Thank you for the Advent Spiral, looking ahead

Dear Families,

If you are new to our parent & child program or are inquiring about the program, please also visit the 2009 blog for our parent & child classes.  You are welcome to look back through this blog to find archives of articles.

Thank you for so many of you for attending our Advent Spiral Saturday morning. I have sent off the stars we gathered for our classmate who could not be there. Some of you have written very positive feedback about the event, which makes it likely I will organize a similar festival next December.

Be aware of the weather this week. You can check www.schoolreport.org and follow the headings to South Whidbey school district to see their school closure decisions. We follow their lead. I will also try to contact you if you do not have older children in the school. If your contact information has changed, please let me know.

If South Whidbey Schools are delayed an hour, we can still have our parent & child classes at 9am (an hour delay for the rest of our school).

For this week only as an experiment, if South Whidbey schools are delayed two hours, let's try having our Thursday class at 10 until noon. It is such a long break it seems a shame to cancel class as long as we can try being a little flexible. If South Whidbey schools are closed, we will cancel class and you will be credited for it.

On Friday, we have to begin and end class early so that parents and teacher can proceed to the Christmas Festival at the Whidbey Institute by 10:30am. Come as soon as you drop off your older children. Because we cannot have class late, we will have to cancel this Friday's class if South Whidbey Schools are delayed (though I would be glad to have you visit for an hour from 9 to 10, even if we don't have time for our full class).

The holiday season can bring joy. It can also bring stress.  I find this chapter from Mitten Strings for God helpful as I attempt to find the right endeavor and attempt what is doable and nourishing rather than becoming overwhelmed.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

New place to collect all parent & child information

Dear Families,

As the year has progressed, it has become apparent that it will be helpful to keep the blog address for our parent & child classes at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School more consistent from one session to the next. For the forseeable future in 2009, I will keep this blog going rather than starting a new blog for each session.

You can always view my profile to gain access to past blogs.

With warmth and light,

William Dolde

Thoughts and Songs for our Advent Spiral

Dear Families,



Remember that you are invited to our parent & child Advent Spiral on Saturday, December 13, at 9:30am, at the Sanctuary at the Whidbey Institute. Please read last week's blog entry for more information. Please do rsvp to me (341-5686, wdolde@gmail.com) or contact me if you have questions. I have been singing some of the songs I will sing during the spiral in class. Here are lyrics to many or all of the songs I plan to sing. I will also bring printed copies to the festival.

In addition to being a meaningful, intimate moment for families, it is also a chance to send our prayers, thoughts, warmth, and light forward to others. As we gather to share our light, let us also send our wishes to others who are not with us in person--those in the Whidbey Island Waldorf School community, Whidbey Island, and beyond.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Invitation to Advent Spiral, Lyrics to Songs and Poems

Dear Current, Past, and Future Dewdrop, Rosebud Families and Friends,

       You are invited to attend an Advent Spiral adapted for younger children on Saturday, December 13, from 9:30 to 10:15am.  It will take place inside the Sanctuary at the Whidbey Institute.  Rather than turning left into the school parking lot on Old Pietila Road, continue down Old Pietila.  A half mile down is a parking lot.  Park and walk up the short but winding trail to your left (there is a sign pointing to the Sanctuary).  It may be possible for some cars to proceed along the road and park next Thomas Berry Hall (limited parking).  You can walk on a more level surface to reach the sanctuary from this parking lot.  Please rsvp to William Dolde wdolde@gmail.com or 341-5686.

Many Waldorf School set up an Advent Spiral for their early childhood and some elementary grade classes.  Traditionally, a class and teacher will enter a darkened space.  There will be harp or lyre or other quiet, meditative music.  A child or adult portraying an angel will light a candle in the center of a spiral of greens.  One by one, children have the opportunity to walk alone or with a teacher, light a candle from the central light, and place it along the path of the evergreen spiral.  It is a beautiful event, and like the lantern walk (and festivals and religious holidays such a Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hannukah, Holi, Solstice, and others) helps given an image of strength for the dark months of winter.  Our many lights together can light up the darkness of the months ahead.

In teaching parent & child classes, I have observed that some infants and toddlers find great nourishment from an event such as the Advent Spiral if I can adapt it.  Our parent & child Advent Spiral will take place in the morning, so the light outside will make it not quite so dark inside the Sanctuary.  Rather than having quiet harp music, I will welcome us with some fiddle tunes, and then we will sing songs about stars and from the season together (I will provide lyrics sheets) inside the Sanctuary.  My vision is that it will still be reverent, just noisier with more space for authentic infant and toddler interjections.  Rather than having children walk (or crawl!) alone, families will be invited to walk together, parents holding a child or a child's hand as they walk with a candle for the family.  I will walk along in cases where a parent needs two arms to hold a child and wants me to carry a candle. 

       Although I have adapted this festival, it may not feel just right for every child at her or his particular moment in development.  We will be singing and encouraging children to sing.  Children do not need to walk alone in front of a group.  Children do, however, need to be comfortable sitting on a parent's lap or next to a parent while others walk through the spiral.  There will be lit candles, so this will not be an appropriate place for a child to walk or crawl around freely.  If everyone arrives somewhat promptly, the festival itself should not take that long, and we welcome families to leave early if it is too hard for a child to sit.  Please contact me if you have questions.  I have seen some 6 month olds and 1 year olds enchanted by the singing and the light.  Some 1, 2, and 3 year olds find this delightful.  Other 1, 2, and 3 year olds (and their parents) find it an incredible struggle because the child is at a phase in which she or he needs to be always in motion and sitting and waiting provides more stress than is needed during this busy season.

Older siblings are welcome, but please keep the following in mind.  This festival is intended for infants, toddlers, and young preschoolers and their families.  If the older children can come as a support, sing with the family, and provide structure, it will be lovely to have them.  Some older children who have seen an Advent Spiral in kindergarten or their grades class might be frustrated because elements are simplified or missing.  In these cases, it may be best to seek care for the older child with another parent or friend.  Some older siblings, however, will be moved themselves as they witness the joy our infants and toddlers experience coming together in reverence, and having them along will be just right.

Here are lyrics to rhymes and songs I have been using in circle for this session.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde