More details about the Advent Garden

Dear Rosebud and Dewdrop Families, Friends, Guests, and Visitors,

Again, you are cordially invited to our Advent Garden on Friday, December 11, at 10am at the Sanctuary at the Whidbey Institute (down Old Pietila Road from the Waldorf School).

Follow this link for a brief description of next Friday's festival along with lyrics to many of the songs we will sing. Below is a description I have composed with more details to help you prepare for the festival.

Many Waldorf School set up an Advent Spiral for their early childhood and some elementary grade classes. Traditionally, a class and teacher will enter a darkened space. There will be harp or lyre or other quiet, meditative music. A child or adult portraying an angel will light a candle in the center of a spiral of greens. One by one, children have the opportunity to walk alone or with a teacher, light a candle from the central light, and place it along the path of the evergreen spiral. It is a beautiful event, and like the lantern walk (and festivals and religious holidays such a Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hannukah, Holi, Solstice, and others) helps given an image of strength for the dark months of winter. Our many lights together can light up the darkness of the months ahead.

In teaching parent & child classes, I have observed that some infants and toddlers find great nourishment from an event such as the Advent Spiral if I can adapt it. Our parent & child Advent Spiral will take place in the morning, so the light outside will make it not quite so dark inside the Sanctuary. Rather than having quiet harp music, I will welcome us with some fiddle tunes, and then we will sing songs about stars and from the season together (I will provide lyrics sheets) inside the Sanctuary. My vision is that it will still be reverent, just noisier with more space for authentic infant and toddler interjections. Rather than having children walk (or crawl!) alone, families will be invited to walk together, parents holding a child or a child's hand as they walk with a candle for the family. I will walk along in cases where a parent needs two arms to hold a child and wants me to carry a candle.

Although I have adapted this festival, it may not feel just right for every child at her or his particular moment in development. We will be singing and encouraging children to sing. Children do not need to walk alone in front of a group. Children do, however, need to be comfortable sitting on a parent's lap or next to a parent while others walk through the spiral. There will be lit candles, so this will not be an appropriate place for a child to walk or crawl around freely. If everyone arrives somewhat promptly, the festival itself should not take that long, and we welcome families to leave early if it is too hard for a child to sit. Please contact me if you have questions. I have seen some 6 month olds and 1 year olds enchanted by the singing and the light. Some 1, 2, and 3 year olds find this delightful. Other 1, 2, and 3 year olds (and their parents) find it an incredible struggle because the child is at a phase in which she or he needs to be always in motion and sitting and waiting provides more stress than is needed during this busy season.

Older siblings are welcome, but please keep the following in mind. This festival is intended for infants, toddlers, and young preschoolers and their families. If the older children can come as a support, sing with the family, and provide structure, it will be lovely to have them. Some older children who have seen an Advent Spiral in kindergarten or their grades class might be frustrated because elements are simplified or missing. In these cases, it may be best to seek care for the older child with another parent or friend. Some older siblings, however, will be moved themselves as they witness the joy our infants and toddlers experience coming together in reverence, and having them along will be just right.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde