This blog provides a place for parents and teacher to share articles, insights, and information for the Butterfly Nursery Class at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School.
WILLIAM ABSENT TUESDAY Lynne will teach the class. Cordula will assist her.
THANKSGIVING We have no nursery class on November 21 to 24. School is closed.
TRANSFORMATION Breaks, such as the one in 8 days, and the three week break over Christmas--and, indeed, the wisdom that comes from this inner time of year--often create remarkable transformations in the play and social work and imagining of a group of young children. It has been a joy to watch the flow and transformations in our social interactions thus far, and I expect great shifts and fluidity in the months ahead.
UPDATE I try to avoid overburdening inboxes. From time to time a parent & child question inspires a response that makes me think, "Some nursery families might like to read about this, too." I will be sending along such an update in a few minutes.
Because Google no longer allows me to add new families to a google group directly, the nursery blog does not seem the most effective way to communicate with current nursery families. I will email families directly. I will copy emails and archive them in the blog, but after this message, new blog postings will no longer come to your email inbox.
You can visit butterflynursery.blogspot.com at any time to keep up to date. You can even sign up to follow the blog at the site if you want to be informed of every update.
With apologies, I find I am overcommitted on Friday, October 14 and cannot attend a potluck at Maxwelton Beach from 5 to 7pm.
My understanding is parent & child families are investigating a gathering during class time (9am). I encourage nursery families to seek gatherings outside of school (though with Michaelmas and the Autumn festival, we have had good opportunity to come together).
This is a reminder that I hold office hours every other Wednesday in the Butterfly Classroom. Please sign up for a 2 hour slot in advance. Upcoming dates are October 5 (1:30pm slot has been taken; 2pm is open) and October 19. I will put a list inside my door if you want to sign up in advance.
Woodland Walks
Yesterday, Monday, we took our first walk into the woods. We returned to the bower in which we met Mother Earth during Friday's festival. Although she was not there, children found great satisfaction in climbing, balancing, and pretending (lumber work on the trees). The class has also seemed to bond to me and to each other, so I feel more confident about being the woods and being able to keep track of our children. I intend for us to be able to go to the woods each day and have a healthy bit of time on the playground. Our indoor snacks will take place earlier (the children more rather than less pasta yesterday with snack earlier).
Imagination and Vigor
Indoors and out, all our children show an ability to play imaginatively and socially in a variety of ways. I have never seen some of the simple classroom toys--such as a silk or piece of wood--used in such a variety of ways, in such rapid succession (a piece of wood is a guitar, then bagpipes, then a power tool, then on and on). It is inspiring to see children using their imagination in this way.
More than a couple of our children are quite strong, and strong in a variety of ways. They move big and small pieces of wood about the room. They receive great benefits from this combination of imagination (building a delivery truck, for example) and gross motor physical work (getting the mind and body in sync, as it were). For some children, the ability to discern the safety of the other is not in the front of the mind (it would be too much to expect it to always be there, but we are working toward it). I am trying very hard to be available to keep children safe--AND many of your children are strong and quick, and it a moment a piece of lumber can strike a face or body. I want to stress that this is not an issue with one or two children but a quality living in the class as a whole--nor is it in any way unhealthy (while still being challenging).
The children occasionally become stuck when they all witness an inspiring, imaginative use of something (a small tent, for example), and 3, 4, or 5 children all wish they could be doing exactly the same thing--and some of them wishing they could do it alone. This is not a new dynamic to an early childhood program, but it is an element I am working with pretty directly and consciously in our group.
With Warmth and Light,
William - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, Parents, Grandparents, and Friends are invited to our Autumn Festival on Friday, September 30, from 10:30am to 11:30am.
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.
Explanations of a psychic battle inside each of us or battles with dragons can be too much for children birth to 4, who, rather, find seasonal inspiration as days shorten and nights lengthen by looking in wonderment toward 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.
On Friday the 30th parents and children will gather outside to play and share a snack. We will also have a harvest dance to tune of 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.
Again, this festival is open to current nursery and parent & child children and to all families in our community with young children. Please contact us at 341-5686 or enrollment@whidbey.com with any questions.
Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families (and friends),
Here are 3 events to keep in mind this week:
1) Monday, September 19, Vanessa Kohlhaas will speak about conflict resolution with young children in the Butterfly Room, 7 to 8:30pm. Visit wiws.org for more information.
2) Beginning Wednesday, September 21, and repeating every other week (October 5 and October 19), I will hold office hours in my nursery for parents who prefer an in person conversation (children allowed if that makes it possible for you to attend). Each time there will be a 1:30pm and 2pm slot. Email wdolde@gmail.com, and I will reserve a spot for you.
3) On Thursday, September 22, I am holding a joint class meeting for nursery and parent & child families in the Butterfly Classroom from 6 to 7pm. All adults welcome. Please be aware, however, that this will be a discussion, not a lecture (as in past years). While I will follow the lead of the group, I will be prepared for the following:
A) To lead us in exercises and games to give a feeling for Waldorf early childhood education.
B) To preview books in the Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library.
C) To follow up upon and discuss Vanessa's lecture on conflict amongst young children.
D) To suggest how I have adapted Kim Payne's social inclusion work into my early childhood teaching.
E) To talk about the all school Michaelmas celebration on Thursday, September 29, and the young child celebration at 10:30am on Friday, September 30.
At about 6:50pm, provided there is interest, I will then speak about specifics of this year's nursery class, what we are doing now, and where we are going (I will also provide this information in writing if members of our class cannot attend). If there is robust interest, I am glad to stay past 7pm to continue this conversation.
The frequency of adult evening events will not be so great in coming weeks.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Below is a wonderful course for parents offered by my friend and colleague, Susanna Reynolds....highly recommended(!)
Dyanne (kindergarten teacher at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School)
Family Foundations: A Course to Nurture Parents of Young Children
When parents consciously work on their own development and self-discovery, the lives of their children are affected in a positive way. This course draws upon a spiritual approach to parenting children from birth to seven to inspire balance, self-discovery, joy, hope, health and most of all: trust in oneself as a parent.
Monthly Saturdays, 9am-2pm, consist of the following classes:
Welcoming Warmth ~ From hand-play games to festival -- a variety of ways to play, move, sing and craft for, and with, children.
Developmental Dynamics with Susanna Reynolds This course will be a supportive conversation and experiential workshop to develop skills and understanding in parents of the lively dynamics of the first seven years in a parent and child's life together. Subtle and practical resources will be given for parenting relating to both parents' and children's developmental needs.
Painting/Arts with Flora McEachern Content in the Developmental Dynamics class will be experienced through the fluidity of color to strengthen the life forces through experiencing warmth, equilibrium, and deeper rhythmic breathing. From individual colors to dynamic composition, parents will have the opportunity to artistically explore painting in a healing environment.
Child Development/Life with Susanna Reynolds and guests including Holly Koteen, Johanna Steegmans, Mary Oak and Flora McEachern During this time we will explore the physiology of childhood in the first years of life, observed and described in many ways. We will be working from the basis of anthroposophy and the principles of Waldorf education. This time together also includes the opportunity for parents to share and ask their questions.
Orientation Session: Tuesday, October 11th, 6:30pm-8:30pm
8 Saturdays: Oct. 15 , Nov. 12, Dec. 10, Jan. 14, Feb. 11, March 10, April 21 and May 12.
Presented by Sound Circle Center. Held at Seattle Waldorf School, 2728 NE 100th St, Seattle
Course Fee: $620; $930 for couples Register here Faculty bios available here
For more information, contact Flora McEachern: floramceachern@gmail.com or 206-501-6266
Forward email
This email was sent to dyannedea@hotmail.com by information@soundcircle.org | Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Sound Circle Center | PO Box 15279 | Seattle | WA | 98115
Enough have sent along pictures, and we are close enough to the gesture of a new school year with new classes for the children, that I think the time is ripe for me to make collages of last year's nursery class.
My goal is to send the pictures I have on Sunday night/Monday morning and pick them up on Tuesday. I'll work out getting them to you in an efficient way (thought probably not mailing except for those who have moved away).
If we get any more pictures after Tuesday, I can always reprint a 2nd set of collages with additional pictures, so let us not make this into a Dickensian tragedy but keep it at the Dickensian comedy level.
Dear Nursery Families and Friends and Anyone Else Interested,
I have finished recording birthday songs for students in the Butterfly Nursery for the 2010-2011 school year. Visit
http://williamdolde.com/fr_birthdaysongs.cfm
to hear or download individual songs. You should also be able to download every song at once.
Thank you to the first father who sent a picture for the collage. It would be great if as many of last year's nursery families as possible could email me photos in the near future.
I hope to finish recording birthday songs from last school year this week. As I finish them, I am emailing them directly to the child's parents. I also intend to post all the songs on williamdolde.com for those who are interested. I will let you know when I have done so.
In past years it has been challenging to get a satisfying picture of our nursery class, whether by a formal photographer or parent. Just recently I made some collages of pictures of my boys at Walgreens. It was easy and satisfying. It occurs to me this could be an effective (non stressful) way for us to remember the nursery year.
If you would send an email to me with a photo of your child attached, I will gather as many as I can and order collage prints from Walgreens. I am glad to pay for 15 5 x 7s and give them to you at the beach, at school, or when I can. If you want more (or aren't going to be by the school or Maxwelton beach to pick one up), I can email you the photo, and you can print out a bigger or smaller size. I'll let their computers randomly arrange the pictures, so there will be no worries about me seeming to have a teacher's pet (though Lynne did request that her photo be the biggest in the collage :)).
Because the pictures will be small in the collage, we also need not worry about photo quality. I am more interested in including as many children as possible in the collage (including children who left our class before June), so please allow timeliness to overrule artistic idealism.
My email is wdolde at gmail dot com--for those who have forgotten.
Dyanne, William and Vanessa, Anne has asked if we can help get the word out about her summer camps which are a little under enrolled. If you feel comfortable could you send the info out to your contact lists. thanks Kim
Dear parents of young ones,
Here is some about the camps offered at Full Moon Rising farm this summer, please pass this information on to others you may know. I can highly recommend them ....Hope you are all having a lovely summer.
Farm & Wilderness & Yoga Camps
The Confluence of the magical and practical sides of nature...
We have hosted Farm and Wilderness Camps for children since 1997. Children and adults enjoy the magical, rural setting on Whidbey Island, nestled on the edge of a vast forest between two bays. Art, nature, crafts, song, story telling, yoga and games come together to teach the value of the environment, the impact of food choices, the stewardship of the land, and the kinship with the animals.
Scholarships: If finances are stopping you from attending, please call us and lets work something out!
Animals, Art and Nature
For children ages 6-11
Animals and nature become the inspiration for your child’s creative spirit. Children will make their own outdoor studio and working with color, clay, paints, plant and animal based material children will explore their originality. Camp includes farm animal care, harvesting from the gardens, games in the woods and a hike to Double Bluff Beach.
July 11-14
9 am -3pm Cost: $200
Coyote Camp
For children ages 6-9
Come adventure into the woods in search of the trickster Coyote and down to the beach on trails leading from our farm. We will explore various trails above Double Bluff, learning about our natural environment through fun hands-on activities and games. We will begin our days on the farm and in the woods and end our days at Double Bluff Beach exploring the watery environment.
July 18-21
9am-3pm Cost: $200
Dancing Goat Yoga Camp
We are having so much fun in the Teen yoga camp I wanted to offer this camp to a younger group. So here you are. Playful yoga all week mixed with farm life, yoga themed art, and a trip to the beach. We will learn yoga poses, make delicious lunches from farm fare, and milk goats. We will share stories and journal in the woods and by the sea and make "beautiful" crafts.
Ages 9-12 July 25-28
9 am -3pm Cost: $225
Radiant Moon Yoga Camp
A playful week of yoga, art, friendships, water, animals, herbs and tasty food. Fourth year running and with a new name -you know we will be having a great time! Includes a two night (optional) sleep over this year too!
Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families and Friends,
As some of you know, I live on the parade route. You and your family and friends are welcome to use my driveway or deck to view the parade. I may be transporting one or both of my sons in the parade itself.
After the parade is over you are invited for a Rise Up Singing singalong. Prepare to sing loud because my sons will likely play percussion. I'll provide some simple snacks gluten full and gluten free.
A number of early childhood families from WIWS plan to gather at Maxwelton Beach at 10am (feel free to come later) today and will do so each week. I'll be there this week.
1) Some of your children will join the Butterfly nursery next year. 2) We've received thoughtful feedback that it is good to include all parent & child families in all opportunities for the school. What follows is traditionally an invitation to do manual labor (one we might have shielded new families from). Feel invited but not obligated.
As some to many of you may know, the carpets were cleaned this week. Tomorrow at 9am WIWS asks families who can to come to the school to move furniture back into the classroom. It normally goes quickly.
I will be working at the restaurant tomorrow morning. I will go later tonight and set up the Butterfly Room (I have no furniture that I can't move myself; I have donated away the couch and will replace it with a fresh piece of comfy furniture later this summer). Please feel invited to come tomorrow morning, nonetheless. It is likely we will need help moving for other classrooms in the school.
If you find yourself at school tomorrow with a surplus of movers and seek a way to contribute to the Butterfly Room, the windows and shelves and corners and crevices would always appreciate a deep clean. This is also something we will do in informal work days in late August or early September--so it is an invitation for tomorrow, not at all an obligation.
Please pass along the following information. While last summer's playgroup was sweet, it was also small. I also had 4 children guaranteed all summer, and this summer I do not have this consistent group. I want to create a successful experience for students and myself. At present I have only 1 student enrolled for 2 weeks, and even if there were a sudden rush of a few families, it would not be enough to make the program feel like a group for the students.
I recommend you contact Cordula Hetland if seek child care this summer. Her phone number is 360-321-5608. Her email is hetland_cordial@hotmail.com. She is a trained and experienced Waldorf early childhood teacher from Germany; she leads our extended program at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School; and she is offering care at her home this summer. Her home-based program may better serve the needs parents in the community have in terms of schedule and flexibility with ages of children and group size than I am able to serve at school.
I look forward to seeing you at the Waldorf School in the nursery or parent & child classes, at festivals, and throughout the year. My boys and I plan to attend a number of Wednesday and Friday morning (11 to 3; though I've heard different times) Maxwelton Beach gatherings if you want to stay in touch that way.
A steadfast proponent of vegetables, I've started serving cut cucumbers and bell peppers with our bread for the past month, and a number of children eat these raw veggies with relish. Heartened by this enthusiasm, I brought seaweed as a treat to have with our rice today, and a number of children were excited, allowed the seaweed to delight their palate, and found joy and presence in discovering they could make little sushi rolls (as I did) with their rice and seaweed. I had 2 reflections I wanted to share.
Among polarities, we are always trying to find the right balance between simplicity and texture (not that these 2 have to compete). I try to avoid a snack time with so many choices that children then feel satisfied with nothing because they are then wondering if the other choice would have been better; indeed, we try to figure out what the children tend to eat and serve it without the need to ask a lot or any questions (e.g., the seaweed was offered 1 piece at first and then children could tell us they liked it and receive more). That said, I would like to provide more and more vegetables with snack time, and I know that these do not have a great deal of calories, and I can't rely upon them as the main source of energy for the morning for the children, so I am trying to offer them as discrete choices.
The second reflection I have is on manners and play and food. I go through this as a parent, and have gone through witnessing relatives exhort my sons to eat their salads with a fork (like their dad my sons have been fond of salads from the start) while that same relative was eating french fries and a burger with fingers. I did actually watch tv once (perhaps a previous lifetime), and remember a Seinfeld episode in which George and others eat chocolate bars with knife and fork. So much of what we consider polite is culture or family specific. In the nursery, we do a lot of gentle movement towards encouraging children to use spoons to eat their soup veggies or rice, and some of this does indeed seem appropriate; we are a gateway to a broader social world, and many people in America expect you to eat a vegetable soup with a spoon (some Japanese restaurants would provide an obvious exception). At the same time, children take such delight and are so engaged when given a culturally permissible way to eat with their hands, such as wrapping rice in seaweed or nibbling on crunchy bell pepper and cucumber. I don't have answers here. I am just noting a line of inquiry.
In any event, next year I intend to explore more of this enhancing the snacks in a simple and consistent way--probably having seaweed available on rice day (children were so happy with it I promised I would bring rice and seaweed to any potlucks I was invited to this summer), the cucumber and bell pepper on bread day, and perhaps something like a a Southwest seasoned quinoa on Thursday with organic lettuce for children to make wraps with if they want (not a promise; I'll do some tests). I don't tend to offer bread on soup days because I observe that some children given the chance to eat bread will avoid trying soup all year (and other children who would really like the soup also start avoiding the soup), which seems a shame to me--I am an admitted card-carrying vegetable-centric person (leafy greens are the food I think I would be saddest about having to give up).
Please check in your parent folders. I have gifts for your children that are all the same, and I find they have a better chance of making it home organically if they are in your parent folder. I will have them there first thing Tuesday morning.
Again, on Wednesday, drop-off will be as usual. Please plan to be at the playground for pick-up no later than 11:30am. Butterfly, Sunflower, and Golden Forest children and teachers will parade together from the woods to meet and gather with parents there. It is evolving, but I believe we would like parents to make an arch for us to process through. Then parents take their child's hands, and we will say or sing a blessing for the year. We will also likely have a poem and song in memory of Phoebe. Then parents and children will eat strawberry shortcake in a fairly relaxed way. We will gather at the end for a closing song.
I plan to be at many Friday Maxwelton days and hope to see you there.
Could you please send out a nursery email asking for volunteers to help clean up after the strawberry shortcake party? I am hoping to lighten the burden on the K families a bit.
Thanks, Lucy
--
You walker, there are no roads, only wind trails on the sea.
In class on Thursday I mentioned the tradition of a school gathering at Maxwelton beach on Wednesdays. It now seems that there is a gathering specifically for early childhood families on Friday mornings at Maxwelton from 10am to 2pm. I will try to make as many of those gatherings as I can beginning on June 17. The invitation below comes from a kindergarten assistant and parent of 2 children in kindergarten.
Hello kindergarten (early childhood) families, We are planning to gather on Fridays at Maxwelton beach from 10-2 during the summer, to stay connected and have fun. Please join us! Last summer we found that sometimes there were many of us, sometimes few, but Maxwelton is so fun anyway. If this day/time doesn't work for you please let me know, and perhaps we can work on something else. I am also planning on sending this info out to nursery parents, so spread the word to all early childhood folks, new and old ;)
I look forward to seeing you this Friday at our combined festival with families from Mukilteo, Everett, and beyond at Mukilteo Beach. I'll play the fiddle in the cabin of the 11am ferry.
Next Wednesday our Butterfly children will gather with students from Golden Forest and Sunflower at a point away from school. We will process back to school together (we may ask parents to form an arch for us to walk under as we return; confirmation to come), join parents (again, we expect every child to have a parent or parent by proxy present at this 11:30am gathering; please let me know if no one can be present for your child), and sing a blessing all together before concluding our school year with strawberry shortcake.
It will help our events of the day to have fresh cut flowers in advance. We will have buckets set up on Monday and Tuesday for parents to drop off flowers. Thanks for helping to make our closing festival full of wonder.
We normally chop the soup vegetables you bring on Monday. Because of the holiday, I have procured a generous quantity of already chopped vegetables, and I will inspire my sons to cut up some more before school tomorrow.
This is to say the soup will probably be sufficient no matter how much else comes in.
If, however, you are inspired to bring your soup vegetables tomorrow, and you find yourself with a few extra minutes in the morning at home, it would be wonderful if you or you and your child could chop some up, and you can put the vegetables right into the simmering pot when you drop off your child.
Children and Carrie or I can also chop a few more vegetables while we are on the playground, so feel free to bring in whole vegetables as well.
We will also celebrate 2 birthdays this week, and children will be able to help me set up a shade garden in honor of Phoebe.
Looking forward to seeing you and your children tomorrow,
I sent along to many of you cartoons that summarize the discussions from Faber and Mazlish's book Siblings Without Rivalry. If you have not received these and would like a copy, please contact me (wdolde at gmail.com), and I will be glad to send along a batch. This was in response to a parent's request for help when time is short. Below a few other resources that have helped parents in a pinch over the years.
First, a caveat I've uttered before. Although I find Siblings Without Rivalry a really helpful book, I wish the name were slightly less emphatic. I wish the name were "Siblings With Just Enough Rivalry to Help them in Their Development" (this would probably be harder to market). My understanding from reading books such as Your Child's Self-Esteem by Dorothy Corkille Briggs and the work of Kim Payne is that children need a bit of jealousy, conflict, and rivalry to develop (Kim Payne warns us to avoid a harmony addiction). Briggs tells us that when there is too much jealousy, children then tend to shut down, and development stops. Kim Payne calls this the moment at which conflict becomes stuck and an adult needs to bring presence to the situation (not always doing something; sometimes Payne tells us, "Don't just do something! Stand there!" Sometimes children need our nonjudgmental presence as witnesses). I think Faber and Mazlish would agree, of course: I just want to make sure none of us are deluded into steering our family ship to a nonexistent (and ultimately unhealthy) cove devoid of any conflict or rivalry.
That said, I find rereading Siblings Without Rivalry or How to Talk So Kids WIll Listen or How to Talk so Kids Will Learn refreshing. By dipping into their cartoons that summarize the chapters, I am able to wake up and bring presence to situations that I had fallen asleep to, whether with my sons or in the classroom: "Oh yes, that's where I could have been trying a different way."
If the excerpts from Siblings Without Rivalry brought help, you may enjoy How to Talk so Kids Will Listen--which has more examples of parent and child interactions. Here's a link to one preview of this book http://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Kids-Will-Listen/dp/0380811960
You should be able to find it at libraries as well. If you are short on time, skip to the cartoons at the end of each chapter--with effectiveness they encapsulate the kernel of each chapter's argument.
Our WIWS library houses a number of cds of lectures by Kim Payne. Over the years, a few parents have found The Compassionate Response lecture to be water in the desert when they found themselves at a breaking point. If you do not want to wait for the library to open again, you can order the CD directly from Kim Payne's web-site: http://www.thechildtoday.com/Catalog/
Katrina Kenison's Mitten Strings For God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry provides support and reflections on a variety of topics that translate what one thoughtful mother learned at a Waldorf school into ways of being at home. This should be available at libraries. Here's a taste of the book from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Mitten-Strings-God-Reflections-Mothers/dp/0446676934.
IF YOU HAVE SLIGHTLY MORE TIME
I find Eckhart Tolle's books easy to read, transformative, and helpful to review frequently. His guidance toward presence and awareness helps me greatly as a teacher and parent. I would recommend either Power of Now or A New Earth. His web site contains a great deal of content: www.eckharttolle.com.
IF YOU HAVE MORE TIME
Polly Berrien Berends' Whole Child/Whole Parent travels through world religions and literature to reflect upon what it means to be a parent, what we are to learn in this process. Many of her conclusions work in harmony with Tolle's.
Dorothy Corkille Briggs Your Child's Self-Esteem was one of the few books Magda Gerber recommended. It seems to me that Briggs, like Faber and Mazlish, like Goleman and Gottman (Emotional Intelligence), like Louise Gurney, continues a stream of reflections about child development that are in harmony with Haim Ginott's teachings at Columbia's Teacher College and his books such as Teacher and Child.
You can start immersing yourself in the works of Rudolf Steiner in audio format for free by visiting www.rudolfsteineraudio.com. You might start with Anthroposophy in Everyday Life or the Education of the Child. Steiner was often lecturing to people familiar with his descriptions of the material and spiritual worlds, so a first listen or read might feel a bit much (after repeated reads, I can hold on to the cohesion of his images).
I am aware of the irony that this note is a bit long for help in a hurry. I look forward to seeing you at our summer festival Friday.
Free and open to the public, please RSVP: development@whidbey.com
Mukilteo Early Childhood Center will be hosting our end of the year Summer Festival on June 3rd at 11:30am for children 6 years old and younger and their families. Bring a picnic lunch for your family and we will have strawberry shortcakes to share. We will be meeting families coming from Whidbey Island Waldorf School at 11:20am at the Mukilteo ferry terminal and processing to Lighthouse Park with the violin music of WIWS Parent/ Child teacher, William Dolde. Once we are there, we will gather for some dancing and sing a song welcoming summer. Then, we will enjoy our picnic lunches, strawberry shortcakes, and bon fires.
Please RSVP so we will be sure to have enough strawberry shortcakes for all to enjoy. For RSVP or for more information, please contact: development@whidbey.com
I hope to see you there!!!
Warmly, Vanessa
Vanessa Kohlhaas Whidbey Island Waldorf School (WIWS) Mukilteo Early Childhood Center (MECC) Development Director
Whidbey Island Waldorf School is excited to be establishing a statellite early childhood program at the new Rosehill Community Center. If you want more information or are interested in supporting this project: Please contact Vanessa at 360-221-2270 or enrollment@whidbey.com
Our contribution to the strawberry shortcake party on Wednesday, June 8, will be that several families are needed to purchase and cut up organic strawberries. Families willing can talk to Lucy Yanz about this, and she will be keeping track of the amount of strawberries needed.
While it has been a pleasure to dance about the Maypole with the Butterfly Children for the past 4 weeks, I want to share with them my lap puppet show of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears for our final 8 classes (3 of these will be birthday celebrations; and one will be our final day of school). This story has often seemed just right for nursery children as in their play and social interactions the find points of balance in an active and imaginative life full of flux.
We will celebrate 3 birthdays in our final 2 weeks of school (summer birthdays for children who joined us after the year was underway). We will also wish Lynne a "bon voyage" as she departs to visit her daughter after this week. Children will get to experience her warm hello in the fall (whether in her class or as we meet in the hallways and playgrounds).
The following information about our last day of school, Wednesday, June 8, comes from our kindergarten newsletter.
The last day of all early childhood class is on Wednesday, June 8. Please join the Butterfly, Sunflower and Golden Forest classes for our last day celebration at 11:30. We will be serving strawberries and shortcake with mint water. If you are not able to come at 11:30, please arrange for your child to be connected with another parent who will be there, and let your child's teacher know of your arrangement. (Also, we would like to hear from all families enrolled in extended care whether or not you will be using the extended care on Wednesday June 8. Please let Cordula know your plans.)
The three classes will be making merry that morning (June 8) before 11:30 and would like to have a slew of fresh flowers for head wreaths and other adornments. Please bring a bouquet of fresh flowers on Monday or Tuesday of that week (June 6 and 7). We will store them in buckets of water until Wednesday morning.
Beginning after Memorial Day, we will have a large basket labeled "lost and found" in the hallway. Please go through your child's cubby and clean out any unnecessary items. Please put anything that doesn't belong to you in the basket. Also, periodically go through the basket to see if you recognize anything.
We are always taking donations for our extra clothes bins. Let us know if you have any such items.
On Friday, June 10th, 1:00 we will need a few hearty volunteers to help us move the furniture out of our rooms and into the perfectly stacked bathrooms in preparation for the carpet cleaners.
Finally, from me, William, expect an update about our nursery and parent & child summer on Friday, June 3 soon (it will likely take place at 11am in an exciting new location).
This week you received a note from WIWS administration about a new drop-in option for before school care (7:30 to 8:30am) and extended day care from 3pm to 5:30pm. If you plan to avail yourself of these options, please attend to the communication expectations in the original email.
Here I wanted to clarify that a drop-in does not exist for nursery or kindergarten children from 12:30 to 3pm. The 12:30pm to 3pm program is full and unable to accommodate any new students. Even were there space, the nature of the 12:30 to 3 program--a nap in a classroom with an unfamiliar teacher and unfamiliar children--is not one we would recommend on a casual basis. It is a program that seeks to serve well children who need it on a regular and consistent basis.
I apologize for any confusion created by the school's original email. With the exception of our two Butterfly children who already stay at school for lunch and nap, the only drop-in program available for current nursery children is the before care from 7:30 to 8:30am. Here again you must make contact with Lucy Yanz to arrange care.
I have had two clarifying conversations with families, and want to pass along what we discussed for all current and potential students.
If you have enrolled your child for 5 days next year, do not worry. We will not force you to switch your child's enrollment to 4 days for next year.
Conversely, if your child is enrolled for 5 days next year and you would like to entertain the idea of having your child remain in the 4 day Butterfly Classroom next year, please let me know. We can have administration alter your child's contract.
Finally, if you have registered your child for 4 days but think there may be a compelling reason that you would seek 5 days of school before next school year is out (you are in a job search, for example), please let me know. That would be a compelling reason to place your child in the Sunflower or Golden Forest Room next year.
Below I am going to summarize options for next year in Early Childhood by age. They are not rigid rules, but guidelines. As you can see, there are multiple options.
Parent & Child classes; Friday at 9, Friday at 11:30; children birth to 4
Monday to Thursday early childhood; children 2 and half to children turning 5 after June 1 (children aged 3 and half to young 4 could be in any of 3 classes)
Monday to Friday kindergarten; children 3 and a half to six (rising first graders are expected to attend kindergarten 5 days a week).
The faculty and board at WIWS have approved a change to the nursery program. Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, the Butterfly Nursery will now be a 4 day, Monday to Thursday class. All students in the Butterfly nursery will receive 4 day contracts and attend 4 days a week.
What does this change mean? It is likely that a number of current nursery students will remain in the Butterfly classroom next year. I will adjust the curriculum to meet the children where they are. For many of my previous 8 years of teaching nursery children, I have had classes that combined older 2 year olds, 3 year olds, and young 4 year olds, and I feel confident in my ability to create a program that nourishes children of diverse ages.
The Butterfly Nursery will continue to welcome children as young as 2 and a half. We will also continue to welcome children who turn 4 after June 1 of the school year (that is, children with birthdays after June 1, 2007, for the 2011-2012 school year). We have had such a robust enrollment of 2 and 3 year olds in the past 2 years that we have had to place young 4 year olds in the Sunflower or Golden Forest classrooms to make space for 2 year olds. While we may still have a healthy interest from families of 2 year olds, our kindergartens are almost full for next school year, and we want to do our best make sure we have space for new families to our school with 5 and 6 year olds. Because the mix of early childhood families as a whole changes from year to year, we adjust our classes to best serve the community of students and family as a whole.
When we finalize our class lists in early August, we will take into consideration my conversations with current nursery families about wishes for next year. As with every year, we try to ensure that children have peers. We avoid placing, for example, one young 4 year old in a classroom with all 6 year olds--or a young 4 year old in a class of all young 3 year olds. We also take into consideration your family's history with our school teacher--that is, if your child has older siblings who have been with Kim or Dyanne for before, it is more likely your child will be in that class. Please contact me with concerns or questions as soon as possible.
Prospective and current nursery families (indeed, all early childhood families) should know that enrollment for all early childhood classes is robust. It is likely that all 3 early childhood classes could be full with a wait list at some point earlier or later in the summer. Please return contracts or applications to reserve your child's spot.
I will continue to offer 2 parent & child classes next year on Fridays. In addition to a 9 to 11am class, I will also offer an 11:30am to 1:30pm class. In Baltimore this 2nd class time served a number of families well: infants and young toddlers who still take a morning nap; children of any age who take a slightly later afternoon nap; slightly older children who fare better with a smaller and younger group.
It has been heartwarming to observe a play scenario that has emerged inside the past two days. A child has been inviting all children in the class to a party and making it clear that every child is invited (not necessarily every child drifts over, but most do). As with much social and imaginative play, much of the joy and work is in planning. There is great fluidity, and children add ideas, and the process keeps flowing along and changing. FIrst on Monday the party was going to be for thieves, and everyone could be a thief, and then this quickly shifted into a birthday party, and then metamorphosed into a pretend school party in which some students were in 2nd grade and others were in 1st grade (without a lot of tension). Clean-up was very easy that day because I asked the 2nd and 1st graders to help, and it seemed natural to our children to pitch in like these venerable and seasoned students of their imagination.
Remember that you are all invited--siblings, too, of course--to join me and parent & child families at Maxwelton Beach this Friday from 5 to 7pm for a potluck.
As parents who have been in the school a number of years know, after May 1 students need only wear rain gear on an as needed basis. It has happened that we've had pretty wet and rainy Mays, so "as needed" may end up being every school day. If, however, we receive some dry weather, we can start wearing fewer layers.
Here are ways to help you make a decision. The Sunflower kindergarten posts their rain gear decision outside their classroom door. It would be good to follow this decision, especially for families with siblings in that classroom.
I will likely wear my snow pants through the end of the year. Inevitably I end up sitting on the ground in the forest with a child in my lap, and my outdoor pants preserve my indoor ones.
We also have sand and water and muck available to play with; some children may have more freedom in their play if they are not so worried about keeping indoor clothes clean and dry--a reason to keep on with rain gear most days.
Children tend not to need sun hats in our class--we are in the woods for an hour, and while some sun comes to our playground, we are not there for such a long time.
Finally, if you dress your child and the weather warms up, Lynne and I let children take off layers once we come to the playground; it is ideal to have a few light layers so it is easy to adjust. A t-shirt with a heavy winter coat might create only too hot or too cold options.
Hope this helps. Thanks as always for taking your child's clothes home on Wednesday. This really helps to create a welcoming feeling for parent & child families.
With aspirations towards warmth and dryness (but not so quickly that we have to dispense with our bonfires),
I wrote a number of you individually about the evolving cooperative play scenarios coming to life in the Butterfly classroom and outdoors. On Wednesday again a theme of fire fighters working together to create big structures to burn down and then rescuing the structures was an important theme. Girls and boys both worked on this project for a long time, and children put their imaginative muscles to good use in devising costumes to wear for their roles--there were a number of baskets improvised as helmets.
Wednesday also provided a lot of opportunities for physical exertion and purposeful work. Lynne has been taking larger and larger groups of children (sometimes the entire class) on longer and longer walks exploring the woods near our bonfire. At our playground, children helped Lynne locate the big wheelbarrow (the search was as much fun as the discovery) and then helped her move woodchips. I spotted children (by refraining from intervening unless really necessary) as they climbed and jumped from a play structure; a number seemed content with their increasing confidence and competence.
Inside I noticed how merry the children were--a bit bouncy, a bit noisy. I also noticed that the harmony of their creative play lives on even in the noisier moments. Lynne and I work hard to help children read cues, to notice the other. Does this child seek this sort of game right now? Or something quieter? Is this child feeling left out when you say only girls or only boys allowed? While we try to do this with as few words or explanations or confusions as possible, we do foster the development of these important social skills. I found nothing threatening in some of the rowdier moments of Wednesday--I was scanning the room to make sure the mood worked for all children--and the children seemed to be able to make a transition to quieter parts of the morning with grace. The classroom had a lively and healthy sense of breathing.
When I was a new teacher, I remember reading about the phenomenon of group glee, a moment in which an entire class enters an ecstasy of laughter or delight. The researcher posited that this was extremely healthy for children and almost impossible for a teacher to deal with (especially if one has an agenda of academic or even artistic or craft projects to force along). By working to simplify and refine the nursery morning to minimize a sense of haste or hurry, we perhaps create the possibility for children to flow in a natural way from activity to rest. Or perhaps I was lucky. Lynne and I are ever ready to intervene or, as Kim Payne advises aware teachers and parents, "Don't just do something! Stand there!"
As winter rolls into spring, the play of children has blossomed and grown in diverse and delightful directions. I've hesitated to write about how well I perceive things seem to be going in class because we have had one or two children consistently absent over the past 2 months, and I did not want to inadvertently suggest that a child or two are not part of the synergy of the group. Having observed children in class and elsewhere, I can now say with assurance that I have seen all the children--whether they are coming to class frequently or not--find new ways of playing and interacting with one another that has been very heartening.
With boys and girls, I have observed two parallel and apparently but not necessarily contradictory trends in the past months. At times, groups of 4 or 5 boys have been engaged in a common project--such as a construction project on the playground involving sand and mud and muck and a wheelbarrow that--la bit ike the rock os Sysiphus--tips over the moment it is filled with too much sand and much. And like an indefatigable hero from Greek myth (minus the sense of doom), children pick up the wheelbarrow and start their work anew. Among the girls, tensions about swings have abated in general, and I have observed the increasing strength and confidence as children propel themselves on the swing or push others on the tire swing. In the woods, it is not infrequent that girls will sally forth with or without Lynne to explore the trails near our bonfire (I created the trails to allow children to explore while still being near me and Lynne for safety).
I wrote a while back about one transformation in indoor play. Children who had been ostensibly afraid of a dramatic play theme such as a dragon or lion now seemed to be the ones inviting those ideas into the classroom--this was what they needed to work on. While this still occurs from time to time, I have also noticed an increased number of physical games that do not involve the idea of aggression. Mutual tumbles or wrestling initiated by girls or boys seem to bring delight to both children; last week I watched a boy and girl roll and tumble down the hill at our clearing in the woods with great delight. They'd climb, hug, roll down the hill, and laugh. A few times their tumbles were bigger than they expected, but they recovered quickly and continued their game. In the classroom, their have been some voluntary pile-ons, much like in Rugby and Football. These Lynne and I keep an eye on to make sure that every child is enjoying the game. Lots of dads and grandfathers and stepfathers have been joining the imaginative play scenarios involving moms and babies in the classroom; children have set up doctor's offices to make sure babies or moms or dads are well cared for.
While conflicts do emerge and children sometimes seem capable of getting stuck in a habit of play (e.g., the way to play is to take something away from another), I witness increasing flexibility and ability to enter the flow and hum of the classroom. It can be lively; it can be noisy; it is certainly wonderful.
We will have another informal potluck at Maxwelton Beach on Friday, May 13, from 5pm to 7pm. I will bring my guitar and copies of Rise Up Singing; if a sing-along seems right, we will make it happen.
Last February at the Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher's Conference, Johanna Steegmans (a wise woman and anthroposophical doctor from Seattle) was answering questions from Waldorf kindergarten teachers. One teacher described a situation in her classroom. She observed a group of girls playing with what seemed a delightful hum--cooperatively and quietly in the housekeeping corner with the dolls. The teacher went closer to try to hear what they were saying, and when she did, she heard one describe to the others, "And once we cook these babies, we'll eat them up." I am not Steegmans and cannot do justice to her response, but it related to how of course these 5 and 6 year old girls might need to play this out because of all the violent tumult of change in the rapid development of their inner organs. Steegmans was not telling the teacher not to do something (especially, I might say, if this game were about pretending to eat another child and really bothered that child, as well it might) but giving teachers a way to find an inspired response that came out of understanding and not kneejerk reaction (the rub of early childhood teaching and parenting, in which we find ourselves saying things such as, "Please stop licking the table!").
I know there have been some questions about what is an OK and not an OK image in child's play, and I remember writing a good deal about this 2 years ago. I am sharing the link below. The average age of the nursery class was a good deal older 2 years ago than in our currrent nursery class, so not everything would apply. I told The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids to that class, for example, and I wouldn't tell it yet to our current class. I thought it'd be helpful, nonetheless, in looking forward, to think about potentially upsetting images in fairy tales and imaginative play.
This is reminder that current, past, and future families are invited to gather at Maxwelton Beach from 9:30am to 12:30pm tomorrow, Friday, April 22 (note the new, slightly later end time for morning nappers). Feel free to bring a brunch or lunch item to share (we will have a lunch at 11:30; I know some of you may have to leave before that for midday naps). Please bring plates and utensils if you can.
You and your children of all ages are invited to an informal gathering at Maxwelton beach on Friday, April 22nd, from 930 am to noon. Please bring a brunch potluck to share. The bathrooms are open, but the garbage cans have been removed.
Over the past couple of months I have had several discussions with parents about traditions in Waldorf early childhood classrooms--specifically, that what you find in one Waldorf school you may not find in another, and that the point is not that the teachers are following a fixed schedule or list of activities, but that they are observing the children and working out of a picture of child development guided by the insights of Rudolf Steiner and creating a rhythm and environment that serves the children. We were also discussing that parents need not feel they have to do exactly "this" or "that" to be Waldorf parents (indeed, Eugene Schwartz makes fun of this concept that schools and teachers have unintentionally created, that there is only one way to parent to be a "Waldorf" parent), or to have exactly the same rules or approaches in every home--but rather that the parents, like the teachers, observe their children with presence and foster a loving environment that helps that child. In this light, it is OK if one home varies from another.
In the article below, Susan Howard--the chair of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America--describes the essentials of Waldorf Early Childhood Education.
Among the many aspects of the article I like is that Howard is able to bring the words of Waldorf education's founder, Rudolf Steiner, to light in description of various elements (love and warmth, free play, working out of imitation, adults on a path of inner development) important to Waldorf early childhood education. She also cautions us as teachers (and I would add as parents) against doing something just because every other teacher (or parent) before has done it; if in our observation and meditations it does not seem like the right activity (or if other activities fulfill the same role), we need not do it just because everyone else has.
I remember being in teacher training and hearing teachers share some of the best practices from teachers they were working with. A lot of wonderful ideas and inspirations came pouring into the room. I also sensed dread and anxiety mounting in the room as new teachers wondered how they would fit every best practice into their rhythm of the day. If they did, the day would be so stressful and hurried, no one would be nourished. At that boiling brew of ideas, I began to focus on descriptions of what experienced teachers were not doing, of what it was OK not to do. I thought of a quote I had read as I was entering public early childhood education a few years before--"The most important thing is to know when to keep your mouth shut"--and postulated for myself a Waldorf phrase, "The most important thing is to know that you don't have to try to fit everything in." Over the years, I marvel at the amount of activities I have allowed to slip away as I find my path toward what is essential in early childhood. I have a long way to go.
Howard also touches upon our ongoing discussion of the balance between form and freedom, of the benefit of working of out of imitation and not explanation in the first seven years.
Finally, Susan Howard also makes clear that Waldorf education is not anything goes; our manner toward the children grows out of observation, presence, research, and meditation.
I look forward to being with our nursery children tomorrow. Although Crispin remains will with his second round of recent illness, his mom is staying home with him tomorrow, and I'll be in class.
For the first time ever, the kindergartens will be closed for 3 days before spring break, April 11, 12, and 13, when the rest of the school, including the nursery, is open. This is to allow teachers and specialists to provide rising first grade assessments. Last year I polled potential nursery families, and parents expressed a desire for me to keep the nursery open, so that is what we are trying this year. Because I am the parent of a kindergartner who needs to be held close after all these illnesses, I will be using personal leave during those 3 days to be a dad, so Lynne will be joined by Carrie.
Please note that the kindergarten teachers changed the date of the kindergarten closures to the 3 days before Easter break. It was initially on the calendar for April 25, 26, and 27.
If you are a family with a kindergarten and nursery child, please let me or Lynne know if your child will be attending that week so she can plan appropriately. While some nursery children will be delighted to come to school when their big brother or sister is home (and parents may get a chance of alone time with the older child), others might resist coming to school vehemently with things being a bit off. I recommend looking ahead and picturing the situation without fear, but with openness so that you are not surprised on April 11.
As we transform the shelter in which Mother Earth will sit on Friday, it has occurred to both Lynne and me how nice it would be to decorate with some branches from a flowering tree.
If any of you have such a tree in blossom now and wouldn't mind pruning a branch or two to share, I would be very thankful. My ideal would be that this extra decoration would be a surprise to the children (I'll set it up Thursday afternoon), so if you are a nursery family and could drop off branches in the boiler room after dropping off your child Wednesday, that would be great. You could bring them directly to my classroom on Thursday, as well.
The Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library has a number of cds of lectures by both Kim John Payne (of whom I make frequent reference) and by the very experienced Waldorf Class Teacher Eugene Schwartz. Schwartz does an excellent job of relating the ideas of Rudolf Steiner to the practice of Waldorf Education--and in some instances, parenting.
I recently listened to his lecture 116--"Freedom of Choice, or Freedom from Choice" and want to recommend it to you (I am returning it to the library tomorrow). When I listened, it seems Schwartz's topic helped a great deal to help us as parents find the middle ground between form and freedom--what we talked about and I wrote about in relationship to manners from our parent discussion several Tuesdays ago. He describes child development in light of Anthroposophy and world history--and exhorts us as parents to realize our children benefit from different forms of discipline in different developmental periods (though as a father of 4 himself, he knows it is not easy, and that sometimes we borrow from another phase of parenting). As much as possible, we work out of imitation in the first seven years. Even as we are working to establish healthy habits in the first seven years, Schwartz encourages us to try to do this by looking at ourselves as role models and in the environments we place our children in; ideally, according to Schwartz, we need not say "no" to our children in the first 7 years because we have structured ourselves and the environment to guide children naturally toward right behavior (Schwartz acknowledges that this is easier said than done).
For children in the grades, the teacher of parent guides the children not through imitation, but through authority. The adult is like a monarch (not a dictator or authoritarian). Like I speak of elsewhere, children want to know that the captain of the ship is confident and has a sense of where the ship is going, that the Queen will feels competent to govern her home.
In both developmental phases, children receive a great gift from us if we can limit the amount of choices we give them. Too many choices too soon can paralyze a child--and eventually wake up faculties (the astral body) that are better suited to serve adolescence (and ideally to be awakened at age 35). Children want to know that we adults understand what is right; they feel cheated if we hand over decision making powers to them too soon.
Schwartz is a compelling speaker, and I recommend you listen to his lecture yourself. Of particular note, again, is his ability to introduce us to concepts from Steiner that might seem obscure in other contexts.
Please consider attending our Butterfly, Rosebud, and Dewdrop Spring Festival. Please invite friends as well.This is open to the community.
Location: Outside the Butterfly Classroom and in the woods nearby, Whidbey Island Waldorf School. Invited Guests: In addition to current Butterfly, Rosebud, and Dewdrop children and parents, friends, and grandparents, we invite all families with young children to attend. This is mainly an outdoor festival. Be prepared for the weather.
Brief Synopsis This festival provides an imaginative picture of how seasons change. Young children can experience the changing seasons as a vivid drama. After a puppet show, we will walk to meet Mother Earth, Father Sun, Brother Wind, and Sister Rain. After the walk, we will return to the playground for snacks, play, and conversation. If weather permits, I will end our festival with fiddle tunes and dancing outside.
Why a Festival? There are a number of good books about festivals in the Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library (in the lobby of our school). Here also is an article written by an experienced kindergarten teacher from Santa Cruz Steve Spitalny about festivals. Although Steve is writing for teachers in this article, he helps us as parents as well simplify and clarify our thinking about marking the seasons of the year to support our children. Festivals can be seeds of renewal, to help children adults frame the year.
While the children often find the festival more magical and nourishing if they can have the experience without explanation beforehand, this more detailed description for adults will prepare to help if needed (please do not share with children).
9 to 9:30am Children and parents come to the playground outside the Butterfly classroom. Bread and butter, water, and herbal tea will be available in the shelter. Children play and/or eat.
9:40am I will lead you into the Butterfly Classroom and will present a puppet show (children can keep shoes and coats on; we are going right back outside).
9:50am William will lead us into the woods to the teepee (the walk is 200 yards at the most). There, Mother Earth will silently greet us. She will present William with a fiber pot and plant a seed into the pot. Ideally, Mother Earth will present a pot and seeds to each child. If there are many children, and the waiting seems too stressful, William (and other parents) will help. It is nice, however, if things do not feel rushed. Some children, of course, may be intimidated by Mother Earth, so a parent could receive the gift for the child. Be prepared to help your child carry the pot. We will have extra potting soil and seeds at the end of the walk if, as is possible, your child's pot spills. We thank Mother Earth.
9:55am (or so) We walk out of the woods. Father Sun greets us.
10am (or so) We walk farther. Sister rain greets us by the fountain and waters our pots.
10:05am (or so) Back at the playground, Brother Wind greets us and presents us with a large spring cloth for dancing. We thank Brother Wind. Unless it is bitterly cold, William will play the fiddle as parents and children dance with the large cloth from Brother Wind.
10:15am Children play some more, children and parents eat more snack. Each child is welcome to take home a pot. There will be extra in case one is misplaced or spilled
10:30am Children and parents depart. Beginning at 10:45am or sooner, elementary children come outside for recess, and it will be good to leave them space.
Please call 341-5686 or contact wdolde at gmail.com with any questions.
I know your reenrollment forms are due on Friday, and you may have questions about what next year will look like. As you may or may not know, last year the Sunflower and Golden Forest classrooms became nursery kindergartens, with children as young as 3 and half to as old as 6. This was our faculty's response to a visit from Helle Heckmann in which she promulgated the value of moving toward mixed age groupings, family style groupings. We are still in the process of seeing what is the ideal way to bring Waldorf early childhood education to our community.
That being said, our ostensible plan is to continue next year as we have this year, with most or all of our current nursery children moving along to the 4 or 5 day kindergarten next year (both classes who have children who attend 4 or 5 days). Last year, we opened the potential that a child or children might stay in the nursery, but when all parents considered it, they wanted to keep their nursery children together with the peers they had developed a bond with in the Butterfly Classroom. We offer the same this year. While we expect that our current nursery students will move on, there may be reasons to consider a child or two staying (with due consideration to and attention to the social bonds that are solidifying in the spring). Please do contact me with questions or comments or concerns.
I will try to collect from colleagues or archives some words from them to describe how kindergarten is similar to and different from nursery. Last year they invited nursery parents with concerns to sign up for kindergarten office hours to talk with the teachers. A few of my families from last year did so, and I encourage you to do the same this year. Kim and Dyanne both have sign-up sheets outside their door for meeting times.
I am going to hold off from Friday night Maxwelton Beach potlucks until I know for sure the bathrooms are open (and I have a month of Friday commitments).
In the meantime, I am hoping to offer some informal gathering times for us at other times. To this end, I invite any families who are interested to join me at Castle Park on Friday, March 18, from 11:30 to 1pm or so (I have to be back to teach 4th grade violin at 1:05). Let us not try a potluck; just bring a picnic for your family. If, of course, you have a lot of extra nettle salad or kale carpaccio (or something else) you want
to share with others, that is lovely, too.
I will invite parent & child families to this gathering as well.
On Friday, March 25, from 9 to 10:30am, all nursery and parent & child families and friends in the community and visitors are invited to our early childhood Spring Festival. I will post more details soon.
And, yes, as the days lengthen and bathrooms open, I will offer more gatherings that are easier to attend for folks who work 9 to 5 (or 6 to 2).
In our open discussion after last Tuesday's talk, we talked a good deal about manners--about what seems the right amount of politeness to expect from our young children. In hoping that parents would make decisions that would work for their families, I gave stories of Michaela Gloeckler and Helle Heckmann, two experienced and strong and wise lecturers about Waldorf education. I have seen Dr. Gloeckler lecture many times, and I was fortunate to have Helle Heckmann observe my class and share her frank opinions with me (I am very proud of the one compliment she paid me) last year.
In a workshop with a number of experienced early childhood teachers, Dr. Gloeckler caused a stir by suggesting we refrain from correcting a child's speech in the first seven years. Some of this we were already doing by course (not singling out a 3 year old to point out she or he is saying a word in a less traditional way--as the endearing version of my name--Wooleyman--that circulates among the nursery suggests), but many Waldorf early childhood teachers (me included, though I was not so experienced at that point; I had learned from experienced teachers) would routinely speak polite language for a child to model it. If a child puts an empty bowl toward a teacher with no words or "More Soup!," the teacher might say, "May I have more soup, please? Yes, you may have more soup." (The teacher is speaking to herself or himself--or really, to the collective we that still obtains in groups of young children; the teacher avoids singling out the child). Gloeckler seemed to create a stir by suggesting that even this practice interfered with a healthy development of a child's sense of speech--Gloeckler is rigorous and has high expectations for teachers, one of which is we work out of imitation and not explanation in the first 7 years. She does not come across as someone who wants Waldorf graduates to be impolite slackers; she expects teachers to approach this work in an acutely aware age sensitive way (something I fall short of often by bringing explanation into my work).
In the article, you will notice Gloeckler chiding parents for correcting their children for presenting a left hand rather than a right hand to shake a doctor's hands in the first seven years--not because she does not want children to be polite, but because she has very high expectations of how we adults will work through imitation and not explanation to bring this about. Note, also, that the child was being polite already by offering a hand.
When Helle Heckmann came to observe my nursery, she felt I could expect much better manners of 2 and 3 year olds, that they could sit at a snack table without wiggling or going on their knees or complaining about soup. Her opinion was that if a child doesn't like soup and is fussing and fidgeting, we are feeding the child too much; she is used to seeing children getting hungry and tucking in to every meal they are served--a different perspective from a different country. In this light, she seemed to imply that we could give all sorts of verbal redirection at the table, even with young children, to guide them towards politeness.
Now the one compliment Heckmann paid me was when two of my students were struggling over one of my Bissells and I allowed them to continue their struggle for a good long time without intervention (I knew the children really well and knew that if one struck another they would be able to bounce back quickly like the ducks Eckhart Tolle describes and move on with their relationship; I knew they were a really even match). She lamented that she so rarely sees teachers in America really letting students struggle in their play. I give this picture to make clear that Heckmann does not want us micromanaging our children's actions throughout the day. She also told stories of being 2 and being allowed to ride her tricycle all over Denmark with a lot of freedom (different times, perhaps) and encouraging us to allow children to have this experience to.
Both Gloeckler and Heckmann are asking us, I think, to look for the right balance of form and freedom--for Heckmann, she feels freedom comes a great deal in creative play and working out conflicts without overly intellectual adult solutions; but when an activity is supposed to be formed (a meal, a story), we teachers and adults should have very high expectations for young children to be polite and part of that form. For Gloeckler, I think, form comes from the adult being present and aware and truly worthy of imitation (which is intimidating). If our child or children seem excessively rude or impolite, Gloeckler would--I believe--have us examine our own actions and attitude and see what we can alter in how we approach the world to make ourselves a more effective role model for our children.
As I said last Tuesday, I am always working to find the right balance. If I have a 4 year old who loves school but feels too intimidated to speak to me or to speak in front of a large group, and she eats all the snacks, and tentatively pushes her bowl toward me for a second helping, I may well serve her with a smile (if she could bear that much direct attention) and no words. I remember seeing a 5 year old boy throw a bag of organic popcorn at his mother's head so she would open it; in this case I would probably feel less reserved about saying something or setting a verbal limit. In my classes, I sense that some children need me to be more direct (they are perhaps being silly in an attempt to gain attention as a clown) while other children benefit more from being allowed to be in a world of nonverbal education (and I give them their rice with as much care as I can, with possibly no words).
We had rich discussions during both the first and second hours of our nursery and parent & child talk last week. During our parent support discusssion, we talked about sleep, and I gave divegent perspectivess from various wise human beings. Here is an article from Susan Johnson, a doctor and a mom who took Waldorf training.
Please remember that you are invited to a talk and discussion on the power and perils of praise--with insights gleamed from Virginia Woolf--this coming Tuesday from 6 to 7pm. From 7 to 8pm parents will discuss forming a support group or groups.
Intrinsic Motivation, Brain Research, and Virginia Woolf's Three Guineas
Butterfly Classroom
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
Tuesday, March 1, 6 - 7pm
(from 7-8pm there will be a discussion about forming a parent support group or groups)
"All this pitting of sex against sex, of quality against quality; all this claiming of superiority and imputing of inferiority, belong to the private-school stage of human existence where there are 'sides,' and it is necessary for one side to beat another side, and of the utmost importance to walk up to a platform and receive from the hands of the Headmaster himself a highly ornamental pot."
— Virginia Woolf (A Room of One's Own)
Articles on the research of Carol Dweck on the inverse power of praise have resonated with parents in parent & child classes on Whidbey Island and in Baltimore. Motivated parents have shared the article with friends and relatives. Several parents have requested a talk on tricky subject of praise, what to say instead if--following Kim Payne--we want to avoid spewing "Good Job!" all over the place, and what might be exceptions. In this lecture and discussion, William Dolde will review Dweck's research and try to offer insights into how to enable the research to help us rather than paralyze us. He will also weave in Virginia Woolf's wisdom from her 1938 non-fiction work Three Guineas (with some reference to the earlier A Room fo One's One) to explore some of the reasons why our culture tends to be asleep to common phrases of judgment such as "Good Job!" or "Is he a good baby?"
Various parents have expressed a wish to start a parenting support group, and from 7 to 8pm we will have a discussion of what forms this could take--from meeting at a coffee shop during school to meeting with a teacher at night. Parents should also feel free to bring any questions about children and parents to this second hour, and we will use our collective wisdom to try to provide paths toward finding answers. This second conversation need not revolve around praise and its alternatives.
To prepare for the first hour, you may wish to read the following two articles:
"How Not to Talk to Your Kids: The Inverse Power of Praise," by Po Bronson
Mia Michael, a kindergarten teacher I worked with and learned a great deal from when I was a Waldorf kindergarten teacher in Monterey a decade ago, shared the above article with me--a gift she had wanted to share with me after not seeing me for many years. It resonated a great deal with me, and I wanted to share it with you. While we do not per se relate classic mythic stories in the nursery or parent & child class (an image of the nursery I received when I first came to Waldorf education in the 90s was that the nursery teacher is like a sturdy farmer or woodcutter or cobbler or blacksmith, welcoming these young and heavenly children to the earth with tangible work done with warmth and love. It is then the kindergarten and grades teachers in a Waldorf school who use stories to remind children of the spiritual world above and beyond and before and after and through and in the manifest world of rain pants and snow days, lunch baskets and pencil sharpeners), I share it for those interested in thinking how the curriculum over the years in a Waldorf School will meet our children at different developmental stages. The article also helps me to think about the stories that resonate with and within me at this point in my life's journey.
It might be a great article to read before you attend the talk on adolescence and the middle school curriculum on Wednesday, February 16, at 6:30pm.
On Friday, March 11, Grandparents and other Venerable Friends of our students are invited to our school. While we have no official early childhood classes on that day, we teachers work together to share a variety of experiences with grandparents and their grandchildren. Even though there is no school, if a grandparent is coming, our early childhood children are invited along to share an experience. Our method of sharing changes year to year, but you can plan on something like the following:
At about 9am, grandparents and early childhood grandchildren will come to the Butterfly, Sunflower, and possibly Golden Forest room to engage in activities such as baking bread, finger knitting, touring the rooms, hearing songs we might sing, watching a puppet show or hearing a story, sharing a snack, and more. Not all activities are offered every year.
At about 10am (some years earlier, some years later), parents pick up their children. Grandparents stay for refreshments and brief discussion, are transported to Thomas Berry Hall, watch an grade school assembly, and then enjoy a brunch, lecture, and discussion at Thomas Berry Hall.
We will flesh out and publish details soon. Know for now that grandparents and venerable friends of EC students are cordially invited, even if your child does not have school on Fridays--and remember, no EC students, have school as usual on Friday, March 11.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde, writing for the Early Childhood Faculty
While a healthy and reasonable amount of conflict occurs in our nursery class, neither strong media images (a child insisting on being Batman or the Little Mermaid and refusing to allow others to alter the plot) or extensive gun play play a large part in the imaginative life of our nursery class. That being said, a parent in a conference asked for my thoughts about how to respond at home when a child plays pretend shooting games. What follows are some words I wrote a couple of years ago when I had children who seemed more predisposed to want to create shooting games in my class. There is also a link to an article in Mothering Magazine.
The article can help us as parents frame and clarify our responses to our child's play. I have many things I like about the article. I also find its evidence inconsistent, and it seems to promote a lot more talking and explaining than is necessarily good for children before the age of 7. Without writing a full critique, here is a list of some of my thoughts.
1. One can make all sorts of rules about gun play, but so much talking is also paralyzing and awakening for the young child. What my evaluator Annie Gross said when I asked her what to advise if a child seems stuck in gun play is that what young children really need is to be in the presence of lawful, physical work (and the chance to help themselves): digging in a big area (not just a small sandbox), watching real bonfires at home, splitting wood, pruning, cutting, moving heavy things, spinning wool, ironing, cooking, and more.
2. It is our job as parents and teachers to help a child who is stuck in play, whether it is gun play or always wanting to be the Little Mermaid.
3. Television and video game depictions of guns have no place in a child's life before the age of 12 or so (right after the age at which Eugene Schwartz recommends introducing the Harry Potter books). In a Waldorf curriculum, a child will have experienced the lawful hunters of Native American tales, the vigor of Hebrew tales, the violence and trickery of Norse and Celtic tales, the archetypes of conflict, death, and resurrection in tales of Greece and India. Then a child is more prepared to respond in a healthy way should these media images appear.
4. Narrative versions of the lawful hunter, whether with gun or bow and arrow, can be very appropriate for the 6 or 7 year older child. The Grimm's story of the 4 Skillful Brothers or How Six Men Got on the World come to mind; tales from Native American traditions in second grade also come to mind.
5. Traditional childhood games of cops and robbers and the like work best after the child reaches Piaget's stage of "Games with Rules" at about age 7 or so (this is often also the time when it is best to introduce board and card games; open-ended imaginative play should rule the day before this). A lot of learning takes place at a home play date when a group of children decide how many times you have to be shot to be dead, how you come back to life, what are rules for determining if you are hit or not, and the like. This tends to require too much talking and planning for children before the age of 7.
6. To just forbid gun play outright before age 7 can tend to make children sneaky.
7. In order to promote social inclusion, once children are really ready for gun play, it is best that these games happen at home so that other children are not inadvertently drawn into or "put-down" by being shot in a game they are not playing. Recess has too many children and too few adults for gun games to have a healthy effect at school.
8. If a child pretends to shoot another child or adult who is not playing with that child, we as adults must respond just as we must respond if a child insults or teases another child. The way to respond will not always be clear. Sometimes the response needs to be quite strong.
9. Wrestling with other children and with parents is healthy and helps develop a child's senses of balance and touch. It is a shame if gun play interferes with this process. Kim Payne often prescribes wrestling with mom or dad for children; if your child seems stuck, I recommend giving this prescription yourself.
10. With older children at home, it is a shame if gun play and technology deprive children of chances to tackle, wrestle, climb, jump and do other daring things that help them meet each other and the world with force. Children seek rites of passage and genuine encounters. While one could argue that tackle football with helmets and pads is dangerous (I played football and learned to use my helmet and pads offensively; studies are showing long term damage to professional football players from hard impacts), the too often outlawed childhood game of tackle football without pads--or ideally, the chaotic game of tackling the child or parent with the ball who then tosses it up for the next brave soul to catch--more like rugby, allows a genuine, forceful encounter, and allows for bonding through physical touch.
11. It is quite conceivable that a father or mother would use hunting as lawful, meaning work and may include a young child in this work. One could argue that in an area with, say, a surplus deer population, hunting and eating venison is a way to feed a family without making a large impact on the environment. My point here is not to open a debate about farming practices, hunting, and the like, but to help us frame a way of inquiry. The soldier is a worthy and lawful archetype, one the child will meet in first grade fairy tales and the tales from Norse, Celtic, Hebrew, Greek, Roman, and World histories in ages to come and is one that can live in us even if we choose a path of nonviolence following Gandhi or the like.
12. To force a child to be peaceful does not create peace.
