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.
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Friday, June 17, 2011
Saturday Furniture and Ice Cream
Dear Families from Rosebud and Dewdrop,
I am including you in this post for 2 reasons
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.
Thanks for your support of the school.
William
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I am including you in this post for 2 reasons
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.
Thanks for your support of the school.
William
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Saturday, June 11, 2011
No Summer Playgroup
Dear Families,
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.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
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Monday, June 6, 2011
Seaweed, check your folders, Wednesday
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.
Blessings,
William
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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.
Blessings,
William
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Thursday, June 2, 2011
Clean-up Crew Next Wednesday
Dear William,
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.
Antonio Machado
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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.
Antonio Machado
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Summer Beach Fridays
Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families,
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 ;)
Looking forward to it,
Ashley, Thor, Anna & Evelyn
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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 ;)
Looking forward to it,
Ashley, Thor, Anna & Evelyn
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Location:Maxwelton Rd,Clinton,United States
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Flowers Next Week
Dear Families,
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.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
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Location:Maxwelton Rd,Clinton,United States
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