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.

William absent Tuesday, Thanksgiving, Transformation, Update

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.

Change in communication

Dear Nursery Families,

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.

Thank you for your patience and support.

William Dolde


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October 14 Potluck Cancelled

Dear Families in Nursery and Apologies,

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).

Blessings on your week,

William


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Office Hours Reminder, Woodland Walks, Imagination and Vigor

Office Hours

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
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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.



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Location:Young Child Autumn Festival