Learn to Tell Stories with Table Puppets ~a new eCourse!

Storytelling with Table Puppets

Join Anytime

4 Weeks 

Registration is Open

$149 

“We must do everything in our power to help the children to develop fantasy.” ~ Rudolf Steiner

::

Imagine...

Imagine yourself deepening your relationship to storytelling...

Imagine yourself enveloped by a warm and supportive community...

Imagine yourself crafting your own table puppets...

Imagine yourself receiving guidance and support each step of the way...

Imagine yourself telling stories with confidence using puppets made with your own hands...

This is Storytelling with Table Puppets!

Connie Manson, of Starlite Puppets and I have teamed up to bring you Storytelling with Table Puppets, a guided online course, as part of the Celebrate the Rhythm of Life ~ living curriculum program.

For four weeks, we'll take you by the hand and guide you through sourcing simple materials to crafting the table puppets that you can use again and again, with gentle guidance,  step by step instructions, and daily conversations. We'll show you how to use things you already have around the house, and we'll support you to tell stories with table puppets, music and confidence. We'll help you discern which stories are best to tell at each age and stage. 

We invite you to join us for 4 weeks of Storytelling with Table Puppets, this is what we'll do:

:: We'll explore different types of puppets and how to use puppets with different ages and stages

:: We'll teach you how to craft a table puppet and create a character by showing you steps with hands on tutorials

:: We'll show you how to use table puppets to tell a story

:: We'll show you delightful ways of telling a story using simple props you have at home

:: We'll delve deeper into the use of language and music with table puppet storytelling

:: We'll explore considerations in choosing a story

:: We'll explore character archetypes 

:: We'll help you find stories that are well suited to table puppets

:: We'll have fun together!!

Storytelling with Table Puppets is open for registration. Work at your own pace through the lessons. Connie and I will be present in the class everyday, responding to questions, adding material and encouraging conversation and sharing of your work.

You may return anytime, contribute to the conversation and enjoy "forever access" to the site and class materials.

This course offers great content and support as well as the convenience of doing a workshop at home, on your time. No driving needed. No need for a place to stay overnight. No fees for meals. It comes right to you, at home.

When you go to a training, and trainings are quite lovely,  you have the experience over a few days or a week, the course ends and you go home.  

With this online course, you have the benefit of time to try things out,  come back to the course, check in, ask questions, and communicate with teachers and classmates - it's ongoing support for puppet storytelling.

Registration Fee is $149

No Registration Fee for Year Round Members of

Celebrate the Rhythm of Life ~ living curriculum program

Consider joining! You receive the songs, stories, movement games, activities, childcare tips and recipes for each month as well as the eCourses I offer, all for one fee, with monthly payment options.

Set a Pretty Table

:: Clarity ~ Intention ~ Care ::

What is it?

Set a Pretty Table is 52 Weeks of Enthusiasm and Nourishment and Thoughtful Intention for Tending the Hearth you call Home

Within the very word Hearth, we find Heart and Art ~ (heart)h and he(art)h

H{e(art)}h 

Set A Pretty Table will inspire you through 52 weeks of tending the hearth, (heart)h, (he(art) with a simple, enthusiastic reflection, tip or suggestion for each week to support you to create an atmosphere in the home that reflects your values...

• Each Sunday you'll receive an inspiration, suggestion, tip or reflection for the week.
• We have a private meeting place to connect and share over the topic each week 

The messages encourage and inspire you to take simple steps to bring beauty and rhythm to your life in very simple ways. They will inspire you to look within, as well as to stretch yourself outward to try new things: to paint, draw, color, sing, model or become more aware of the natural rhythms surrounding you.

“The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.” 

~ Thomas Moore

Call it "Where the rubber meets the road," the way to put into practice what you hold dear. Simple. Slow. Satisfyingly. Finding beauty, truth and goodness in the art of the everyday.

Each week brings its own unique and distinct inspiration.

I invite you to join this community for the next 52 weeks.

I was inspired to create this community, by the notion that it is attention to the little things in life that count. That the little things matter the most. The Ordinary Arts.

That's why I am calling it Set a Pretty Table.

A table is a place where we come together to nourish ourselves.

To set a pretty table is to make an effort to bring rhythm, beauty and our love, manifest as attention, to the moment.

Each person's perspective of beauty is unique. It is limitless, full of possibility.

Beauty shows up in the small, simple touches, as well as the grandiose and passionate statements.

Beauty, and love, are everywhere.

This course is meant as an inspiration to bring it to the table.

Both literally and figuratively.

As individuals. As parents. As teachers. As caregivers. As grandparents. As hearth tenders. As heart tenders. As artists. As soulful beings. As human beings.

We focus on the ordinary arts.

When we approach our days with this in mind, we are creating mindfulness. It helps us to become more present in the moment.

If you've taken my eCourses before and found the reflections and questions for you helpful, and loved being part of a community, you'll love this course.

It's simple and slow paced yet packed full of depth and meaning.

It's a Simple, Slow and Savory approach to the whole year.

Join a community of hearth tenders and home makers to journey around the year together with 52 weeks of Set a Pretty Table.

Bring a Friend 

Because this is a brand new program, and a brand new year, and it can be fun to try new things with a friend, I am inviting new members to sign up with a friend, with a two for one enrollment opportunity. 

One person enrolls for $99 and sends me the name of the second person who is sharing the membership. This offer is on the table until January 15th.

 

:: Sign Up is Closed ::

Included with Membership for Year Round Members of Celebrate the Rhythm of Life 

Do You Struggle with Rhythm?

If you are struggling with rhythm, there is hope, support, community and inspiration with:

When Less is More 

31 Days to a Calmer and More Peaceful Home Life

~ rhythm boot camp

:: October 1st to October 31st ::

In response to the queries I am receiving, yes it is still possible to join the Rhythm eCourse. It is also possible to work at your own pace through the eCourse. Folks are still signing up. If you are thinking about it, it's a good time to join and jump in while we are still in the first week if you want to experience the energy of the group.

A few questions for you if you are on the fence about it:

• Do you struggle with Rhythm?
• Is Rhythm one of those mysterious things that you just cannot seem to grasp?
• Are you a Waldorf inspired homeschooler struggling to structure your day?
• Are you wondering what to do with your child each day?
• Do you fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day?
• Do you wonder how Waldorf kindergarten teachers seem so calm and manage to sing through the day and knead dough, bake bread, chop vegetables, make soup, color and paint with children every week?
• Would you like to bring harmonious rhythms to your home or to the children you care for?
• Is there more you want from each day but cannot find the time for?
• Do you sometimes look at the clock and panic because you have no idea of what to serve for dinner?
• Are you struggling with tired, hungry and cranky children while you are making dinner?

Welcome to Rhythm ~ the life force that sustains each and everyone of us every day, every week, every month and every year.

Before we had electricity, lights and heat available at the flip of a switch, people lived in harmony with nature's rhythms. We slept at night and worked in the light of the day. We chopped wood, carried water and kindled fires. The stars guided travelers. Food was only available when it was ripe locally or simply preserved. We lived in the rhythms of the natural world, deeply connected and carried along through the year without conscious attention. It simply was the way to do things. Habit.

We deeply felt the earth's rhythms through the day, the months and all through the year people celebrated significant turnings in the wheel of the year. The stirring of the seeds. The flowering. The harvest. The going in.

Nowadays, we can flip a switch and experience light and heat. We no longer live in the rhythms of nature. With all our connectivity, we have disconnected from the rhythm of life. 

Yet we are rhythmic beings and when we find our way into a rhythm that flows for ourselves and our families, we find harmony, peace of mind, inspiration for new endeavors and time to take up activities that deeply nourish our families and ourselves as parents. We can bring rhythm into our lives with conscious attention.

Our children need rhythm. Children thrive when their life is rhythmic. It is so healthy and nourishing for children to live a predictable life. Rhythm supports the healthy development of the child, of the senses, the emotions, the ability to play and the ability to transition from one activity to the next. Rhythm supports family life and the household. Rhythm helps us breathe when we are frustrated and nourishes us to be healthy by carrying us along when we need it .

Valentine Heart from Here

What we take up in the eCourse:

• We'll explore what is rhythm and look at sample rhythms of the day and the week.
• We'll look at rhythm as the basis of early childhood in Waldorf education.
• We'll look at what gets in the way of rhythm.
• We'll look at how you can make your rhythm flow through the day.
• We'll look at how rhythm can help your child be more imaginative, playful and creative.
• We'll look at how meals can be healthier and more pleasant with rhythm.
• We'll look at ways to bring children into the daily tasks of the household.
• We'll look at peaceful bedtimes and restful sleep that come out of a healthy rhythm.
• We'll look at the rhythm of housework
• We'll look at how rhythm makes transitions smoother.
• We'll examine how a strong rhythm supports homeschooling.
• We'll look at how a strong rhythm makes home a sanctuary for the school child.
• We'll look at how to put together a rhythm that works in your life.
• We'll finding a starting point and implement our own rhythm and build on it over four weeks.
• We'll look at how rhythm supports daily life with children and helps us carve out time for ourselves.
• We'll look at breathing and healthy rhythm.
• We'll have daily reminders and enthusiastic support.

Most of all, a good rhythm helps you to be more present with your child, with yourself and in your life.

This eCourse gently guides you to the place of finding your own rhythms. 

The fee is $ 25 

Sign up here

Celebrate the Rhythm of Life 

Harmonious Rhythms ::  Parenting with Soul :: Waldorf Homeschooling

Rhythm Boot Camp is Back!

When Less is More :: 31 Days to Rhythm Boot Camp

October 1st to October 31st
31 Days

You've been asking for another session of Rhythm Boot Camp and here it is… just in time to work with the rhythm of the year as autumn brings a drawing the earth's forces inward and we too experience a feeling of drawing inward. It's a good time of year to bring your focus inward to find ways to bring order and harmony to your days with children.

When Less is More :: 31 Days to Rhythm...
is a 31 day eCourse that provides a place where we can gather with a cup of tea during these cozy days of autumn, at this time in the year when we are naturally seeking order, turning inward in our thinking, and reflect on the rhythm, routine and reverence in our lives and homes.

We'll look at family values, the needs of children and adults, mealtimes, bedtimes, play, fresh air and the spaces of time in-between. We'll reflect on what can help each of us bring more rhythm and spaciousness to daily life. With simple and practical ideas and suggestions.

With this online course, I will take you by the hand for the 31 days of October and help you become more clear on your family values, more present in the moment, and able to implement daily rhythm into your life. After that you can go back into the eCourse over and over again for it will be up indefinitely.

The material in this session is fresh and new, it is not a copy of the last session.

The Schedule

Now :: Gathering and Greeting

Week 1 :: October 1 ~ What Matters Most

Week 2 :: October 8 - Step by Step

Week 3 :: October 15 - Deepen

Week 4 :: October 22  -Weave it together

We'll work out of the 3 R's of Waldorf education: Rhythm, Repetition and Reverence. We'll find beauty in the simple and the ordinary, as well as incorporate simple and practical creative and artistic endeavors that make daily life more meaningful and pleasant. And easier too!

We'll look at different approaches to rhythm. Some of us are night birds and some of us are up with the birds and some of us are both! We'll explore how to find renewal and renewed energy to meet our children where they are at each day.

We'll consider what may be getting in the way of your rhythm and how to move through that.

I am very excited about this eCourse because it is set up on a brand new private site that is lovely and easy to access and keep track of. Everything for the eCourse is there at the site.

Are you?

• Curious about rhythm, wondering how it compares to a schedule or routine?
• Wanting to bring more beauty and harmony into your life?
• Wishing you had more peaceful mealtimes?
• Seeking more meaningful bedtimes?
• Wanting to ease transitions?
• Wondering how breathing and rhythm are connected?
• Longing to feel more connected?
• Feeling drawn to a deeper awareness of nature's rhythms?
• Imagining a home that is more peaceful and harmonious?
• Tired of not knowing what comes next?

If so, then join our group of rhythm making mamas! (and papas too! )

::

31 Days to Rhythm Includes:

* 31 days of rhythm reminders

* 4 weeks of focused practical activities

*a wild, wise and wonderful community

*lots of enthusiastic support

::

::

Ready to Get Rhythm?

registration is closed

all new easy to access format

Celebrate the Rhythm of Life 

Harmonious Rhythms ::  Soulful Parenting :: Waldorf Homeschooling

Announcing eCourse on Discipline Part II

practical strategies for love: the heart of discipline

~ a month of practice
::

Oh dear parents, you know what it is to be a parent. We have moments of sweetness and tenderness that fill and expand our hearts in ways we never imagined possible.

And we have those moments of frustration, when we want to stomp our feet and yell to the universe, "Get me out of here! Take me away, now, please?!"

I have had moments when that little voice inside is saying to me, "This is not what I thought it would be like to be a parent, to be a family. This is so not what I imagined."

Parenting brings out our very best and our worst. Somedays it is hard to find that middle ground, to breath and keep on going, with humor.

In the past few decades, we have seen an explosion of "how to" parenting books. From the "do as I say, not as I do," authoritarian mode, of angry outbursts, to sticks and carrots, to positive affirmation.

But that there is another way. One that rises from within, out of our own experience, out of our own being that is based on the developmental picture of the child and grounded in healthy attachment. One that is sparked by the creative flame in each parent, so it is unique to you. Conscious. Connected. Creative.

For the month of March, for 31 days in a sort of intensive boot camp, I will share practical strategies, based on the developmental picture of the child, that we will practice together through the month.

Come join a wise, warm and engaging community of others on this path.

We'll examine habits that are not working and find new ways to create an inner and outer environment to help bring harmony and breathing to our days. we look at the language we use and find creative responses to situations that are challenging.

I'll do this through the use of tips, examples, pictures of challenging situations and creative approaches.

As a parent of nearly twenty years, teacher and care giver to many children over the years, I bring a good deal of experience in sticky situations. I also have had great teachers throughout my life who have inspired me wit their patience, wisdom, humor and grace. I hope to pass that along to you in this month of practical application.

Registration is Closed

this eCourse runs from March 1 to March 31st

you may return indefinitely after the course ends and closes to new members on March 31st

Registration Options:

:: eCourse only is $25 Sign up here

:: eCourse and all the Living Curriculum Program support materials for March  $45 ~ learn more on what that includes here
:: an eCourse for each month of the year (12), the Living Curriculum program for Twelve months ~ $495

Announcing an eCourse on Discipline

Love :: The Heart of Discipline
~ a conscious, creative, connected, gentle parenting eCourse

February 1 ~ February 28

registration is closed

“My hunch is that if we allow ourselves to give who we really are to the children in our care, we will in some way inspire cartwheels in their hearts.” ~ Fred Rogers

Join me for four weeks of exploration into parenting from the heart that allows you to give who you really are in your parenting. We'll explore conscious, creative and connected parenting through practical examples and real scenarios of living with children.

Are you?

• Tired of repeating yourself? nagging? yelling?
• Feeling exasperated when your child does not respond to your words?
• Having parenting moments in which you just don't know what to do?
• Do you wish you had other ways to respond?
• Would you like to laugh more?
• Do you sometimes feel lost when it comes to discipline?
• Does being with children exhaust you?
• Is the idea of discipline overwhelming to you? 
• Do you spend alot of time reading about discipline and parenting styles and wonder why they don't seem to work?
• Seeking ways to bring your child along without resistance?
• Wondering how you can make the day flow more peacefully?
• Are you looking for gentle ways to help your child grow peacefully as a human being?
• Would you like to lighten up and be more creative with discipline?

Come join me in this 4 week eCourse for practical examples and practice.

Me

When my first child was born, I was certain that if he had a gentle birth, was breastfed, co-slept in the family bed and I spent time with him and practiced attachment parenting that our life together would be smooth and harmonious. Are you laughing yet?

I wasn't.
The first year was very sweet with a happy baby whose needs were met. Then at one year he began walking and exploring and getting in to everything. He needed boundaries and loads of focused attention. I needed to make dinner and do laundry, attend to clients at prenatal visits, teach childbirth classes and go to labors and births.

I really struggled with "what to do." Especially in the toddler years. I knew clearly in my heart what I was not willing to do, yet I was at a loss for what "to do."

So I plugged along and found my way. I read books to no avail. Talked to friends. Made changes in myself and in our home life. Over the years it began to emerge, a picture of the child, the development of the child and the inner development of the adult. Playful parenting and the authoritative parent. Attachment and boundaries. Responding rather than reacting. Seeing the child for who he is. It all coalesced for me.

Did that make me the perfect parent? No, not at all. I have gained some clarity around the parent-child relationship and I have learned when to let go and when to forge ahead. I've learned to talk less and do more. I've learned to recognize when my child needs more connection with me and I have learned so much about boundaries. I don't get exasperated anymore. This baby who taught me so much is now 18 years old and continues to teach me.

Since those first tender days of new motherhood, I have had the great gift of teaching and caring for other people's children. This makes learning so much easier. Our own children come to us with such intensity and we are so often in the heat of the moment, that it can be hard to see the whole picture. Child number two came along eleven years ago and brought new opportunities for learning how he needs to be parented.

I have thought about offering this course for years. And waited. And waited. Now it feels like the time is ripe.

I am offering this eCourse to help you develop a clearer picture of the child, to find humor and creativity in the hard moments and to have plenty of hands on practice over the course of the month.

We'll focus on real life challenges over the course of the month: tantrums, resistance, "not hearing," name calling, sibling bashing, biting, hair pulling and what happens when parents have two distinct styles of discipline, and more, with practical examples to help you be who you really are!
I hope you'll join me for a month of practical examples and practice to make your parenting more conscious, creative and connected.

Registration Options:

:: eCourse only is $25 Sign up here

:: eCourse and all the Living Curriculum Program support materials for February  $45 ~ learn more on what that includes here
:: an eCourse for each month of the year (12), the Living Curriculum program for Twelve months ~ $495

Please know that I have kept the fee low to make it accessible.

Announcing a New eCourse on Rhythm!

When Less is More :: 31 Days to Rhythm Boot Camp

January 1st - January 31st

 31 days 

Now open for registration

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Many of you have been asking me for a follow course up to the Get Organized :: Sketch it Out! Planning Session of last summer. Well, here it is…

When Less is More :: 31 Days to Rhythm is a 31 day eCourse that provides a place where we can gather with a cup of tea during these cozy days of winter, at this time in the year when we are most focused inward in our thinking, and reflect on the rhythm, routine and reverence in our lives and homes.

We'll look at family values, the needs of children and adults, mealtimes, bedtimes, play, fresh air and the spaces of time in-between. We'll reflect on what can help each of us bring more rhythm and spaciousness to daily life. With simple and practical ideas and suggestions.

With this new course, I will take you by the hand for the 31 days of January and help you become more  clear on your family values, more present in the moment and implement daily rhythm into your life. After that you can go back into the eCourse over and over again for it will be up indefinitely. Forever I am told.

The Schedule:

Now :: Gathering and Greeting
Week 1 :: January 1 -Nourish :: Eat

Week 2 :: January 8 - Renew :: Sleep

Week 3 :: January 15 - Make Magical Metamamorphosis :: Play

Week 4 :: January 22  - Weave :: Love and Connection

We'll work out of the 3 R's of Waldorf education: Rhythm, Repetition and Reverence. We'll find beauty in the simple and the ordinary, as well as incorporate simple and practical creative and artistic endeavors that make daily life more meaningful and pleasant. And easier too!

We'll look at different approaches to rhythm. Some of us are night birds and some of us are up with the birds and some of us are both! We'll explore how to find renewal and renewed energy to meet our children where they are at each day.

I am very excited about this eCourse because it is set up on a brand new private site that is lovely and easy to access and keep track of. Everything for the eCourse is there at the site.

Are you?

• Curious about rhythm, wondering what it is beyond a schedule?
• Wanting to bring more beauty and harmony into your life?
• Wishing you had more peaceful mealtimes?
• Seeking more meaningful bedtimes?
• Wanting to ease transitions?
• Wondering how breathing and rhythm are connected?
• Desiring to feel more connected?
• Longing for a deeper awareness of nature's rhythms?
• Imagining a home that is more peaceful and harmonious?

If so, then join our group of rhythm making mamas! (and papas too if they should join.)

::

31 Days to Rhythm Includes:

* 31 days of rhythm reminders

* 4 weeks of focused practical activities

* 2 handwork projects (child's apron and a sleep time fairy)

*a wild, wise and wonderful community

*a round table discussion with homeschooling moms

*lots of enthusiastic support

::

::

Ready to Get Rhythm?

click here to sign up

$25
all new easy to access format

Once upon a time...

Registration is now open for Celebrate the Rhythm of Life in September. 

This month's focus topic is Storytelling with Children and I am delighted to bring you a very special guest teacher.

My special guest is Connie Manson of Starlite Puppets. Connie is an early childhood teacher, a gifted storyteller and puppeteer and the founder of Starlite Puppets. Connie will join me for our four week focus topic eCourse of Storytelling with Children as part of the monthly program.

                                                                                                                 photograph courtesy of Sunbridge Institute

About Connie: Connie Manson, B.F.A, M.Ed. holds an undergraduate degree in Theater and a Master's degree in Waldorf early childhood education. Connie's first teaching experience was in a small private school one block from her apartment in New York City, where she assisted in teaching pre-school children using Bank Street curriculum and Montessori methods. During that time she was introduced to Waldorf education, and was immediately impressed with it's deep respect and understanding of childhood and child development! 

She was inspired to found Starlite Puppets and begin her Waldorf teacher training at Sunbridge College in New York. After graduation she taught kindergarten at Green Meadow Waldorf School nearby. She then moved to California, where she developed and taught the Parent-Child Program at the Waldorf School of Santa Barbara, where she also ran a Waldorf-inspired home nursery for five years. She then packed up a 15 foot moving truck and drove cross country to teach at Waldorf Sarasota in Flordia with her husband Peter Chin, who is also a Waldorf teacher. 

Connie has provided workshops in music, practical arts and artistic activities for parents and teachers of young children at Sunbridge, Sophia's Hearth, and other Waldorf educational centers. Her study of the RIE (Resource of Infant Educarers) approach has provided a powerful inspiration for being with the very young. Connie has been sharing puppetry and music with young children for over twenty years. She created the Tea 'n Puppets Story Time currently offered at Waldorf Sarasota, where she also teaches the Parent Child and Nursery Programs. Her lifelong love of the expressive arts has led her to teach music, drama and dance to grade school aged children at the Santa Barbara Waldorf School and Waldorf Sarasota.

This eCourse runs for four weeks, from September 9th until October 6th. Each week we'll bring a presentation on  specific aspects of Storytelling with Children as well as Exercises for you to do over the week, along with discussion of the material and presentations.

The Program includes Daily Messages, Weekly Rhythm Support and packets of Support Material for the month with stories, circle for nursery, circle for kindergarten, finger play, recipes, housework rhythm, and more, as well as a lively discussion group.

Storytelling is so enchanting for the young child. Have you ever watched your child's eyes go wide open and the jaw go slack and drop as you begin with "Once upon a time..." 

Magical. Have you ever been to a Waldorf school event and wished you too could tell stories in such a magical way?

• Are you homeschooling and wanting to incorporate stories into your day?
• Are you part of a playgroup and wishing you had storytelling skills?
• Are you a child care provider who wants to tell stories?
• Are you a teacher who would like a refresher?
• Would you like to begin telling stories to your child? 
• Are you seeking stories to tell?
• Are you feeling adrift and wondering where to start? 
• Would you like some support to get going and set the tone for this school?

Join us in September for four weeks of focus on Storytelling with Children

We'll explore:
Storytelling through the year, what stories for each season?
What kind of stories to tell? At what age?
How do stories serve children?
How does storytelling serve the adult?
How to approach storytelling with children?
Preparing the Self
Preparing the Space
Community

Join us and receive all the Support Packets and Materials as well as a focused four week e-course on Storytelling with Children with a special guest teacher. More information on the Program here.

Registration is Closed

Storytelling with Children ~ The Speech We Bring

How we tell or read a story can make a very big difference in the way the child experiences the story.

The vowels carry feeling. Vowels are called the singing letters. The Ah brings wonder and awe, the E carries fear eech!, the I with understanding one's place in the world, with self assertion, here I stand! Oh brings surprise, the o of protection as in love and the long U, brings concern and withdrawal.

When we tell a story or read to a child and bring it in an even, calm voice with stress on the consonants, rather than on the vowels, the child is free to bring his or her own feelings to the story. Try chosing one or two consonants and focus on them when they fall at the end of a word when telling or reading a story.

We can enunciate clearly the sound of the consonants which name and give form, the hiss of the s, the roll of the r, the closure of the bilabials sounds, b, p, the t, the rounding off of the m and the flow of the ll.

Try saying the phrase below with emphasis on the vowels:

The wicked wolf ate the small child.

This time say it with emphasis on the d, f, t, ll and d, at the end of the words.

The wicked wolf ate the small child.

Notice a difference?

But we love the drama you say. That is something for an older child and adults. For the child who has not yet expereinced the change of teeth, the calm, warm, even version leaves room for the child to find his or her own feelings within the story. With young children, before the change of teeth (birth to seven) the focus is in doing, in being in the will, in action, in deeds. What is done in the story, the action, is what is most important to describe for the young child.

A five or six year old can hear a complex fairy tale told in the even, calm way and take it in deeply without fear while the same story told with dramatization and emphasis on the feeling letters can make it frightening for the child. A three and four year old can hear simlper fairy tales.

With older children after the change of teeth, the feeling life and learning through feeling becomes the focus developmentally.

When we sing, chant nursery rhymes or tell stories to a small child, we bring the warmth of the our voice to meet the child on a deep level, soul to soul. We can envelop our words with warmth and evoke pictures for the child to live into, through their play, through their life. Children will play out the stories they hear with dress up, singing, self talk and the creation of scenarios and socio-dramaric play. This is the basis for imaginative thinking. This is the basis for a literacy that is infused with inspired feeling and creative action.

We can support this in many ways. (More to come on this topic)

Children under the age of seven are like a sieve, they absorb everything we say, do and feel. They learn through imitation. They know when our words are aligned with our feelings and when they are not. They will play out or act our our deepest feelings and concerns.

In bringing stories and rhymes to children here are a few questions to ponder about our speech:

Is it good?

• Am I speaking clearly and enunciating my words?
• Are the words and phrases appropriate for the developmental phase of the child?
• Does it convey, in the end, that the world is good?
• Is it imbued with warmth?

Is it beautiful?

• Are the words beautiful?
• Is the combination of words beautiful?
• Is it rhythmic?
• How does it feel for the ears to hear such soumds?

Is it true?

• Am I here and fully present with the child?
• Am I fully present with the words I am speaking?
• Does it convey the truth of life I wish for the child to experience?
• Is it worthy of imitation?

Next will be a little nature story of courage to tell.

Blessings!

Celebrate the Rhythm of Life 

Harmonious Rhythms ::  Parenting with Soul :: Waldorf Homeschooling

~living curriculum program to support parenting and homeschooling