matters calendaristic

FRIDAY CONFERENCES/OFFICE HOURS

Just about any Friday when school is in session between now and June at 11:30am presents a serendipitous time for our parent & teacher conference (or check-in if we have already had a conference). I will put a sign-up sheet in the classroom. You can email me back if you want me to sign you up.

CLASS MEETING/DISCUSSION, FEBRUARY 16, 5-6pm

2 talks that would have been great for us--Johanna Steegmans and Kim John Payne--have been cancelled. There is a talk from Karen Benson next Tuesday. I wonder if you nursery parent are hungry for a chance to gather as adults. A time that works well for me is Thursday, February 16, from 5 to 6pm (it is before the EC open house, aimed at drawing new families to our school). I imagine this meeting would be a discussion, not a lecture. If possible, we could go more into the social inclusion work of Kim John Payne and how I see it working in an early childhood classroom. Please email me, talk to me, call me, or write me a note to let me know if you would like to attend. If only 1 family wants to attend, I can make that time our parent & teacher conference. If there are 2 or 3 families, I'll give them the option of how to proceed. As the days become longer, we can try to find ways to bring adults and children together at pot-lucks and the like. This is to say that I present this potential February 16 as an opportunity, not as a burden.

LYNNE AWAY and then WILLIAM AWAY

There is no class February 20-23 for winter break. Lynne will be away the Wednesday and Thursday before break (15 and 16). William will be away the Monday and Tuesday after break (27 and 28). We are trying to get 1 substitute to be there all 4 days (with Lynne or William, as the case may be).

POSSIBLY NO CLASS APRIL 2-4

When the kindergartens close for rising first grade assessments, the original intention is for the nursery to be closed as well. There remains confusion around this in official calendars, for which I apologize. My vision is that if the kindergartens are closed, the nursery will be closed as well (that is from April 2 to April 12; the assessments and Spring Break). I have heard talk that the rising first grade assessment schedule might change. If kindergartens are open, the nursery will be open. I will keep you posted.

An Appreciation of Fruit

AN APPRECIATION OF SHARING FRUIT IN THE WOODS WITH YOUR CHILDREN

Often using the word "rhythm" to describe the process, a Waldorf early childhood teacher creates a schedule of a morning or day that allows time for vigorous movement (often called out breaths); and for times of quietness and interpersonal and self awareness (inbreaths). It is wonderful working with my kindergarten colleagues, with your children, and with my memories of children I have taught in the past: each group of children asks for nourishment in unique ways; each teacher answers this request in unique ways. Just when I thought I'd "never" serve fruit in the woods again because it had unsettled past groups (children focusing to whether they got as much as another; children expressing a sense of lack, a sense of competition; this mood lingering into the outdoor play of the children), your children have had the intrepidness to dispel my false conclusions.

We have a lovely time when we gather--after the longest nursery hike I've ever taken, longer than I thought I would take--to share apples, pears, and satsumas (thanks to Lynne). I still cut the apples and pears in half to display the stars in the center. The children wait with ease and equanimity. Rather than competing, children make sure I am not forgetting to serve their classmates. Your children have helped me to meet and nurture them where they are. They have also reminded me to celebrate and respond to the present: this current outdoor snack routine would not work so well if our class grows in size. Rather than worry about what if (a good what if for the school), I remain confident that we would shift and find other ways to create a rhythm or the morning that supports the children.

Lynne and I have been supplying a lot fruit recently and have source to bring quantities of organic fruit to school. Although the harvest season is over, if you find yourself near a bounty and want to share a bag with the class, wonderful. This is an invitation, not a request or exhortation; please feel no stress about it. It is great if each family can bring a vegetable or veggies for the soup on Wednesdays.