cooked what we had. When we weren’t on the slopes, we had a great time – talking, eating, and playing. No one felt deprived, bored, or hungry.

Can I bring some of that back to Berkeley? Can I spend most of my spare time talking, eating and playing instead of being the stuff manager?

I’ve been reading The Sweet Spot, Finding Your Groove at Home and Work by Christine Carter (Senior Fellow at the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley). One of the take away messages is – we make too many decisions in our daily lives. We need to save our brainpower for the larger and more important decisions and the small less important stuff can be on autopilot.   For example, what we wear. We have a closet full of clothes but nothing to wear. Christine Carter suggests designing your clothing around a “uniform.” The rest goes away.

Marie Kondo, the new organizational guru from Japan says to discard everything that does not “spark joy,” after thanking the objects that are getting discard for their service.

Thank you stuff for your service. Good-bye. More joy, less stuff.

This morning, I put large plastic bins around the house. If there’s something that I haven’t used, don’t wear, or doesn’t spark joy it’s going in the bin and going to Nia House for the Annual Yard Sale.

The Yard Sale is May 2, less than a month away. 

Clean out your closets and have more joy.

Decorative Cement Walkways

A group of three children and a teacher went on a neighborhood stroll to collect leaves. With the help of Scott, Esme’s dad, and with the natural falling of leaves from our avocado tree, the collected and fallen leaves laid in the wet cement of our campus walkway. (Yes, the cement mixers returned!) Beautiful leaf imprints now adorn the walkways of our new toddler campus. It is easy and exciting to imagine the toddlers thrill at discovering these. This will happen so soon!