February

Groundhog in your hole so deep,

Lift your head and take a peep,

If your shadow makes you leap,

Curl back up and go to sleep.

Dear Spindlewood Parents,

Now that the light of day is increasing, the class seems to be "waking up" from our midwinter dream. We have carried the mood of Christmas for 40 days with our Three King Play, but I think that the children would have been happy to carry it on for another forty, never seeming to tire of donning the capes and crowns and the astronomer’s pointed cap. During this sweet quiet (well relatively) time, each child has been sewing with colored floss on an embroidery hoop. (Sharp needles require focused attention.) Now we are removing the cloth from the hoops and fringing the edges so that they will serve as candle mats. And now that the weather is a bit warmer, and the children are running and playing out of doors, we have found a large sapling to saw into slices to drill as candle sticks. We hope to be sending the completed set home with each child by Valentine’s Day. I hope they find a place at your dinner table or bedside stand.

We will observe Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, February 13 with our tradition of posting a heart "mailbox" for each child in the mudroom. We invite children to bring a homemade valentine for each of their 13 classmates that day. A simple heart cut from paper will do nicely. (Please no candy.) Your child can sign each card with his or her name or symbol. Whoever brings your child that morning can see that one valentine is placed in each of the "mailboxes". I will send home a list of children’s names and symbols just in case your child enjoys seeing and recognizing the letters and symbols.

February Break is February 19-21. There is no school that week.

Please save the date of Thursday, February 28 for a Parent Evening from 6:30-8pm. We hope that at least one parent from each family will be able to attend. I will present a description of a "Day in the Life of Spindlewood Kindergarten" so that you can get a sense of the dynamics and activities of the entire class. I would like to say a few words also about the social development of the 3-6 year old, and what Waldorf schools look for as "first grade readiness". Then when I meet with you during the first week of March for a Parent-Teacher Conversation, we will have a context in which to consider your child’s development.

Next weekend, Miss Elisa and I travel to Sunbridge Institute in Spring Valley, NY for a Waldorf Early Childhood Conference. She and I have been preparing by studying the recent book Under the Stars: Foundations of Steiner Early Childhood Education by Renate Long-Breipohl, the keynote speaker. We are both excited and enthusiastic about what is always an inspiring assembly.

All our best,
Susan

Accreditation Report from WECAN Site Visitor

　

Driving onto the Spindlewood Property is somewhat like driving into an enchanted world. At the end of a long unpaved road, the surrounding buildings are of a delightful architectural design that only adds to the feeling of magic. The Spindlewood Kindergarten is located on the property of Susan and Jack Silverio, in the small town of Lincolnville, Maine. The school building itself is a renovated cabin which has been lovingly added to over the course of Spindlewood's twenty-six year history. Susan and her husband Jack live here on the property and Jack (the architect behind those magical buildings) has his office/studio there as well. The school also functions as a "LifeWays" training center.


At the time of my visit, total enrollment was 14. The Kindergarten program runs Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with an extended day program offered on all three days. This aftercare program is in the hands of Miss Elisa Olds, Susan's assistant. Six children are enrolled in aftercare on Tuesday and Wednesday, no children attend on Thursday at this time. Susan and Elisa teach the morning classes together each day.


I was warmly greeted upon my arrival by Miss Susan (Silverio) and her assistant teacher Miss Elisa (Olds) The wood stove warmed the room, and the smell of bread dough filled the air. I was immediately enveloped in a feeling of homelike coziness. The rooms themselves were obviously well-tended, the playthings and small tableaux were artfully arranged and the entire atmosphere was pleasing to both look upon and to be enveloped by. We began the day, as they do each and every day, with two verses. One from the "Calendar of the Soul" and one from "In the Light of the Child". This was followed by the "Halleluiah" eurythmy series of gestures. It was a touching and reverent moment, and a lovely way to begin the morning.


The children soon began arriving, some bearing offerings (such as freshly laid eggs from the family chickens) and they came individually to have their hair brushed by Miss Susan. In the meantime Miss Elisa was busy in the kitchen preparing the dough for the children to knead. Miss Susan sang the most delightful song about brushing the starlight through their hair, and then helped them into their aprons. As she sent them off to the baking table, she warmed their hands on a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel upon her lap. What a loving transition from home to the Kindergarten!


The children kneaded their bread with good industry and when they had finished, they went off for indoor imaginative play time. There was a happy "hum" in the room. I saw them riding stick horses and building boats and houses. Some children came to set the table and to fold the laundry. All this was carried along in a dreamlike manner, and I felt a deep sense of peace and timelessness.


Now it was clean-up time and all of the children helped to put things away in their homes. This was followed by a most reverent morning circle time. I was visiting on the first week of Advent and the theme of the circle was centered around the birth of the child of Light. I was struck by the children's deeply engaged attention to the words and gestures...Miss Susan is obviously a master at "holding" the circle and this was very apparent. I consider this ability to be a great gift.


We were then treated to an enchanting puppet show. As this was the first week in Advent, the puppet show was "St. Nicholas and His Journey Through the Stars". The children were deeply absorbed and attentive, and a feeling of hushed awe pervaded the class.


We then washed hands and said a blessing before having our snack of freshly baked bread together. The children helped with serving and pouring and a lovely chatter accompanied our snack. Cleanup time followed smoothly, and all of the children were aware of what their tasks involved. The rhythm of the day was strongly evident and the children were held by this as well. The two teachers were engaged in practical work in a soothing manner. They modeled this consistently throughout the course of the morning.


Now it was outside time, and the children got themselves ready to gather moss from the forests surrounding Spindlewood. While they went off, I took this opportunity to speak at greater length with Miss Elisa the assistant teacher. Miss Elisa has taken the LifeWays training and stepped up to her current position when a temporary period of unsettled times manifested itself at the school two years ago. (This was elaborated upon in Susan's most recent self-study.) Elisa obviously loves her job very much and it is quite evident in her presence and manner. The two teachers have an easy yet professional rapport and the care and respect for each other is evident. Elisa is obviously mentored by Ms. Susan in the classical tradition. Their harmonious work together contributes to the mantle of warmth which extends over the entire atmosphere of the classroom. I felt the children to be fortunate indeed to be held every day in this mantle of caring warmth.

A Visit from St. Nicholas

Dear Parents,

 

We began on Tuesday, basking in the afterglow of Sunday’s Advent Spiral. The children seemed peaceful and dreamy. Each child found his/her bowl and added fine white sand to it as the first layer of a moss garden. When we took our woodland walk, we found a patch of abundant moss and paused to ask Mother Earth’s permission to gather some.

 

Today, Wednesday, the children played energetically, and with a new mood of cooperation. The “sharks” that have been circling the rocking boat became “dolphins”. We polished boots and set them out in the mudroom. After the puppet play of a legend of Bishop/St. Nicholas who filled a ship with good food for families of a distant land who had nothing to eat, the story “came alive” when he appeared in our mudroom.

          “There’s Santa” said Maggie matter-of-factly.

James opened the door and Luka and Colt followed him out to quietly gaze as the robed figure with a shepherd’s crook and mitered hat silently filled each pair of boots with a clementine and a gold (chocolate) coin. Most kept a respectful distance and stayed inside, watching from the window. When he was finished he spoke a reverent message, asking the children to always be kind and good.

          James replied that he was practicing being good. (Aren’t we all lifelong learners?)

          Colt was eager to tell him about his family’s Christmas tree. (No, St. N did not inquire as to what the children “wanted”.)

After he departed, a lively controversy arose around the snack table.

          Luka: “That was Mr. Jack.”

          Maggie: “He told us to be good, so it had to be Santa.”

          Elsa: “That was St. Nicholas.”

          Maggie: “Yes, his hat was different. Santa has a fuzzy hat.”

          Colt (settling it): “You’re right, Maggie. He wears two hats.”

 

Out of doors, all 13 children were happy to find that the sand pile was no longer frozen. ALL 13 dug in together, creating pies, roads, volcanoes, and gardens. Miss Elisa observed that the children have now found ways of communicating with each other; speaking and listening to express interests and solve problems. This is the kind of harmony that we hope for by this time of the year, creating the hum that will carry them as a group through the year together.

 

Peace on earth, good will toward all,

Susan

December at Spindlewood

                                                                                             

It is always with much joy that we write to you about the coming season that we will share with the children. Yes, the shops downtown are completely ready for the holiday season, but here in the Kindergarten we possess the luxury of Time. Soon we will feed the last pumpkin to the sheep. Our leaves are raked and our firewood is stacked. Just as the November winds and rains have swept away all signs of early autumn, we are cleaning out and making ready for what is to come. The woods and frog ponds are becoming quiet, and daylight is dwindling. There is an emptiness as the Earth breathes in and expectancy as we approach the darkest time of the year. It is as if the entire natural world is coming to a point of stillness – waiting for the advent of what… and who… is to come.

 

Throughout history, humankind has waited for the return of the sun and the rebirth of life. There are as many ways to celebrate this as there are individuals. We experience it in several ways with the children. Here is a description of some of the activities and events to come in the kindergarten.

 

The Moss Garden – Each child will receive a ceramic bowl. During the first week of December, beginning with the sparseness of the empty bowl, we will experience the gifts from the mineral world – sand, shells and crystals. During the second week we find the world of plants, using the moss that we have carefully gathered. Following this is the animal world. Finally, we come to the human realm, represented by a candle.

 

(These four kingdoms are also celebrated in the four candles of the Advent wreath in the center of our table. The song that we sing as we light another candle each week before we eat can be found in the mudroom and attached to this email message.)

 

For our young children, the center of their lives is their family. Father and Mother to a little child are much more than individual personalities. They are the fullness, love, support and encouragement that surround them. And surely every family who receives a child has a moment of experiencing that they receive a gift from heaven. Somewhere in our consciousness we regard them as a little King or Queen, and of course during infancy they are treated as such.

 

So it is for this that we build our gardens during the season of Advent. We celebrate the family (not necessarily the historical Holy Family, but a Universal Family). This is what surrounds our children as they become a part of this world. We mark this coming into the world or “incarnating” with the family festival of the Advent Spiral. This will take place at 4:30 pm next Sunday, December 2nd at Spindlewood. We hope that each family will be seated in the kindergarten by 4:30 so that we may begin promptly.

 

Inside the Kindergarten, a spiral of evergreens is built on the floor with a large pillar candle standing on a stump in the center. At the opening of the spiral are set shining red apples with small white candles placed in the center. Here we find the spiral form as symbolic of the universe. Everything – galaxies, growing vines, seashells, our bones, the inner part of our ear, all move or are formed in the dynamic of the spiral. When we wipe a table, sweep the floor or rake leaves, the movements are in the spiral.

 

The evergreens placed in this form are “everlasting”, eternal. The child takes her apple that is symbolic of one’s own individual karma or life challenges, walks into the spiral, lights her candle from the central pillar, walks out of the spiral and places the apple and lighted candle on the spot that she chooses. The child finds her place in the world. As each child adds her lighted candle to the dark garden it gradually becomes illuminated. This beautiful ceremony is accompanied by singing and the gentle tones of the harp of our neighbor Cheryl Martine.

 

Of course, no discussion of how the symbolism is interpreted occurs before or after the event. We allow the child to take what he may from the ceremony. We allow him to enter fully, without discussion. For safety sake, please no long dresses, and long hair needs to be tied back away from the candle flame. Afterward, the apples and candles will be brought outside and distributed. If there are siblings or friends between the ages of 4 and 9 who would like to carry an apple/candle, please sign their names on the poster in the mudroom, so that we will know how many to prepare.

 

Thursday, December 6 is the feast of St. Nicholas – Who knows, perhaps he will find his way to our polished boots and shoes?

 

On Wednesday, December 19, families are invited to come in from 8:30 – 9:30am for a Gingerbread Tea Party. Our regular morning resumes at 9:30. There is school on Thursday.

 

Wishing you all joy and deep peace,

Miss Susan         

 

PS – See you again on Tuesday, January 8.

Hallowe'en in the Kindergarten

Our current story in the kindergarten is The Naughty Little Hobgoblin, who likes to play silly tricks but after finding a big, golden smiling face of a jack-o-lantern, runs away and “minds his manners”. The short article below by Eugene Schwartz speaks about the true nature of “All Hallows’ Eve” and how it relates to young children.

 

Hallowe’en is followed by All Hallows Day (All Saints Day) and All Souls Day. Much celebrated in Latin America and Japan as days to remember loved ones who are departed. In the kindergarten, those children who come on Thursday, November 1 are invited to bring with them a photo of a departed grandparent or pet that they remember. We will have a place of honor prepared for these photos, and we would like to hear if they had a favorite food! The story that day will tell how our loved ones are alive in our kind thoughts.

 

THE SPIRITS OF HALLOWE’EN

 

Eons ago, as they looked upon the mists that wove around their fjords and heaths, ancient Europeans had a particular experience as the days grew shorter. Toward the end of the month that we call October, they perceived the souls of all of those who had died in the past year gathering and preparing to ascend to their heavenly home, making a space for the souls

due to be born in the year to come. But before they could assume their place in the ethereal realm, the departed souls had to sweep away all the detritus of the life just past and cast it to the earth. Thus the popular image of witches riding on their broomsticks is a misperception: in reality, the brooms are sweeping away the witches!

 

At the time when the child is in fourth grade, a sense of human mortality begins to dawn within her. Children of this age are rightfully and healthily drawn to all of the frightful and gruesome aspects of Halloween, and they look forward with trembling anticipation to visiting a haunted house, watching an horrific form arise out of a swamp, or, if only through a well-told story, being scared out of their senses!

 

For the younger child, however, the situation is different. The spirits and creatures with whom the younger child communes are not those created by human error, but rather those in whom the innocent and wise powers of Nature reside: gnomes and undines, fairies and elves, the spirits of stones and streams, sun and wind. For young children to be exposed only to the dark and demonic qualities of Halloween is to deny the unspoken conviction that they carry in their souls that the world is good.

 

– Eugene Schwartz, Waldorf Educator

This Week in the Preschool/Kindergarten

"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day. "Come over the meadow with me and play. Put on your dresses of red and gold. Summer is gone and the wind blows cold."
Dear Parents,

Yesterday the children all joined together to pluck the petals from the marigold flowers that we harvested before Jack Frost visited the garden last week. We filled a pan with the golden petals and made a "stew" of them with water and simmered it on the stove. When we went outside, we strained our marigold stew into a big pot, added more water and set it on the gas burner. One by one, starting with the youngest, each child dipped a silk into the pot, stirred it with a stick, and watched it turn golden!

Today, we hiked through the woods, over the stepping stones of the stream and up through the back fields on High Street to the Hazens’ ancient chestnut tree. Before starting out, each of the older children found a younger one to walk with and hold their hand. (Left to right: Zoe and Maggie, Luka and Colt, Adele and Elsa, Olivia and Hazel, Kennedy (my partner), and Rosalie and Seamus.) They watched over their friends carefully the entire way! After we stopped for our snack of peanut butter balls, popcorn and apples, each one donned a golden cape to run through the meadow. This hike is about two miles, and not one child asked to be carried! Upon our return to the school, the older children continued to laugh and play with the younger ones.

So we begin our journey through the winter together!

Cheers,
Susan

Parent-Child Class this week

Dear Parent-Child Families,

Yesterday morning was a beautiful example of play being enlivened by work. Susan polishing blocks in the block bin with a tiny basket of small cloths and beeswax salve, enticed Walden and Owen to help, build and then play together loading the boat with "cargo" of "clean" blocks. Jenn harvesting mint at the table, and soon Owen was putting mint leaves in the jar and pouring tea and then he and Walden made snack and tea for Clementine and Carlos in the quiet room.

Outdoors we spoke of the pleasing scent of essential oils and I mentioned a blend that is used in the Kindergarten and my home for cleaning and refreshing. I first made and used it during my LifeWays training and below is an excerpt and recipe from a LifeWays newsletter.

And the words to a new finger play....

As always I look forward to what next week will bring with you and your children!

Take care,

"Miss" Elisa

FingerPlay: Seed pods, bean pods, pea pods, poppy pods! Spilt when they ripen! And open with a POP!

Thieves Essential Oil Blend:
Equal parts of Lemon, Clove, Cinnamon, Rosemary, Eucalyptus essential oil

For a small spray bottle: Mix approximately 5 drops of each oil with one tablespoon of rubbing alcohol. Fill the rest of the way with distilled water.

It smells great and research shows these essential oils have been noted for anti-bacterial, anti-viral, antiseptic and anti-catarrhyal properties while stimulating the immune system, circulation and the respiratory system.