Dear Nursery Families,
I look forward to seeing you at our Advent Garden next Friday, December 11, at 9am. The Festival takes place at the Sanctuary at the Whidbey Institute. Please ask me or a parent who has been around if the location is unclear.
Follow this link for a brief description of the festival and lyrics to many of the songs we will sing.
A number of you attended our parent & child festival last year, and our nursery festival will be similar--during the daytime, parents encouraged to sing, children sitting with parents in family groups. Unlike last year's parent & child festival, we will strive to have the nursery children leave the garden while the candles are still lit so that is the final image they take with them. I will seek help from any families in which 2 parents are present to help me gracefully extinguish candles so that we can send each child home with a candle in an apple.
Even with the less formal atmosphere (singing rather than quiet music, sitting with parents), some children may find it intimidating to walk the spiral. Even if a child just watches, she or he benefits from the group experience. Because it is a nice rite of passage for a child to walk with a teacher, I will first seek children willing to walk the spiral with me, then children who might be more comfortable walking with a parent.
Grandparents, siblings, and friends are welcome. The kindergarten teachers might prefer that 3 day kindergarten siblings wait until the evening for their own walk (so their evening experience remains magical and strong), but I'd rather have your family attend than you not come if it is too hard to find care for a 3 day kindergarten child. I do not think it will be a problem for nursery children to come back in the evening to watch their kindergarten siblings walk the spiral.
Please contact me with any questions or comments.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Friday, December 4, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Preparing for Conferences
Dear Parents,
When we meet together at a parent & teacher conference in the coming weeks or in the spring time, we will create a picture of your child at school, and I will try to answer any questions you may have. It sometimes help if you let me know your questions or interests before the conference. To aid in this process, the early childhood teachers have created this conference preparation form to fill out and return to me (either by email or in writing).
Although I do a lot of work with children in class to help work toward an inclusive social environment (I don't expect children to be artificially kind to every child in the class or for peace to permeate every moment of every day; but I am still working to foster the generosity of spirit present in the children), and although sometimes parents and I do create goals to assist in this process (e.g., 2 children seem to be always battling, and parents and I might together agree that more or less or different time together outside of school may or may not be helpful), I have found myself over the years refraining from making the conference a time in which we create goals or lots of things to work on as a teacher might with an older child. When our children are ages 2 to 4, there is so much that will evolve and change as the children grow, that being quietly strong, clear, and patient is the most helpful course of action. There are, of course, times when we can help young children with healing activities (and often teachers share these activities with all children or all families because all children benefit), and we need to be awake to the possibility of other sorts of help needed in the early years. We also, however, want to allow our children time to develop their senses of autonomy, initiative, and industry.
Speech development, for example, happens at different rates for different children. When I was first becoming an early childhood teacher, I found this article about stuttering extremely helpful. It is old. It may well be that a current speech pathologist might refute some of the research. All the same, the general message of the article--that child development is not a smooth path of ostensible perfection but has its normal deviations along the way--obtains not just in speech development but in many areas of child development. In speech, for example, the researchers found no difference in the speech patterns (e.g., repetitions, pauses, and the like) of 3 to 4 year olds considered to be stutterers compared to 3 to 4 year olds not considered to be stutterers; it was found to be fairly normal for children, as their speech developed, to struggle to put ideas into words fluently. What caused a pattern of stuttering to persist, however, was when caregivers or parents became concerned and considered these normal hiccups in speech to be a problem. The diagnosis of stuttering was found to be the cause of stuttering. I recommend reading the article to see how the author presents his research and develops his argument.
Again, I use this idea also as a metaphor for other areas of development. While I do intervene quickly in social issues (because other children become involved and, I believe, long term habits of relating to each other become established), in many other ways, I prefer to create a stable and artistic environment, and to be mindful and observe, and share my picture with parents--without any sort of solution or prescription or recommendation or judgment. Thank you for your support of this approach.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
p.s. I have experienced with one of my sons the question of stuttering--when his speech began to quickly develop, he paused and repeated sounds quite a lot. Some other adults noticed. Some even gave me and my wife various links to medical services that would be available--indeed, there are times for early intervention, and that was the drift of some of these sources. We chose to have faith in development and the article--his speech and mental pictures were developing so rapidly, it seemed to me, that it was hard for his speech organs to keep up. Touch wood, the patient model seems to have work; over a period of months, the normal repetitions of his speech evolved into normal speech for an almost 3 year old.
When we meet together at a parent & teacher conference in the coming weeks or in the spring time, we will create a picture of your child at school, and I will try to answer any questions you may have. It sometimes help if you let me know your questions or interests before the conference. To aid in this process, the early childhood teachers have created this conference preparation form to fill out and return to me (either by email or in writing).
Although I do a lot of work with children in class to help work toward an inclusive social environment (I don't expect children to be artificially kind to every child in the class or for peace to permeate every moment of every day; but I am still working to foster the generosity of spirit present in the children), and although sometimes parents and I do create goals to assist in this process (e.g., 2 children seem to be always battling, and parents and I might together agree that more or less or different time together outside of school may or may not be helpful), I have found myself over the years refraining from making the conference a time in which we create goals or lots of things to work on as a teacher might with an older child. When our children are ages 2 to 4, there is so much that will evolve and change as the children grow, that being quietly strong, clear, and patient is the most helpful course of action. There are, of course, times when we can help young children with healing activities (and often teachers share these activities with all children or all families because all children benefit), and we need to be awake to the possibility of other sorts of help needed in the early years. We also, however, want to allow our children time to develop their senses of autonomy, initiative, and industry.
Speech development, for example, happens at different rates for different children. When I was first becoming an early childhood teacher, I found this article about stuttering extremely helpful. It is old. It may well be that a current speech pathologist might refute some of the research. All the same, the general message of the article--that child development is not a smooth path of ostensible perfection but has its normal deviations along the way--obtains not just in speech development but in many areas of child development. In speech, for example, the researchers found no difference in the speech patterns (e.g., repetitions, pauses, and the like) of 3 to 4 year olds considered to be stutterers compared to 3 to 4 year olds not considered to be stutterers; it was found to be fairly normal for children, as their speech developed, to struggle to put ideas into words fluently. What caused a pattern of stuttering to persist, however, was when caregivers or parents became concerned and considered these normal hiccups in speech to be a problem. The diagnosis of stuttering was found to be the cause of stuttering. I recommend reading the article to see how the author presents his research and develops his argument.
Again, I use this idea also as a metaphor for other areas of development. While I do intervene quickly in social issues (because other children become involved and, I believe, long term habits of relating to each other become established), in many other ways, I prefer to create a stable and artistic environment, and to be mindful and observe, and share my picture with parents--without any sort of solution or prescription or recommendation or judgment. Thank you for your support of this approach.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
p.s. I have experienced with one of my sons the question of stuttering--when his speech began to quickly develop, he paused and repeated sounds quite a lot. Some other adults noticed. Some even gave me and my wife various links to medical services that would be available--indeed, there are times for early intervention, and that was the drift of some of these sources. We chose to have faith in development and the article--his speech and mental pictures were developing so rapidly, it seemed to me, that it was hard for his speech organs to keep up. Touch wood, the patient model seems to have work; over a period of months, the normal repetitions of his speech evolved into normal speech for an almost 3 year old.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Lantern Walk, Friday, November 13
LANTERN WALK
Dear Children's Garden Families,
As winter approaches we will kindle the light within us all at our upcoming Lantern Walk this Friday November 13th. We will gather our courage for the dark days ahead as we walk into the night with our shining lanterns guiding us. The lanterns are a symbol of our inner light that must be kindled during the long winter months ahead.
There will be two lantern walks, one at 5:00pm and one at 6:15pm. Nursery families and siblings will attend the 5:00pm walk. Siblings are welcome if they are able to support a reverent mood and stay close to their parents at all times during the festival, including the walk where they should be by the side of their parents. They can bring their own lanterns if they have one.
Please arrive on time and walk quietly to the playground where we will have hot apple cider. Please do not arrive early. (This is very important). Park in the lower parking lot just off Campbell Rd (you turn immediately right as you come into the main driveway on Old Pietila Road).
After a few minutes we will go inside to the Butterfly classroom to watch a puppet play. The teachers will then lead us on the lantern walk. After the lantern walk we will lead you back to your cars and say goodbye.
Please look in your parent folders on Wednesday November 11th for a small gift to put under your child's pillow to find after the Lantern walk, right before bed or the following morning. (We will not have these for siblings who attend, apologies).
This is a quiet and reverent festival and we ask that you help support this mood by quietly guiding your children through the experience.
Blessings
Lantern Workshop Monday
The sunlight fast is dwindling, my little lamp needs kindling.
Its beam shines far in darkest night,
Oh, lantern guide me with your light.
Monday, November 9th
7 – 9pm
As the days grow shorter, we must keep our inner light burning. Come join us in talking about how to celebrate this season of darkness with children through lantern walks. Participants will learn about lantern walks, sing lantern songs, and make a lantern to share with their family. This symbolic tradition brings home the deeper truth in the words of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism (563-483 B.C.) “There isn’t enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.”
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
6335 Old Pietila Rd. in Clinton
Advanced registration required
Suggested donation: $5.00
Supplies to make your own lantern will be provided
For more information or to register:
Email: butterflygarden@gmail.com
Or call: 360-221-2270
Its beam shines far in darkest night,
Oh, lantern guide me with your light.
Celebrating Fall Festivals
A Parent Workshop on Lantern Walks
Presented by Cordula Hetland and Vanessa Kohlhaas
A Parent Workshop on Lantern Walks
Presented by Cordula Hetland and Vanessa Kohlhaas
Monday, November 9th
7 – 9pm
As the days grow shorter, we must keep our inner light burning. Come join us in talking about how to celebrate this season of darkness with children through lantern walks. Participants will learn about lantern walks, sing lantern songs, and make a lantern to share with their family. This symbolic tradition brings home the deeper truth in the words of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism (563-483 B.C.) “There isn’t enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.”
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
6335 Old Pietila Rd. in Clinton
Advanced registration required
Suggested donation: $5.00
Supplies to make your own lantern will be provided
For more information or to register:
Email: butterflygarden@gmail.com
Or call: 360-221-2270
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Conferences, Celeen Away, Puppet Show
Dear Nursery Families,
Please know that Celeen will be away from our Butterfly Classroom from this Wednesday and all of next week. In addition to her many other gifts and occupations, Celeen organizes and guides retreats for women on Whidbey Island and round the world, and from time to time she will be away from our classroom as she is involved in this other important work. Please ask Celeen if you want more information about this work; I do not want to misrepresent or oversimplify.
Anne Mauk (who worked as a kindergarten assistant at our school last year) will be the usual substitute for Celeen. On the upcoming Wednesdays, however, we will have a replacement for Anne (two possibilities are decided for whom the role is just at the moment).
We will have no school on November 23, 24, and 25. Teachers have an in-service day on that Monday, and we offer conferences for parents on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Because I have some availability earlier and childcare challenges on the mornings of the 24th and 25th, I am offering some additional, early conference times on the next two Thursday mornings--and on the Wednesday early evening, November 18 (when we were to have our parent meeting, which is rescheduled so that we can all see Helle Heckmann speak). I will also offer conference times during the afternoons on the 24th and 25th.
While grades families are expected to attend a fall and spring parent & teacher conference, early childhood families are asked to come to one conference in either the fall or the spring. The kindergarten teachers and I have a goal of providing more frequent--if briefer--communication about every child in the class rather than a long quasi-report at conference time. This is to say that even if you choose to refrain from signing up for a fall conference, I will strive to provide vignettes from your child's morning in the nursery class in a written form.
Our children seem to enjoy the new puppet show of granddaughter's efforts to bring a pumpkin home for Thanksgiving with the help of grandmother, grandfather, the dog, cat, and mouse. They also have asked for me to reprise Rub-a-Dub (and several children performed that earlier puppet show themselves today). Children are finding new playmates (with occasional tension and conflicts because another child feels left out) and new parts of the room to play in (that is, rather than the same two or three children heading for the loft right away, different children go to the loft, while others realize building and imaginative possibilities elsewhere in the room. While a number of children seemed less willing to allow peace to settle upon them during teacher-led or quiet activities today (perhaps because of Halloween or the time change or both), as a group the children are on a trend of working well together.
Please know that Celeen will be away from our Butterfly Classroom from this Wednesday and all of next week. In addition to her many other gifts and occupations, Celeen organizes and guides retreats for women on Whidbey Island and round the world, and from time to time she will be away from our classroom as she is involved in this other important work. Please ask Celeen if you want more information about this work; I do not want to misrepresent or oversimplify.
Anne Mauk (who worked as a kindergarten assistant at our school last year) will be the usual substitute for Celeen. On the upcoming Wednesdays, however, we will have a replacement for Anne (two possibilities are decided for whom the role is just at the moment).
We will have no school on November 23, 24, and 25. Teachers have an in-service day on that Monday, and we offer conferences for parents on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Because I have some availability earlier and childcare challenges on the mornings of the 24th and 25th, I am offering some additional, early conference times on the next two Thursday mornings--and on the Wednesday early evening, November 18 (when we were to have our parent meeting, which is rescheduled so that we can all see Helle Heckmann speak). I will also offer conference times during the afternoons on the 24th and 25th.
While grades families are expected to attend a fall and spring parent & teacher conference, early childhood families are asked to come to one conference in either the fall or the spring. The kindergarten teachers and I have a goal of providing more frequent--if briefer--communication about every child in the class rather than a long quasi-report at conference time. This is to say that even if you choose to refrain from signing up for a fall conference, I will strive to provide vignettes from your child's morning in the nursery class in a written form.
Our children seem to enjoy the new puppet show of granddaughter's efforts to bring a pumpkin home for Thanksgiving with the help of grandmother, grandfather, the dog, cat, and mouse. They also have asked for me to reprise Rub-a-Dub (and several children performed that earlier puppet show themselves today). Children are finding new playmates (with occasional tension and conflicts because another child feels left out) and new parts of the room to play in (that is, rather than the same two or three children heading for the loft right away, different children go to the loft, while others realize building and imaginative possibilities elsewhere in the room. While a number of children seemed less willing to allow peace to settle upon them during teacher-led or quiet activities today (perhaps because of Halloween or the time change or both), as a group the children are on a trend of working well together.
The healthy social life is found
When, in the mirror of each human soul,
The entire community finds its reflection,
And when, in the community,
The virtue of each one is living.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Upcoming Calendar -- Some Changes
Dear Families,
Here are some upcoming events to be aware of.
Halloween -- We have no specific nursery or early childhood celebration of Halloween other than what emerges in children's conversations about their many ideas for costumes or their excitement about jack-o-lanterns. Please save actual costumes for celebrations at home and in the greater community.
Lantern Walk -- Friday November 13, about 5pm (exact time to be determined). On the one page calendar, the date for this event was listed as October 30. Please cross out the October 30 date and make spouses, relatives, and friends are aware that the actual date is November 13.
We will write more about the lantern walk. It is a lovely event, commencing with a gathering outside in darkness, a puppet show inside, and walk with lanterns around our school. It helps us carry our light into the dark of winter, so to speak.
Parent Meeting Changed to Tuesday, December 1 -- Please cross the November 18 parent meeting off your calendar (I will be willing to offer parent & teacher conference slots at that time on the 18th for families who have already adjusted their calendars). We have changed the date because Helle Heckmann--a sought-after and effective teacher of teachers from Denmark--will be visiting our school, mentoring the early childhood teachers, and address parents in the evening. We will provide more details of her talk soon. We have her book Nokken in the Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library. For now, visit the address below for an interview with Heckmann written up by Roberta Ducharme (whom some of you may have met in 2007).
http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/GW3706.pdf
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Here are some upcoming events to be aware of.
Halloween -- We have no specific nursery or early childhood celebration of Halloween other than what emerges in children's conversations about their many ideas for costumes or their excitement about jack-o-lanterns. Please save actual costumes for celebrations at home and in the greater community.
Lantern Walk -- Friday November 13, about 5pm (exact time to be determined). On the one page calendar, the date for this event was listed as October 30. Please cross out the October 30 date and make spouses, relatives, and friends are aware that the actual date is November 13.
We will write more about the lantern walk. It is a lovely event, commencing with a gathering outside in darkness, a puppet show inside, and walk with lanterns around our school. It helps us carry our light into the dark of winter, so to speak.
Parent Meeting Changed to Tuesday, December 1 -- Please cross the November 18 parent meeting off your calendar (I will be willing to offer parent & teacher conference slots at that time on the 18th for families who have already adjusted their calendars). We have changed the date because Helle Heckmann--a sought-after and effective teacher of teachers from Denmark--will be visiting our school, mentoring the early childhood teachers, and address parents in the evening. We will provide more details of her talk soon. We have her book Nokken in the Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library. For now, visit the address below for an interview with Heckmann written up by Roberta Ducharme (whom some of you may have met in 2007).
http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/GW3706.pdf
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Joy in Variety, Joy in Repetition, Musicians in the Woods
Dear Families,
I wanted to share with you a pleasant polarity I have observed in this year's group of children--their apparent joy and satisfaction in both sameness and variety.
Your children seem as a group quite content to sing "Twinkle, twinkle," and the "Dandelion" song daily during our indoor circle time. Many children sing and gesture with enthusiasm. While it is true that young children enjoy repetition, this year's group of children seems particularly to find nourishment in familiar teacher-led material. Although I am far from reaching my goal, I strive to make a children's song or verse as artistic as a Bach partita for the violin or a poem by Rumi or Yeats or a novel by Woolf--rather than being deadening, the repetition can be enlivening (each iteration provides new discoveries). Some years I have had to remain steadfast in my belief in consistency and repetition amidst complaints and questions and demands for new material; this year I am staying with some songs longer than I had planned and will the potential challenge of finding the right time and motive to switch to new circle material.
We have celebrated birthdays on 6 of the past 7 nursery days at which I've been present. As such, children have seen a puppet show of the birthday story rather than "Rub a dub dub." They still speak about "Rub a dub dub" fondly. On Wednesday, the 7th & 8th graders will surprise us with a play of this nursery rhyme (along with sea songs they have learned on guitar). Again, I find myself having other puppet shows ready to go but not wanting to deprive our nursery children the value and delight of repetition and consistency. When the time is right, I will start displaying a version of "The Turnip" or "The Pumpkin" in which grandaughter and her family and farm animals work together to pull a giant vegetable off the vine.
While teachers strive to remain consistent to provide a sense of predictability and security, our children have shown flexibility and variety in their play themes and conversations. On a number of days, children have told me what they will be for Halloween--and often children tell me several different ideas for their Halloween costume, even on the same day. While there is nothing wrong per se in a child wanting to portray a powerful archetype like a princess or a hero, your children's suggested costumes have shown whimsy, eclecticism, and refreshing delight: from bird to spider to squirrel to carrot to cabbage to leaf to violin to cat to dog to bunny to teacher to rain to more creative ideas than I can remember. Again, without implying that one sort of conversation is good and another bad, this has been a refreshing change from some years in which even in a nursery every boy wanted to be Batman and every girl wanted to be Ariel from the Little Mermaid (again, children like heroes and archetypes and want to portray these, too).
I've had discussions with a couple of parents about potential fears, dragons, giants, and the like. I have not observed these images surfacing this week in the play of the children inside or outside. I have observed a lot of dancing and music making--with Oats and Beans and Jolly is the Miller Boy being popular with a number of children. Some children have formed orchestras, using sticks as violins or flutes or drums or guitars.
For young children, all festivals can seem to happen at the same time or place (I remember nursery children frequently playing out Santa Claus games around Easter). In any event, as we have reprised some of the dance songs from Michaelmas, I have received requests for Maypole songs. Children have built pretend Maypoles inside and outside as I have sung songs familiar to children from our parent & child class and/or festival last spring.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
I wanted to share with you a pleasant polarity I have observed in this year's group of children--their apparent joy and satisfaction in both sameness and variety.
Your children seem as a group quite content to sing "Twinkle, twinkle," and the "Dandelion" song daily during our indoor circle time. Many children sing and gesture with enthusiasm. While it is true that young children enjoy repetition, this year's group of children seems particularly to find nourishment in familiar teacher-led material. Although I am far from reaching my goal, I strive to make a children's song or verse as artistic as a Bach partita for the violin or a poem by Rumi or Yeats or a novel by Woolf--rather than being deadening, the repetition can be enlivening (each iteration provides new discoveries). Some years I have had to remain steadfast in my belief in consistency and repetition amidst complaints and questions and demands for new material; this year I am staying with some songs longer than I had planned and will the potential challenge of finding the right time and motive to switch to new circle material.
We have celebrated birthdays on 6 of the past 7 nursery days at which I've been present. As such, children have seen a puppet show of the birthday story rather than "Rub a dub dub." They still speak about "Rub a dub dub" fondly. On Wednesday, the 7th & 8th graders will surprise us with a play of this nursery rhyme (along with sea songs they have learned on guitar). Again, I find myself having other puppet shows ready to go but not wanting to deprive our nursery children the value and delight of repetition and consistency. When the time is right, I will start displaying a version of "The Turnip" or "The Pumpkin" in which grandaughter and her family and farm animals work together to pull a giant vegetable off the vine.
While teachers strive to remain consistent to provide a sense of predictability and security, our children have shown flexibility and variety in their play themes and conversations. On a number of days, children have told me what they will be for Halloween--and often children tell me several different ideas for their Halloween costume, even on the same day. While there is nothing wrong per se in a child wanting to portray a powerful archetype like a princess or a hero, your children's suggested costumes have shown whimsy, eclecticism, and refreshing delight: from bird to spider to squirrel to carrot to cabbage to leaf to violin to cat to dog to bunny to teacher to rain to more creative ideas than I can remember. Again, without implying that one sort of conversation is good and another bad, this has been a refreshing change from some years in which even in a nursery every boy wanted to be Batman and every girl wanted to be Ariel from the Little Mermaid (again, children like heroes and archetypes and want to portray these, too).
I've had discussions with a couple of parents about potential fears, dragons, giants, and the like. I have not observed these images surfacing this week in the play of the children inside or outside. I have observed a lot of dancing and music making--with Oats and Beans and Jolly is the Miller Boy being popular with a number of children. Some children have formed orchestras, using sticks as violins or flutes or drums or guitars.
For young children, all festivals can seem to happen at the same time or place (I remember nursery children frequently playing out Santa Claus games around Easter). In any event, as we have reprised some of the dance songs from Michaelmas, I have received requests for Maypole songs. Children have built pretend Maypoles inside and outside as I have sung songs familiar to children from our parent & child class and/or festival last spring.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Contra Dance Sunday, Straw
Dear Families,
Thank you for patience, tolerance, and presence on Wednesday. The delayed photo shoot was not an ideal end to a nursery week.
It can be difficult for children to come back on a Monday after a 4 day break (some schools try a Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3 day nursery for this reason, but I've heard from teachers who have switched away from that schedule because it was too hard for some children to get into a rhythm), and I wonder if having the photo delay at the end might make it harder on Monday.
With this in mind, I invite you to come say hello on Sunday at a family contra dance at the Deer Lagoon Grange on Bayview Road. The dance takes place from 3 to 6pm and welcomes dancers of all ages. The caller does an excellent job of bringing in some dances appropriate for very young children; other dances will be for older children and adults. While I will be busy playing fiddle with the Swinging Nettles during the dance, it might be a chance to ease back into the school week. There is no admission fee (we are taking donations to pay for the caller and the hall), so you could feel free to come for 15 to 30 minutes for a dance set or two.
Long before the tears at photo time on Wednesday, many nursery children had a great time moving straw leftover from Michaelmas and Sukkat about. Children were engaged and purposeful and merry as they moved piles of straw from one place to another on the sand field. I was reminded of Louise DeForrest, a teacher of kindergarten teachers; one year with a class of many 6 year olds, she created a year long project of moving rocks from one part of the play yard to another. The children adored the project and rose to it. We try to provide many opportunities for children to help with meaningful work at school; sometimes the surprise work that emerges (such as moving straw or helping to take down tents) can be extremely nourishing for the children.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Thank you for patience, tolerance, and presence on Wednesday. The delayed photo shoot was not an ideal end to a nursery week.
It can be difficult for children to come back on a Monday after a 4 day break (some schools try a Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3 day nursery for this reason, but I've heard from teachers who have switched away from that schedule because it was too hard for some children to get into a rhythm), and I wonder if having the photo delay at the end might make it harder on Monday.
With this in mind, I invite you to come say hello on Sunday at a family contra dance at the Deer Lagoon Grange on Bayview Road. The dance takes place from 3 to 6pm and welcomes dancers of all ages. The caller does an excellent job of bringing in some dances appropriate for very young children; other dances will be for older children and adults. While I will be busy playing fiddle with the Swinging Nettles during the dance, it might be a chance to ease back into the school week. There is no admission fee (we are taking donations to pay for the caller and the hall), so you could feel free to come for 15 to 30 minutes for a dance set or two.
Long before the tears at photo time on Wednesday, many nursery children had a great time moving straw leftover from Michaelmas and Sukkat about. Children were engaged and purposeful and merry as they moved piles of straw from one place to another on the sand field. I was reminded of Louise DeForrest, a teacher of kindergarten teachers; one year with a class of many 6 year olds, she created a year long project of moving rocks from one part of the play yard to another. The children adored the project and rose to it. We try to provide many opportunities for children to help with meaningful work at school; sometimes the surprise work that emerges (such as moving straw or helping to take down tents) can be extremely nourishing for the children.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Monday, October 5, 2009
early dismissal Wednesday for photos
Dear Families,
Please, if possible, be ready to greet your child in the hallway at 11:55am this coming Wednesday. We will walk together to have our photos taken outside or inside (depending on weather). If you cannot come early, please let us know so that we can support your child; if you arrive after noon, please look for us out front or in Forest Hall (where the photo session will be). Our intention is to conclude in time for kindergarten parents to greet their children.
As I believe you know, we have welcomed a new student, and she became part of our merry group right away. I will update the roster later this week.
As it turns out, we have many late summer and early fall birthdays to celebrate. We will celebrate on Tuesday and next Monday and Tuesday. Then we have a break until December and January 1, with another long break in birthdays until June.
Kindergarten teachers have distributed an article about toddler conflict as part of a discussion on how discipline is handled in early childhood classrooms. I have passed along copies to families in the nursery class--even though it is ostensibly about toddlers, the wisdom in the article can be helpful with older children as well.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Please, if possible, be ready to greet your child in the hallway at 11:55am this coming Wednesday. We will walk together to have our photos taken outside or inside (depending on weather). If you cannot come early, please let us know so that we can support your child; if you arrive after noon, please look for us out front or in Forest Hall (where the photo session will be). Our intention is to conclude in time for kindergarten parents to greet their children.
As I believe you know, we have welcomed a new student, and she became part of our merry group right away. I will update the roster later this week.
As it turns out, we have many late summer and early fall birthdays to celebrate. We will celebrate on Tuesday and next Monday and Tuesday. Then we have a break until December and January 1, with another long break in birthdays until June.
Kindergarten teachers have distributed an article about toddler conflict as part of a discussion on how discipline is handled in early childhood classrooms. I have passed along copies to families in the nursery class--even though it is ostensibly about toddlers, the wisdom in the article can be helpful with older children as well.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Friday, October 2, 2009
Photo Day Wednesday, More Play Observations
Dear Families,
School photos for our nursery class will take place next Wednesday. Please hold on to your order form and payment and bring it with you on Wednesday. Because it is not uncommon for some young children to find it stressful to sit either alone or with a group while a stranger (even a kind stranger) takes a photo, I am trying to schedule our class's photo time for noon or around noon. My idea is to invite parents to come a bit early on Wednesday (at, say, noon) and come to the photo shoot with their children; my hope is that this will make for a more pleasant experience for our children. I will send a reminder about our early dismissal once our photo time is confirmed.
More Observations of our Children's Play
A few things I observed this week reminded me of a brother and sister, twins, who were in my nursery class a number of years ago in Baltimore. At that time, a birthday child and two helpers carried extra birthday muffins to administrators and other adults in the building (much as our current Butterfly children bring rice, bread, and soup upstairs). One day, the sister was helping a birthday child bring muffins, and the kind administrator wondered if the nice children bringing muffins would like to have another muffin themselves (we had already eaten some in the classroom). They did so, and the sister--who was extremely polite and gentle with her words and not a child prone to teasing--let her brother know how lucky she had been to have a second muffin. At this point, he exploded, saying, "School has been ruined for me, and I'm never coming back!" and ranted for a bit because his sister had received two muffins and he had only received one. Fortunately, he did come back to school, but I think of this story often when I see how intense children's reactions can be when they perceive injustice (even if the injustice is that somebody else wants a baby doll and the child who feels wronged wants every baby doll in the classroom).
Here are two contrasting stories from this week in our class. While one might be tempted to say one is a happy or good image and the other unhappy, I want to resist that; they are both normal pictures of how young children behave and react in the group. Both occurred on the same day and involved some of the same children, but any of our children could be in these situations.
Near the teepee, a child finds flower blossoms that have fallen off the mums from the festival the Friday before. This child is excited and shows me this discovery. Another child bursts into tears and pines for a flower blossom also. The first child, without a lot of talking or confrontation, really wants to take the discovery home to Mom. The second child becomes more and more upset because the first child will not yield a flower blossom and is insistent on going home right away. I help the second child discover other flower blossoms lying about, and the child and I find a way to secure the blossom so that it will make it safely home. This child calms down but asks me several time if the flower blossom is safe.
Later that same day, inside the classroom, this same child shows me an invisible ladybug with much joy. This child shows the ladybug to many children in the classroom; some are confused because there is no actual ladybug; others feel inspired and begin building houses and gardens for the ladybug. This theme continues for a number of minutes, and there is a happy hum in the classroom.
While it is impossible to rid the children's play environment of every item that might cause jealousy, experiences like the above compel me to try to simplify to make the inevitable conflicts and feelings of injustice manageable and something to learn from. In Your Child's Self-Esteem, Dorothy Corkille Briggs writes on "Lifting the Mask of Jealousy" and tells us that some jealousy and rivalry is helpful for children's development. When there are too many things to be jealous of, children go into a self-protection mode, shut themselves off, and no longer engage in the process of learning. I recommend this chapter and the entire book; several copies are available in the Kathrine Dickerson library in our school's lobby. In a similar light, author and lecture Kim John Payne tells that the right amount of conflict helps our children (and us) develop; when conflict gets stuck, children need our help to move things along.
Based on these experiences, I make choices. I used to have lots of pretend coins that nursery children loved to play with (setting up markets, kingdoms, and the like), but the conflicts over the coins became more and more intense, and the more pretend coins I provided, the more intense the conflicts (one child might want them all). I now tend to have fewer fine motor toys and more gross motor toys that work better when many children participate. Celeen and I have been pleased to observe a couple of large building projects involving many children. We will be observant to make sure that every child feels welcome, and we have had to help builders realize that it is possible to have space for one more child, or for a younger child, or for this child or that child.
Some conflicts are complex. Last week a child was using 3 baby dolls to reprise "Rub a Dub Dub, Three Men in a Tub," so it seemed normal and fair that this child use the dolls (which had been lying there waiting for someone to play with them); once another child noticed, however, other children became very upset. We did our best to support the child finishing the puppet show and honor the emotions of the other children, and eventually the first child finished the puppet show.
Some of the children, like butterflies, seem happy to play in many areas, and may have taken up a new game in a new part of the room even before a teacher can let them know we will help them into this or that house. While we will not force this child (now happily engaged elsewhere) to try again, we will observe and try to be present the next time before an exclusion occurs. On Wednesday, a child found a gem in the woods near the teepee; the same child who had found the flowers the first day was now very upset that there was not another gem to be found; the first child, without prompting, reached into a pocket and gave the gem over. It could be tempting in such a moment to comment or praise or the like, but I chose to observe silently. The first child seemed content to move on to something else and went on to enjoy the rest of the morning.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
School photos for our nursery class will take place next Wednesday. Please hold on to your order form and payment and bring it with you on Wednesday. Because it is not uncommon for some young children to find it stressful to sit either alone or with a group while a stranger (even a kind stranger) takes a photo, I am trying to schedule our class's photo time for noon or around noon. My idea is to invite parents to come a bit early on Wednesday (at, say, noon) and come to the photo shoot with their children; my hope is that this will make for a more pleasant experience for our children. I will send a reminder about our early dismissal once our photo time is confirmed.
More Observations of our Children's Play
A few things I observed this week reminded me of a brother and sister, twins, who were in my nursery class a number of years ago in Baltimore. At that time, a birthday child and two helpers carried extra birthday muffins to administrators and other adults in the building (much as our current Butterfly children bring rice, bread, and soup upstairs). One day, the sister was helping a birthday child bring muffins, and the kind administrator wondered if the nice children bringing muffins would like to have another muffin themselves (we had already eaten some in the classroom). They did so, and the sister--who was extremely polite and gentle with her words and not a child prone to teasing--let her brother know how lucky she had been to have a second muffin. At this point, he exploded, saying, "School has been ruined for me, and I'm never coming back!" and ranted for a bit because his sister had received two muffins and he had only received one. Fortunately, he did come back to school, but I think of this story often when I see how intense children's reactions can be when they perceive injustice (even if the injustice is that somebody else wants a baby doll and the child who feels wronged wants every baby doll in the classroom).
Here are two contrasting stories from this week in our class. While one might be tempted to say one is a happy or good image and the other unhappy, I want to resist that; they are both normal pictures of how young children behave and react in the group. Both occurred on the same day and involved some of the same children, but any of our children could be in these situations.
Near the teepee, a child finds flower blossoms that have fallen off the mums from the festival the Friday before. This child is excited and shows me this discovery. Another child bursts into tears and pines for a flower blossom also. The first child, without a lot of talking or confrontation, really wants to take the discovery home to Mom. The second child becomes more and more upset because the first child will not yield a flower blossom and is insistent on going home right away. I help the second child discover other flower blossoms lying about, and the child and I find a way to secure the blossom so that it will make it safely home. This child calms down but asks me several time if the flower blossom is safe.
Later that same day, inside the classroom, this same child shows me an invisible ladybug with much joy. This child shows the ladybug to many children in the classroom; some are confused because there is no actual ladybug; others feel inspired and begin building houses and gardens for the ladybug. This theme continues for a number of minutes, and there is a happy hum in the classroom.
While it is impossible to rid the children's play environment of every item that might cause jealousy, experiences like the above compel me to try to simplify to make the inevitable conflicts and feelings of injustice manageable and something to learn from. In Your Child's Self-Esteem, Dorothy Corkille Briggs writes on "Lifting the Mask of Jealousy" and tells us that some jealousy and rivalry is helpful for children's development. When there are too many things to be jealous of, children go into a self-protection mode, shut themselves off, and no longer engage in the process of learning. I recommend this chapter and the entire book; several copies are available in the Kathrine Dickerson library in our school's lobby. In a similar light, author and lecture Kim John Payne tells that the right amount of conflict helps our children (and us) develop; when conflict gets stuck, children need our help to move things along.
Based on these experiences, I make choices. I used to have lots of pretend coins that nursery children loved to play with (setting up markets, kingdoms, and the like), but the conflicts over the coins became more and more intense, and the more pretend coins I provided, the more intense the conflicts (one child might want them all). I now tend to have fewer fine motor toys and more gross motor toys that work better when many children participate. Celeen and I have been pleased to observe a couple of large building projects involving many children. We will be observant to make sure that every child feels welcome, and we have had to help builders realize that it is possible to have space for one more child, or for a younger child, or for this child or that child.
Some conflicts are complex. Last week a child was using 3 baby dolls to reprise "Rub a Dub Dub, Three Men in a Tub," so it seemed normal and fair that this child use the dolls (which had been lying there waiting for someone to play with them); once another child noticed, however, other children became very upset. We did our best to support the child finishing the puppet show and honor the emotions of the other children, and eventually the first child finished the puppet show.
Some of the children, like butterflies, seem happy to play in many areas, and may have taken up a new game in a new part of the room even before a teacher can let them know we will help them into this or that house. While we will not force this child (now happily engaged elsewhere) to try again, we will observe and try to be present the next time before an exclusion occurs. On Wednesday, a child found a gem in the woods near the teepee; the same child who had found the flowers the first day was now very upset that there was not another gem to be found; the first child, without prompting, reached into a pocket and gave the gem over. It could be tempting in such a moment to comment or praise or the like, but I chose to observe silently. The first child seemed content to move on to something else and went on to enjoy the rest of the morning.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Invitation to Parenting Talk next Wednesday
Dear Butterfly Nursery Families,
On Wednesday, October 7, you are invited to a parent lecture in the Butterfly Classroom from 5 to 6pm. Although the talk is part of our parent & child program, the topic may interest parents of children of all ages. Contact William Dolde with questions.
Our children offer us many opportunities to express ourselves in challenging situations (what to say to a child licking the table, to a child who insists on picking up every piece of garbage in the street, to a child who says yuck to the dinner you spent 12 hours creating), and we can find ourselves overwhelmed with the plethora of how-to-parent books that offer us conflicting advice (whether choices are good for children or choices paralyze children and make them feel insecure; whether praise helps build self-esteem or global praise such as "good girl" or "you are so smart" make children less willing to exert effort and learn). With humor and humility, William Dolde will attempt to work through the advice from experts to distill principles of speaking to children that can be helpful in many situations.
Parents may wish to read a couple of pieces by William in advance: 1) "Speaking to a Toddler," and 2) "Beyond Personal."
William will strive to resist the temptation to create an orthodox list of proper and improper things to say. At the same time, in his examples, it remains possible that some of his examples may strike a nerve. He may possibly make fun of national lecturers who are much more successful than him. He will ask lecture participants to avoid venturing forth to correct spouses and colleagues. He will do his best to avoid insulting people (but his best might not be good enough).
Interested parents may also wish to read the following two articles on the inverse power of praise. This first offers a parent's perspective. This second article is by Professor Carol Dweck (the researcher quoted in the first article).
On Wednesday, October 7, you are invited to a parent lecture in the Butterfly Classroom from 5 to 6pm. Although the talk is part of our parent & child program, the topic may interest parents of children of all ages. Contact William Dolde with questions.
"Let's Try That Again"
Ostensibly Crazy Things to Say to Children that Really Work
Ostensibly Crazy Things to Say to Children that Really Work
(This talk was formerly known as Strunk and White speak to children)
Our children offer us many opportunities to express ourselves in challenging situations (what to say to a child licking the table, to a child who insists on picking up every piece of garbage in the street, to a child who says yuck to the dinner you spent 12 hours creating), and we can find ourselves overwhelmed with the plethora of how-to-parent books that offer us conflicting advice (whether choices are good for children or choices paralyze children and make them feel insecure; whether praise helps build self-esteem or global praise such as "good girl" or "you are so smart" make children less willing to exert effort and learn). With humor and humility, William Dolde will attempt to work through the advice from experts to distill principles of speaking to children that can be helpful in many situations.
Parents may wish to read a couple of pieces by William in advance: 1) "Speaking to a Toddler," and 2) "Beyond Personal."
William will strive to resist the temptation to create an orthodox list of proper and improper things to say. At the same time, in his examples, it remains possible that some of his examples may strike a nerve. He may possibly make fun of national lecturers who are much more successful than him. He will ask lecture participants to avoid venturing forth to correct spouses and colleagues. He will do his best to avoid insulting people (but his best might not be good enough).
Interested parents may also wish to read the following two articles on the inverse power of praise. This first offers a parent's perspective. This second article is by Professor Carol Dweck (the researcher quoted in the first article).
Friday, September 25, 2009
Additional Festival Tuesday with Kindergartens
Children’s Garden Harvest Festival
Butterfly, Sunflower and Golden Forest Parents,
Please join us for a Michaelmas story puppet play on Tuesday morning, September 29th. The puppet play will take place in the kindergarten play yard directly following the kindergarten morning circle (approximately 8:45-9:00).
After the puppet play, the three classes will go on about their mornings, with hints and accents of Harvest and Michaelmas festivities sprinkled throughout the morning. To add to our experience, we are asking that each child bring a harvest item for our Harvest Table (a bountiful nature table which will be located outside) as well as a bulb to plant in our gardens.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Festival Reminder and Tilth and birthdays
Dear Families,
Please remember that our Autumn Festival for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, parents, grandparents, and friends takes place this Friday morning, September 25, from 9 to 10:30am around, in, and near the Butterfly Room at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School.
Here is an approximate schedule
9am Gather Outside -- butter making and play on the playground
9:15am Outdoor dance to the fiddle and continued butter making
9:20am Picnic of bread and butter and vegetable soup
9:40am Washing up and continued outdoor play
9:50am Puppet show inside the Butterfly Classroom
10am Walk to the teepee, during which we might find some pleasant surprises
10:20am Return to school, graceful departure with our harvest gifts
Elementary students will gather for recess shortly after our festival. While you need not rush, I recommend departing without too much delay.
I notice that it can sometimes be harder for nursery children to say goodbye to moms and dads on Mondays after the weekend. Know that I will also be playing violin and fiddle at the Tilth Farmer's market from about 10am to 2pm on Saturday, September 26. If you are out and about and want to stop by, that could be a convenient time in an informal way to keep a connection through this weekend.
We will be celebrating a number of summer and early October birthdays in the coming weeks. Children seemed to enjoy the last birthday preparations. Some days we will eat our muffins in school if there is time; other days we will take them.
With Warmth and Light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Please remember that our Autumn Festival for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, parents, grandparents, and friends takes place this Friday morning, September 25, from 9 to 10:30am around, in, and near the Butterfly Room at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School.
Here is an approximate schedule
9am Gather Outside -- butter making and play on the playground
9:15am Outdoor dance to the fiddle and continued butter making
9:20am Picnic of bread and butter and vegetable soup
9:40am Washing up and continued outdoor play
9:50am Puppet show inside the Butterfly Classroom
10am Walk to the teepee, during which we might find some pleasant surprises
10:20am Return to school, graceful departure with our harvest gifts
Elementary students will gather for recess shortly after our festival. While you need not rush, I recommend departing without too much delay.
I notice that it can sometimes be harder for nursery children to say goodbye to moms and dads on Mondays after the weekend. Know that I will also be playing violin and fiddle at the Tilth Farmer's market from about 10am to 2pm on Saturday, September 26. If you are out and about and want to stop by, that could be a convenient time in an informal way to keep a connection through this weekend.
We will be celebrating a number of summer and early October birthdays in the coming weeks. Children seemed to enjoy the last birthday preparations. Some days we will eat our muffins in school if there is time; other days we will take them.
With Warmth and Light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Pictures from children's play
Dear Families,
Every year nursery children create new ways to play with the open-ended materials in the classroom. Here are some of my observations from the last few days.
Aprons as costumes -- I moved the aprons we use for dishwashing into more prominent places. Immediately they became horse reigns. Tuesday they became life jackets for children planning to take boat trip.
Many children in the loft -- While there is occasional tension about getting into or out of the loft, our children have done quite well at safely negotiating their disagreements. Sometimes many children are in the loft at once. If a child is blocking the way up, that child almost always "opens the gate" with a gentle reminder from the teacher (several children have filled this role). Sometimes the loft is clear; sometimes many toys go up into the loft. I try to guide the children to remove items from the loft in a safe way (e.g., it is fine to float a silk down; throwing something heavy down would not be OK). Two older children were setting up a playroom in the loft, and while they were disappointed that I would not keep all the other children out of the loft for the entire morning, they did show resilience and flexibility as other children passed through. Children go up to and out of the loft from at least 3 different directions (which makes it much safer than if there were just one way up and down).
As I have written elsewhere, my sense is that it is helpful in the first 4 years to provide lots of opportunities for gross motor development (climbing, jumping, balancing, walking on uneven surfaces, and the like); from a strong foundation in larger movements, students will be prepared for success with fine motor and cognitive development in the later years. Your children are successfully using the loft to develop a sturdy foundation.
Biology Experiences in the Woods and the Classroom -- We observed a salamander with a severed tail on Monday at observed the creature's strength; teachers commented on the ability to grow a new tail and how remarkable that was. Tuesday we got to observe (safely) a large spider in a jar before William placed it in the garden--a bit of serendipity here because 7th & 8th grade will play and sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" for our nursery children on Wednesday. We have heard many tree frogs near our berry patch playground but have not seen one yet.
Singing Games in the Woods -- We have been singing "Bear Went Over the Mountain," "Fiddle Me up to London Town," "Then We To to Market," and "Jim Along Josie" in the woods. The uneven terrain provides even more opportunity for children to challenge themselves and develop. Some children sing along merrily.
Conflicts Resolving Well, if not always exactly how a child might wish -- While they happen infrequently, we have occasional conflicts over a toy or location. I want the children to develop emotional intelligence and other skills, so I do not necessarily solve a problem right away--while trying to keep children safe from hitting and the like (which is extremely rare to almost nonexistent in our current class--it is normal for children to respond with action first). Sometimes children become quite upset at one another (a child walking around a gate the first child made; a child wanting to reserve a large part of the room with no other children); as long as the other children can play, I reflect back the child's frustration without solving the problem right away. This is to say, I am much more with a child vocalizing discontent with me or crying rather than yielding to a child's request--reasonable to the child but unhealthy for the class as a whole (for example, a child requesting that only older girls can play in a certain area)--just to avoid an upset. It can sometimes be intense, but I also find in the long term it helps children to work towards conversation and compromise.
That being said, I have observed a number of situations in which 2 or more children seemed ready to bear down, dig in, stand tall and not yield at all transform with the slightest suggestion from a teacher or another child to "try it again." 2 students who seemed ready to combat are now playing together or have become engaged in other parts of the room.
Sometimes to often, a conflict over a toy is less about the toy itself than about relationship with other children and with adults--young social scientists, children become--without malice--curious about the reaction of other children if, as an experiment, I also try to play with this toy or this exact location. They also want to see how adults will respond.
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
Every year nursery children create new ways to play with the open-ended materials in the classroom. Here are some of my observations from the last few days.
Aprons as costumes -- I moved the aprons we use for dishwashing into more prominent places. Immediately they became horse reigns. Tuesday they became life jackets for children planning to take boat trip.
Many children in the loft -- While there is occasional tension about getting into or out of the loft, our children have done quite well at safely negotiating their disagreements. Sometimes many children are in the loft at once. If a child is blocking the way up, that child almost always "opens the gate" with a gentle reminder from the teacher (several children have filled this role). Sometimes the loft is clear; sometimes many toys go up into the loft. I try to guide the children to remove items from the loft in a safe way (e.g., it is fine to float a silk down; throwing something heavy down would not be OK). Two older children were setting up a playroom in the loft, and while they were disappointed that I would not keep all the other children out of the loft for the entire morning, they did show resilience and flexibility as other children passed through. Children go up to and out of the loft from at least 3 different directions (which makes it much safer than if there were just one way up and down).
As I have written elsewhere, my sense is that it is helpful in the first 4 years to provide lots of opportunities for gross motor development (climbing, jumping, balancing, walking on uneven surfaces, and the like); from a strong foundation in larger movements, students will be prepared for success with fine motor and cognitive development in the later years. Your children are successfully using the loft to develop a sturdy foundation.
Biology Experiences in the Woods and the Classroom -- We observed a salamander with a severed tail on Monday at observed the creature's strength; teachers commented on the ability to grow a new tail and how remarkable that was. Tuesday we got to observe (safely) a large spider in a jar before William placed it in the garden--a bit of serendipity here because 7th & 8th grade will play and sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" for our nursery children on Wednesday. We have heard many tree frogs near our berry patch playground but have not seen one yet.
Singing Games in the Woods -- We have been singing "Bear Went Over the Mountain," "Fiddle Me up to London Town," "Then We To to Market," and "Jim Along Josie" in the woods. The uneven terrain provides even more opportunity for children to challenge themselves and develop. Some children sing along merrily.
Conflicts Resolving Well, if not always exactly how a child might wish -- While they happen infrequently, we have occasional conflicts over a toy or location. I want the children to develop emotional intelligence and other skills, so I do not necessarily solve a problem right away--while trying to keep children safe from hitting and the like (which is extremely rare to almost nonexistent in our current class--it is normal for children to respond with action first). Sometimes children become quite upset at one another (a child walking around a gate the first child made; a child wanting to reserve a large part of the room with no other children); as long as the other children can play, I reflect back the child's frustration without solving the problem right away. This is to say, I am much more with a child vocalizing discontent with me or crying rather than yielding to a child's request--reasonable to the child but unhealthy for the class as a whole (for example, a child requesting that only older girls can play in a certain area)--just to avoid an upset. It can sometimes be intense, but I also find in the long term it helps children to work towards conversation and compromise.
That being said, I have observed a number of situations in which 2 or more children seemed ready to bear down, dig in, stand tall and not yield at all transform with the slightest suggestion from a teacher or another child to "try it again." 2 students who seemed ready to combat are now playing together or have become engaged in other parts of the room.
Sometimes to often, a conflict over a toy is less about the toy itself than about relationship with other children and with adults--young social scientists, children become--without malice--curious about the reaction of other children if, as an experiment, I also try to play with this toy or this exact location. They also want to see how adults will respond.
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Jobs, Middle Schoolers
Dear Families,
Many children seemed right in the flow of the morning on our second day of school. Snack time seemed familiar and comfortable on the second day, 9 children danced and giggled merrily in the loft before I began circle time (the initiative of the oldest girl in the class), a young horse rider discovered that the classroom aprons make excellent horse tackle and reins, and every child wanted to help peel and chop vegetables for Wednesday's soup.
A number of children were extremely excited to see "Rub a dub dub" and the three men in a tub return for the puppet show.
Here is a list of jobs children might have on a given day; this can be a way to talk about school ("I wonder who played the lyre today. I wonder who carried snack upstairs today").
2 children help Celeen hang coats and rain clothes in the hall.
1 child plays bells (glockenspiel) to call us to snack time.
2 children carry snacks up to our administrators in the tower.
1 child opens the door for the others on this journey.
1 child plays the finger cymbals ("Sandman" symbols) while I play flute to put the room to rest.
1 child plays the lyre while we rest at the table right before pickup.
Our middle school teacher, Nancy Pfeiffer, and I are working together to help our 7th & 8th graders find a meaningful community service project in the school. They have been decorating the trail our nursery children take to the teepee (building fairy houses and the like). Tomorrow, Wednesday, they will visit our class at the end of the morning, help us tidy up, and sing while I play guitar for "Oats and Beans and Barley Grow" and "Jolly is the Miller Boy." They will watch while I present my puppet show again. If the visit goes well, they will visit weekly. As they learn to play guitar, middle schools will come to play and sing children's songs ("Itsy Bitsy Spider" and soforth). They are also making puppets in their handwork class and may prepare simple puppet shows to share with our nursery children.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Many children seemed right in the flow of the morning on our second day of school. Snack time seemed familiar and comfortable on the second day, 9 children danced and giggled merrily in the loft before I began circle time (the initiative of the oldest girl in the class), a young horse rider discovered that the classroom aprons make excellent horse tackle and reins, and every child wanted to help peel and chop vegetables for Wednesday's soup.
A number of children were extremely excited to see "Rub a dub dub" and the three men in a tub return for the puppet show.
Here is a list of jobs children might have on a given day; this can be a way to talk about school ("I wonder who played the lyre today. I wonder who carried snack upstairs today").
2 children help Celeen hang coats and rain clothes in the hall.
1 child plays bells (glockenspiel) to call us to snack time.
2 children carry snacks up to our administrators in the tower.
1 child opens the door for the others on this journey.
1 child plays the finger cymbals ("Sandman" symbols) while I play flute to put the room to rest.
1 child plays the lyre while we rest at the table right before pickup.
Our middle school teacher, Nancy Pfeiffer, and I are working together to help our 7th & 8th graders find a meaningful community service project in the school. They have been decorating the trail our nursery children take to the teepee (building fairy houses and the like). Tomorrow, Wednesday, they will visit our class at the end of the morning, help us tidy up, and sing while I play guitar for "Oats and Beans and Barley Grow" and "Jolly is the Miller Boy." They will watch while I present my puppet show again. If the visit goes well, they will visit weekly. As they learn to play guitar, middle schools will come to play and sing children's songs ("Itsy Bitsy Spider" and soforth). They are also making puppets in their handwork class and may prepare simple puppet shows to share with our nursery children.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Monday, September 14, 2009
First Day of School
Dear Families,
All children had long periods of joy throughout the morning. A few children did miss mom or dad for a while and found comfort on Celeen or William's lap; again, even these children had other times in the morning during which they were joyfully engaged in work or play.
A number of children particularly liked kneading bread (which we will eat tomorrow). Many children played in the rocking boat and in the loft. We did have a few loud conflicts--largely around toys; one child might want 3 hats while the other child wanted 1 (from a distance, it seems unfair, of course; the other child wanted them as mittens). These conflicts and the children's determination seemed equal with younger and older children, only children and 3rd children (which is to say that I did not see clear winners and losers or bullies and victims).
Thank you for the bounty of fruits and vegetables. On the first day, children did not eat a great deal. My experience is they will eat more and more as they get used to the routine (some children did have seconds of rice). Some children were a little sad because they chose not to eat nuts and fruit earlier and then learned that the later snack would be rice (it really is pretty tasty rice). Some children were also sad because they could not sit where they wanted at snack time; again, my experience is that once they are used to the routine, they come freely and happily to their seats; my experience with letting children sit wherever they want for snack is that it soon breeds unhappiness as children compete for prized seats.
Several children washed dishes with gusto. 3 children carried rice up to Maureen and Paul in the tower.
I will report more as the week goes on.
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
All children had long periods of joy throughout the morning. A few children did miss mom or dad for a while and found comfort on Celeen or William's lap; again, even these children had other times in the morning during which they were joyfully engaged in work or play.
A number of children particularly liked kneading bread (which we will eat tomorrow). Many children played in the rocking boat and in the loft. We did have a few loud conflicts--largely around toys; one child might want 3 hats while the other child wanted 1 (from a distance, it seems unfair, of course; the other child wanted them as mittens). These conflicts and the children's determination seemed equal with younger and older children, only children and 3rd children (which is to say that I did not see clear winners and losers or bullies and victims).
Thank you for the bounty of fruits and vegetables. On the first day, children did not eat a great deal. My experience is they will eat more and more as they get used to the routine (some children did have seconds of rice). Some children were a little sad because they chose not to eat nuts and fruit earlier and then learned that the later snack would be rice (it really is pretty tasty rice). Some children were also sad because they could not sit where they wanted at snack time; again, my experience is that once they are used to the routine, they come freely and happily to their seats; my experience with letting children sit wherever they want for snack is that it soon breeds unhappiness as children compete for prized seats.
Several children washed dishes with gusto. 3 children carried rice up to Maureen and Paul in the tower.
I will report more as the week goes on.
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Looking toward Michaelmas, Dickerson Library
Dear Nursery Families,
While we had a rich first class meeting, we were unable to talk about Michaelmas, our school festival. I want to write now to help you decide whether to attend both our Friday, September 25, nursery and parent & child Autumn Festival and our all school Michaelmas Festival and pageant on Tuesday, September 29 (from 4:30 to 7:15pm; exact time may shift slightly).
Although I do not have a cogent article available in electronic format, I recommend two available in the Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library (in the lobby upstairs). Waldorf Education: A Family Guide contains an brief but thorough introduction to Michaelmas. Rahima Baldwin Dancy, in You Are Your Child's First Teacher, describes many aspects of Waldorf education and parenting in that spirit with thorough and loving attention (her chapter "Rhythm and Discipline in Home Life" gives a helpful explanation of how Waldorf early childhood parents guide children in their classes--it can also be helpful for moms and dads at home). I will also post an article outside the Butterfly classroom in coming weeks.
Here is my take on Michaelmas. As summer changes to fall, days shorten, and the frost and cold of winter approaches, we as humans need strength and courage to help us stand upright through the darkness of winter. Different cultures have received inspiration from the meteor showers (heavenly iron, shooting stars) they observed around late September; the iron from the stars of heaven gave people strength. In various cultures and religions, this comes forth as a tale of a hero--a knight like St. George or Archangel Michael conquering or taming a dragon. For Rudolf Steiner, this battle between a knight and a dragon goes on inside each one of us--the dragon is not some other out there to be excluded, but, rather, that part of ourselves that we need to confront, acknowledge, and tame so we are ready to be free individuals capable of serving humanity and the world.
Obviously, explanations of a psychic battle inside each of us would be a bit much for our nursery children. I also find that many 2 to 4 year olds are not ready for images of dragons (or witches, monsters, big bad wolves, and the like). Whereas 5 and 6 year olds begin to seek more powerful archetypes of good and evil (which they meet in fairy tales told with loving objectivity by a trusted adult), many 2 to 4 year olds (while still presenting and finding challenges) receive their best nourishment not from battling pretend dragons, but rather from looking in wonderment toward the heavens and the stars. An early childhood teacher could simplify the celebration of Michaelmas toward an examination of stars--singing "Twinkle Twinkle" and cutting open an apple to reveal the star come to earth on the inside.
The feast and pageant on Tuesday, September 29, will contain some elements your child might love--food, community, music, a bonfire. The grades children will present a play in which, with the help of Michael, nobles conquer a dragon. The dragon--as portrayed by 6th graders--can be scary; my 5 year old was scared last year when he witnessed a rehearsal (I am directing the pageant this year and have scheduled all rehearsals to be after our nursery class time--both to avoid this potential fright and because I can't be in two places at once). Please ask other parents and decide for yourself if you wish to attend the evening festival. Some of children will have siblings in the play, so they will probably want to come to watch. For others, even though it is a great way to get a sense of the school community, there will be other chances. If you do plan to attend the Tuesday evening festival, please remember to bring your own plates and utensils (some new families missed this last year).
Because I do not think the Michaelmas play is necessarily appropriate for every nursery child, I offer another celebration of Autumn the Friday before at 9am for children and parents together. Nursery children and I will have baked extra bread and made extra soup in class that week (I'll ask for extra vegetables). On that Friday, we'll gather to share a snack outside and play and have a harvest dance to the fiddle. Then we'll go inside for a puppet show. After that, we will walk to the woods to meet (as a surprise for the children) a knight from the stars and Mother Earth--they will both present us with gifts. After the walk, children and parents will depart with their gifts.
I'll send more reminders as the date approaches.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
While we had a rich first class meeting, we were unable to talk about Michaelmas, our school festival. I want to write now to help you decide whether to attend both our Friday, September 25, nursery and parent & child Autumn Festival and our all school Michaelmas Festival and pageant on Tuesday, September 29 (from 4:30 to 7:15pm; exact time may shift slightly).
Although I do not have a cogent article available in electronic format, I recommend two available in the Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library (in the lobby upstairs). Waldorf Education: A Family Guide contains an brief but thorough introduction to Michaelmas. Rahima Baldwin Dancy, in You Are Your Child's First Teacher, describes many aspects of Waldorf education and parenting in that spirit with thorough and loving attention (her chapter "Rhythm and Discipline in Home Life" gives a helpful explanation of how Waldorf early childhood parents guide children in their classes--it can also be helpful for moms and dads at home). I will also post an article outside the Butterfly classroom in coming weeks.
Here is my take on Michaelmas. As summer changes to fall, days shorten, and the frost and cold of winter approaches, we as humans need strength and courage to help us stand upright through the darkness of winter. Different cultures have received inspiration from the meteor showers (heavenly iron, shooting stars) they observed around late September; the iron from the stars of heaven gave people strength. In various cultures and religions, this comes forth as a tale of a hero--a knight like St. George or Archangel Michael conquering or taming a dragon. For Rudolf Steiner, this battle between a knight and a dragon goes on inside each one of us--the dragon is not some other out there to be excluded, but, rather, that part of ourselves that we need to confront, acknowledge, and tame so we are ready to be free individuals capable of serving humanity and the world.
Obviously, explanations of a psychic battle inside each of us would be a bit much for our nursery children. I also find that many 2 to 4 year olds are not ready for images of dragons (or witches, monsters, big bad wolves, and the like). Whereas 5 and 6 year olds begin to seek more powerful archetypes of good and evil (which they meet in fairy tales told with loving objectivity by a trusted adult), many 2 to 4 year olds (while still presenting and finding challenges) receive their best nourishment not from battling pretend dragons, but rather from looking in wonderment toward the heavens and the stars. An early childhood teacher could simplify the celebration of Michaelmas toward an examination of stars--singing "Twinkle Twinkle" and cutting open an apple to reveal the star come to earth on the inside.
The feast and pageant on Tuesday, September 29, will contain some elements your child might love--food, community, music, a bonfire. The grades children will present a play in which, with the help of Michael, nobles conquer a dragon. The dragon--as portrayed by 6th graders--can be scary; my 5 year old was scared last year when he witnessed a rehearsal (I am directing the pageant this year and have scheduled all rehearsals to be after our nursery class time--both to avoid this potential fright and because I can't be in two places at once). Please ask other parents and decide for yourself if you wish to attend the evening festival. Some of children will have siblings in the play, so they will probably want to come to watch. For others, even though it is a great way to get a sense of the school community, there will be other chances. If you do plan to attend the Tuesday evening festival, please remember to bring your own plates and utensils (some new families missed this last year).
Because I do not think the Michaelmas play is necessarily appropriate for every nursery child, I offer another celebration of Autumn the Friday before at 9am for children and parents together. Nursery children and I will have baked extra bread and made extra soup in class that week (I'll ask for extra vegetables). On that Friday, we'll gather to share a snack outside and play and have a harvest dance to the fiddle. Then we'll go inside for a puppet show. After that, we will walk to the woods to meet (as a surprise for the children) a knight from the stars and Mother Earth--they will both present us with gifts. After the walk, children and parents will depart with their gifts.
I'll send more reminders as the date approaches.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Friday, September 4, 2009
Reminders and nuts and bolts
Dear Nursery Families,
Please remember that the party for all adults on Saturday, September 5, has been postponed, with another date to be determined. It is my understanding that our administrator will still host a new parent orientation at 4:30pm on that afternoon.
Here are some responses to nuts and bolts type questions that emerged around the time of our parent meeting.
About bringing fruits and vegetables
My experience is that if every nursery child brought a fruit every day, we would have a lot extra at the end of the week. That being said, it sometimes is great if one family brings quite a lot (if blessed with an abundant apple tree, for example) in case others forget.
My other experience is that nursery children love to help peel and cut (with safe peelers and butter knives) as we prepare the soup on Tuesday. I also let them snack on raw vegetables; my goal is to create positive associations with the vegetables. As such, it seemed we rarely had enough vegetables for soup last year (again, some parents brought in a bounty), and I would encourage you to err on the side of sending in too many vegetables (especially if you have bumper crops from a garden and the like).
So, to help ensure enough soup vegetables, please try to bring about 2 apples and 1 generous soup vegetable (maybe a bunch of small carrots, one big turnip, a bounty of kale) on Monday. Then, if you forget, please bring the soup vegetable on Tuesday. Nursery children love to peel and eat carrots; it is hard to imagine people bringing too many carrots (but please do bring other vegetables too).
If you have a nursery and a kindergarten child, you may find it easiest to bring a vegetable or fruit for each class each day to be consistent (the more official policy). If you choose this approach, please remember to bring soup vegetables no later than Tuesday.
Drop-off
Because the kindergartens will be asking parents to join them for their opening circle at 8:30am, it seems unlikely that any kindergarten parents would drop off kindergarten children before 8:30 (and unlikely that families with a nursery and kindergarten child would drop off the nursery child before 8:30). We will have to see what works best; whether it is best for families with children in nursery and kindergarten to visit the kindergarten circle with their nursery child, or if it is best to leave your nursery child with me, and we will watch the circle from afar as a group.
I do not intend such a formal opening for the nursery class because I want to leave open the possibility for some of our nursery children to arrive later--not only to help children get enough rest and have a great experience at school, but also to avoid crowding in the hallway and bathrooms at 8:30 (every kindergarten parent has been asked to take their child to the bathroom around 8:25 or 8:30).
My offer of early drop-off (8:15) remains for other families (say, if you have grades children and are at school and want to clear out of the hallway before kindergarten children start using the bathroom), and if you are bringing your child after 8:30 and closer to 9, do not consider yourself late (that is, if you have only a nursery child). Consider, rather, that you are helping to relieve hallway congestion around 8:30.
We will need to do more fine tuning with the nursery and kindergarten schedule, I am sure. Thank you for your patience, insights, and flexibility.
Dismissal
Again, I will begin dismissing at 12:20. Last year, this was a slow and gentle process that took five minutes or so. If you have a kindergarten child, it will likely be fine if you arrive a little after 12:20 (maybe even 12:25 or so), letting the other parents pick up their children first.
Beach Days
Remember that nursery children, siblings, and parents are invited to two beach days next Thursday and Friday (September 10 and 11) from 9 to 11 at Maxwelton Beach.
Some parents may find the opening ceremony for the elementary school on Tuesday at 8:30am (I'll be playing music beforehand) interesting. Nursery children are not required to attend the ceremony (though they are welcome to come along with you if you think they will enjoy it).
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Monday, August 31, 2009
Meeting Wednesday, September 2
Dear Nursery Families,
Because some parents cannot attend our meeting for adults on Wednesday, September 2, from 5 to 6pm in the Butterfly classroom, I am distributing the documents beforehand in an electronic format. I do not plan to bring paper copies to our meeting on Wednesday. As always, I will produce paper copies if you request.
Here is an excerpt from the Children's Garden Handbook about what to bring to school for your child. I made some additions, noting differences between expectations for the nursery and kindergarten. I'll restate some of the differences here: no mug needed for nursery; I have mittens your child can use in the nursery so you need not provide those unless you have gloves or mittens that work really well for you; because we are out in the morning, sun hats tend not to be as essential. While I ask that you do bring slippers or inside shoes for your child, please know that I will keep these inside the classroom, reserving your child's hallway cubby for spare clothes and outside clothes.
Click here to see a description of our rhythm or schedule of the day. Each group of children is different, and I will be prepared to adapt the schedule to best meet the needs of the group. Unlike last year, the two kindergarten classes will start outside the same time as the nursery. This will bring joy and potential complications. I think some of our children will love having a sibling nearby. Some of our nursery children, however, need a sheltered space away from six year olds playing like six year olds (and many of the five and six year olds in kindergarten need space to act their age without worry about two and three year olds). At the beginning of the year, we will allow nursery and kindergarten children to play together underneath the big shelter near the tool shed. Two at a time, I will permit kindergarten children to enter our nursery playground to push our nursery children on the swings (because it will be important for me to remain aware of our entire nursery group while my assistant helps children with clothes or the bathroom, I will refrain from pushing nursery children on the swings at the beginning of the year. I do this not to be mean but to provide logical and effective group management and oversight). As the year progresses, we may allow more or less interaction among the classes depending upon our observations of how things are working.
Here are some specific notes about nursery arrival and dismissal. While I exhort you to bring your child on time to kindergarten and grades classes, I realize that 4 hours is a long time for a nursery child, and I would much prefer your child come a little later (coming by 9am would still be on time; by 9:10am or so, we need to leave for our walk) if this means she or he will be well rested and will be more likely to have a wonderful nursery morning. Last year, I allowed parents to drop off nursery children as early as 8:15 am; to me this seemed healthier than having nursery children sit inside a noisy hallway. I will allow this at the beginning of the year this year to start, but if I find--with all the siblings--I am monitoring large groups of kindergarten children at 8:15am as well, I will have to stop or alter the practice. I do not expect or demand my kindergarten colleagues to also come out at 8:15am; they have intricate work to prepare inside the classroom. Our day officially begins at 8:30am.
Do plan to take your child to the bathroom before gearing up at 8:15, 8:30, 8:45, 9, or whenever you drop her or him off at the nursery playground.
Because kindergarten classes will be dismissing inside at 12:30pm, it will help all early childhood children and families if nursery parents begin picking up their children by 12:20pm. If you have no kindergarten child to pick up as well, please depart gracefully and quickly to make space for others. At 12:20pm, I'll start playing the fiddle, and my assistant will peek out to look for parents. We will dismiss nursery children 1 at a time. Please check your child's cubby each day to see if there are wet clothes to take home.
This document describes the manner in which we celebrate birthdays in the nursery class. In brief, parents need bring nothing from home for our celebrations (we make the cake in the classroom), nor worry about altering their schedule (the day proceeds as normal for the children with a lovely and simple celebration for children and teachers fitting in).
Here is a copy of the letter from me our school sent you last week. It will always be here in case you lose your original, wish to share information with relatives and friends, or the like.
I look forward to seeing many of you at our meeting Wednesday from 5 to 6pm. Babes in arms are always welcome at our class meetings. Do know that we will be engaging in a number of movement activities. I try to be as efficient and effective as possible: I will use movement to both help us get to know each other and to demonstrate aspects of Waldorf early childhood education. In addition, I will talk about birthdays, Michaelmas, our nursery Autumn festival, preview some of my puppet shows and describe how I choose literary material to share with nursery children, touch upon how discipline is handled, field all of your questions and respond to what I can, and end with an Irish farewell round that we can sing in parts at the end of our meetings and festivals throughout the year. It will be a busy and hopefully energetic hour. Please try to come on time. We have many parents attending the kindergarten meetings at 6pm, and I want to allow them to be on time for those meetings.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Articles About Separation for 2009-2010
Dear Families,
As my welcome letter suggests, separation (the tears or laughter that accompany saying goodbye to Mom or Dad on the first days or weeks or months of school), rather than being a distraction from the nursery curriculum, is at the core of the nursery curriculum.
As my welcome letter suggests, separation (the tears or laughter that accompany saying goodbye to Mom or Dad on the first days or weeks or months of school), rather than being a distraction from the nursery curriculum, is at the core of the nursery curriculum.
Here is an article from 1, 2, 3 The Toddler Years about separation entitled "Saying Goodbye is Sad."
I realize that pdfs can be more than a little difficult to read on-line. Here are two documents I produced in a workshop for teachers about supporting separation. They bring together ideas from the above two pdfs and may be much easier to read on the screen.
Blessings on our year ahead and farewells and hellos.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Birthday Songs for Apple, Moon, and Raindrop
Dear Families,
I have added recordings of birthday tune for our 3 celebrations at the end of the school year. You should be able to access them by going to this facebook page.
At the first parent meeting, I described my personal and professional journey in which I was attempting to move away from the tangible and physical gifts either for or by the children. In Baltimore, children and I became so efficient at candle dipping, for example, that children began taking home a candle everyday, and for some children, nursery became a big disappointment if they did not take something home like that every day. This challenge provided an impulse for me to have courage to send home a lot less and focus more on cooking, care of the classroom, time in nature, and to treat music--the playing of the violin and Irish whistle in particular--as lawful, meaningful work to envelop the children with much as another Waldorf early childhood teacher might spin or sew or knit in the presence of the children. It is an ongoing investigation for me, and I welcome feedback.
I have also unabashedly made my birthday gifts for the children something that aims to be of interest in the future, whether in 6th grade when they are acquiring proficiency on violin or--in light of new roles in the school--in 8th grade when they can play chords on the guitar or when they are adults, possibly with children of their own. Please do not worry if your child shows no interest in the gift; find a safe place (if possible) to store it away until your child is in 5th or 6th grade or so. My intent is to in 10 years or so to be able to prepare your children to perform these songs on fiddle (or other melody instrument) and guitar toward the end of our 8th grade year (because I really try to hear a melody for each child, some of the tunes that come to me may still be a bit challenging in 8th grade).
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
p.s. Please take everything out of your child's spare clothes bag today. If needed, you might bring appropriate spare clothes in a back-pack, grocery sack, or paper bag.
Monday, June 1, 2009
birthdays, circle, and gear
Dear Families,
Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be the last time I tell "Wild Goose Lake" to the class. Children seem engaged, quiet, and thoughtful as I tell this story. Many sing along on the songs I put into the story; several also imitate some of my gestures (for the calm, still, lake). On Wednesday of this week and Monday and Tuesday of next week, we will be celebrating 3 summer birthdays. Children tend to become very excited about birthdays. Children also tend to get very excited at the end of the school year. Although many teachers might try to avoid placing birthday celebrations at year's end, I find the social exuberance (with moments of reverence) of the birthdays meets the exalted mood of children at the end of the year. One might say that I make up for a lack of wisdom with an excess of courage, but this method has worked well in past years.
Our nursery children showed delight and an ability to move as a group when we danced with the Maypole for the month after Spring break. Recently I have been sharing a spring circle of Wilma Ellersiek games (of a fish springing, a daisy warmed by the sun, roses growing by the gate, and animals visiting a flower to be rocked). Even as children can be boisterous, enthusiastic, and exuberant for much of the morning as summer approaches, most children in the class demonstrate great interest, reverence, and tenderness during this quieter part of the morning.
Please remember that next Wednesday is our last day before summer break, and dismissal is at 11am (but we invite you to come at 10:15 to share strawberry shortcake with us).
I will take the supply bags home to wash next Tuesday. Please bring home as much gear as you think is wise as soon as possible. Parents have reported that mystery boots linger around their child's cubby, and I suspect if we can clear the area, other parents may discover and solve mysteries. You might, for example, be so bold as to take rain gear home with the plan to only bring it if your child needs it (the long term forecast does predict rain next week). Do leave just enough spare clothes. Please do bring a bag from home to store them in on Tuesday.
There is a basket in the hallway for lost and found items. There will also be a basket for donations--clothes your child has outgrown. Other parents may take these home for their children, and teachers will use them to build up our supply of spare clothes. We will take the rest to Good Cheer.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be the last time I tell "Wild Goose Lake" to the class. Children seem engaged, quiet, and thoughtful as I tell this story. Many sing along on the songs I put into the story; several also imitate some of my gestures (for the calm, still, lake). On Wednesday of this week and Monday and Tuesday of next week, we will be celebrating 3 summer birthdays. Children tend to become very excited about birthdays. Children also tend to get very excited at the end of the school year. Although many teachers might try to avoid placing birthday celebrations at year's end, I find the social exuberance (with moments of reverence) of the birthdays meets the exalted mood of children at the end of the year. One might say that I make up for a lack of wisdom with an excess of courage, but this method has worked well in past years.
Our nursery children showed delight and an ability to move as a group when we danced with the Maypole for the month after Spring break. Recently I have been sharing a spring circle of Wilma Ellersiek games (of a fish springing, a daisy warmed by the sun, roses growing by the gate, and animals visiting a flower to be rocked). Even as children can be boisterous, enthusiastic, and exuberant for much of the morning as summer approaches, most children in the class demonstrate great interest, reverence, and tenderness during this quieter part of the morning.
Please remember that next Wednesday is our last day before summer break, and dismissal is at 11am (but we invite you to come at 10:15 to share strawberry shortcake with us).
I will take the supply bags home to wash next Tuesday. Please bring home as much gear as you think is wise as soon as possible. Parents have reported that mystery boots linger around their child's cubby, and I suspect if we can clear the area, other parents may discover and solve mysteries. You might, for example, be so bold as to take rain gear home with the plan to only bring it if your child needs it (the long term forecast does predict rain next week). Do leave just enough spare clothes. Please do bring a bag from home to store them in on Tuesday.
There is a basket in the hallway for lost and found items. There will also be a basket for donations--clothes your child has outgrown. Other parents may take these home for their children, and teachers will use them to build up our supply of spare clothes. We will take the rest to Good Cheer.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Ritual and Speech
Dear Families,
This is a call to be mindful of your speech around your children and around school. Last week, several parents talked openly about a birthday party after school while pushing their children on the swings, yelling "Let's go to the birthday party" in a manner easy for parents and children who had not been invited to hear. While there were no major meltdowns observed, and while it is fine for children to have birthday parties that do not include every child in the class, I cannot but say I am somewhat disappointed by the parents' lack of decorum and awareness. We are working with issues of social exclusion (intensively and successfully) in class and the school as a whole, and all the children need the support of the parents. Your mindfulness will help your child and all the children.
As many of you know (board meetings and minutes are open), the board and faculty are going through an intense process of trying to produce a balanced budget in tight financial times. I have observed some kindergarten parents speaking rather openly about their discontent about this or that decision in the presence of children. I welcome the discontent, but our children's health asks for parents to be mindful and temper their speech around children. If you have an issue with me, please tell or write me directly. If you have other questions or concerns, Maureen may be a good initial person to contact, and she will help direct your concern to the appropriate group--board, faculty, college, listening council, parent council, and soforth. I appreciate your help in reminding kindergarten parents to be mindful of children in their presence as well.
In class I have observed intense rituals in which many children (6, 7, 8) pull on a rope, sometimes to realize that they all are pulling in the same direction--that the child they were ostensibly "helping" get the rope has already moved on to another game. As Kim Payne writes, intense interpersonal interaction (that is, conflict) has become the rite of passage children seek at this time. This ritualistic conflict has begun to spill over, however, into the games of children who are not yet seeking such an intense meeting, and I will do everything in my power to redirect, stop, or change patterns in the class. I value your support of my authority and my decisions at this time.
With warmth and light (and a little fire),
William Geoffrey Dolde
Monday, May 18, 2009
Birthday songs recorded
Dear Families,
As we discussed at our first parent meeting in August, I intended to record your children's birthday songs so that relatives far and near could hear them. At long last, I have made simple, solo recordings of these songs. I believe you will be able to hear them if you scroll down on this facebook page to the music player on the lower left side. As with all public entries on this blog, I refrain from mentioning children's names, but the songs are identified by your child's symbols. I have hopes of recording more extended versions of these songs (with guitar and/or bass) in (the perhaps too far distant) future.
It is with some ambivalence I offer the songs in this format. My hope is to inspire children and their parents to produce their own music, with voice and instruments. I also know that a recording makes it easier to learn some songs. And (more ambivalence) it is better to learn traditional music (which my music pretends to be) by ear rather than off the printed page; as an adult trying to become more and more proficient in Celtic music, I help myself much more by--at 2am in the morning with my practice mute on--trying to learn tunes by ear off itunes than I do in reading off of sheet music (the greats, like Perlman, can read over a musical score, memorize it at once, and then play it by ear on the violin). With this as a muddled caveat, I encourage you to share and use these tunes as you judge best.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Birthday Wednesday, 2nd Grade Play
Dear Nursery Families,
Ms. White has invited our class to watch a rehearsal of the 2nd grade play tomorrow, Wednesday, at 9:30am in the 2nd grade room. It will provide a sense of completeness for our nursery children--I think--to watch a play by children we watch so often through our windows (and talk about because they are our sisters or cousins or neigbors)--and, most importantly, to be present in the actual classroom that is above our head and the source of so much banging, moving of furniture, and beautiful flute music. Kim and I will have laps for our children who find the experience too much to handle all at once. We will take our walk as early as we can, 9am at the latest. We will go only as far as the teepee--look for us there if you are a little late.
We will also celebrate a birthday tomorrow, so expect to pick up child full of ginger muffin crumbs.
Cheers,
William Dolde
Ms. White has invited our class to watch a rehearsal of the 2nd grade play tomorrow, Wednesday, at 9:30am in the 2nd grade room. It will provide a sense of completeness for our nursery children--I think--to watch a play by children we watch so often through our windows (and talk about because they are our sisters or cousins or neigbors)--and, most importantly, to be present in the actual classroom that is above our head and the source of so much banging, moving of furniture, and beautiful flute music. Kim and I will have laps for our children who find the experience too much to handle all at once. We will take our walk as early as we can, 9am at the latest. We will go only as far as the teepee--look for us there if you are a little late.
We will also celebrate a birthday tomorrow, so expect to pick up child full of ginger muffin crumbs.
Cheers,
William Dolde
Saturday, May 9, 2009
May Newsletter, Fairy Tales, Gender, Metaphor
Dear Families,
Expect information on the last day of school soon. I want to provide the reflections below now.
Rahima Baldwin on Fairy Tales
As was apparent in our parent meeting, some parents have questions about fairy tales--and particularly the presence of evil in the tales--in the education of young children. In You Are Your Child's First Teacher, Rahima Baldwin discusses the role of fairy tales in life of children age 3 to 6 in the chapter "Nourishing Your Child's Imagination." Several of you own the book; there are multiple copies available in the Kathrine Dickerson Memorial library. Here is a relatively easy-to-read, legal online selection from that chapter. This free selection from google, because it is a preview, leaves out pages; if you scroll down to page 200, the following pages (200-204) talk about fairy tales, the role of masculine and feminine stereotypes in fairy tales, and the presence of cruelty and evil in fairy tales. I would being doing you, your children, and our school a disservice if I did not exhort--almost obligate--you to reread this chapter (or at least a selection from it). Although a nursery class with many 3 year olds can do quite well with stories and puppetry of professions (tailor, cobbler, baker, farmer, and soforth), fairy tales provide an essential element of Walforf Early Childhood Education, and even while I encourage parents to question everything, I also encourage parents to try to learn and read as much as possible about those elements of Waldorf education that bother them most--this striving will support your child's connection to school and teacher.
Here are some (perhaps debatable) recommendations I take away from Baldwin's chapter and my reflections on it:
1) Avoid television and video media for children.
2) If you are uncomfortable with an image or description in a fairy tale or nursery rhyme, it is healthier to choose other material completely to share with your child. Often these tales or rhymes are artistic wholes, and leaving out the violent or sad descriptions deprives your child of the benefits of experiencing the whole process. In our work in early childhood (and throughout school) we try to provide the whole experience--baking bread, washing, and the like. Again, this is not a recommendation to rush scary or adult material on your child--find material that nourishes your child that you are comfortable with.
3) Have confidence. Even if you don't like a story (if, say, a first grade teacher tells "Little Red Riding Hood" to one of my children--see more below), another adult's devoted interest and attention to the tale and its significance will convey to your child.
4) While questioning the patriarchal impulses behind written literature in the last few centuries, remain open to the possibility that ancient fairy tales contain a description of our soul's journey, of the queen and king (and soforth) in each of us.
5) When seeking other tales to provide other narratives for our children beyond an androcentric marriage plot, take care (as Baldwin writes at the end of the chapter) to seek fairy tales for young children rather than fables or legends (which have their proper place developmentally in about 2nd grade). It has given me discomfort to observe experienced Waldorf teachers tell legends to their classes in an effort to bring multicultural stories; the mood is not right for early childhood, and I could sometimes observe this in the children's lack of engagement with the story. Baldwin writes, "In trying to distinguish the different types of stories, keep in that mind that fairy tales speak of the development of an individual human soul, and the characters are aspects of each of us; fables exaggerate human characteristics and tendencies in animal form in order to dramatize a moral lesson; and legends speak of the (often exaggerated) exploits of a 'real' human being" (209).
Gender Stereotypes in Fairy Tales and Beyond
Here are a few stories as a way of starting.
1) Twin girls were in my nursery class years ago. Their parents were supportive of the school and their daughters' individuality. One daughter almost always wore dresses to school. The other almost always wore pants. This second daughter told me, very matter-of-factly, "I'm not beautiful like my sister because I don't wear dresses like her." This daughter in pants did show great willingness to take risks, play in mud and sand, climb, role and tumble. Her sister--also a delightful child--tended to show aversions to taking risks, meeting new people, playing in sand and mud, and like.
2) This story comes from an experienced teacher who addressed my class of teacher trainees at the University of Maryland. She did her best to avoid gender stereotypes in her classroom: trucks and dolls were available for girls and boys; stories displayed women and men in different roles; and soforth. She knew not to talk explicitly to children about their clothes (e.g., "What a pretty dress you are wearing today!"). While not forbidding certain types of clothes, she encouraged parents to dress their children in clothes that could get muddy and sandy in outdoor play (these were still the days when all early childhood teachers--not just Waldorf teachers--could take children outside in all sorts of weather, and the days before rain pants that could protect all kinds of clothes). One girl in her class always came in comfortable play clothes (sweat pants, sweatshirt) and loved to play with girls and boys, indoor and out, in sand and mud, with dolls and trucks, receiving all the gifts this preschool had to offer. One day this girl came to school wearing a fairly fancy dress. The teacher, who knew to avoid judging attire ("What a pretty dress!" or "You look terrible!"), made what she thought was an objective comment: "Oh, I see you're wearing a dress today." The child went on to describe that, yes, she was going out for a special lunch at a restaurant with her aunt right after school. They talked a bit about the aunt, and the day proceeded as normal. From then on, this girl only wore dresses to school. The teacher, curious, spoke to the girl's mother. The mother, herself a bit confused, responded that her daughter insisted on wearing dresses to school because her teacher liked them so much.
3) A teacher I worked with at the Park School in Baltimore was considering becoming a public school teacher and was observing at a school in Baltimore. A teacher was putting pictures of various professions up on the board and having children name them and then practice writing the words. When asked about a picture, a boy responded, "That's a fire fighter." "No," said the teacher, "That's a fireman." This was enough to send this teacher-to-be to look into alternatives and to find her way to a Dewey-inspired school (The point of this story is not to beat up on public schools but to show the potency of one phrase in changing an adult's life).
4) When I was assistant at the Waldorf School of Baltimore, I had the privilege of meeting with Andrea Gambardella--master teacher (she herself had been Joan Almon's assistant decades before)--weekly individually in groups. It was very important for Andrea that any visitors to our classrooms--college students and prospective teachers--receive orientation first. I remember vividly Andrea seeming very tense when trying to come up with the most important part of the orientation and saying, "Like, they need to know not to talk about the children's clothes!"
5) Recently in our Butterfly nursery, I have heard one girl tell another (not aware that I could hear, and there may have been previous conversation), "My dress is more beautiful than yours" (before you become too alarmed, note that at least the comments were about the beauty of the dress and not the individual).
These stories can paralyze, making it hard to say anything. I encourage taking the approach advocated in Whole Child/Whole Parent, in which Polly Berrien Berends helps frame parenthood as an incredibly difficult and rewarding opportunity for personal, emotional, and spiritual growth. Parenting becomes an opportunity to be awake and aware. While this is taxing, tiring, and potentially depressing, it is ultimately extremely rewarding. Our children need this from us.
I mean this in no way to be an argument against girls (or boys, who will like to in dress-up play) wearing skirts or dresses. Especially with rain pants protecting them, dresses can be very practical, especially some sorts that make it easy for girls who have recently learned to use the toilet to do so independently and quickly.
Perhaps these stories give you permission to punch a stranger in the supermarket who compliments or insults your child based upon clothes ("Here! William Dolde said to give you this!). (Or to avoid getting yourself arrested and me sued, you might try an awkward but healing phrase such as "Yes, we all have our beauty on the inside, no matter what we are wearing" [as unsatisfying as this is compared to a good jab to the nose]).
A collection of fairy tales like "Star Money," or ones in which it is the plain daughter (or simpleton brother), or ones like "Tatterhood" (in which the sister who is tatters show resolve and autonomy) also provide an age-appropriate way of exploring this. A challenge with fairy tales, however, is that what resonates symbolically (the beautiful attire Cinderalla is able to wear as demonstration of the radiance of her soul) also manifests itself tangibly (wanting to wear a physically beautiful gown--though it may be video and picture versions of the story make this more likely).
As I wrote, even though I think many of the tales in the Grimms' collection provide what is needed at this moment in early childhood, and even while my observations convince me that "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" is a great story and was the right story for most children in the class (in an effort to be polite and avoid singling out, I alarmed some parents in my last email when I suggested that some children are challenged by the story; based on my observations, eleven children in the class really love the story, and have been reciting it along with me with delight; one parent particularly questioned the value of fairy tales--particularly the depiction of evil and cruelty--in our parent meetings; if your child has expressed discomfort with the story, please let me know), I still have ambivalence about the work of the Brothers Grimm in general--largely based on my graduate studies in English and Irish literature, where I was able to read Jack Zipes' The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding-Hood. As promised, here is a version--collected by Zipes--of what the more ancient version of this story would have been, along with a Kristevan analysis that finds Zipes' reading limited. If nothing else, I recommend you read the "Story of Grandmother" (item 3 in the long list on the link) to get a sense of how different a tale can be, and, despite or because of its potentially disturbing elements (when taken literally in addition to symbolically), how much more initiative and autonomy the girl demonstrates in this story than in most modern versions.
If you choose to read the complete analysis of this story, I recommend reading to the end of the selection so that you can see how the author weaves elements together to reach a conclusion. If this take on fairy tale literature interests you, I recommend the stories and novels of British novelist Angela Carter (a film, "Company of Wolves," was made based upon one of her short stories). In The Bloody Chamber, Carter rewrites many tales to bring forth their violent and sexual images--ultimately to seek that which is liberating for women and men (many of her novels, likewise, explore dark, sexual, violent images with the goal of finding the liberation at the conclusion; she also produces a feminist reimagining of the Marquis de Sade in Sadeian Woman). I hope I have warned you sufficiently that Carter's books are not easy reading or easy on the psyche, but they do, I believe, help in the challenge of living with the paradox of the gifts of fairy tales (and the literary canon) and the discrimination inherent in them.
Metaphor
While working through Carter to take a Freudian or Jungian or Kristevan view of fairy tales or nursery rhymes can help us on our journey of awareness, it becomes necessary to put aside our questions and troubles as we present tale or rhyme to our children (and, again, choosing to avoid a story or rhyme if we find it to disturbing). Children seek our confidence that everything will work out. In light of this here are some non-scholarly reflections on cradles, sewing up a wolf's belly, and pirates I have just written. My point is not to convince you to agree with every decision I make, but to have faith that my confidence in the material will come across to the children. Similarly, I will have faith in and support your decisions.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Monday, May 4, 2009
Vegetables, Bathrooms, Visitors, Newsletter Delay
Dear Families,
Soup Please remember that it works best when children bring soup vegetables on Monday or Tuesday. The children and I prepare the vegetables for Wednesday's soup at the end of the morning on Tuesday. I know they are not in season yet, but carrots remain extremely possible (do, please, send in greens from your garden once they are ready).
Bathrooms Children, young and old, girls and boys, seem to be making many more requests to use the bathroom at times other than "official" bathroom boat times. Kim and I have not shifted the schedule, and I have no hypothesis about why children might be feeling the urge to go more. In any event, I set up the nursery rhythm and classroom to allow Kim to attend to the individual needs of children in the bathroom. I am not recommending any changes at home--except, perhaps, to send your thanks to Kim for spending so much time in the bathroom with the children.
First Grade Visitors "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" has been just the right story at the right time for some of the children in our class, and it also provides a challenge for some of the other children in our class. Kim and I have been creative in working with this, and I strive to find solutions that help everybody. I thought it would be healthy for our group to share the experience of hearing the story with the first graders (kindergarten would also be good, but the size of the kindergarten group makes asking first grade much more practical), who will take in the story in a different way. On Tuesday, at 10am, the first graders will join us for a special telling of "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids." This should be nice for the first graders (many of whom experience me in a different mode in after care) and for our nursery children--especially because Kim's daughter is in first grade, and our nursery children show an interest in Juliana's class. If I judge it to be a success, I will invite first grade to join us again on Wednesday.
I will write more of the value of fairy tales (as well as looking at gender roles in tales) next week. In the meantime, here is a pdf of an article about the value of fairy tales, with a few sentences about "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids." This pdf is not that easy to read, and I am posting a copy outside the classroom.
Newsletter Kim Dunkley, Dyanne, and I are making final plans for the last day(s) of school, and we are holding our newsletters until we have clarified that final Wednesday. Expect a newsletter next week.
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
Soup Please remember that it works best when children bring soup vegetables on Monday or Tuesday. The children and I prepare the vegetables for Wednesday's soup at the end of the morning on Tuesday. I know they are not in season yet, but carrots remain extremely possible (do, please, send in greens from your garden once they are ready).
Bathrooms Children, young and old, girls and boys, seem to be making many more requests to use the bathroom at times other than "official" bathroom boat times. Kim and I have not shifted the schedule, and I have no hypothesis about why children might be feeling the urge to go more. In any event, I set up the nursery rhythm and classroom to allow Kim to attend to the individual needs of children in the bathroom. I am not recommending any changes at home--except, perhaps, to send your thanks to Kim for spending so much time in the bathroom with the children.
First Grade Visitors "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" has been just the right story at the right time for some of the children in our class, and it also provides a challenge for some of the other children in our class. Kim and I have been creative in working with this, and I strive to find solutions that help everybody. I thought it would be healthy for our group to share the experience of hearing the story with the first graders (kindergarten would also be good, but the size of the kindergarten group makes asking first grade much more practical), who will take in the story in a different way. On Tuesday, at 10am, the first graders will join us for a special telling of "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids." This should be nice for the first graders (many of whom experience me in a different mode in after care) and for our nursery children--especially because Kim's daughter is in first grade, and our nursery children show an interest in Juliana's class. If I judge it to be a success, I will invite first grade to join us again on Wednesday.
I will write more of the value of fairy tales (as well as looking at gender roles in tales) next week. In the meantime, here is a pdf of an article about the value of fairy tales, with a few sentences about "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids." This pdf is not that easy to read, and I am posting a copy outside the classroom.
Newsletter Kim Dunkley, Dyanne, and I are making final plans for the last day(s) of school, and we are holding our newsletters until we have clarified that final Wednesday. Expect a newsletter next week.
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Rain pants rule changes for May
Dear Families,
Now that May has come, the official policy is that teachers decide if rain pants are required each day. Because in the nursery many children come to school dressed in outside clothes, and because I want to free nursery children from a crowded and busy hallway as much as possible, I am going to trust parents to decide whether rain pants are needed or not. If you need some sort of guidance or rule to help each morning, one you might decide the following way
1) If it has rained the night before or is raining in the morning, use rain pants.
2) If it has been dry and warm the day before and is still, no rain pants.
Kindergarten teachers have been asking for sun hats. Because the nursery children are outside earlier and in the woods a great deal (so there is both a lot of shade and chances for sun hats to get lost), they are less essential for this year's nursery class, but do plan on procuring one for kindergarten in the fall.
With rain and sun,
William Dolde
Friday, May 1, 2009
Preview of Newsletter, Brief Summary of Meeting
Dear Families,
Expect a newsletter later next week. Here are three topics I will write about, which we touched upon in the meeting.
1) Thoughts about media and young children.
2) Thoughts about fairy tales and young children.
3) Thoughts about gender roles, stereotypes, and young children.
For topic 1, I told parts of stories, read from a book, and showed a disturbing clip from The Lion King in which Mustafa is trampled to death. While some parents expressed appreciation for an experiental process, and while this experience is one I learned to share years ago and have done so because it does help start a discussion, I want to make sure, when I write you again, that I am not leaving parents with the idea that tv or dvds are OK as long as they are not as graphic, pumped up, and stress-producing as this scene from the Lion King. Indeed, from the Disney repertoire, I have as much concern about the way young women are portrayed and the messages this sends to young girls and boys--and over the years, the greatest challenges media exposure has brought to our nursery class has not so much been boys pretending to trample a lion king to death but rather quiet conversation among girls about whether one is pretty or not, or enough like Ariel or Jasmine (from the movies), or whether one can follow the exact script from Little Mermaid or Aladdin or The Incredibles (I have also had problems with boys excluding others because others did not know the exact script of this or that movie).
Topic 2 provoked a lively discussion because (perhaps moreso to adults, perhaps not) "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" is a compact and intense tale. Parents were open and free in sharing their opinions about fairy tales in general and whether this particular tale was the right thing for their child at this moment. From that discussion, I feel I owe you a well wrought article (hopefully by someone else, but perhaps me) about the place of fairy tale--and of coming to term with darkness--in relationship to child development and Waldorf education. It is definitely possible for me or other writers to be dogmatic--vaguely remembering that Rudolf Steiner and Albert Einstein championed fairy tales for young children so any fairy tale is good at any age--so I will only share an article if I think it just right.
We had some discussion about the language of "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" and whether would change a word such as "monster" to "wolf." While remembering that these tales are translations from the German of the work of the Brothers Grimm, who edited told tales to make them more more in sync with the emerging ideologies of the day, I talked about the benefit for young children in a classroom setting of having the teacher know the story so well that she or he is able to be consistent in telling the text. We also discussed--and parents had a wide range of views--about considerations of editing a story or book as we tell or read it to our children. Over the years, I have found it best for me to show no fear of the words and say them ("monster," "death," "hatred," and soforth)--better for me to save the book or story until a child's older if I feel I have to edit it (there are, of course, exceptions, being surprised by a library book or book somebody hands you that you are reading with a child and have not had a chance to preview). I respect parents making their own decisions. We are always trying to artfully trying to find the balance between protection and the benefit of learning through trial, and different children and families find themselves at different points on this balance.
A problem with meetings based on experience is that they don't share every experience that is part of the class, or Waldorf education, or life. The meeting will have failed miserably if years from now parents remember their child's nursery class--"Oh yes, that was the class where what's-his-name told scary stories all year"--because I was unable to also present the many puppet shows I have presented throughout the year. As such, I invite you to come hear me tell a story I put together with folk themes from several stories at Mayfaire. I will be telling "The Fiddler and the Fairies" at 1 and at 2:15pm in the Sunflower Room (families are gathering outside first). This is not a story I memorized from text but one I composed myself, and I specifically try to prepare it without a written text (I am not telling it over and over in a classroom setting, so changes from telling to telling are not as disturbing). It tends to be more silly than scary (though the fiddler is abducted by fairies because they like his music so much, so listeners in a culture at a time when this abduction seemed imminent and manifest would likely be more on the edge of their seat), and some of the musical jokes recognize that parents and children will listen together, and the jokes are more for the parents.
About topic 3, I talked a little bit about Jack Zipes, and my revulsion towards "Little Red Cap" or "Little Red Riding Hood" as put forth by Perrault, Brothers Grimm, Golden Books, and onward. I talked about a more ancient version of the tale in which the girl helps herself. I will try to produce this version for the newsletter.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Expect a newsletter later next week. Here are three topics I will write about, which we touched upon in the meeting.
1) Thoughts about media and young children.
2) Thoughts about fairy tales and young children.
3) Thoughts about gender roles, stereotypes, and young children.
For topic 1, I told parts of stories, read from a book, and showed a disturbing clip from The Lion King in which Mustafa is trampled to death. While some parents expressed appreciation for an experiental process, and while this experience is one I learned to share years ago and have done so because it does help start a discussion, I want to make sure, when I write you again, that I am not leaving parents with the idea that tv or dvds are OK as long as they are not as graphic, pumped up, and stress-producing as this scene from the Lion King. Indeed, from the Disney repertoire, I have as much concern about the way young women are portrayed and the messages this sends to young girls and boys--and over the years, the greatest challenges media exposure has brought to our nursery class has not so much been boys pretending to trample a lion king to death but rather quiet conversation among girls about whether one is pretty or not, or enough like Ariel or Jasmine (from the movies), or whether one can follow the exact script from Little Mermaid or Aladdin or The Incredibles (I have also had problems with boys excluding others because others did not know the exact script of this or that movie).
Topic 2 provoked a lively discussion because (perhaps moreso to adults, perhaps not) "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" is a compact and intense tale. Parents were open and free in sharing their opinions about fairy tales in general and whether this particular tale was the right thing for their child at this moment. From that discussion, I feel I owe you a well wrought article (hopefully by someone else, but perhaps me) about the place of fairy tale--and of coming to term with darkness--in relationship to child development and Waldorf education. It is definitely possible for me or other writers to be dogmatic--vaguely remembering that Rudolf Steiner and Albert Einstein championed fairy tales for young children so any fairy tale is good at any age--so I will only share an article if I think it just right.
We had some discussion about the language of "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" and whether would change a word such as "monster" to "wolf." While remembering that these tales are translations from the German of the work of the Brothers Grimm, who edited told tales to make them more more in sync with the emerging ideologies of the day, I talked about the benefit for young children in a classroom setting of having the teacher know the story so well that she or he is able to be consistent in telling the text. We also discussed--and parents had a wide range of views--about considerations of editing a story or book as we tell or read it to our children. Over the years, I have found it best for me to show no fear of the words and say them ("monster," "death," "hatred," and soforth)--better for me to save the book or story until a child's older if I feel I have to edit it (there are, of course, exceptions, being surprised by a library book or book somebody hands you that you are reading with a child and have not had a chance to preview). I respect parents making their own decisions. We are always trying to artfully trying to find the balance between protection and the benefit of learning through trial, and different children and families find themselves at different points on this balance.
A problem with meetings based on experience is that they don't share every experience that is part of the class, or Waldorf education, or life. The meeting will have failed miserably if years from now parents remember their child's nursery class--"Oh yes, that was the class where what's-his-name told scary stories all year"--because I was unable to also present the many puppet shows I have presented throughout the year. As such, I invite you to come hear me tell a story I put together with folk themes from several stories at Mayfaire. I will be telling "The Fiddler and the Fairies" at 1 and at 2:15pm in the Sunflower Room (families are gathering outside first). This is not a story I memorized from text but one I composed myself, and I specifically try to prepare it without a written text (I am not telling it over and over in a classroom setting, so changes from telling to telling are not as disturbing). It tends to be more silly than scary (though the fiddler is abducted by fairies because they like his music so much, so listeners in a culture at a time when this abduction seemed imminent and manifest would likely be more on the edge of their seat), and some of the musical jokes recognize that parents and children will listen together, and the jokes are more for the parents.
About topic 3, I talked a little bit about Jack Zipes, and my revulsion towards "Little Red Cap" or "Little Red Riding Hood" as put forth by Perrault, Brothers Grimm, Golden Books, and onward. I talked about a more ancient version of the tale in which the girl helps herself. I will try to produce this version for the newsletter.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Monday, April 27, 2009
Watching Maypole tomorrow, meeting follow-up to come
Dear Families,
An early childhood newsletter will come out next week, and I will include an approximate summary of yesterday's meeting along with some follow-up texts (I hope to publish Jack Zipes' ancient version of "Red Riding Hood" in which the young girl saves herself). It came to my attention that parents were not able to download "Fielding Children's Dreams" from Whole Child/Whole Parent. I gave printed copies to parents present at the meeting and will put a copy in your folder if you were not present. If you were able to download or view "Fielding Children's Dreams," please let me know.
As you may have observed, the big Maypole stands near our classroom, ready for Sunday's Mayfaire from 11am to 3pm. On this Tuesday, from 11:45 to 12:30pm, our nursery class will watch the elementary grades practice for Mayfaire. We will give our children the option of watching from inside or outside (William outside, Kim inside, for example). This will be instead of our rest and fairy tale (with the festivities, music, and dancing outside our window, it would be unwise for me to try to present our quiet end of the morning in the usual way). As such, please look for your child outside first as you come to pick up tomorrow.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
An early childhood newsletter will come out next week, and I will include an approximate summary of yesterday's meeting along with some follow-up texts (I hope to publish Jack Zipes' ancient version of "Red Riding Hood" in which the young girl saves herself). It came to my attention that parents were not able to download "Fielding Children's Dreams" from Whole Child/Whole Parent. I gave printed copies to parents present at the meeting and will put a copy in your folder if you were not present. If you were able to download or view "Fielding Children's Dreams," please let me know.
As you may have observed, the big Maypole stands near our classroom, ready for Sunday's Mayfaire from 11am to 3pm. On this Tuesday, from 11:45 to 12:30pm, our nursery class will watch the elementary grades practice for Mayfaire. We will give our children the option of watching from inside or outside (William outside, Kim inside, for example). This will be instead of our rest and fairy tale (with the festivities, music, and dancing outside our window, it would be unwise for me to try to present our quiet end of the morning in the usual way). As such, please look for your child outside first as you come to pick up tomorrow.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
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