“If your ears were permitted to hear a flower blooming, Pythagoras envisioned the most exquisite of harmonies.” Katherine Christensen
Can you hear the quiet humming? Together, we have developed a systematic approach to resonate the harmonic sound of building a community of Bimaadiziwin. The goal of the systematic approach is to identify procedures based on the experiential application of clearly defined, repeatable steps that generate consistent, positive outcomes. The system had to encompass the holistic approach in caring of yourself, your family and your community. This systemic approach did not happen overnight. First, the ground was cultivated and a seed was planted in the ground for Native families and children to envision Bimaadiziwin through the Restorative Teaching Initiative and the Abinoojiinh Waakaa’igan project. Secondly, rays of sunshine hovered over the plant to nourish and prepare it for growth. Part of the good life is being safe and secure. The teachers have developed a process for Native American children to have access to a warm, safe, quality learning environment embedded with learning experiences that will help them grow and thrive. The environment is warm and supportive and encourages building relationships with parents. The children, parents and teachers communicate and welcome each other on a daily basis. The plant is peeking out from the earth, murmuring for more nourishment. Thirdly, rain sprinkled over the plant and entered the stem, traveling to the leaves where transformation is visible. We met frequently to build relationships that support respectfulness and honesty with for ourselves, parents, and community members. We developed strategic activities, processes and timelines for implementing parent teacher conferences, home visits, family fun nights, and committees. We created streamed-lined documents to collect data and support accountability in meeting the goals of Bimaadiziwin. The plant is stretching into the open air, breathing deep, yearning for more nourishment. Next, we added a little more sunshine to the plant and a small bud began to peek out from above a leaf. The relationships started to build with parents, teachers and children. Families attended parent teacher conferences to learn about the progress of their children, shared information and identified a goal they would like to work on. Families attended the Family Fun Night participating in a car seat clinic, language and literacy kit, resume writing, child development activities and a nutritious meal. Families participate in homevisits where parents and teachers learn from one another and become partners in promoting children's growth and development. The bud is unfolding, singing softly, anxiously waiting for full bloom so that it can spread new seeds through the wind and prepare for the exquisite harmonious sound of all the flowers in bloom. Can you hear the soft melody of Bimaaidziwin?
