Tuesday, October 9, 2012

First Day of School

What a magical day we had!  We started our parent child class at our local Waldorf School.  I didn't talk much about school before today with the littles because I knew they wouldn't understand what it was I was talking about but that they would want to go right then and there.  They live very much in the moment and if I happen to mention a person or an outing that they enjoy, I had better to be ready to go at that moment or they will repeat the name or the place  they want to see until I do finally take them.

Upon waking I told Eoghan he was going to school today, to which he promptly replied, "yes to squirrel." He has been very taken with squirrels lately and we spend hours a day either looking out the window watching the squirrels or sitting outside both watching and chasing them.  



Come on Kiwi we are going to Squirrel!


Kiera was able to attend the previous Sprouts session (Eoghan was still to young) so she was very excited to hear we were going back to school.


When we first arrived Eoghan just needed to step back and take it all in, he stayed close by for the first hour.



Kiera jumped right in she remembered where snacks were prepared and hand and dish washing was done and headed over to help.




I was pleased to learn we had the same teacher we had last session, Mrs. Marriah she has a very soft grandmotherly energy about her that really fills the classroom with love.  When we arrived the children were free to play before morning circle, then Marriah sang a song and we formed a circle,  The theme today was sea life. She sang a few songs with hand motions about fish and the ocean today, then we did a few finger plays about fish, and we closed circle with a sweet story about a little boy going fishing, she used a homemade fishing rod to catch felt fish as she told the story.  When circle time was over the children were free to roam and play about the classroom under the watchful eye of Mrs.  Marriah's assistant, a former Waldorf teacher and a new mama who wore her baby to class.  The parents gathered at the table, introduced ourselves and explained how we found Waldorf Education, then Marriah discussed the different stages of child development according to Rudolph Steiner.  After our discussion we prepared a snack for parents and children to share together, the children went off and played more, while the mamas crafted a fishing pole and felt fish like the one used in this morning story.  (We did not complete them today so we will finish them up next class and I'll post pictures they really are very sweet).  Marriah discussed how important it is for young children to be able to see their parents craft toys for them, something I strongly agree with.  On our way home from school we stopped by a friend's home to share some fresh baked bread, homemade apple butter and pickles, and cheese for lunch.  It was really a very lovely morning, and I cannot wait to go back next week.

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