Come, Mommy » Waldorf

Daily Trivia

lieslf — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 02:47:23 +0000

I am always startled by the amazing memory powers of young children. Today I was driving home with Kieran when we drove past the movie theatre in Princeton. This place is an old theatre-two screens, no surround-sound or Dolby or Imax or other modern bells and whistles. It was probably built in the ’30′s or ’40′s and still retains much of the charm of that era. The sign out front simply proclaims “The Garden”, and the whole place is a small, whitewashed brick building. If you don’t happen to know it is a theatre, it would be very hard to guess what goes on inside the walls other than just some generic business.

On the side wall where cars pass by, however, there are two small movie posters that show the current movie fare, and as our car passed by today, Kieran called from the back, “Mommy! That place must be a movie theatre! I know it from the signs!” This is a child who has been to one movie in his life, a year ago, and yet he still remembers the posters displayed all over the theatre. He saw two similar posters this morning on an otherwise bland building and managed to conclude that the place is where people go to see movies.

I really need to remember to ask Kieran the next time I’ve lost my keys or have that feeling I’m forgetting something at the grocery store.

And in other developing news, Liam was very excited to have finished two bracelets for a friend in the knitting block of his handwork class. (All children at Waldorf schools learn to knit in first grade. Not only is it fun and relaxing, but it builds fine motor skills for later work with pencils, pens, and paint brushes.) Today, though, he made the mistake of speaking about handwork class to a 2nd grade child. I’m not sure what Liam heard from his older schoolmate, but all I know is he climbed in the car at pickup time today saying, “Mom? Mommy? I am so in trouble in 2nd grade because they have to learn to purl in that class and they say it’s REALLY HARD! And I thought knitting was hard! I think I should stay in 1st grade forever….”

He was, however, a bit more relaxed when I told him that since he knows how to cast on, cast off, and knit, once he learns the purl stitch he’ll be set to tackle any knitting project he dares to pursue. Last I heard of this, he was imagining knitting a functional robot. I guess I should have put some explanation on the phrase “any project you wish to pursue.”

The Times, They Are A Changing…

lieslf — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:27:20 +0000

A funny thing happened to Liam over the last three weeks. One day he was in summer camp…

…petting the lion cub…

…playing with Galapagos tortoises…

…and then, the next week, he was at Work Day at his school, helping set up the classroom and picking out a desk…

…and finally came the first day of school, during which each new 1st-Grade child was introduced the the school community and welcomed into the grade school with a bouquet of wildflowers presented by our 7th Grade Lead Class. This is the Waldorf School Flower Ceremony, which is performed the first day of each school year at each Waldorf school around the world. The wildflowers were grown over the summer in our school garden by the Lead Class, and they are used for this ceremony because they symbolise the unbridled spirit of young children. It was a beautiful day, perfect for celebrating a beautiful group of children.

Welcome to Grade School, Liam. May the years ahead hold many adventures, big and small. We love you and sre so proud of you.

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, and Kieran

June Is A Busy Month!

lieslf — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:24:52 +0000

At least in this family it is. There’s all the end-of-school chaos, and then we have several birthdays in the family this month so there’s something going on just about every day this month here. The boys and I have spent the week enjoying the first few days of summer vacation – they’ve done a lot of playing with their trains, and I’ve been trying to catch up on all kinds of projects around the house that have been left half-done during the school year. I’m hoping this summer I can actually do my Spring cleaning and reorganize the closets and the pantry. That’s the plan anyway-we’ll see what actually transpires in the end.

Anyway, this is the post from last week with Liam’s last day of school and my birthday, along with a few snapshots of things that have been going on this week here at the Menagerie House. Last week on Liam’s last day of school, we had a sweet little festival to mark the end of kindergarten. We arrived at school and went out into the play yard. As the children romped and played, the parents worked on a craft project-a little butterfly puppet-that was meant to be a toy for younger siblings to take home at the end of the day. After the puppets had been finished, we formed a big ring together and had circle time for everyone. We then went inside to share a snack together. At the end of snack, the older kindergarteners-the ones who will be going on to 1st Grade in the fall-presented a puppet show as a gift to their parents and siblings.

The children had been working on this for several weeks. They made the puppets and the set. It was a story of a little boy and girl and the various adventures they had as they played through the year. There were a number of animal characters, including a little bird who always chirped exciting suggestions to the children when they needed a new idea for a game to play. Of course they had a loving mother and father who supported them in their adventures, and they always returned home a bit wiser and more worldly at the end of each day. The children worked so well together handling the puppets that I found myself getting lost in the story instead of just focusing on Liam – it is really amazing what children can do when they have the right support around them. There wasn’t a dry eye in the audience by the time the show ended.

At the end of the show it was time to leave, but Liam took a moment to give his teacher a gift he had made for her. Kevin cut a squirrel figure out of some poplar wood, and then Liam spent quite a bit of time sanding the little fellow down to silky smoothness. He then decorated him with Stockmar beeswax crayons all over the surface of the wood. The little creature is an “oven squirrel” – holding him by the tail, one can use the groove behind his neck to pull out hot oven racks, while groove over the paws can be used to push them back in. Liam made a squirrel for his teacher and one for each of the two assistants, so he really did a lot of work putting these gifts together, and I think the teachers thought the squirrels were very sweet.

A freshly sanded squirrel…

…and here is the very colorful finished product. The beeswax crayons make the squirrel smell like honey!

After Liam handed out his gifts, it was time to leave. I will miss this kindergarten scene in the morning next year, and I’m looking forward to doing all over again with Kieran in two years’ time.

After going out to lunch with friends, we went home and had a birthday party. The boys treated me very well with strawberry shortcake, ice cream, and homemade birthday cards. I really couldn’t ask for anything sweeter or more fun. Here are a few shots:

My boys!

(Aren’t all three of them adorable?)

Cutting the cake…

Mooching for crumbs…

And here’s Kieran mugging for the camera. I love his curls. I told him the other day he is so not allowed to get a hair cut!

So it was a fun day – the last day of school and my birthday all at once. Since then we’ve been trying to get into some sort of a routine for the summer. We haven’t quite figured out our schedule yet, but we’ll get there. We’ve been to the park several times, watched a couple of movies, played in the sprinkler, played hopscotch in the driveway, and gone for bike rides around the block. Typical summer stuff!

Kevin and I planted some snapdragons and marigolds in a small bed under our dogwood out in front of the house….

I think this bed will be really nice once the plants mature and fill things in a bit more.

The butterfly garden Kevin put in last summer is doing very well, particularly the echinaceas.

Back inside the house, my orchids are blooming really well this summer. The flowers are beautiful, and they stay around for weeks.

I love the deep purple of this bloom…

I just love these plants!

Moving right along to other lovely things, I present…

…Liam and Casey. Every boy needs a dog, and these two are best of friends.

Then, finally, to finish out the week, this afternoon was Liam’s first piano recital. He started taking lessons after Christmas, and today the teacher had her students present a little recital for parents. The children write their own songs and learn to play piano by playing their songs, so we were treated to a number of wonderfully named pieces. There was “The Little Frog”, “Princess and The Pea”, “Flying to the Moon”, and Liam’s final piece was entitled “The Cat Knocked A Marker Into The Piano.” The children played really well, and they seemed to really love sharing the pieces they had written with us.

Liam’s turn to perform.

Listening to his classmate play.

After all the children had performed their pieces, they finished with a parade of puppets.

Marching with their puppets…

Taking a bow at the end of the show.

After the performance was over, we went outside for refreshments. The children ran and played under the trees while the parents talked. It was a good show, and a good day.

It’s been a week of milestones here-the end of kindergarten, and a first piano recital. No wonder everyone looked a bit tired tonight. Now we are looking forward to a summer of swimming lessons, playing outside, catching fireflies, and listening to the crickets at night.

Life is good!

Gnomes!

lieslf — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:55:14 +0000

Waldorf teachers use the traditional northern European fairy tales as stories in their younger classes. First the children hear them as the teachers speak them, then see them in the form of puppet shows put on by the teachers, and then in the grade school they read the stories for themselves. As a result, we are quite familiar with all sorts of gnomes, trolls, and other wee folk.

Last year, Liam made a purple gnome and a tee-pee for him to live in. One of his older classmates knitted a rug for Liam’s gnome house. Then this year in the Parent-Child class that Kiri and I have been going to on Fridays, I made a bigger gnome. When I brought my gnome home last week, Liam took quite a shine to him and ran upstairs to introduce him to “Purple Guy.” As it turns out, Purple Guy and “Red Guy” have become best friends, despite the fact that “Red Guy” has to bend a bit to get into the gnome house.

Here you can see Red Guy and Purple Guy standing in their teepee alongside their dear pet, Mousie.

Here’s Liam, making sure I get a good picture. He was quite worried that I wouldn’t!

Here’s a shot to show the general size of the gnomes – Red Guy is about 9 inches tall, while Purple Guy is between and inch or two in size. The little Purple Guy that Liam made is amazing in that he sewed his purple robe and hat by himself, and then wet felted his body out of cream roving. Liam is getting quite good at sewing and is also beginning to do some knitting in school.

I have always loved crafts and sewing, both for recreation and to make actual useful items for me, my house, or my friends, and I’m so happy that my children will be learning these important skills early on in school.

Last Day of School

lieslf — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:14:14 +0000

From this:

And this:

To this:

All in one school year. Liam’s last day of school was last Wednesday. It was also my birthday, so it was a big day all around. Lots of evidence of people growing bigger and older around here these days!

School’s out until after Labor Day, and it feels good to have several weeks of nothing much planned after the last rush of the school year. It will also be good to not have to spend three hours a day in the car driving back and forth to school!

Then in the Fall it all starts up again. Liam will have the same teacher again next year, and we are all thrilled about that since Mrs. S. is a superbly talented teacher, and Liam has grown so much under her nurturing care this year. He’s still a bit intimidated by the idea of grade school, so that’s another reason we’re glad he’ll be in kindergarten next year, too. (Waldorf schools use 2-year, mixed age kindergartens, and only those who are already seven or who will turn seven early in the school year can be considered for first-grade readiness. Liam is still five and has just finished his first year of kindergarten.)

Why I Love Waldorf Education

lieslf — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:33:07 +0000

Waldorf schools promote creative thinking, problem-solving, organic living, respect for nature, and respect for others. So you will see all sorts of interesting things going on in a Waldorf school – gardening, knitting, breadmaking, woodworking, painting, singing, and all sorts of activities. Familiar as I am with the school, though, sometimes I still get taken aback by some of the things even the youngest children are encouraged to try.

One day last week when I went to pick up Liam, I saw his teacher coming across the play yard towards the back porch. In her hand she had a large hand drill. The bit on this drill was about a foot long, and an inch across. I must have given her a funny look, because she looked at me, then glanced down at the drill and said, “Oh, yes! The children wanted to have maple syrup with their muffins, so we tapped a tree.”

I guess maple sugar candy is on next week’s kitchen activity?