Dear Families,
Here is another document as background for my talk on November 8. It involves ideas to inspire us to plan for our time with our young children.
Expect an invitation to the lantern walk on Friday, November 12, soon.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Public Talk, Monday, November 8
On Monday, November 8, I will host a parent evening in the Butterfly Classroom from 6:30 to 8pm. This is open to nursery and parent & child families as well as to others in our school community and the Whidbey Island, Mukilteo, and Everett Communities. While I will direct my talk toward parents of young children, some insights may be of interest to parents of older children as well.
The topic will be
As preparation, parents may wish to read the following selections I have put together.
"Beyond Personal," my summary of a way of speaking described by Polly Berrien Berends in Whole Child/Whole Parent.
Here are some general thoughts on speaking to toddlers that I have collected.
Sometimes the seas are rocky. Here are thoughts I collected on how to speak to a young child during times of tantrum and other intense times.
With Warmth and Light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
The topic will be
Confident Captain, Zen Captain
Guiding Our Family Ship Through Calm Waters
and Wandering Rocks
As parents and teachers, we find ourselves presented with a wealth of resources on how to parent, how to teach, how to discipline, how to speak to our children. At times it often seems we have too much information and would wish for clarity and simplicity. Should we be stricter? Or are we being too strict? Are we giving enough choices or too many? Many well written articles and books seem to contradict one another: some argue that what our children need most is form; others petition for giving our children freedom.
Our children, of course, need form and freedom, and--here is the rub--every child or group of children needs a different mixture of the two at different times. Using the metaphor of a captain at sea, William Dolde will gather insights he has gained from teaching, from reading, and from his own mistakes (shipwrecks) to suggest ways we can find a balance that works for individual families. The captain has to be confident to gain the trust of the crew; the captain has to be competent. Yet the captain must also be flexible and respond to the winds and the waves. The captain must also be observant and friendly to the crew; otherwise, the captain invites mutiny.
As preparation, parents may wish to read the following selections I have put together.
"Beyond Personal," my summary of a way of speaking described by Polly Berrien Berends in Whole Child/Whole Parent.
Here are some general thoughts on speaking to toddlers that I have collected.
Sometimes the seas are rocky. Here are thoughts I collected on how to speak to a young child during times of tantrum and other intense times.
With Warmth and Light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Friday, October 15, 2010
Articles on Toddler Conflict
Dear Families,
As I mentioned in class, I have no intention of swamping parents with reading material. It happens that I have had a number of meaningful questions and comments from parents that remind me of articles to distribute.
Here are two articles about conflict among young children. The first comes from Sophia's Hearth, in Keene, NH.
Sophia's Hearth (named to remind us of the wisdom that comes from domestic activities such as baking and cleaning in the heart of the house) was founded by Susan Weber, a Waldorf kindergarten teacher who wanted to help bring the gifts of Waldorf early childhood education to very young children. The story goes that Weber, along with kindergarten teachers Cynthia Aldinger and Rena Osmer traveled the country in an old station wagon (some of these details are probably getting embellished with years), looking at infant and toddler care centers and parent & child programs. Finally, they arrived in Los Angeles and the RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) classes of Magda Gerber. Instantly they felt a connection could be made. Weber went on to train with Gerber (and at Loczy in Budapest, Hungary, where Gerber picked her up wisdom) and to create Sophia's Hearth as a place to train parents and teachers, hold Waldorf parent & child classes, and to create a model childcare center for children birth to three. Weber makes a clear link with the work of RIE in all her literature. I find a number of the other articles on the Sophia's Hearth website helpful.
The second article about conflict is by RIE instructor Beverly Kovach. Her article is addressed to caregivers (adults working children in larger group situations). In our mixed age parent & child classes, we have more adults and children of different ages, so our careful observation may inspire us to intervene more than a caregiver might in the classroom described by Kovach.
Kovach was one of my instructors when I took my RIE 1 training in Los Angeles. The Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library has a number of books by RIE founder Magda Gerber. 1, 2, 3 . . . The Toddler Years, also in the library, has helped many parents of young children through times of biting, hitting, separation anxiety, sibling rivalry, and the like. Many elements of Gerber's work resonate with what we provide in the Waldorf classroom; there are some variations.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
As I mentioned in class, I have no intention of swamping parents with reading material. It happens that I have had a number of meaningful questions and comments from parents that remind me of articles to distribute.
Here are two articles about conflict among young children. The first comes from Sophia's Hearth, in Keene, NH.
Sophia's Hearth (named to remind us of the wisdom that comes from domestic activities such as baking and cleaning in the heart of the house) was founded by Susan Weber, a Waldorf kindergarten teacher who wanted to help bring the gifts of Waldorf early childhood education to very young children. The story goes that Weber, along with kindergarten teachers Cynthia Aldinger and Rena Osmer traveled the country in an old station wagon (some of these details are probably getting embellished with years), looking at infant and toddler care centers and parent & child programs. Finally, they arrived in Los Angeles and the RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) classes of Magda Gerber. Instantly they felt a connection could be made. Weber went on to train with Gerber (and at Loczy in Budapest, Hungary, where Gerber picked her up wisdom) and to create Sophia's Hearth as a place to train parents and teachers, hold Waldorf parent & child classes, and to create a model childcare center for children birth to three. Weber makes a clear link with the work of RIE in all her literature. I find a number of the other articles on the Sophia's Hearth website helpful.
The second article about conflict is by RIE instructor Beverly Kovach. Her article is addressed to caregivers (adults working children in larger group situations). In our mixed age parent & child classes, we have more adults and children of different ages, so our careful observation may inspire us to intervene more than a caregiver might in the classroom described by Kovach.
Kovach was one of my instructors when I took my RIE 1 training in Los Angeles. The Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library has a number of books by RIE founder Magda Gerber. 1, 2, 3 . . . The Toddler Years, also in the library, has helped many parents of young children through times of biting, hitting, separation anxiety, sibling rivalry, and the like. Many elements of Gerber's work resonate with what we provide in the Waldorf classroom; there are some variations.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Good job and praise
Dear Families,
Thank you for your presence in class this morning. It is wonderful to observe the joy and engagement of our children as they work and play.
Some of you heard a discussion about the phrase "good job" and how praise can inhibit learning. I mentioned two articles and am making them available below. 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.
Parenting and teaching is an art, and we are always moving toward balance. I would be remiss if I suggested you should never praise your child. Specific, appreciation of a child's effort and loving and perhaps silent witness of our children's achievements every day are wonderful. Without worrying too much about it, the more we can be fully present in the situation and describe what we actually see ("You put on your boots all by yourself. It took a while, but you kept trying") rather than leaving the present moment with an evaluative statement ("You are a good boy.), the more we help our children stay in the present moment, learn from it, and develop in a graceful way.
Next week I will write more on this from the perspective of discipline and guiding our family ship through the waves and currents of the day.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Thank you for your presence in class this morning. It is wonderful to observe the joy and engagement of our children as they work and play.
Some of you heard a discussion about the phrase "good job" and how praise can inhibit learning. I mentioned two articles and am making them available below. 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.
Parenting and teaching is an art, and we are always moving toward balance. I would be remiss if I suggested you should never praise your child. Specific, appreciation of a child's effort and loving and perhaps silent witness of our children's achievements every day are wonderful. Without worrying too much about it, the more we can be fully present in the situation and describe what we actually see ("You put on your boots all by yourself. It took a while, but you kept trying") rather than leaving the present moment with an evaluative statement ("You are a good boy.), the more we help our children stay in the present moment, learn from it, and develop in a graceful way.
Next week I will write more on this from the perspective of discipline and guiding our family ship through the waves and currents of the day.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Monday, October 4, 2010
course for parents from our librarian
Dear Families,
MaryBeth Dickerson, who runs our Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library, has let me know about a course for parents. I am providing the description of the course below, and how you can sign up.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
It's only a few days away and I am really excited about the
upcoming 6-week telecourse,"Essential Elements of Early Childhood".
I had such a great conversation last week with Rahima Baldwin
Dancy, author of, You are Your Child's First Teacher, I've decided
to play the overview/introduction we did for this upcoming series.
This call is free, so jump on early to get a spot!
Here is the free registration link http://www.
230 Melrose Dr, Pawleys Island, SC 29585, USA
MaryBeth Dickerson, who runs our Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library, has let me know about a course for parents. I am providing the description of the course below, and how you can sign up.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
It's only a few days away and I am really excited about the
upcoming 6-week telecourse,"Essential Elements of Early Childhood".
I had such a great conversation last week with Rahima Baldwin
Dancy, author of, You are Your Child's First Teacher, I've decided
to play the overview/introduction we did for this upcoming series.
This call is free, so jump on early to get a spot!
Here is the free registration link http://www.
Once you are registered, you will receive the call information in your email.
You will also have instant access to the call we presented about a week ago,
"3 Ways to Create a Nourishing Home for Your Child"
It was given by 3 Waldorf early Childhood teachers and chock full of tips!
230 Melrose Dr, Pawleys Island, SC 29585, USA
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