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

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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

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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.

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