Songs for Advent Spiral, December 9, 9am

Songs for the Parent & Child Advent Spiral

Hymn for the Russian Earth (Rise Up Singing; Round)
If the people lived their life as if it were a song
For singing out of light.
'Twould provide the music for the stars
To be dancing circles in the night.

Sanctuary (from a Sophia's Hearth Workshop)
Love prepare me, to be a sanctuary,
Pure and holy, tried and true.
With Thanksgiving, I'll be a living
Sanctuary unto you.

Harambee! (Kwanzaa song)
Harambee, Harambee, Harambee - eee.
Harambee, Harambee, Harambee -eee.
We work together and play together
In unity we are one.
We live together and sing together
In harmony we are one.
Oh sisters and brothers, all help one another.
Oh sisters and brothers, all help one another.

Dona Nobis Pacem (round; writing out the lyrics without music may not help; best to listen).

Peace Round (old English canon, words by Jean Ritchie, from a Christmas Revels songbook)
What a goodly thing
If the children of the world
Could dwell together
In peace.

Shalom Chaverim
Shalom chaverim, shalom chaverim, shalom, shalom.
L'hit ra ot, L'hit ra ot, Shalom, shalom.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.

Are you a gateway in the sky?
Are you the twinkle in an angel's eye?
Shine your starry light to earth.
Bring a thousand stars to birth.

Stars on apple, seedpod, pear.
Stars on berries everywhere.
So you guard me near and far,
Twinkle, twinkle little star.

Silent Night, Noche de Paz, Stille Nacht (apologies for spelling errors)

Noche de Paz, Noche de Amor. Stille nacht, hochheilige Nacht,
Todos duermen alredador. Alles schlaft, einsam wacht.
Todos suenan in la obscuridad. Nur das traute hocheilige paar.
Harmonias de Felicidad. Holder knabe mit lochigem haar.
Harmonias de paz. Schlaft in Himmlischer ruhe.
Harmonias de paz. Schlaft in Himmlischer ruhe.

Silent night, holy night. Silent night, holy night.
All is calm, all is bright. Shepherds quake at the sight.
Round yon virgin mother and child. Glories stream from heaven afar.
Holy infant so tender and mild. With the dawn of redeeming grace.
Sleep in heavenly peace. Christ, the Saviour, is born.
Sleep in heavenly peace. Christ, the Saviour, is born.

Silent night, holy night.
Son of God, love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face.
With the dawn of redeeming grace.
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

Parent & Child and Guest Advent Spiral

Very Young Child Advent Spiral Garden

 Huckleberry Hall

9am, December 9th, 2011

At many Waldorf Kindergartens throughout the world, the season of Advent is marked by the ceremony of the Advent Spiral Garden, an experience of moving from darkness into the light.  The garden is a beautiful spiral pathway of evergreen boughs, interspersed with pine cones, crystals, seashells, and shining stars leading to a candle in the center.  Together with a parent, each child in turn carries an unlit candle held by a rosy apple and walks the spiral path to the center, lights his own small candle from the center candle and embarks on the journey back outward, placing the apple and candle in the spiral boughs alongside the pathway.  Slowly, with each child's journey, the Light glows and grows.  It is an archetypal experience of birth and incarnation which honors the Journey of the (every)Child of Light.

Over the years, I have found our youngest children tend to find joy in a festival held in the morning, with families present, with lots of communal singing.  While we hold a mood of reverence, a festive atmosphere seems to be just right for our younger children.  When you arrive, I will be playing the violin (weather permitting).  Then I will light the first candle, and we will all sing.  In a separate post I will send out lyrics to our songs.  I'll also sing them in class on December 2.

If you have friends with infants and toddlers who may enjoy this event, please invite them.  Please also let me know so that I can provide enough apples and candles.  The festival takes about half an hour (depending on how many families attend). 

My kindergarten colleagues have with generosity shared the following article about Advent.

The Advent Wreath by Gertrude Mueller Nelson 

Ancient peoples who lived in the far north and who suffered the archetypal loss of life and light with the disappearance of the sun had a way of wooing back life and hope. These people did not separate the natural phenomenon from their religious or mystical yearning, so nature and mystery remained combined.

As the days grew shorter and colder and the sun threatened to abandon the earth, these ancient people suffered the sort of guilt and separation anxiety which we also know. Their solution was to bring all ordinary action and daily routine to a halt. They gave in to the nature of winter, came away from their carts and wagons, festooned them with greens and lights, and brought them indoors as a sign of a different time, a time to stop and turn inward. They engaged the feelings of cold and fear and loss. Slowly, slowly the wooed the sun-god back. And light followed darkness. Morning came earlier. These festivals announced the return of hope and primal darkness. This kind of success - hauling the very sun back: the recovery of hope- can only be accomplished when we have the courage to stop and wait and engage fully in the winter of our dark longing. Perhaps the symbolic energy of those wheels made sacred has escaped us and we wish to relegate our Advent wreaths to the realm of quaint custom or pretty decoration. Symbolism, however, has the power to put us directly in touch with a force or idea by means of an image or an object - a "thing" can do that for us. The symbolic action bridges the gulf between knowing and believing. It integrates mind and heart. As we go about the process of clipping our greens and winding them on a hoop, we use our hands, we smell the pungent smell that fills the room, we think about our action. Our imagination is stirred.

Imagine what would happen if we were to understand that ancient prescription for this season literally and remove -just one- say the right front tire from our automobiles and use this for our Advent wreath. Indeed, things would stop. Our daily routines would come to a halt and we would have the leisure to incubate. We could attend to our precarious pregnancy and look after ourselves. Having to stay put, we would lose the opportunity to escape or deny our feelings or becomings because our cars could not bring us away to the circus in town. But to sacrifice our wheel means not so much "to do without" wheels as it means to "make holy" this stopped time. Sacra ficere means to make holy, and holy means hale, Healthy, whole. And it is not easy to make

this time holy. We recognize that the search for holy is so urgent and real that we are vulnerable to the lure that the commercial world offers in its promise to fill in the gaps that we so painfully feel...

During Advent, we are invited to be vulnerable to our longings and open to our hope. Like the pregnant mother who counts the days till her labor and prepares little things for the child on the way, we count the days and increase the light as we light our candles and prepare our gifts... We make the wreath and light the candles, and we will gain the courage to stop the wheeling and dealing of our outer life: to sacrifice the wheels that grind away at outward "progress" at the cost of peace and justice in this distraction. The sacrificed wheel of the Advent wreath encourages us to stop and wait. The symbolic life offers us a way to live those feelings which we might otherwise avoid or deny or rationalize away. The symbols speak directly to the heart."

 

Essentials of Waldorf Early Childhood Education, Myths, Observation

ESSENTIALS OF WALDORF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

We had an edge of the seat discussion at the snack table on Friday about Waldorf Early Childhood Education, especially about what might be tradition (perhaps a good one) but not necessarily an essential "has to be there" aspect of early childhood education. If there is an aspect from the conversation I would want to emphasize, it is the following:

There are many helpful ways to be parents to our children; there are many helpful ways to be parents at a Waldorf school; what works well for one family is wonderful for that family but need not be the requirement for other families; if we are being present and observant of our children, and what we are doing seems to nourish them, celebrate. If things are not working, know that there are many paths toward releasing resistance and enabling flow to happen again.

In light of this, I encourage you to read the following article by Susan Howard, head of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America.

http://www.iaswece.org/waldorf_education/what_is.aspx

In the future, I will send more about "20 Myths of Waldorf Education" and Ingun Schneider's "Care and Development of the Hand." I would want to say 2 things about those articles now should you choose to seek them out yourselves.

Stephen Sagarin, the author of the article about Waldorf myths, holds Susan Howard's article as a luminous example of what we need more of: well researched and thoughtful language that informs us and leaves us free to observe our children and families where they are and bring together the right aspects of environment.

I would want to frame Sagarin's comments about the color black (that we may or may not be making too big a deal of keeping it away from young children; Steiner never made this prohibition in his color lectures) and about the possibility of making things too beautiful and precious for young children (he writes, with love, of his wife staying up all night to sew a beautiful doll for their children; and in contrast Steiner writing of how the most helpful dolls and toys for young children were much simpler and cruder, knots tied in a cloth with dabs of paint or ink) in the following few ways:

1) Observe your child. If it is working, celebrate (inwardly).
2) If you enjoy art and beautiful things, accept this. If it causes stress in your family to "try to keep up with the Waldorf Jones" and get your wall colors and baby dolls and everything perfect, consider the value of dirt and mud and crudeness and roughness (all natural stuff).
3) Celebrate scribbling, messes, mud, scratchiness, texture, contrast--also celebrate stillness.

This third point would be what I want people to take away from Ingun Schneider's article on supporting hand development (which I will send in the future). There are many other bits of wisdom she offers that we can talk about in the future.

At the end of Howard's article, she recommends we take a middle path, one based on awareness, presence, and observation. We should be free from doing this or that just because it is tradition or everyone else seems to be doing it. At the other extreme, it is not helpful if we move away from presence and observation and just lapse into "anything goes" with our children.

With appreciation,

William Dolde

Change in Reporting

Dear Families and Friends of WIWS and Parent & Child Classes,

For several years, this blog has been a reliable way for me to share information with current parent & child families. It has also been a way for parents and grandparents both near and far to keep in touch with our program.

Google has altered the way their groups now work, and while the blog continues to hold potential as an archive (a way to search for something I sent you 3 years ago), it is no longer a reliable way for me to contact current families. I also have a desire to minimize the strain on your email inboxes.

As such, all future messages about our parent & child classes will be emailed directly to currently enrolled families in our classes. I will make copies of the messages and post them to the blog. After this message, however, I am removing the feature that automatically sends blog updates to people's email inboxes. Feel free to visit the blog at any time to keep up to date: http://dewdroprosebud.blogspot.com/

At the blog site itself, you can sign up to follow the blog if you want to be informed of updates. Thank you for your patience and interest.

With warmth and light,

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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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.



Sent from my iPad


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Location:Young Child Autumn Festival

Monday Conflict talk, Wednesday Office Hours, Thursday Discussion

Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families (and friends),

Here are 3 events to keep in mind this week:

1) Monday, September 19, Vanessa Kohlhaas will speak about conflict resolution with young children in the Butterfly Room, 7 to 8:30pm. Visit wiws.org for more information.

2) Beginning Wednesday, September 21, and repeating every other week (October 5 and October 19), I will hold office hours in my nursery for parents who prefer an in person conversation (children allowed if that makes it possible for you to attend). Each time there will be a 1:30pm and 2pm slot. Email wdolde@gmail.com, and I will reserve a spot for you.

3) On Thursday, September 22, I am holding a joint class meeting for nursery and parent & child families in the Butterfly Classroom from 6 to 7pm. All adults welcome. Please be aware, however, that this will be a discussion, not a lecture (as in past years). While I will follow the lead of the group, I will be prepared for the following:

A) To lead us in exercises and games to give a feeling for Waldorf early childhood education.

B) To preview books in the Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library.

C) To follow up upon and discuss Vanessa's lecture on conflict amongst young children.

D) To suggest how I have adapted Kim Payne's social inclusion work into my early childhood teaching.

E) To talk about the all school Michaelmas celebration on Thursday, September 29, and the young child celebration at 10:30am on Friday, September 30.

At about 6:50pm, provided there is interest, I will then speak about specifics of this year's nursery class, what we are doing now, and where we are going (I will also provide this information in writing if members of our class cannot attend). If there is robust interest, I am glad to stay past 7pm to continue this conversation.

The frequency of adult evening events will not be so great in coming weeks.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde


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Below is a wonderful course for parents offered by my friend and colleague, Susanna Reynolds....highly recommended(!)

Dyanne (kindergarten teacher at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School)





Family Foundations:
A Course to Nurture Parents of Young Children



When parents consciously work on their own development and self-discovery, the lives of their children are affected in a positive way. This course draws upon a spiritual approach to parenting children from birth to seven to inspire balance, self-discovery, joy, hope, health and most of all: trust in oneself as a parent.

Monthly Saturdays, 9am-2pm, consist of the following classes:

Welcoming Warmth ~ From hand-play games to festival -- a variety of ways to play, move, sing and craft for, and with, children.

Developmental Dynamics with Susanna Reynolds
This course will be a supportive conversation and experiential workshop to develop skills and understanding in parents of the lively dynamics of the first seven years in a parent and child's life together. Subtle and practical resources will be given for parenting relating to both parents' and children's developmental needs.

Painting/Arts with Flora McEachern
Content in the Developmental Dynamics class will be experienced through the fluidity of color to strengthen the life forces through experiencing warmth, equilibrium, and deeper rhythmic breathing. From individual colors to dynamic composition, parents will have the opportunity to artistically explore painting in a healing environment.

Child Development/Life with Susanna Reynolds and guests including Holly Koteen, Johanna Steegmans, Mary Oak and Flora McEachern During this time we will explore the physiology of childhood in the first years of life, observed and described in many ways. We will be working from the basis of anthroposophy and the principles of Waldorf education. This time together also includes the opportunity for parents to share and ask their questions.

Orientation Session: Tuesday, October 11th, 6:30pm-8:30pm

8 Saturdays: Oct. 15 , Nov. 12, Dec. 10, Jan. 14, Feb. 11, March 10, April 21 and May 12.

Presented by Sound Circle Center. Held at Seattle Waldorf School, 2728 NE 100th St, Seattle

Course Fee: $620; $930 for couples
Register here
Faculty bios available here

For more information, contact Flora McEachern: floramceachern@gmail.com or 206-501-6266


Forward email

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Sound Circle Center | PO Box 15279 | Seattle | WA | 98115



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2 Pot-lucks next week

Dear Families,

Friday, September 9, will have 2 pot-lucks to enable families with diverse work schedules to attend.  Plan to make a day of it, or drop by one or the other.  The goal is to provide an informal way for you to connect with me and other families.

I will be at Maxwelton Beach from 10am to 1pm and from 5pm to 7pm.

William

Maxwelton Pot-luck, September 9

Dear Friends of Our Parent & Child Classes,

You are invited to gather with current Butterfly Nursery Families and Rosebud and Dewdrop Parent & Child Families at Maxwelton Beach NEXT Friday, September 9, from 5 to 7pm for a pot-luck to start the year.

Our parent & child classes will commence on Friday, September 16.  You may obtain a registration form from www.wiws.org or by visiting school--beginning Tuesday, our school will be open regular hours.

With warmth and light

William Dolde

Full Moon Rising Farm Camps

Dyanne, William and Vanessa,
Anne has asked if we can help get the word out about her summer camps which are a little under enrolled. If you feel comfortable could you send the info out to your contact lists.
thanks
Kim



Dear parents of young ones,

Here is some about the camps offered at Full Moon Rising farm this summer, please pass this information on to others you may know. I can highly recommend them ....Hope you are all having a lovely summer.




Farm & Wilderness & Yoga Camps

The Confluence of the magical and practical sides of nature...




We have hosted Farm and Wilderness Camps for children since 1997. Children and adults enjoy the magical, rural setting on Whidbey Island, nestled on the edge of a vast forest between two bays. Art, nature, crafts, song, story telling, yoga and games come together to teach the value of the environment, the impact of food choices, the stewardship of the land, and the kinship with the animals.


Scholarships: If finances are stopping you from attending, please call us and lets work something out!

Animals, Art and Nature

For children ages 6-11

Animals and nature become the inspiration for your child’s creative spirit. Children will make their own outdoor studio and working with color, clay, paints, plant and animal based material children will explore their originality. Camp includes farm animal care, harvesting from the gardens, games in the woods and a hike to Double Bluff Beach.

July 11-14

9 am -3pm
Cost: $200


Coyote Camp

For children ages 6-9

Come adventure into the woods in search of the trickster Coyote and down to the beach on trails leading from our farm. We will explore various trails above Double Bluff, learning about our natural environment through fun hands-on activities and games. We will begin our days on the farm and in the woods and end our days at Double Bluff Beach exploring the watery environment.

July 18-21

9am-3pm
Cost: $200


Dancing Goat Yoga Camp

We are having so much fun in the Teen yoga camp I wanted to offer this camp to a younger group. So here you are. Playful yoga all week mixed with farm life, yoga themed art, and a trip to the beach. We will learn yoga poses, make delicious lunches from farm fare, and milk goats. We will share stories and journal in the woods and by the sea and make "beautiful" crafts.

Ages 9-12
July 25-28

9 am -3pm
Cost: $225

Radiant Moon Yoga Camp

A playful week of yoga, art, friendships, water, animals, herbs and tasty food. Fourth year running and with a new name -you know we will be having a great time! Includes a two night (optional) sleep over this year too!

Ages 12-16
August 1-5

9am-3pm
Cost: $250





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Contact Anne Mauk 331 4087






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Maxwelton Parade Open House

Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families and Friends,

As some of you know, I live on the parade route. You and your family and friends are welcome to use my driveway or deck to view the parade. I may be transporting one or both of my sons in the parade itself.

After the parade is over you are invited for a Rise Up Singing singalong. Prepare to sing loud because my sons will likely play percussion. I'll provide some simple snacks gluten full and gluten free.

Cheers,

William


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Beach at 10am today, Friday

A number of early childhood families from WIWS plan to gather at Maxwelton Beach at 10am (feel free to come later) today and will do so each week. I'll be there this week.


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Saturday Furniture and Ice Cream

Dear Families from Rosebud and Dewdrop,

I am including you in this post for 2 reasons

1) Some of your children will join the Butterfly nursery next year.
2) We've received thoughtful feedback that it is good to include all parent & child families in all opportunities for the school. What follows is traditionally an invitation to do manual labor (one we might have shielded new families from). Feel invited but not obligated.

As some to many of you may know, the carpets were cleaned this week. Tomorrow at 9am WIWS asks families who can to come to the school to move furniture back into the classroom. It normally goes quickly.

I will be working at the restaurant tomorrow morning. I will go later tonight and set up the Butterfly Room (I have no furniture that I can't move myself; I have donated away the couch and will replace it with a fresh piece of comfy furniture later this summer). Please feel invited to come tomorrow morning, nonetheless. It is likely we will need help moving for other classrooms in the school.

If you find yourself at school tomorrow with a surplus of movers and seek a way to contribute to the Butterfly Room, the windows and shelves and corners and crevices would always appreciate a deep clean. This is also something we will do in informal work days in late August or early September--so it is an invitation for tomorrow, not at all an obligation.

Thanks for your support of the school.

William


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No Summer Playgroup

Dear Families,

Please pass along the following information. While last summer's playgroup was sweet, it was also small. I also had 4 children guaranteed all summer, and this summer I do not have this consistent group. I want to create a successful experience for students and myself. At present I have only 1 student enrolled for 2 weeks, and even if there were a sudden rush of a few families, it would not be enough to make the program feel like a group for the students.

I recommend you contact Cordula Hetland if seek child care this summer. Her phone number is 360-321-5608. Her email is hetland_cordial@hotmail.com. She is a trained and experienced Waldorf early childhood teacher from Germany; she leads our extended program at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School; and she is offering care at her home this summer. Her home-based program may better serve the needs parents in the community have in terms of schedule and flexibility with ages of children and group size than I am able to serve at school.

I look forward to seeing you at the Waldorf School in the nursery or parent & child classes, at festivals, and throughout the year. My boys and I plan to attend a number of Wednesday and Friday morning (11 to 3; though I've heard different times) Maxwelton Beach gatherings if you want to stay in touch that way.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

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Camera

Found in butterfly room this afternoon. Let me know if it is yours.

posted from Bloggeroid

Summer Beach Fridays

Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families,

In class on Thursday I mentioned the tradition of a school gathering at Maxwelton beach on Wednesdays. It now seems that there is a gathering specifically for early childhood families on Friday mornings at Maxwelton from 10am to 2pm. I will try to make as many of those gatherings as I can beginning on June 17. The invitation below comes from a kindergarten assistant and parent of 2 children in kindergarten.

Hello kindergarten (early childhood) families,
We are planning to gather on Fridays at Maxwelton beach from 10-2 during the summer, to stay connected and have fun. Please join us! Last summer we found that sometimes there were many of us, sometimes few, but Maxwelton is so fun anyway. If this day/time doesn't work for you please let me know, and perhaps we can work on something else. I am also planning on sending this info out to nursery parents, so spread the word to all early childhood folks, new and old ;)

Looking forward to it,

Ashley, Thor, Anna & Evelyn


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Location:Maxwelton Rd,Clinton,United States

Reflections for Parents in a Hurry

Dear Families,

I sent along to many of you cartoons that summarize the discussions from Faber and Mazlish's book Siblings Without Rivalry. If you have not received these and would like a copy, please contact me (wdolde at gmail.com), and I will be glad to send along a batch. This was in response to a parent's request for help when time is short. Below a few other resources that have helped parents in a pinch over the years.

First, a caveat I've uttered before. Although I find Siblings Without Rivalry a really helpful book, I wish the name were slightly less emphatic. I wish the name were "Siblings With Just Enough Rivalry to Help them in Their Development" (this would probably be harder to market). My understanding from reading books such as Your Child's Self-Esteem by Dorothy Corkille Briggs and the work of Kim Payne is that children need a bit of jealousy, conflict, and rivalry to develop (Kim Payne warns us to avoid a harmony addiction). Briggs tells us that when there is too much jealousy, children then tend to shut down, and development stops. Kim Payne calls this the moment at which conflict becomes stuck and an adult needs to bring presence to the situation (not always doing something; sometimes Payne tells us, "Don't just do something! Stand there!" Sometimes children need our nonjudgmental presence as witnesses). I think Faber and Mazlish would agree, of course: I just want to make sure none of us are deluded into steering our family ship to a nonexistent (and ultimately unhealthy) cove devoid of any conflict or rivalry.

That said, I find rereading Siblings Without Rivalry or How to Talk So Kids WIll Listen or How to Talk so Kids Will Learn refreshing. By dipping into their cartoons that summarize the chapters, I am able to wake up and bring presence to situations that I had fallen asleep to, whether with my sons or in the classroom: "Oh yes, that's where I could have been trying a different way."

If the excerpts from Siblings Without Rivalry brought help, you may enjoy How to Talk so Kids Will Listen--which has more examples of parent and child interactions. Here's a link to one preview of this book http://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Kids-Will-Listen/dp/0380811960

You should be able to find it at libraries as well. If you are short on time, skip to the cartoons at the end of each chapter--with effectiveness they encapsulate the kernel of each chapter's argument.

Our WIWS library houses a number of cds of lectures by Kim Payne. Over the years, a few parents have found The Compassionate Response lecture to be water in the desert when they found themselves at a breaking point. If you do not want to wait for the library to open again, you can order the CD directly from Kim Payne's web-site: http://www.thechildtoday.com/Catalog/

Katrina Kenison's Mitten Strings For God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry provides support and reflections on a variety of topics that translate what one thoughtful mother learned at a Waldorf school into ways of being at home. This should be available at libraries. Here's a taste of the book from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Mitten-Strings-God-Reflections-Mothers/dp/0446676934.


IF YOU HAVE SLIGHTLY MORE TIME

I find Eckhart Tolle's books easy to read, transformative, and helpful to review frequently. His guidance toward presence and awareness helps me greatly as a teacher and parent. I would recommend either Power of Now or A New Earth. His web site contains a great deal of content: www.eckharttolle.com.

IF YOU HAVE MORE TIME

Polly Berrien Berends' Whole Child/Whole Parent travels through world religions and literature to reflect upon what it means to be a parent, what we are to learn in this process. Many of her conclusions work in harmony with Tolle's.

Dorothy Corkille Briggs Your Child's Self-Esteem was one of the few books Magda Gerber recommended. It seems to me that Briggs, like Faber and Mazlish, like Goleman and Gottman (Emotional Intelligence), like Louise Gurney, continues a stream of reflections about child development that are in harmony with Haim Ginott's teachings at Columbia's Teacher College and his books such as Teacher and Child.

You can start immersing yourself in the works of Rudolf Steiner in audio format for free by visiting www.rudolfsteineraudio.com. You might start with Anthroposophy in Everyday Life or the Education of the Child. Steiner was often lecturing to people familiar with his descriptions of the material and spiritual worlds, so a first listen or read might feel a bit much (after repeated reads, I can hold on to the cohesion of his images).


I am aware of the irony that this note is a bit long for help in a hurry. I look forward to seeing you at our summer festival Friday.

With Warmth and Light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

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Location:Maxwelton Rd,Clinton,United States

Summer Festival in America, Friday, June 3

Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families Past, Present, and Future, and Friends,

Please see the invitation below. I am excited that we are expanding our WIWS family.

I will walk onto the 11am ferry with nursery and parent & child families from Whidbey Island.


Come Join Us for Some Summer Fun!!!

June 3rd -- 11:30am - 1:00pm
Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo

Picnic, Strawberry Shortcakes, Music, Dancing, Singing, Bon Fires

Free and open to the public, please RSVP: development@whidbey.com


Mukilteo Early Childhood Center will be hosting our end of the year Summer Festival on June 3rd at 11:30am for children 6 years old and younger and their families. Bring a picnic lunch for your family and we will have strawberry shortcakes to share. We will be meeting families coming from Whidbey Island Waldorf School at 11:20am at the Mukilteo ferry terminal and processing to Lighthouse Park with the violin music of WIWS Parent/ Child teacher, William Dolde. Once we are there, we will gather for some dancing and sing a song welcoming summer. Then, we will enjoy our picnic lunches, strawberry shortcakes, and bon fires.

Please RSVP so we will be sure to have enough strawberry shortcakes for all to enjoy. For RSVP or for more information, please contact: development@whidbey.com

I hope to see you there!!!

Warmly,
Vanessa

Vanessa Kohlhaas
Whidbey Island Waldorf School (WIWS)
Mukilteo Early Childhood Center (MECC)
Development Director

Whidbey Island Waldorf School is excited to be establishing a statellite early childhood program at the new Rosehill Community Center. If you want more information or are interested in supporting this project: Please contact Vanessa at 360-221-2270 or enrollment@whidbey.com






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Do you want 5 days next year?

Dear Families,

I have had two clarifying conversations with families, and want to pass along what we discussed for all current and potential students.

If you have enrolled your child for 5 days next year, do not worry. We will not force you to switch your child's enrollment to 4 days for next year.

Conversely, if your child is enrolled for 5 days next year and you would like to entertain the idea of having your child remain in the 4 day Butterfly Classroom next year, please let me know. We can have administration alter your child's contract.

Finally, if you have registered your child for 4 days but think there may be a compelling reason that you would seek 5 days of school before next school year is out (you are in a job search, for example), please let me know. That would be a compelling reason to place your child in the Sunflower or Golden Forest Room next year.

Below I am going to summarize options for next year in Early Childhood by age. They are not rigid rules, but guidelines. As you can see, there are multiple options.


Parent & Child classes; Friday at 9, Friday at 11:30; children birth to 4

Monday to Thursday early childhood; children 2 and half to children turning 5 after June 1 (children aged 3 and half to young 4 could be in any of 3 classes)

Monday to Friday kindergarten; children 3 and a half to six (rising first graders are expected to attend kindergarten 5 days a week).

As always, please call or write with questions.

Warmly,

William Geoffrey Dolde


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4 Day Nursery

Dear Current and Prospective Nursery Families,


The faculty and board at WIWS have approved a change to the nursery program.  Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, the Butterfly Nursery will now be a 4 day, Monday to Thursday class.  All students in the Butterfly nursery will receive 4 day contracts and attend 4 days a week.


What does this change mean?  It is likely that a number of current nursery students will remain in the Butterfly classroom next year.  I will adjust the curriculum to meet the children where they are.  For many of my previous 8 years of teaching nursery children, I have had classes that combined older 2 year olds, 3 year olds, and young 4 year olds, and I feel confident in my ability to create a program that nourishes children of diverse ages.


The Butterfly Nursery will continue to welcome children as young as 2 and a half.  We will also continue to welcome children who turn 4 after June 1 of the school year (that is, children with birthdays after June 1, 2007, for the 2011-2012 school year).  We have had such a robust enrollment of 2 and 3 year olds in the past 2 years that we have had to place young 4 year olds in the Sunflower or Golden Forest classrooms to make space for 2 year olds.  While we may still have a healthy interest from families of 2 year olds, our kindergartens are almost full for next school year, and we want to do our best make sure we have space for new families to our school with 5 and 6 year olds.  Because the mix of early childhood families as a whole changes from year to year, we adjust our classes to best serve the community of students and family as a whole.


When we finalize our class lists in early August, we will take into consideration my conversations with current nursery families about wishes for next year.  As with every year, we try to ensure that children have peers.  We avoid placing, for example, one young 4 year old in a classroom with all 6 year olds--or a young 4 year old in a class of all young 3 year olds.  We also take into consideration your family's history with our school teacher--that is, if your child has older siblings who have been with Kim or Dyanne for before, it is more likely your child will be in that class.  Please contact me with concerns or questions as soon as possible.


Prospective and current nursery families (indeed, all early childhood families) should know that enrollment for all early childhood classes is robust.  It  is likely that all 3 early childhood classes could be full with a wait list at some point earlier or later in the summer.  Please return contracts or applications to reserve your child's spot.


I will continue to offer 2 parent & child classes next year on Fridays.  In addition to a 9 to 11am class, I will also offer an 11:30am to 1:30pm class.  In Baltimore this 2nd class time served a number of families well:  infants and young toddlers who still take a morning nap; children of any age who take a slightly later afternoon nap; slightly older children who fare better with a smaller and younger group.



With warmth of light,


William Geoffrey Dolde

Well-used cake recipe

posted from Bloggeroid

Bread recipe

From Butterfly.

posted from Bloggeroid

Soup recipe

posted from Bloggeroid

Potluck this Friday

Dear Families,

Please remember that you are invited to a potluck at Maxwelton beach this Friday from 5 to 7pm. Nursery families are also invited.

I look forward to seeing you in class this week.

With warmth and light,

William

posted from Bloggeroid

Clutter and Cleaning and Caring

Dear Families,

As someone trying to simplify and create a home environment nourishing for my sons I attended to the conversation about moving and clutter that took place in class this morning. Although I've distributed this article "Chaos in Everyday Life: On Cleaning and Caring" before, your talk inspires me to send it again. Linda Thomas, house mother for the Goetheanum and cleaner extraordinaire working out of a spiritual and loving picture of the human being (anthroposophy), had a lecture of hall of early childhood teachers spellbound as she talked about cleaning toilets in 2004 (I was among those hanging on her every word).

http://www.google.com/m/url?client=ms-android-verizon&ei=L3fDTZC1MoSfiALk56PlAw&gl=us&hl=en&q=http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/GW4503.pdf&source=android-browser-type&ved=0CBYQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNFT2XAPEQrJveHD6meKDswLDLecTg

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

posted from Bloggeroid

May 13 Beach Gathering

Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families,

We will have another informal potluck at Maxwelton Beach on Friday, May 13, from 5pm to 7pm. I will bring my guitar and copies of Rise Up Singing; if a sing-along seems right, we will make it happen.

Warmly,

William Dolde

posted from Bloggeroid

Articles from Sophia's Hearth

http://www.sophiashearth.org/?p=articles&all

Dear Families,

It continues to be a gift to witness the growth, movement, and interactions of children in class. While I honor where children are rather than hoping they move along to the next milestone, it is nonetheless inspiring to observe how our children become freer in their movements, their powers of comminication evolve, and living imaginative pictures of imaginative play rise up in the classroom.

A discussion about sleep in class brought to mind Susan Weber's article "Sweet Dreams." Weber, the founder of Sophia's Hearth, weaves together the wisdom of an experienced Waldorf Early Childhood teacher with that of an inveterate researcher into nourishing traditions in early childhood (Weber was one of the teachers who created a link between Waldorf education, Emmi Pikler of Loczy, and Magda Gerber of RIE). Much as Eugene Schwartz or Michaela Gloeckler remind teachers and parents in the first seven years that children learn through observation and imitation of their environment--not just what the adults do but also the inner gesture and attitudes adults bring to their outer activity--and not through explanation or abstraction, Weber encourages us as parents of young children to reflect upon our own disposition toward sleep, calm, busyness, activity, and rest as we try to instill healthy sleep habits in our young children.

You will find a link to Weber's article "Sweet Dreams" at the top of this post. As I was rereading her article, I observed with gratitude that her web site now includes a number of new articles as well, and I invite you to explore. While there is no official "Waldorf" way to parent young children, Weber's Sophia's Hearth does provide a stable picture of insights into young children that weds contemporary research with tradition and experience.

Again and again in his lectures on education, Rudolf Steiner encourages teachers to beware of precooked educational systems that purport to be one size fits all; they cannot but be doomed to fail. Rather, the teacher (or parent) as artist must be as present and observant as possible with the child or children, and from nonjudgmental observation the path of what to teach or do will come forth.

posted from Bloggeroid

On Scary Images -- from the nursery

Dear Families,

Below are thoughts I have gathered for a current and past nursery class. As I wrote and read them, I realized that some of you might find them helpful as you think about years ahead. I look forward to seeing you in class this Thursday and Friday.

Last February at the Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher's Conference, Johanna Steegmans (a wise woman and anthroposophical doctor from Seattle) was answering questions from Waldorf kindergarten teachers. One teacher described a situation in her classroom. She observed a group of girls playing with what seemed a delightful hum--cooperatively and quietly in the housekeeping corner with the dolls. The teacher went closer to try to hear what they were saying, and when she did, she heard one describe to the others, "And once we cook these babies, we'll eat them up." I am not Steegmans and cannot do justice to her response, but it related to how of course these 5 and 6 year old girls might need to play this out because of all the violent tumult of change in the rapid development of their inner organs. Steegmans was not telling the teacher not to do something (especially, I might say, if this game were about pretending to eat another child and really bothered that child, as well it might) but giving teachers a way to find an inspired response that came out of understanding and not kneejerk reaction (the rub of early childhood teaching and parenting, in which we find ourselves saying things such as, "Please stop licking the table!").

I know there have been some questions about what is an OK and not an OK image in child's play, and I remember writing a good deal about this 2 years ago. I am sharing the link below. The average age of the nursery class was a good deal older 2 years ago than in our currrent nursery class, so not everything would apply. I told The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids to that class, for example, and I wouldn't tell it yet to our current class. I thought it'd be helpful, nonetheless, in looking forward, to think about potentially upsetting images in fairy tales and imaginative play.

http://butterflynursery.blogspot.com/2009/05/may-newsletter-fairy-tales-gender.html

posted from Bloggeroid

posted from Bloggeroid

Different Format for classroom songs

Dear Families,

I had requests to send the classroom songs again in a different format.

See how this link works.

Blessings,

William Dolde

Beach morning tomorrow

Hi Families,

This is reminder that current, past, and future families are invited to gather at Maxwelton Beach from 9:30am to 12:30pm tomorrow, Friday, April 22 (note the new, slightly later end time for morning nappers).  Feel free to bring a brunch or lunch item to share (we will have a lunch at 11:30; I know some of you may have to leave before that for midday naps).  Please bring plates and utensils if you can.

Cheers,

William

No class this week or next

Dear Families,

Please remember that as of today, our school is closed until Monday, April 25. We will have no parent & child classes this week or next.

You are invited to the informal gathering at Maxwelton on Friday the 22nd.

Warmly,

William

April 22 Gathering

Dear nursery and parent & child families,

You and your children of all ages are invited to an informal gathering at Maxwelton beach on Friday, April 22nd, from 930 am to noon. Please bring a brunch potluck to share. The bathrooms are open, but the garbage cans have been removed.

I'll send a reminder next week.

Cheers

William

Summer Playgroup Details

Dear Parent & Child Families,

I will be offering a 6 week summer playgroup very similar to my nursery class (for children without their parents).  Follow this link for a brochure and details.

Thanks,

William

Verses and Welcome to the Spring Session

Dear Families,

Welcome to our Spring session of our parent & child classes at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School.  I look forward to seeing you these first 2 weeks of April (March 31, April 1, April 7, and April 8) and then again for 6 additional Thursdays and Fridays between April 28 and June 3.

For families new to our program, this synopsis of the parent & child morning may help provide a sense of what your child and you will experience each week. We try to make the class meet the needs of the children and parents, so I will adjust the rhythm if, for example, the class has more younger or older children. Over the years, I have witnessed children of many ages thrive in a rhythm like the one described.

Here is additional information about our program:

Our classes take place in the Butterfly Room, the first room you come to when you go down the stairs in the main building.

Vegetables and Extra Clothes -- We will make vegetable soup and bread every week; children love to explore, play, and help when their parents and teacher join together in community work such as cooking. Please bring a vegetable if possible. Our classes try to make activities such as washing dishes inviting for children (and their parents). While I try to keep splashing to a reasonable level, your child may get very wet. Please bring a change of clothes.

Children will do well to have slippers or thick socks--we try to leave our wet and muddy boots out of the play area.

Here are songs and verses I say throughout the morning.  

Here are the spring verses and songs that I present before snack time.


Here are the lyrics to the songs I sing while we dance the Maypole.

As I hope the previous article suggested, you need feel no compulsion to sing any of these songs at home.  I place them out there so they are available for when the time is right.



With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Essentials of Waldorf Early Childhood Education

Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families,

Over the past couple of months I have had several discussions with parents about traditions in Waldorf early childhood classrooms--specifically, that what you find in one Waldorf school you may not find in another, and that the point is not that the teachers are following a fixed schedule or list of activities, but that they are observing the children and working out of a picture of child development guided by the insights of Rudolf Steiner and creating a rhythm and environment that serves the children. We were also discussing that parents need not feel they have to do exactly "this" or "that" to be Waldorf parents (indeed, Eugene Schwartz makes fun of this concept that schools and teachers have unintentionally created, that there is only one way to parent to be a "Waldorf" parent), or to have exactly the same rules or approaches in every home--but rather that the parents, like the teachers, observe their children with presence and foster a loving environment that helps that child. In this light, it is OK if one home varies from another.

In the article below, Susan Howard--the chair of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America--describes the essentials of Waldorf Early Childhood Education.


http://www.iaswece.org/waldorf_education/what_is.aspx

Among the many aspects of the article I like is that Howard is able to bring the words of Waldorf education's founder, Rudolf Steiner, to light in description of various elements (love and warmth, free play, working out of imitation, adults on a path of inner development) important to Waldorf early childhood education. She also cautions us as teachers (and I would add as parents) against doing something just because every other teacher (or parent) before has done it; if in our observation and meditations it does not seem like the right activity (or if other activities fulfill the same role), we need not do it just because everyone else has.

I remember being in teacher training and hearing teachers share some of the best practices from teachers they were working with. A lot of wonderful ideas and inspirations came pouring into the room. I also sensed dread and anxiety mounting in the room as new teachers wondered how they would fit every best practice into their rhythm of the day. If they did, the day would be so stressful and hurried, no one would be nourished. At that boiling brew of ideas, I began to focus on descriptions of what experienced teachers were not doing, of what it was OK not to do. I thought of a quote I had read as I was entering public early childhood education a few years before--"The most important thing is to know when to keep your mouth shut"--and postulated for myself a Waldorf phrase, "The most important thing is to know that you don't have to try to fit everything in." Over the years, I marvel at the amount of activities I have allowed to slip away as I find my path toward what is essential in early childhood. I have a long way to go.

Howard also touches upon our ongoing discussion of the balance between form and freedom, of the benefit of working of out of imitation and not explanation in the first seven years.

Finally, Susan Howard also makes clear that Waldorf education is not anything goes; our manner toward the children grows out of observation, presence, research, and meditation.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Prewelcome to the Spring Session

Dear Families,

I look forward to seeing you this Thursday and Friday. I want to wait to send a longer welcome (with song lyrics, words to my rhymes, and reminder of the rhythm of the day) because a few families are still in the process of enrolling, and I want to make sure they receive the information they need.

We will continue to make soup and bread. Thanks for bringing vegetables and empty jars.

The spring session brings the Maypole, the bird symphony in the woods, and garden friends visiting a flower.

Please note that we will have two weeks of class (March 31 and April 1; and April 7 and 8). Then our school will be closed for two sets of parent & child classes; no classes on April 14 and 15 or April 21 and 22. We will resume on April 28 and 29. Have no worries about fees not reaching far enough; the two week break was taken into account when establishing the pricing for each session.

I will write more soon. If you are returning and have not made clear your intentions to our enrollment office, please do so as soon as possible.

Thanks,

William Dolde
Wdolde at gmail.com

Flowering Branches

Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families,

As we transform the shelter in which Mother Earth will sit on Friday, it has occurred to both Lynne and me how nice it would be to decorate with some branches from a flowering tree.

If any of you have such a tree in blossom now and wouldn't mind pruning a branch or two to share, I would be very thankful. My ideal would be that this extra decoration would be a surprise to the children (I'll set it up Thursday afternoon), so if you are a nursery family and could drop off branches in the boiler room after dropping off your child Wednesday, that would be great. You could bring them directly to my classroom on Thursday, as well.

Thanks,

William

Eugene Schwartz Lecture

Dear Families,

The Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library has a number of cds of lectures by both Kim John Payne (of whom I make frequent reference) and by the very experienced Waldorf Class Teacher Eugene Schwartz. Schwartz does an excellent job of relating the ideas of Rudolf Steiner to the practice of Waldorf Education--and in some instances, parenting.

I recently listened to his lecture 116--"Freedom of Choice, or Freedom from Choice" and want to recommend it to you (I am returning it to the library tomorrow). When I listened, it seems Schwartz's topic helped a great deal to help us as parents find the middle ground between form and freedom--what we talked about and I wrote about in relationship to manners from our parent discussion several Tuesdays ago. He describes child development in light of Anthroposophy and world history--and exhorts us as parents to realize our children benefit from different forms of discipline in different developmental periods (though as a father of 4 himself, he knows it is not easy, and that sometimes we borrow from another phase of parenting). As much as possible, we work out of imitation in the first seven years. Even as we are working to establish healthy habits in the first seven years, Schwartz encourages us to try to do this by looking at ourselves as role models and in the environments we place our children in; ideally, according to Schwartz, we need not say "no" to our children in the first 7 years because we have structured ourselves and the environment to guide children naturally toward right behavior (Schwartz acknowledges that this is easier said than done).

For children in the grades, the teacher of parent guides the children not through imitation, but through authority. The adult is like a monarch (not a dictator or authoritarian). Like I speak of elsewhere, children want to know that the captain of the ship is confident and has a sense of where the ship is going, that the Queen will feels competent to govern her home.

In both developmental phases, children receive a great gift from us if we can limit the amount of choices we give them. Too many choices too soon can paralyze a child--and eventually wake up faculties (the astral body) that are better suited to serve adolescence (and ideally to be awakened at age 35). Children want to know that we adults understand what is right; they feel cheated if we hand over decision making powers to them too soon.

Schwartz is a compelling speaker, and I recommend you listen to his lecture yourself. Of particular note, again, is his ability to introduce us to concepts from Steiner that might seem obscure in other contexts.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Spring Festival, Friday March 25

Dear Families,

Please consider attending our Butterfly, Rosebud, and Dewdrop Spring Festival on Friday, March 25, from 9 to 10:30am.  Please invite friends as well. This is open to the community.

Location:  Outside the Butterfly Classroom and in the woods nearby, Whidbey Island Waldorf School.
Invited Guests:  In addition to current Butterfly, Rosebud, and Dewdrop children and parents, friends, and grandparents, we invite all families with young children to attend.
This is mainly an outdoor festival.  Be prepared for the weather.


Brief Synopsis  This festival provides an imaginative picture of how seasons change.  Young children can experience the changing seasons as a vivid drama.   After a puppet show, we will walk to meet Mother Earth, Father Sun, Brother Wind, and Sister Rain. After the walk, we will return to the playground for snacks, play, and conversation. If weather permits, I will end our festival with fiddle tunes and dancing outside.

Why a Festival?  There are a number of good books about festivals in the Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library (in the lobby of our school). Here also is an article written by an experienced kindergarten teacher from Santa Cruz Steve Spitalny about festivals. Although Steve is writing for teachers in this article, he helps us as parents as well simplify and clarify our thinking about marking the seasons of the year to support our children.  Festivals can be seeds of renewal, to help children adults frame the year.


Music  While there may be more songs, here are lyrics to two songs we will sing often.

While the children often find the festival more magical and nourishing if they can have the experience without explanation beforehand, this more detailed description for adults will prepare to help if needed (please do not share with children).

9 to 9:30am  Children and parents come to the playground outside the Butterfly classroom.  Bread and butter, water, and herbal tea will be available in the shelter.  Children play and/or eat.

9:40am I will lead you into the Butterfly Classroom and will present a puppet show (children can keep shoes and coats on; we are going right back outside).

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 a seed 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 intimidated 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 out of the woods.  Father Sun greets us.

10am (or so)  We walk farther.  Sister rain greets us by the fountain and waters our pots.

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

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.

Please call 341-5686 or contact wdolde at gmail.com with any questions.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Up the Rainbow Bridge

Dear Dewdrop and Rosebud Families,

As some to many of you know, a beloved 4 year old in our community passed away on Tuesday. She was part of our parent & child program and played and danced throughout my nursery class last year. It was a blessing to me to know her. For 2 years, she and her parents lived with a brain tumor, surgeries, treatments, and difficult choices. This beautiful child died in her sleep with her parents beside her.

On Friday, I will not be present at Castle Park for our informal gathering at 11:30am. I will be visiting this child's home and then attending the funeral. I encourage you to gather at the park without me. I think it will bring joy as this child returns to her work in the spiritual world to see community here on earth.

If you want more details, please contact me at wdolde at gmail.com.

We will gather next Friday, March 25, at the school from 9 to 10:30am for our Spring Festival. Our Spring session begins the week after that, March 31 and April 1.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Friday gathering

Dear Parent & Child Families,

At our talk and discussion last Tuesday night, it seemed like a good idea to invite parent & child families to join us for our informal nursery gatherings. Traditionally these have been occasional Friday night potlucks at Maxwelton Beach.

I am going to hold off from Friday night Maxwelton Beach potlucks until I know for sure the bathrooms are open (and I have a month of Friday commitments).

In the meantime, I am hoping to offer some informal gathering times for us at other times. To this end, I invite any families who are interested to join me at Castle Park on Friday, March 18, from 11:30 to 1pm or so (I have to be back to teach 4th grade violin at 1:05). Let us not try a potluck; just bring a picnic for your family. If, of course, you have a lot of extra nettle salad or kale carpaccio (or something else) you want
to share with others, that is lovely, too.

On Friday, March 25, from 9 to 10:30am, all nursery and parent & child families and friends in the community and visitors are invited to our early childhood Spring Festival. I will post more details soon.

And, yes, as the days lengthen and bathrooms open, I will offer more gatherings that are easier to attend for folks who work 9 to 5 (or 6 to 2).

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Manners from last week's talk

In our open discussion after last Tuesday's talk, we talked a good deal about manners--about what seems the right amount of politeness to expect from our young children.  In hoping that parents would make decisions that would work for their families, I gave stories of Michaela Gloeckler and Helle Heckmann, two experienced and strong and wise lecturers about Waldorf education.  I have seen Dr. Gloeckler lecture many times, and I was fortunate to have Helle Heckmann observe my class and share her frank opinions with me (I am very proud of the one compliment she paid me) last year.

In a workshop with a number of experienced early childhood teachers, Dr. Gloeckler caused a stir by suggesting we refrain from correcting a child's speech in the first seven years.  Some of this we were already doing by course (not singling out a 3 year old to point out she or he is saying a word in a less traditional way--as the endearing version of my name--Wooleyman--that circulates among the nursery suggests), but many Waldorf early childhood teachers (me included, though I was not so experienced at that point; I had learned from experienced teachers) would routinely speak polite language for a child to model it.  If a child puts an empty bowl toward a teacher with no words or "More Soup!," the teacher might say, "May I have more soup, please?  Yes, you may have more soup."  (The teacher is speaking to herself or himself--or really, to the collective we that still obtains in groups of young children; the teacher avoids singling out the child).  Gloeckler seemed to create a stir by suggesting that even this practice interfered with a healthy development of a child's sense of speech--Gloeckler is rigorous and has high expectations for teachers, one of which is we work out of imitation and not explanation in the first 7 years.  She does not come across as someone who wants Waldorf graduates to be impolite slackers; she expects teachers to approach this work in an acutely aware age sensitive way (something I fall short of often by bringing explanation into my work).

I have distributed this article before on non-verbal education, but will do so again here in context of this discussion on manners.

In the article, you will notice Gloeckler chiding parents for correcting their children for presenting a left hand rather than a right hand to shake a doctor's hands in the first seven years--not because she does not want children to be polite, but because she has very high expectations of how we adults will work through imitation and not explanation to bring this about.  Note, also, that the child was being polite already by offering a hand.

When Helle Heckmann came to observe my nursery, she felt I could expect much better manners of 2 and 3 year olds, that they could sit at a snack table without wiggling or going on their knees or complaining about soup.  Her opinion was that if a child doesn't like soup and is fussing and fidgeting, we are feeding the child too much; she is used to seeing children getting hungry and tucking in to every meal they are served--a different perspective from a different country.  In this light, she seemed to imply that we could give all sorts of verbal redirection at the table, even with young children, to guide them towards politeness.

Now the one compliment Heckmann paid me was when two of my students were struggling over one of my Bissells and I allowed them to continue their struggle for a good long time without intervention (I knew the children really well and knew that if one struck another they would be able to bounce back quickly like the ducks Eckhart Tolle describes and move on with their relationship; I knew they were a really even match).  She lamented that she so rarely sees teachers in America really letting students struggle in their play.  I give this picture to make clear that Heckmann does not want us micromanaging our children's actions throughout the day.  She also told stories of being 2 and being allowed to ride her tricycle all over Denmark with a lot of freedom (different times, perhaps) and encouraging us to allow children to have this experience to.

Both Gloeckler and Heckmann are asking us, I think, to look for the right balance of form and freedom--for Heckmann, she feels freedom comes a great deal in creative play and working out conflicts without overly intellectual adult solutions; but when an activity is supposed to be formed (a meal, a story), we teachers and adults should have very high expectations for young children to be polite and part of that form.  For Gloeckler, I think, form comes from the adult being present and aware and truly worthy of imitation (which is intimidating).  If our child or children seem excessively rude or impolite, Gloeckler would--I believe--have us examine our own actions and attitude and see what we can alter in how we approach the world to make ourselves a more effective role model for our children.

As I said last Tuesday, I am always working to find the right balance.  If I have a 4 year old who loves school but feels too intimidated to speak to me or to speak in front of a large group, and she eats all the snacks, and tentatively pushes her bowl toward me for a second helping, I may well serve her with a smile (if she could bear that much direct attention) and no words.  I remember seeing a 5 year old boy throw a bag of organic popcorn at his mother's head so she would open it; in this case I would probably feel less reserved about saying something or setting a verbal limit.  In my classes, I sense that some children need me to be more direct (they are perhaps being silly in an attempt to gain attention as a clown) while other children benefit more from being allowed to be in a world of nonverbal education (and I give them their rice with as much care as I can, with possibly no words).

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Sleep from last Tuesday's talk

http://www.youandyourchildshealth.org/youandyourchildshealth/articles/sleep%20i.html

We had rich discussions during both the first and second hours of our nursery and parent & child talk last week. During our parent support discusssion, we talked about sleep, and I gave divegent perspectivess from various wise human beings. Here is an article from Susan Johnson, a doctor and a mom who took Waldorf training.

William Dolde.

Talk Tuesday 6 to 8pm

Dear Parents,

Please remember that you are invited to a talk and discussion on the power and perils of praise--with insights gleamed from Virginia Woolf--this coming Tuesday from 6 to 7pm. From 7 to 8pm parents will discuss forming a support group or groups.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Parent Evening, Tuesday March 1

The Perils of Praise and Ornamental Pots:

Intrinsic Motivation, Brain Research, and Virginia Woolf's Three Guineas

Butterfly Classroom

Whidbey Island Waldorf School

Tuesday, March 1, 6 - 7pm

 (from 7-8pm there will be a discussion about forming a parent support group or groups)

  "All this pitting of sex against sex, of quality against quality; all this claiming of superiority and imputing of inferiority, belong to the private-school stage of human existence where there are 'sides,' and it is necessary for one side to beat another side, and of the utmost importance to walk up to a platform and receive from the hands of the Headmaster himself a highly ornamental pot."
— Virginia Woolf (A Room of One's Own) 

Articles on the research of Carol Dweck on the inverse power of praise have resonated with parents in parent & child classes on Whidbey Island and in Baltimore.  Motivated parents have shared the article with friends and relatives.  Several parents have requested a talk on tricky subject of praise, what to say instead if--following Kim Payne--we want to avoid spewing "Good Job!" all over the place, and what might be exceptions.  In this lecture and discussion, William Dolde will review Dweck's research and try to offer insights into how to enable the research to help us rather than paralyze us.  He will also weave in Virginia Woolf's wisdom from her 1938 non-fiction work Three Guineas (with some reference to the earlier A Room fo One's One) to explore some of the reasons why our culture tends to be asleep to common phrases of judgment such as "Good Job!" or "Is he a good baby?"

Various parents have expressed a wish to start a parenting support group, and from 7 to 8pm we will have a discussion of what forms this could take--from meeting at a coffee shop during school to meeting with a teacher at night.  Parents should also feel free to bring any questions about children and parents to this second hour, and we will use our collective wisdom to try to provide paths toward finding answers. This second conversation need not revolve around praise and its alternatives.

To prepare for the first hour, you may wish to read the following two articles:

"How Not to Talk to Your Kids:  The Inverse Power of Praise," by Po Bronson

http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/

"The Secret to Raising Smart Kids:  Hint.  Don't Tell Your Kids That They Are," by Carol Dweck

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids

Article on Mythic Stories

http://www.google.com/m/url?client=ms-android-verizon&ei=tttQTYC7FpDSqQO8_uj2AQ&gl=us&hl=en&q=http://www.canadianwritersgroup.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Enchanted-Stories.pdf&source=android-browser-type&ved=0CBgQFjAC&usg=AFQjCNEY7eg9YIsnRewDocrzoMggTNNIWg

Dear Nursery and Parent & Child Families,

Mia Michael, a kindergarten teacher I worked with and learned a great deal from when I was a Waldorf kindergarten teacher in Monterey a decade ago, shared the above article with me--a gift she had wanted to share with me after not seeing me for many years. It resonated a great deal with me, and I wanted to share it with you. While we do not per se relate classic mythic stories in the nursery or parent & child class (an image of the nursery I received when I first came to Waldorf education in the 90s was that the nursery teacher is like a sturdy farmer or woodcutter or cobbler or blacksmith, welcoming these young and heavenly children to the earth with tangible work done with warmth and love. It is then the kindergarten and grades teachers in a Waldorf school who use stories to remind children of the spiritual world above and beyond and before and after and through and in the manifest world of rain pants and snow days, lunch baskets and pencil sharpeners), I share it for those interested in thinking how the curriculum over the years in a Waldorf School will meet our children at different developmental stages. The article also helps me to think about the stories that resonate with and within me at this point in my life's journey.

It might be a great article to read before you attend the talk on adolescence and the middle school curriculum on Wednesday, February 16, at 6:30pm.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde