Dharma Rain - Dharma School Manual
Description of Sunday Program
Pre-School Group
The youngest are in the pre-school group, generally 3 to 6 years old. Upon
reaching their classroom, as a group the class draws a picture schedule
for the days activities. The schedule follows a general pattern of setting
up an altar, meditation, a physical activity (usually involving yoga),
a lesson taught through a story, craft or activity, and finishing off
with snack shared as a group around a table giving time for reflection
and sharing as a community. Creating the picture schedule gives the children
both guidance and a sense of accomplishment as each task is crossed off
with its completion. Knowing what comes next also frees the children to
fully experience the present task at hand — rather than anticipating and
inquiring into snack time, for example.

An example of a picture schedule used in the preschool group.
Sharing the spirit of meditation with this age group can be done several
ways. Whatever the form of meditative experience, an effort is made to acquaint
the children with a little more stillness than they might find comfortable,
but not to make meditation an oppressive and aversive experience. We have
moved away from having the children face a wall and be quiet and still for “X” amount
of time. For some kids this too much resembles “time out.” Instead,
we utilize the energy of their age and give them more guidance in the infinite
possibilities of sitting. Certainly meditation is about not moving and about
keeping your hands to yourself, but it is the foundation from which so much
arises. We try to give the kids a taste of that positive quality of meditation.
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One way to do this is to create simple rituals that foster stillness and
quiet. The most important form this has taken in our preschool group is
careful attention to an altar. Some years the group has “created” an
altar each time they met. Each child took turns placing different elements
on the altar, such as tiny buddhas and bodhisattvas, flowers, animals figurines,
water, and incense. This can take quite a while, and gives the kids something
to do while maintaining silence (more or less) in a sacred and devotional
space. Once the altar was created, the group engaged in some kind of short
meditation, and then ceremonially put the altar away. At other times the
group has carefully lit the candles and incense together under adult supervision
(and the admonition that they should only do this with an adult). Many of
the children have subsequently asked to set up altars at home — or
quietly improvised on their own, as one boy did by setting up an altar in
his closet with his night light as the candle and a branch as the incense.
Guided meditations are also popular with this group, especially when the
teacher is able to be spontaneous and intuitive about choosing the meditation
for the day. At times the meditation may be able to relate in some way to
the lesson of the day. The teacher may instruct the kids to hold their hands
to their hearts to feel their light, and then describe the light and how
it radiates to touch everything — the trees, the flowers, the cars, mom,
dad, friends. This meditation usually coincidences with use of the book
All I See Is Part of Me by Chara M. Curtis. The group has also used short
repeated chants called mantras, like “Om Mani Padme Hum,” that
emphasize listening, concentration, body awareness and a sense of connection
to the universe. At times they are led through a meditation that asks them
to see themselves as buddhas (that is, as awakened beings) because that
nature lives inside them. They understand the effort at concentration this
requires through the help of an engaging book about a firefly that has to
learn how to concentrate and light up his butt (Leo the Lightning Bug by
Eric Drachman). Breath meditations are also effective. In one of these the
kids started with breathing loudly so everyone could hear each other, and
then getting quieter over the course of many classes. Eventually many kids
started breathing more deeply and slowly, taking big breaths of release
as they settled into meditation.
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After the period of stillness it is useful to move into some large muscle
exercises. Simple yoga is greatly enjoyed. The kids are better able to accept
the quiet time knowing that it is to be followed with activity.
In honoring the energy and youthful nature of this age group, the day’s
lessons become largely somatic and experiential in format — including lots
of stories, dress up, plays, games, and art projects. Emphasis is placed
in familiarizing the children with the stories of the Buddha’s life
and the most basic principles he taught — kindness, concentration, generosity,
etc. The pre-schoolers are particularly captivated by our kid-friendly versions
of Buddhist ceremonies and subconsciously
soak up deep dharma teachings about practice, community, devotion, acceptance
of loss, compassion and self-awareness (among others)
as they participate.

For the formal “teaching” part of the pre-school class, it is
best when the teacher is prepared with a topic and plans for activities
but is able to let go of these plans at a moment’s notice in order
to take advantage of situations that arise spontaneously. Recent events
in one child’s life might provide an opportunity to make acceptance
seem like a very real and relevant topic, or dissatisfaction about the day’s
cold weather might lead into a discussion about what the kids still have
to be grateful for. For example, one day the group had drawn their picture
schedule, but there was a large empty space on the page even after they
had drawn “going home.” The teacher asked the children what
came next, and they all said they didn’t know. The teacher drew on
this to offer a subtle teaching on the richness of emptiness: we don't know
what's happening next, so anything is possible! She then incorporated this
into the day’s meditation.
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