What The World Needs Now.....

....many of you probably know the rest of the line in this song.  It's more true now than it has ever been!!

This is the time of year we do our fundraiser for Peace Through Play Nursery School but in light of the recent events in Charlottesville and even the general tone of the culture we now live in, I have to say that on some level it seems trivial and maybe even outrageous to ask for donations for a nursery school.....

...except that I know, and probably so do many of you, that children are OUR future.  In my view (and I hope yours as well) what better way to invest in a world that works for everyone than to give children the best education possible.  "What the world needs now......."

So I'm just asking you to donate to our school for the future of our world, for the idea that children are our best investment.  There is so much more to say but I understand you're supposed to keep these things kind of  brief and I'm supposed to tell you all the things we need funding for.......instead below you will find a message from me as Director of Peace Through Play.  It's what we have on our website to give people an idea of what we are about and it seems so pertinent right now.   I hope it resonates with you.   This is the best I can offer at this time of healing for our world....."is love sweet love, it's the only thing that there's just too little of...."

Letter From The Director
We call Peace Through Play Nursery School a "preschool with consciousness".  All this really means is that we think a lot about what we want children to know about the world, and how we want them to impact positively on the world.
The world is a paradoxical place.  There is so much beauty, love and joy. Children are innocent "sacred living things" (Lakota) that come into this world with all the potential to create goodness, kindness and well-being. There is also destruction, hatred and sorrow.  There is terrible suffering in the world.  As people of consciousness, with an awareness that these problems exist and wanting to do something about them, we want to give children beauty, love and joy and prepare them to effectively confront the destruction, hatred and sorrow...and even change it.
Our belief is that if we give children a good moral/ethical grounding early in life, and let the parents in on the ways we are doing it, and the consciousness we want to arrive at, children will become people who will change the world – children who take their beauty, love and joy to all parts of the earth and expand what is good about human beings. 
It's not cliché to quote Maria Montessori (attributed to Mahatma Gandhi), "If we are to have true peace in the world we must begin with the children".  As a matter of fact it's a tenet that we live by.  I know I truly believe that there can be world peace.  That is to say, human beings can solve the problems of hunger, disease, bigotry and war – and create a world that is socially just and peaceful. 
We all have to start somewhere to do this.  For us at Peace Through Play Nursery School we are starting with children – wonderful and diverse children with wonderful and diverse parents who come from all walks of life. 
Yes there are forces that work against these ends.  Our media culture a long time ago discovered children as a target audience and are doing everything they can to exploit them.  That's why you'll find at Peace Through Play ideas and ways you can positively impact on your children and have a say in what they are exposed to. You'll also find ideas and quotes about children to inspire you and help you to see how precious your children really are. 
I once told a group of 24 children that they are going to make the world a peaceful place. They will be the ones who will know how to make decisions that bring peace to people and to nature.  This is the essence of Peace Education – connecting with each other and becoming stewards of the earth.

Alan Berger, M.S.
Director

PS  Please remember we are 501(c)(3) not-for-profit and your donations are tax deductible.