The Flowers in My Garden Nigh are Waiting...

Who is coming by?

The Fairy Caps will soon be along. 

Waiting for a child to come by ...

Those beautiful violets are in blossom right now. Any suggestions for what to do with them?  What's happening in your garden today? I'd love to hear from you. Leave a link below.

" You have to trust that the dots will connect..."

Sunday :: Day of Renewal 

Today in honor of the importance of spiritual renewal,  I'm going to share this inspiring talk from Steve Jobs. I knew very little of the man before his passing yet in learning about his life, I am so deeply touched by who he was and how he lived his life.

This speech that Steve Jobs gave at Stanford is so full of wisdom for all of us. He speaks of life, of trust and of making sense of it all, by looking backwards not forward. In his words:

"If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” ~ Steve Jobs

Rest in Peace Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 - October 5, 2011)

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A few photos- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Along with SouleMama

Happy Weekending Friends!

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A few photos- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

We've made way for ducklings. 

No not the beloved Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings  book, but real feathered and webbed, good natured ducklings.

Our family grew, ahem... well, the feathered family members that is. Two newly hatched mallard ducks have come to live with us. 

They are so calm and amenable to being held.

Dolly doesn't seem to notice, as long as she can sleep, she is happy. 

Just look at those webbed feet, so solid on the earth and so ready for a swim any time.

We wonder if they have imprinted on Duncan for they are following him around. Dunkie's ducklings. 

Welcome little ducklings.

adapted from this moment with Amanda over at SouleMama

(this moment)

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

inspired by Amanda over at SouleMama

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

inspired by Amanda over at SouleMama

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

inspired by SouleMama

Oh will you be my Valentine?

Will you? Yes, you.

Hello friends, it has been nearly two years now since I began to show up in this space and write a bit about my life, a bit about Waldorf education, a bit about parenting, striving to find my voice, to figure out what it is I am writing about. Is it our family life? Is it reflections on my children? Is it about Waldorf education? Is it as a teacher or as a mother? or both?

I'm not sure.

I've been trying to find my way through this blog world. I love visiting your blogs and connecting with you. It is fun to see where you live and how your children are growing. I love the recipes and craft ideas too.  I love most knowing that other moms, like me, are striving to hold it all together, to be present with their children and to find themselves and their voice among adults at the same time.

I imagine we are having tea together around the crackling fire of the wood stove in the playroom, each of us seeking a place to rest our cup, out of the grasp of little hands. This is my picture of us. You give me comfort that I am not alone in my challenges, in my strivings. You inspire me to keep on keeping on. You help me see the beauty along the way as well. I am grateful for that.

I'm thrilled to make connections with you in person. It was delightful to meet Mary at the WECAN conference last weekend. I feel like I have known you for years. I look forward to meeting Megan this spring too. Hopefully we won't be buried under snow this time,or if we are, we'll have an alternative plan, like skiing, so we connect no matter what.

I am flattered and honored to hear that early childhood teachers and parents read my blog too and enjoy it but do not comment. I'd love to hear from you. It's a bit like putting oneself in the window of the pet store. "Ah, cute puppy" or "no, not that one." Tap on the window pane with your comment below. I like to know that you have passed by. And it gives me a path to you as well.

We had a sweet Valentine's day this year. It began with a spectacular rose red sunrise that went on and on and on for what seemed like a while but was only a brief few moments, sort of like childhood, I though as I was rousing my sixteen year old that morning...

Valentine's continued with some sweets and a stone in each child's Valentine dish set out by the bed. I received  lovely hand made Valentines too, some hung on doors, one on the ironing board. Now isn't that a good reason to iron?

We had a visit from the secret Valentine too.

Because Valentine's is so much fun we are stretching it out over the week. Here's a sweet little ditty for you.

If apples were pears

And peaches were plums

And the rose had a different name.

If tigers were bears

And fingers were thumbs

I'd love you just the same.

Wishing you and yours all the love in the world and many moments of sweetness this week.

Happy Weekending!

Lisa

PS I'd love to know you were here. Leave a link to your blog and say hello.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Geez, I guess I am a bit slow to catch on. Around the blog world, I have noticed posts with lists of right now I am ... ba bap ba bap ba bap.. with thoughtful and reflective entries on aspects of the moment, the day, the week. I didn't understand that they came from a particular inspiration. Well now I have learned something new. I've recently come across The Simple Woman's Daybook mentioned in a post by Renee over at Heirloom Seasons and had this aha! moment. Aha!

These past few weeks have been full for me with family life, of course, as it is for all of us with children. I've been working hard over at The Wonder of Childhood, with inspiring and helpful articles in the works for February and March. I've also been working daily on the Celebrate the Rhythm of Life program, which is really exciting and dynamic this month. I am preparing to go to Sunbridge this weekend for the WECAN East Coast Conference, the conference for early childhood educators. I am particularly busy preparing because I am a presenter at a workshop this year. Yikes. Okay I said it. Yikes. I am very excited to do this and reminding myself that I have been doing the work for years and years and years and it's time to share more of me and my discoveries in this wonderful world of Waldorf.

As an exercise in writing and striving to be more present at this blog, I am taking up The Simple Woman's Daybook entry format for today.

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... The light is crisp and clear and blue. I see patches of snow, too little snow for this time of year and a layer of ice beginning to form on the lake.

I am thinking... about a gazillion things I need to do before my little one rises.

I am thankful... for this life, for being a Mom, for the people who inhabit my life, for sunny days.

In the kitchen... thank goodness for big pots of soup, Chicken, barley and vegetable soup, leftover from yesterday, our soup day, that makes me grateful for a meal rhythm as well.

I am wearing...warm layers, of cotton and wool, many layers

I am creating... a blog post, hip, hip hooray, you know what a big deal that is sometimes.

I am going...to make oatmeal cookies with dried cranberries and pecans today, maybe for afternoon tea.

I am wondering...about wonder these days.

I am reading...so many good books, I have a stack a mile high on my nightstand. I am coming close to the end of Emma Blau.

I am hoping...to get lots done today.

I am looking forward to...the WECAN conference, singing, the puppetry, connecting with old friends, hearing the speakers, being enveloped in early childhood.

I am learning... to listen more.

Around the house...the birds are singing, outdoors that is, I hear bird songs right now, in the morning.

I am pondering....balance and focus in daily life.

A favorite quote for today... "So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die." from William Morris

One of my favorite things...the quickening of life that comes with Spring, especially the sunlight that is growing stronger and longer each day. I relish in these signs of Spring after a cold, snowy winter. Come on snow!

A few plans for the rest of the week...set up new shelves for dishes, re-organize a book case we just moved. Spend lots of time with the children.

A peek into my day...Let the hens out, school, lunch, handwork, shelves and bookcase

Happy Wednesdaying :: Day of transformation and mercurial actions. May it serve you well!

Rhythm is February's Focus Topic

Rhythm Give Away

• Do you struggle with Rhythm?
• Is Rhythm one of those mysterious things that you just cannot seem to grasp?
• 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 and lights and heat available at the flip of a switch, people lived in rhythm with nature. 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 in season. We lived in the rhythms of the natural world, deeply connected carried along through the year without conscious attention.

We deeply felt the earth's rhythms through the day and all through the year and celebrated significant turnings in the wheel of the year. Today, we can flip a switch and experience light and heat. We no longer live in the rhythms of nature. We have disconnected. 

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: rhythm supports healthy development of the child, of the senses, the emotions, the ability to play, the ability to transition, of the family, of the household. Rhythm helps us breathe when we are frustrated and nourished us to be healthy.

The focus topic for the month of February is Rhythm.

• We'll explore what is rhythm and look at sample rhythms of the day and the week.
• 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 look at how our meals can be healthier and more pleasant with rhythm.
• 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.

The fee is $ 45 

This includes the Focus Topic of Rhythm and all the Packets, Story, Verse, Song, Fingerplay, Circle and Movement play, Start Up Guide, Meal Plan and Recipes, Daily and Weekly Rhythm Packet, Celebration and Festival Packet, Afterschool Enrichment Packet and video with songs and verse for transitions, Handwork Packet and tutorial, videos, blog posts and group discussion of the Celebrate the Rhythm of Life in Caring for Children Program.

The Focus on Rhythm includes:

Daily reminders.

Weekly topics.

Ongoing discussion in the group forum.

Consultation with me if needed to help you get rhythm going

Sample rhythms for the day and the week.

Meal Planner with Recipes that include the grains of the kindergarden.

Brainstorming on what meals work for your family and can be easily put together.

Sign up here:


Celebrate the Rhythm of Life in February ~ Focus Topic is Rhythm

For my articles on Rhythm:

• The Morning

• Rhythm

• Rhythm ~ Waldorf Style

• The Anchors

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NOW CLOSED  ~ WINNERS ANNOUNCED BELOW

Give Away to TWO people for ONE  place each in the month of February with Rhythm as the focus topic. To enter please comment below and share the link to this post (click on title to get link) on FaceBook, your blog or Twitter or write a blog post on Rhythm and link back here to this post. Please note where shared in the comments and make a new comment for each share to have additional chances at winning. Drawing will be on Monday January 30th. 


The winners are :


Vanessa: " I have so much to learn and would be blessed by this course!

Thanks :) Vanessa"

and

 RedBeetMama: " I so humbly would love this. I will share with FB and my homeschooling group.  Namaste"




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Basic Elements of Daily Living with Children ~ Circle Time

"When we choose one story and carry it in a rich nourishing way through speech, movement, gesture, song and drama over three weeks, we are bringing rich imaginations to the child that the child can drink in deeply and digest over time."

 The topic of Circle  comes up regularly among homeschoolers and is one that is also being taken up by early childhood teachers and care givers who are working with younger and younger children each year. It is a really good and really important question.

I will try to address this topic from my experience as a homeschooling parent, kindergarten teacher, Parent Child group leader and Morning Garden Mistress:

The very young child, 3 and under, does not need circle but can benefit from rhythmic elements of the circle brought one on one in play through the day.

The four year old needs a bit more and is in a transition and so much depends on the environment: if other children are present, and the child, who is this child?

Do we need to do circle at home?  It sure does seem odd to stand up and lead a child, one child around the room in song and gesture. What does it bring to the child? Are there benefits? Is it part of the pedagogy?

First let's look at the difference between circle for the grade school child and circle for the kindergarten and nursery child:

Circle time in the grades is a part of Main Lesson,  an opportunity to come face to face with each other, check in, experience the self within the group and do all sorts of rhythmic movement and games and verse and song. This is the age (6 +,7, 8 and 9 year olds) and time (older kinders,1st , 2nd, 3rd grade) that is really suited to playing the archetypal rhythmic circle games of childhood and ideal for math movements and math learning in a group. We can bring elements of that circle one on one at home. Unfortunately, some of the finer elements we cannot bring without a group at home for the grades.

Circle time for early childhood, for the child under seven for the Nursery and the Kindergarten is a completely different animal altogether. Well, two different animals: one for the Nursery Child (2, 3, 4 year old) and one for the Kinder Child (4, 5, 6 year old)

Children in the stage of early childhood from birth to seven (also referred to as the first stage of child development given to us by Rudolf Steiner) benefit greatly from the activities that take place within a circle. The circle invites children into the social realm. Children under three are not quite ready to enter that realm for they are still very much at one with the world, enveloped in the "mother bubble."

Yes they can take place outside of the "circle" too. The "circle" brings form and focus to the artistic activities that are so nourishing for the young child and rhythm as well for the child of three and older.

If we consider circle in the context of the pillars of Waldorf education, something Carrie Dendtler and I have recently blogged about, over "Virtual Tea, "

https://celebratetherhythmoflife.blogspot.com/2011/12/as-person-who-has-straddled-worlds-of.html

We see many artistic elements of Waldorf education come into "play" with circle time:

• Speech
• Singing and music
• Drama
• Movement

These elements are can be connected to the Four Foundational Senses or four physical senses, the senses that involve being in a physical body: touch, life, self movement and balance through circle movement and play that Connie Helms has been writing on in her series over on The Wonder of Childhood. (They can be satisfied outside of circle as well) Remember that the young child is all about movement, doing and action, being engaged with the body, all physical.

The feeling of wholeness of the one: the circle, no beginning, no end, is mood we want to uphold for the child under seven and to a slighter degree until age nine and the fall. Circle brings that imagination, that picture.

Circle time offers benefits to the child in the areas of:

•  singing 
• drama 
• movement 
• speech

Let's consider the adult and the relationship to circle time. Circle offers the adult a moment to stand tall and clearly be the leader, the basis for being The Loving Authority. It also offers us, the parent, a chance to push ourselves a bit and begin learning verses and songs by heart, we can take up musical instruments for us the adults to use in circle, for this is what we will ask of our children in the grades and guess what? they need us as the model. It is so important for our children to see our striving. The young child is, as Rudolf Steiner wrote, all about learning through "Example and Imitation."

My humble opinion, is that it all depends on the adult's willingness and desire to take up circle for the child, as a flowing story with movement and song as an artistic endeavor.

In a training with Joan Almon many years ago, she taught us, the teachers and care givers, to make a circle that tells a story. She spoke of the smorgasbord too but emphasized the value of the story in the circle. She had particular advice for the smorgasbord too.

Story is one way to bring circle that can work at home. You might make it a movement journey, telling bits of the story in song and verse as you go and building as each day goes over three weeks.

Themes and particularly weekly themes break the world into bits for the young child, they fragment reality. A theme has no life, no breathe, no rhythm. The young child needs to be held and cared for with rhythm that flows through the year. No themes, no bits, the season, flowing one into the next through the years of early childhood. It is not until third grade that we begin to look at the parts to the whole.

The picture we need to carry for the child in the early years of childhood, up to age nine and the "fall"  is one of wholeness, of oneness. Weekly themes make for busy work rather than living into the rhythms of nature. This is really important to understand. We live in a busy world that is so fragmented with this and that and focus here and there, quick, quick, quick, easy come and easy go,  it is so important, so healthy, even therapeutic to stay with the flow, the rhythm that is inherent with nature through the year and reflect that back to the child over the course of the whole season.

The gesture we want to carry is one of the whole world, of oneness of the child at one with the world, connected to natures rhythms everyday through the season. This is why early childhood educators make a seasonal focus with story, song , circle and activities specific to the season.

The material can be brought over many weeks with a gradual building on the basic elements. Think of it as a flow, a rhythmic flow through the year reflecting Mother Nature's inherent rhythms. When it snows, we go out and play in the snow and then we make hot cocoa or tea to warm ourselves when we come in. The material reflects what is happening in the household and in nature, it reflects the child's world.

Young children do not need crafts in Waldorf early childhood. Crafts are for the adult. The teacher makes the puppet figures and the silks and the blocks. The children play with self initiated free play and movement. The Handcraft work for the young child (seven and under) is the daily living, being involved in the housework, the cooking, the baking, the washing of dishes, sweeping the floor along with the artistic activities of coloring and painting (for the over 3's). When we are doing that, who has time for crafts?

The crafts come in with the Handwork in first grade. The older kindergarten child may begin with some handwork to make useful objects. Let the decorative objects come from nature as much as possible.

When we choose one story and carry it in a rich nourishing way through speech, movement, gesture, song and drama over three weeks, we are bringing rich imaginations to the child that the child can drink in deeply and digest over time. Remember the child is like one whole sensory organ, a sieve, talking it all in, in imitation. (See Anthroposophy in Light of the Child for more)

 Painting can reflect the mood of the season and yes do use just one color. No need for story with the child under seven. Stories with painting, stories that describe the mood of the color, that elicit feeling in the child are for the middle stage of childhood (7-14) See my last post on painting to links where you can see it in action and learn more.

Changing it up each week does not give the child time for digestion nor does it allow us to deeply penetrate the mood of the season or the story.

It can be so simple. One story for three weeks. (and yes read or tell other stories at bedtime or nap time) but give yourself and your child the gift of one story (maybe a fairy tale for the 5,6,7,8, year old)  to carry through three weeks. The circle and the story can build together over the weeks with gestures, song and movement then either start anew with a circle and story or let elements drop off and introduce new ones. This is a great gift for the child.

Rudolf Steiner spoke of working in six week blocks. Today it seems that grade school teachers work in three and four week blocks. Kindergarten teachers work with the rhythm inherent in the season with a circle for early season, mid season, late season.

For me the whole circle experience really asks a bit of the adult to present it as storytelling, singer, poet and it takes quite a bit of understanding and experience to really get. Foundation Studies help grasp a picture of the developing human being.

My suggestion is for those who have never experienced a really well put together circle in a Waldorf environment is to take it up quite seriously as a study in speech, song, music, drama and movement. Consider it part of the adult training and the inner work of being the parent/teacher.

Look into the development of the young child, what serves the child?

 Ask the questions:

• What movement is healthy for young children? Why? How do they serve the child?
• What speech do we bring? Why? 
• What songs?
• How do I bring this dramatically yet without rousing feelings and awakening the feeling realm of the middle years of childhood?
• Did I play circle games as a child?
• What experience do I have of circle?
• Where can I start building a wee little circle time for my child?

How is it with you to do circle? Are you doing it at home? What works? At school? With wee littles? Feel free to link your posts on circle below in the comment section.

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If you'd like to gain confidence with circle time and movement games, have a deeper understanding of circle time, explore the myriad of developmental benefits for children and the opportunity for artistic expression through circle work for the adult,  join Celebrate the Rhythm of Life through the Year in Caring for Children, my program that supports homemakers and homeschooler on this path, and take up an exploration of this topic with specific examples and interaction.

Click here for more information on Celebrate the Rhythm of Life through the Year in Caring for Children

Celebrate the Rhythm of Life 

Harmonious Rhythms ::  Parenting with Soul :: Waldorf Homeschooling

~living curriculum program to support parenting and homeschooling

In Memory of Martin Luther King Jr