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

What to do with all of those ripe tomatoes?

Make Tomato Goat Cheese Salad

This is one of my favorites from Cafe Liliane. Actually everything we made there was worthy of favorite status!

Slice tomatoes, arrange on serving plate, crumble goat cheese ( I like the chervre from Vermont Butter and Cheese) on top, roll basil leaves and make thin slices to place on top, also know as chiffonade, do this with red onion too, thin slices on top. Sprinkle some delicious olive oil and lemon juice over it all. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

The photo above is from Flower Power Annie's gorgeous offerings at the farmers market.

Storytelling with Children :: Nursery Rhymes

Recently I wrote here about movement and lullabies as the first stories the child experiences. From lullabies, flow nursery rhymes. Sometimes they overlap with nursery rhymes sung as lullabies and often accompanied by movement and touch. An example,

Sleep, baby sleep,

Thy father guards the sheep,

Thy mother shakes the dreamland tree and from it falls sweet dreams for thee,

Sleep baby sleep.........

One way to bring nursery rhymes is with touch, movement, song and gesture. Baby might like a game of pat-a-cake while the first grader loves Hey diddle dinkety poppety pet! (try saying that fast and articulately five times)

For baby:

Pat- a -cake, pat-a- cake bakers man,

Bake me a cake as fast as you can.

Pat it and Roll it and mark it with a B,

And pop it in the oven for baby and me!

Clap hands together and apart, you can do this holding babies hands, and trace the B on the child's arm of back or belly.

Here's another version:

Pat-a-cake, pat-a -cake, baker's girl,

Bake me a cake with a strawberry twirl.

Pat it and roll it and mark it with a B,

And pop it in the oven for baby and me!

When you say strawberry twirl, you can make a twirl on the child's arm or back.

Here's one of my son's favorites, for the first grader, to sing and do with gestures touching the body:

Hey diddle dinkety, poppety pet,

The merchants of London they all wear scarlet.

Silk in the collar and gold in the hem,

So merrily march the merchant men.

The child's sense of touch can be soothed or stimulated with nursery rhymes.

This little piggy went to market,

This little piggy stayed home,

this little piggy ate roast beef,

This little piggy had none,

And this little piggy cried wee! wee!

All the way home!

Wiggle the toes with each verse then trace the way home on the child's foot bottom, around the ankle and up the leg

We can move the child's foot at the ankle, up and down or clasp the soles together while saying or singing a nursery rhyme. Here is an example from Mary Thienes Schunemann's nursery rhyme book in her series Naturally You Can Sing!

When I push very young children in the swing, I sing a little song that I made up and follow it with some nursery rhymes.

The song:

Up I go in my swing

Oh so merrily

Up I go in my swing

With a fiddle di di-di di

With little ones, I push from in front of them on the swing so they can see me and make eye contact. I push from their feet with the palms of my hands lined up with the soles of their feet and sing:

All around the cobblers bench

The monkey chased the weasel

The monkey stopped to ties his shoes

Pop! goes the weasel

A penny for a spool of thread,

A penny for a needle

That's the way the money goes,

Pop! Goes the weasel.

For the pop I make a popping sound with my pointer finger inside my cheek.

Baa, ba black sheep, have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

One for my master and one for my dame

One for the little boy who lives down the lane

Baa, baa black sheep, have you any wool?

Yes si, yes sir, three bags full.

Another nursery rhythm with a pop:

Higgledy, piggledy, pop!

The dog has eaten the mop.

The cat's in a hurry,

The pig's in a flurry

Higgledy, piggledy, pop!

More on nursery rhymes, rhythm, and speech for the young child tomorrow.

What's your favorite nursery rhyme?

Blessings.

Storytelling with Children~Movement and Lullabies

Children on the Beach by Mary Cassatt, 1884

Parents have asked me over the years, to write something about the development of movement, speech, language, literacy and storytelling with children: why story telling, why not reading, why does reading come later, what stories to use, when to use them, why tell them rather than read them and what props to use. The philosophy major in me wants to explain everything in great detail which becomes quite lengthy (and dull), so here it is, with an effort to make it concise, and to make some sense of it for you. Tell me what you think.

For this moment, let's think in terms of recapitulating history. Humans in ancient time went from movement to speech to writing to reading. That's it! in a nutshell. That is how Waldorf education approaches reading which is often the big question for those new to Waldorf or outside of Waldorf education. Why wait so long to teach reading? Ah, but literacy is being taught from the beginning and as it is so with all of Waldorf education, the child lives into it, with her very being, at the very start, beginning prenatally.

The very first story for the young child is the mother, and it begins in utero, with the mother's movement, movement that occurs before the child's ears are even formed. This is the first experience of story.

With the formation of ears and beginning of hearing comes the rhythm of her body and sound of her voice.

Next come lullabies, sung by the mother or father, grandparents, siblings or caregivers. Lullabies can be traditional or made up by you. I was astonished in pregnancy and early motherhood how songs and lulling sounds emerged from my lips spontaneously and flowed with ease in me which is something I had not experienced before motherhood.

For inspiration to sing with your children, Mary Thienes Schunemann created a Lullaby book in her series of songbooks with CDs for parents called, Naturally You Can Sing!, which are recordings of her remarkably beautiful voice and lovely illustrations with lyrics that make wonderful inspiration for anyone who wishes to expand their repertoire with lullabies. 

Parent-Child Classes at Waldorf/Steiner schools are another place to experience the beauty of lullabies, learn new songs and meet others with young children. Our parents and grandparents can be a source of lullabies when asked to recall what they sung to their children and if they remember lullabies sung to their siblings, especially if they were born into a family with many children and years between them.

Or just relax and remember your early days and let flow whatever comes from you, for your child or for yourself.

To be continued...... with Nursery Rhymes.

Blessings.

Reviewing the Day

Marsha Johnson of Waldorf Home Educators was recently asked the question, "why do you review the day going *backwards*? "

To which she provided this response:

Yes.

We humans are quite asleep most of the time, even when we are walking about. We have a tendancy towards inward awareness, our feelings, impressions, judgments, worries, plans, ideas, ourselves...and we can become quite insulate as well as quite unaware of what is transpiring around us.

We can be so interested in 'self' that we forget 'other'.

Recalling the day, recalling the sensory and soul impressions, starting with what was immediate, and then practicing replaying the day, re-seeing it with the eyes of the soul, recalling a small gesture, an unspoken impression, the glimmer of an eye, the small pieces that come to us with time, helps us to sharped the pencil of our mind in a way.

Builds our memory-organ.

We do this with the children, quite directly. We tell them a marvelous tale, and then the next day, we ask them, what do you recall?

Over the night, things shift and move, dreams imbue, the spirit world whispers to us and reveals to us many things...when we have really developed our spirit organs, perhaps we can be dreaming and yet feel quite calmly awake and observing, recalling later what went on.

Practicing at night just before sleep will reveal to you the most amazing things! Small things pop up like jack-in-the-box moments, and we can nearly clap our hands to our foreheads! AH! How could I have nearly missed THAT!

Running backwards is not as easy as it seems. Our minds are disorderly these days, full of silly impressions and perceptions, sloppy minds trained to 30 second 'bites' of stuff, much of which is less than meaningless. We discipline our thinking and our memory life and we discipline ourselves.

We feel ourselves taking shape, become firm, finding the bones of the mind, so to speak, discovering how to make a flame that burns bright and heats well. Not a wild sparkly crazy inferno or a weak sickly effort that repels...but a steady bright perfect flame of a memory that illuminates here with quiet brilliance.

Take it slow, start with each little part of your day, if you manage to walk back through dinner time at first, why that is beautiful! This is an art and a true art takes time to hone and further.

As you move through your day, resting with your eyes closed, let those people, those beings who were present, come to your eye of your mind and the mirror of your heart and view them...simply without assigning any outer manipulation, just hold them like you would hold a new laid warm egg, fresh from the nest, in the palm of yourself, and see what was there.

Developing these inner organs and capacities is the very thing that will set you apart from the crowd. Truly seeing self, yes, and truly seeing Other. Avoiding that inner Frown, that face of conclusion, departing from making assumptions or judgments.......singly coming just as fresh as a summer slight breeze...listening for what is being asked of you in each moment.

If you can take this up, say in September, on the first day of that month of Micha-el, you will surely hear the songs of the cosmic choirs, rejoicing at the thought of another soul on Earth, making its light shine out into the farthest reaches of time and space! A twinkling beacon of beautiful light will begin to ray forth!

This self-moderated meditative activity is a key part of beginning to employ the fundamentals of spiritual science in your life and particularly in your teaching. It is truly one of the most valuable habits you can acquire in your life.

Try it and see what you find!

Mrs. M


Thank you Mrs. M!

Manners, Courtesy and Gentle Politeness

As adults we know what it is to be treated courteously and politely. We  know the basic rules of civility, of how to get along with others in the world, at least in public and most of the time. Yet with children the lines are more easily blurred.

Others, and particularly strangers and family members, may not know our child well enough to know that our child's play is simply play and may at times take behavior to be offensive. Loud squeals may hurt someone's ears in the grocery store and a fast moving tricycle may be dangerous around the legs of an older person walking with a cane.

How do we give our children free rein to be children and respect others at the same time?

When it comes to behavior with children and others, I often reflect back to the basic rule of three:

1. You may not harm yourself. ( a discussion on the perception of harm might follow among us adults)
2. You may not harm others.

3. You may not harm property.

Yet there is something missing in this rule of three, some nuance between the lines that is not exact and not easy to codify. It's that behavior that might be acceptable outdoors but not indoors or the rising voice in the grocery store or the use of certain slang in public. It calls for a discernment of the environment and of the audience and of what makes people comfortable and puts them at ease. This is what manners boil down to, putting people at ease in social situations.

And so appears the notion of courtesy. The word courtesy according to Wikipedia means, "gentle politeness or courtly manners." It arose from the days of the royal court and was codified in books of etiquette. I like the term gentle politeness. Somehow the word gentle which means, "of or belonging to the same stock, clan or race" brings warmth to the term. We are all human and worthy of consideration by others, all of the same clan- the human one. 

With children so many opportunities arise for reflection on language and behavior in social situations. From being in close quarters and noticing the rising volume of sound or being inside or waiting in line with a small child who needs to move and finding the lack of space for free movement or the blurting out of words or phrases that make me want to turn invisible and vanish from the spot. How to respond to that? 

I've come to use the words at ease and uncomfortable as in, "that makes others uncomfortable" or "that puts others at ease" in discussing behavior and language with my children. When my youngster starts raising his voice in the store I remind him that others might not like to hear the loudness. Or when my older child tells me that the F word is a good word, everyone uses it, I agree that it is a powerful word and when used discerningly has a great impact- and I remind him that some folks might be uncomfortable with it and encourage him to discern if his audience and his environment are at ease with his use of it.

Manners and courtesy had their origins in discernment, in discerning the social group to which one belonged, and in doing so, discerning those who did not belong. Today, in a time that acknowledges the dignity of all human beings regardless of all factors that once were considered social dividers, it seems possible to plant seeds in our children and to remind ourselves that the experience of others does matter and sometimes it is in the relating to the other human or humans that meaning is made rather than in some absolute right or wrong of the act or the word.

Father's Day Ideas

Reflections on Father's Day gifts we have made that might inspire you.

• We've painted silk neckties from Dharma Trading. Use only two colors with little ones, you cannot go wrong, always beautiful. For moms, we have made silk scarves the same way.
• For quick to organize projects we have made tie dye socks, hankies and tee shirts.
• Another quickie is to cut a watercolor painting or crayon drawing on card stock into a book mark. The child can punch a hole in the top and thread raffia or ribbon and beads onto it too. Or laminate the book mark for longevity and durability.
• For Dad's who spend time in the garden a garden stone is fun with stones, shells, gems, hand and foot prints pressed into it.

The birth of a child and depression

National Public Radio did a story on dads and depression.

Click here to read it.

Some many questions come to mind:

Is this a generational issue with the "me" (the Millennial) generation accustomed to praise and affirmation lacking the resilience of other generations?

Are expectations of parenting examined as a variable?

Has community support been examined as a variable?

Is 'depression" being confused with exhaustion?

Are "depression" rates the same for parents of first children as with parents of successive children?

When Shere Hite

of The Hite Reports interviewed women and men she asked who they turned to for emotional support. Women said women and men said women. Could it be that the woman who has just given birth and is emotionally tied with the newborn is not there for the man and he has no other place to turn for support?

Is satisfaction with the experience of labor and birth a factor?

Do parents who have no experience and exposure to newborn babies have the same rates of "depression" as those with significant experience?

Is it that our harmony addicted culture has a hard time with accepting the shadow side of life and needs a fix?

Are these studies funded by pharmaceuticals with something to gain through pill manufacturing for treatment?

How does pregnancy, childbirth and parenting fit into the rhythm of life?

What's your experience?

Bees Study Group

Ahhhhhh, big breath out.

How full spring is. With sunshine and unseasonably hot weather it feels like summer. Yet school and Morning Garden are still in session. We spent a weekend in Maine, have been working on the house and in the gardens, got a pool ( I capitulated with the heat) and I gave birth to two booklets, one on the rabbit, of verses, puppetry and finger play and one called Celebrating Birthdays in Early Childhood. Theyr're beautiful and were both contributions to the local school benefit auction.

Well the Practical Advice for Teachers study group is underway and full of fabulous people. The introductions and comments are inspiring.

The interest is reading Steiners lectures on bees was great (and is also a strong interest of mine) so I started a second group.

Can you tell I was born in May and gave birth to a child (in June) with a May "due date." It's a creative time of the year for me.

Welcome all and please join the reading groups if they spark your interest.

Splendid Summer wishes to all!

Warmly,

Lisa

Steiner Says!

Anyone for reading Steiner and discussing it in a group forum? The only requirement is to read, even one page a day and check in with comments, reflections, questions, concerns, musings, to connect with others who are on this parenting path. It's open to all. No prevous reading of Rudolf Steiner required.

Possible texts, these are all available online for free:

Education of the Child in Light of Anthroposophy

Discussions with Teachers

Practical Advice to Teachers

Soul Economy

Click here for the link to join.

Hope you'll join!

Happy Day!

Moe came home and is on the mend. Life is good. Happy spring.

Prayers and healing

My furry boy is in the hospital. We do not know what's wrong. He is flat, not his usual spunky self, not eating. We want him to be healthy and come home. The house is so loudly silent. Healing and prayers requested for Mo.