Follow-up from Strunk and White Talk

Dear Families,

Thank you for being so responsive and offering your insights and experiences during yesterday's Strunk and White Speak to Children talk. From the positive response I have received, I intend to offer this talk again in the fall--perhaps with a different title so more parents will be inspired to attend. Other of my talks for next school year may include, "An Apology for Self-Esteem," "Making Choices about Choices," and "Here, Eat a Carrot Instead: Apparently Crazy Discipline Ideas from Experienced Teachers that Really Work."

During Sunday's talk, I spoke about the articles describing the research on the inverse power of praise--that too much global praise (good job, good girl, great job, you're so smart) can make a child risk averse and less likely to prosper academically, emotionally, and socially. I have published links to these articles before, but I offer them again here to make them easy to find.

This article from New York Magazine offers a parent's perspective on the research.

This article from Scientific American Mind is by Professor Carol Dweck (the researcher mentioned in the previous article) and is a bit more formal in nature.

I look forward to seeing many of as begin our new Spring Session this Thursday and Friday. We will have new finger games, songs, and a puppet show for the spring--along with Maypole dancing at the end of each class (the fiddle with Brother Wind's green cloth will be there, too). Call the school if you still need an application--341-5686.

Applications for next year's 3 day nursery class are also available. Please call Adam Fawcett at school (341-5686) to procure one. You may also visit www.wiws.org to obtain documents.

Please know that beginning in the 2009-2010 school year, our administration and board are launching a 100/50/0 tuition policy for new families (with the goal of giving current families the same benefit as soon as possible). This means that for a family's second child enrolling at our school, that child's tuition will be half of what it would normally be. The third child comes to school for free. This is part of a larger plan to make Waldorf education as accessible as possible to all families in the South Whidbey and surrounding areas. Please share this information with friends who may have dismissed our school because they assumed the tuition for multiple children would be unaffordable.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Brochures and Applications Available

Dear Families,

The brochures/applications for the Dewdrop and Rosebud classes for the spring session are now available outside the Butterfly Classroom. After this, the final week of our winter session, the spring session commences on March 26 & 27.

Here is a preview of the schedule for the spring. There are 8 classes and one open festival.

Week 1 -- March 26 & 27
Week 2 -- April 2 & 3

closed for Spring break (April 9, 10, 16, & 17)

Week 3 -- April 23 & 24
Week 4 -- April 30 & May 1
Week 5 -- May 7 & 8
Week 6 -- May 14 & 15

no classes May 21 & 22 (The Waldorf School has an altered schedule on the 22nd as a snow makeup day. Many of our Rosebud families will have older siblings without school on that day).

Thursday, May 21, Parent & Child Summer festival open to all current families, friends, alums, and guests. Details and location to be announced.

Week 7 -- May 28 & 29
Week 8 -- June 4 & 5

Applications and Intentions for next year's nursery class

Thanks to families who included their enrollment intentions for Rosebud children when returning renrollment forms for their older siblings. You may procure an application for next year's nursery from our enrollment director, Adam Fawcett. It would be helpful to know what current or past Rosebud families have thoughts of starting the nursery next fall (or later in the year). Our faculty is in a process of allocating our teaching resources where our skills will be of most help to the school, and it will help this process to have at least an estimate of what 3 day nursery enrollment will be next year. Please share your thoughts about your child's enrollment for next year with me by email (wdolde@gmail.com) or in person--or tell our administrator, Maureen Marklin. She and Adam share an office upstairs; both can be reached by phone at 341-5686.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Spring Festival This Thursday

Dear Families,

       I look forward to seeing many of you this Thursday, March 12, at 9:30am for our spring festival.  Although the weather should be warmer than the past of couple of days, it is an outdoor festival, so please be prepared with warm clothes.

       While the children often find the festival more magical and nourishing if they can have the experience without explanation beforehand, I am offering a more detailed description of the events for adults so that you can be prepared to help if needed (please do not share with children).

9:30am  Children and parents arrive.  Bread and butter, water, and herbal tea will be available in the shelter near our playground.  If you are bringing cut vegetables to share, please bring them here.  Children play and/or eat.

9:45am (or when it seems all families intending to attend have arrived), William will play music, sing, and present a fingerplay or puppet show, depending on the weather.

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 cosmos seeds 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 intimated 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 a few more yards to another clearing in the wood.  There Sister Rain will greet us and water each pot.  We thank Sister Rain.

10am (or so)  We emerge from the woods (another few yards) and head back toward the playground.  There, Father Sun greets us.  He ties a spring crown around William's head.  Next it is ideal if Father Sun ties a spring crown on each child's head.  If there are a lot of children, William and parents can help Father Sun.  Again, it is nice if we avoid a sense of hurry.  Some children, of course, will not feel comfortable with a stranger putting on a crown; parents are welcome to help their own child with their crown.  We thank Father Sun.

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.  This particular cosmos (which you can plant outside after 6 weeks or so) is supposed to help attract butterflies. to remind you of your time in the Butterfly Room.  Each child is welcome to take a crown home.  If you enroll in the spring session of parent and child classes (beginning March 26), please bring the crown to class.  We will decorate the crowns with wool roving and embroidery for May Day.  

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.

Lyrics to songs William will sing (he will repeat them and you are encouraged to sing along)

Spring is coming, spring is coming.

Birdies build your nest.

Weave together straw and feather,

Doing each your best.

Spring is coming, spring is coming.

Flowers are coming, too.

Pansies, lilies, daffodillies,

Each is coming through.

Spring is coming, spring is coming.

All around is fair.

Shimmer, quiver on the river.

Joy is everywhere.

Mother Earth, Mother Earth,

Take our seed and give it birth.

Sister Rain, Sister Rain,

Shed thy tears to swell the grain.

Father Sun, Gleam and glow,

That the roots begin to grow. 

Brother Wind, breathe and blow,

That the blade green will grow.

Earth and Sun, Wind and Rain,

Turn to gold the the living grain.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Simplicity Parenting -- from a nursery discussion

Dear Parents,

       Please remember that there are no parent & child classes on Thursday and Friday March 12 & 13.  You are all invited to attend our Spring Festival on Thursday, March 12, from 9:30 - 10:30am outside.  Grandparents and special friends are invited to attend a puppet show and discussion on Friday the 13th (children can come along from 9 until 9:15am, then parents take children home while grandparents and friends stay for discussion and food and entertainment).  Please do RSVP to Christyn Johnson at school 341-5686 or whippet2me@aol.com if a grandparent or friend of your child's will be coming to school next Friday.

       The final classes of the winter session are Thursday and Friday, March 19 & 20.

        Here was a discussion with my nursery families about the Simplicity Parenting lecture that you may find relevant.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde