Dear Rosebud and Dewdrop Families,
Please remember the following:
Whidbey Island Waldorf School Presents
Helle Heckmann
Founder of Nøkken Child Care Center in Denmark
Helle Heckmann is the founder of Nøkken, a renowned early childhood program. She is active in teacher education throughout the world,
supporting educators in Europe, North America and South America. Her books include Nøkken, More News from Nøkken,
and most recently, Childhood’s Garden.
“No Reruns on Childhood”
December 1st
6:00—7:30pm
You are invited to join the WIWS Early Childhood Faculty for an
evening lecture by Helle Heckmann. Helle will speak about her
experiences in the Nøkken community in Denmark and about issues related to raising children in modern society. This evening promises
to be lively and inspiring.
Suggested Donation: $5.00—$10.00
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
6335 Old Pietila Rd.
Clinton, WA 98236
(360) 341-5686
www.wiws.org
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Visiting WIWS in December
Dear Rosebud and Dewdrop Families,
Even though our fall session concludes this Friday, we do have several opportunities for you and your child to stay connected with our school.
On Tuesday, December 1, at 6pm, Helle Heckmann, a teacher of Waldorf early childhood teachers from Denmark, will visit our school to speak to parents and teachers on the topic "No Reruns on Childhood." The lecture will likely be in the Common Room at Forest Hall (where our lantern walk puppet show took place). Here is an article by Heckmann to giver you a sense of her style.
On Saturday, December 5, our school hosts a Children's Holiday Workshop from 10 to 3. While some of the craft activities may not be just right for our infants and toddlers, there will be music almost all day long, food, and holiday spirit (including a chance to shop for Waldorf-inspired toys).
On Friday, December 11, at 10am at the Sanctuary at the Whidbey Institute (down the private road from our school), our Advent Spiral for parent & child families and infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their parents, granparents, and friends takes place. I will write more about this as the date approaches.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Even though our fall session concludes this Friday, we do have several opportunities for you and your child to stay connected with our school.
On Tuesday, December 1, at 6pm, Helle Heckmann, a teacher of Waldorf early childhood teachers from Denmark, will visit our school to speak to parents and teachers on the topic "No Reruns on Childhood." The lecture will likely be in the Common Room at Forest Hall (where our lantern walk puppet show took place). Here is an article by Heckmann to giver you a sense of her style.
On Saturday, December 5, our school hosts a Children's Holiday Workshop from 10 to 3. While some of the craft activities may not be just right for our infants and toddlers, there will be music almost all day long, food, and holiday spirit (including a chance to shop for Waldorf-inspired toys).
On Friday, December 11, at 10am at the Sanctuary at the Whidbey Institute (down the private road from our school), our Advent Spiral for parent & child families and infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their parents, granparents, and friends takes place. I will write more about this as the date approaches.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Songs and verses at snack time
Dear Families,
Per your request, this document contains the words to the songs and finger games I present at the table before snack time.
I will also print out a few copies.
Cheers,
William
Per your request, this document contains the words to the songs and finger games I present at the table before snack time.
I will also print out a few copies.
Cheers,
William
Lantern Walk, November 13
LANTERN WALK
Dear Rosebud and Dewdrop Families and Friends,
As winter approaches we will kindle the light within us all at our upcoming Lantern Walk this Friday November 13th. 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 5:00pm and one at 6:15pm. Rosebud families with kindergarten siblings have been invited to the 6:15pm lantern walk. I invite other Dewdrop and Rosebud families, past and present and future, to our 5pm walk. If you are not currently enrolled in our class (or Cordula's or Vanessa's program) but would like to attend our walk, please contact me so that I can prepare a lantern for you. Siblings are welcome if they are able to support a reverent mood and stay close to their parents at all times during the festival, including the walk where they should be by the side of their parents. 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. (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.
Please look in your parent folders on Wednesday November 11th for a small gift to put under your child's pillow to find after the Lantern walk, right before bed or the following morning. (We will not have these for siblings who attend, apologies).
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
Lantern Workshop Monday night
The sunlight fast is dwindling, my little lamp needs kindling.
Its beam shines far in darkest night,
Oh, lantern guide me with your light.
Monday, November 9th
7 – 9pm
As the days grow shorter, we must keep our inner light burning. Come join us in talking about how to celebrate this season of darkness with children through lantern walks. Participants will learn about lantern walks, sing lantern songs, and make a lantern to share with their family. This symbolic tradition brings home the deeper truth in the words of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism (563-483 B.C.) “There isn’t enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.”
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
6335 Old Pietila Rd. in Clinton
Advanced registration required
Suggested donation: $5.00
Supplies to make your own lantern will be provided
For more information or to register:
Email: butterflygarden@gmail.com
Or call: 360-221-2270
Its beam shines far in darkest night,
Oh, lantern guide me with your light.
Celebrating Fall Festivals
A Parent Workshop on Lantern Walks
Presented by Cordula Hetland and Vanessa Kohlhaas
A Parent Workshop on Lantern Walks
Presented by Cordula Hetland and Vanessa Kohlhaas
Monday, November 9th
7 – 9pm
As the days grow shorter, we must keep our inner light burning. Come join us in talking about how to celebrate this season of darkness with children through lantern walks. Participants will learn about lantern walks, sing lantern songs, and make a lantern to share with their family. This symbolic tradition brings home the deeper truth in the words of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism (563-483 B.C.) “There isn’t enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.”
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
6335 Old Pietila Rd. in Clinton
Advanced registration required
Suggested donation: $5.00
Supplies to make your own lantern will be provided
For more information or to register:
Email: butterflygarden@gmail.com
Or call: 360-221-2270
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Option for Parent & Teacher Conferences
Dear Families,
Outside the Butterfly classroom, I have posted Thursday morning parent & teacher conference times. While we do not expect parent & child families to sign up for a conference, I want to offer this possibility for you. It would be a chance for me to answer any questions about Waldorf education, my classes, or whatever you would want to talk about without the possible interruptions of class as usual.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Outside the Butterfly classroom, I have posted Thursday morning parent & teacher conference times. While we do not expect parent & child families to sign up for a conference, I want to offer this possibility for you. It would be a chance for me to answer any questions about Waldorf education, my classes, or whatever you would want to talk about without the possible interruptions of class as usual.
The healthy social life is found
When, in the mirror of each human soul,
The entire community finds its reflection,
And when, in the community,
The virtue of each one is living.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Monday, October 26, 2009
More About Crayons
Dear Families,
Last Friday as we began work on our lanterns, I talked a bit about the crayons we were using. When I began as an assistant teacher in 1997, early childhood teachers in Waldorf Classrooms were beginning to take a hard look at the use of block crayons in early childhood--up to that point they seemed a natural gift for early childhood classrooms: they did not break; no paper to be removed; they seemed to encourage exploration and divergent artistic thinking rather than outlining and perhaps more convergent form making. Remedial teachers such as Ingun Schneider were asking kindergarten teachers to take a second look the the use of thick, block crayons. As Schneider points out in her article on supporting the development of the hand, our arms and shoulders become very tense when we hold a block crayon; they are noticeably less tense when holding a stick crayon and pencil. Remedial teachers began to wonder if the overuse of block crayons in kindergarten classes were interfering with a smooth and natural process of developing pencil grip and learning to write. I remember my lead teacher packing away all the block crayons and purchasing stick crayons to use exclusively.
Not long after this I was fortunate to take a week of classes with Ingun Schneider as part of my training to become a lead teacher, and for me the use of stick crayons for very young children (including toddlers) made a lot of sense. As with any educational system, there are different opinions and streams, and I respect colleagues who make more frequent use of block crayons; indeed, I thought they would be more appropriate for filling the page with color as in painting to make our lanterns. That being said, one preference I have for stick crayons (or even sturdy colored pencils) for young children is that they help dispel the illusion that in a Waldorf early childhood setting everything needs to be soft and fuzzy: there are places for lines and angles as in the crosses and scribbles young children make as they work with crayons; and there is space for lines and hard spaces and toddlers work through conflicts as we have read in recent articles on toddler conflicts.
Schneider's article provides helpful insights into how we can help our children develop; she begins with infancy and early toddlerhood. If we can allow our children opportunities to move, climb, roll, crawl, fall, and tumble, we allow them the chance to form the foundations for fine motor development in future years.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
Last Friday as we began work on our lanterns, I talked a bit about the crayons we were using. When I began as an assistant teacher in 1997, early childhood teachers in Waldorf Classrooms were beginning to take a hard look at the use of block crayons in early childhood--up to that point they seemed a natural gift for early childhood classrooms: they did not break; no paper to be removed; they seemed to encourage exploration and divergent artistic thinking rather than outlining and perhaps more convergent form making. Remedial teachers such as Ingun Schneider were asking kindergarten teachers to take a second look the the use of thick, block crayons. As Schneider points out in her article on supporting the development of the hand, our arms and shoulders become very tense when we hold a block crayon; they are noticeably less tense when holding a stick crayon and pencil. Remedial teachers began to wonder if the overuse of block crayons in kindergarten classes were interfering with a smooth and natural process of developing pencil grip and learning to write. I remember my lead teacher packing away all the block crayons and purchasing stick crayons to use exclusively.
Not long after this I was fortunate to take a week of classes with Ingun Schneider as part of my training to become a lead teacher, and for me the use of stick crayons for very young children (including toddlers) made a lot of sense. As with any educational system, there are different opinions and streams, and I respect colleagues who make more frequent use of block crayons; indeed, I thought they would be more appropriate for filling the page with color as in painting to make our lanterns. That being said, one preference I have for stick crayons (or even sturdy colored pencils) for young children is that they help dispel the illusion that in a Waldorf early childhood setting everything needs to be soft and fuzzy: there are places for lines and angles as in the crosses and scribbles young children make as they work with crayons; and there is space for lines and hard spaces and toddlers work through conflicts as we have read in recent articles on toddler conflicts.
Schneider's article provides helpful insights into how we can help our children develop; she begins with infancy and early toddlerhood. If we can allow our children opportunities to move, climb, roll, crawl, fall, and tumble, we allow them the chance to form the foundations for fine motor development in future years.
With warmth and light,
William Geoffrey Dolde
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