Category: Learning Within Community

Becoming the story: Reading aloud with Shakespeare

One of the best, and most fun, ways to get kids actively engaged in reading is through drama. For older readers, reading stories and plays aloud– and acting them out– helps master the finer skills needed for true literacy. It also encourages a love for the sound and rhythm of the words. We see this firsthand at Sunflower in our We Love Shakespeare! class.

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Things we take and things we leave behind

“Are we gonna take this tree with us to the new Sunflower house, Susan?”

A three-year-old in our Seedlings program puts his finger on a tall Florida live oak as he waits for my reply.

The next half hour is spent with a very serious crew of three- to six-year-olds, pointing and talking about all the things we will take and which things we will leave behind when Sunflower moves to our new home in Delray this fall.

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The song my heart had been singing…

I sat and listened to these women, all with the same concerns I had as a parent. Then I listened to the thoughtful words Susan used to encourage and uplift these women, and I thought, “Wow, they really get me.” It was as if they’d torn a page from my book. From the moment I stepped foot into Sunflower that first day, I knew I belonged here, and I would do anything I had to do to be here, as long and as often as possible.

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Finding Your Mom Friends

If a mother-to-be asked me for parenting advice, one of things at the top of my list would be “find good mom friends.”

I lucked out in this department. When my older son was born, I was a stay-at-home mom, so I was able to devote a lot of time to nurturing my friendships, as well as nurturing my baby. I met friends at La Leche League, at swim lessons, through a moms’ group and at Sunflower. Eight years later, I still count those moms among my closest friends.

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How do we find our “people?” Our place, our community?

We originally published this post by Susan on Sunflower Blog back in 2012. As we look forward to moving to our new home in Delray Beach, Fla., at the end of this summer, we thought it would be fun to look back again at our roots. This is the story of how and why Sunflower Creative Arts came to exist over 22 years ago. Not surprisingly – especially for those of us who’ve found family and best friends and kindred spirits at Sunflower – it all began with a personal search for community…

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