Lantern Walk Invitation, books by Magda Gerber

Dear Dewdrop and Rosebud Families,

You are invited to join our nursery and kindergarten families at our 5:30pm lantern walk this Friday, November 7. The puppet show that the kindergarten teachers and I will present seems to be a reasonable length for our infants and toddlers and is full of peaceful music and movement without a great deal of tension; this is to say that it is a good one to bring your child to--as long as you are prepared to step in the hall gracefully if sitting in the big group is too much. When my boys were younger, they found the lantern walk magical; I carried them in an ergo, backpack, or stroller. Some of our older toddlers could walk as long as they are willing to hold a parent's hand. I recommend having a carrier just in case if it still seems appropriate for your child.

Please read the following description from Children's Garden Chair, Kim Dunkley. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND: wdolde@gmail.com, in person, or by phone 341-4124. The nursery children and I have been working to make extra lanterns for parent & child families; it will be important to know if I need 3 extra or 20 extra lanterns or something in the middle.

Dear Children's Garden Families,
As winter approaches we will kindle the light within us all at our upcoming Lantern Walk this Friday November 7th. We will gather our courage for the dark days ahead as we walk into the night with our shining lanterns guiding us. The lanterns are a symbol of our inner light that must be kindled during the long winter months ahead.

There will be two lantern walks, one at 5:30pm (we encourage parent & child families to come to this one) and one at 6:30pm. Please check the end of this letter to see which lantern walk your family is scheduled to attend. Siblings are welcome if they are able to support a reverent mood and if this will be the only lantern walk they will participate in this year. They can bring their own lanterns if they have one.

Please arrive on time and walk quietly to the playground where we will have hot apple cider.

Please do not arrive early or late. (This is very important). Park in the lower parking lot just off Campbell Rd (you turn immediately right as you come into the main driveway on Old Pietila Road).

After a few minutes we will go inside to the Butterfly classroom to watch a puppet play. The teachers will then lead us on the lantern walk. After the lantern walk we will lead you back to your cars and say goodbye.

This is a quiet and reverent festival and we ask that you help support this mood by quietly guiding your children through the experience.

Blessings
Kim, Dyanne and William

Here is a companion piece I wrote for "planning ahead." It gives ideas about how to weather the storm of tantrums when they arise no matter how well we structure our child's day. It combines wisdom from 1, 2, 3 . . . The Toddler Years with that of Magda Gerber and Waldorf early childhood practice.

We have added two books by Magda Gerber in the Kathrine Dickerson library. Dear Parent: Treating Infants With Respect and Your Self-Confident Baby were published at almost the same time and cover much the same material. They differ in style. Dear Parent features short chapters with titles such as "feeding," "crying," "in their own way," "diapering," "thumb or pacifier," "tantrums," and more. It can give excellent and caring advice and is easy to dip in and out of. The brevity of the chapters can be offputting for some. Your Self-Confident Baby has longer chapters, more theoretical depth, and more apparent substance. It seems particularly good at describing the value of observing your baby and honoring where your child is rather than trying to push her or him to the next developmental milestone. At the same time, I know some caring Waldorf teachers prefer Dear Parent because they find Your Self-Confident Baby too dogmatic at points. As long as I am willing to keep an open mind and accept that not everything will speak to me or harmonize with what I do, I find both books very helpful. I do recommend seeing a video of Magda Gerber or of Loczy or of Changing the World, One Diaper at a Time. There are elements of the caring love that Gerber's method includes that are hard to share in print. The enrollment office and I are working to arrange a video night at a venue away from school, and we will let you know when this occurs.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde