EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDY WORKSHOPS: 2013 - 2014



Early Childhood
  Study
A course in professional development for educators, doctors, therapists, care workers, curative educators and parents


Course carriers: Thea Kaesbach and Jill Taplin






11-13 Oct 2013 Workshop 6
The Anthroposophical Inner schooling path
  in connection to education.  This workshop will focus on the path towards
the  source of inspiration.


Anthroposophy and pedagogy meet through the understanding of the developing human being.


The teacher can become an artist in education through inspirational forces derived from such an understanding. This workshop will focus on the path towards  the source of inspiration.


-with
Christof Wiechert



More details and Application: http://www.earlychildhoodstudy.com/workshop5.php


for more info and more courses, including summer special events and story telling festival go to:

http://www.emerson.org.uk/part-time-courses-0/early-childhood-study/

In breathing, grace may two-fold be.
We breathe air in, we
set it free.
The in-breath binds, the out unwinds
And thus, with marvels,
life entwines.
Then thanks to God when we are pressed
And thank Him when
he gives us rest.
—Goethe



'A key part of working with the young child's need for activity is to understand
that activity must be held with a sense of rhythm. You, as the parent, can form
your child's days, weeks and seasons so that there is a healthy balance between
activity and rest. Think of a beating heart - sometimes it is faster, other
times slower. But, in health, it is always rhythmical. So, for health, a young
child needs time to run and shout and be exuberant as well as times of
listening, resting and being quiet. In  Steiner inspired settings and groups this is often expressed in terms of out-breath and in-breath.'
 (http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/early-years-nurturing-young-children-at-home.html)
 


'As human beings, we are creatures of rhythm—from the moment we are born,
our hearts beat, our blood pulses, and our lungs beat to a steady rhythm.
We give children a gift and nourish their healthy development by being
mindful of a young child’s need for rhythm, and offering them consistency, and
the comfort of knowing what comes next, as we move through our days, weeks, and
years together with them.
Names of the days of the week are a meaningless abstraction for young
children, but the children in my class knew that Rice Day was always
followed by Soup Day, and then in turn comes Bread Day, Millet Day and Oatmeal
Day.'
The children also knew that on Rice Day we painted, on Soup Day we chopped
vegetables, on Bread Day we kneaded dough, on Millet Day we colored with beeswax
crayons, and on Fridays we polished and cleaned our classroom. It was all part
of the “Rhythm of the Week.”
 Seasonally, the children would experience the “Rhythm of the
Year” by preparing for and celebrating the festivals of the
year—Michaelmas in September, All Hallow’s Eve, Martinmas, Advent, St. Nicholas
Day, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and May Day. Festivals are a
much more meaningful way for a child to mark the passage of a year than dates on
a calendar.' (Sarah Baldwin)


 'The children go through the day in alternate periods of concentration and
expansion, as if in a breathing rhythm where there is inhaling and exhaling.
In the inhaling or breathing-in phase the child directs his attention to an
activity that basically relates him to himself. For little children each
breathing-in period (drawing, water painting, and knitting, eating…) is very
short because little children can only concentrate for short periods of time. In
the exhaling or breathing-out period, the child relates mainly to the
surrounding world (free play, free running etc.). For each breathing-in period
the child needs a breathing-out period and so a pattern is established. This
rhythm is something that you can bring into your home. You have to try to find
out when the children breathes-in and when they breathe-out. And when the
children are in the breathing-in period, you have to make sure you are present,
so the child feels ah, here I feel my parents, they are there for
me. After that, for very short time, you can do what you have to do at home
and you can tell your child you have to wait because I need to do this.
And this will be all right because you know you have been present with the
child.' (http://www.waldorftoday.com/2011/11/daily-rhythm-at-home-and-its-lifelong-relevance-by-helle-heckmann/)





Resources and more reading on this subject:


http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/early-years-nurturing-young-children-at-home.html

http://www.iaswece.org/waldorf_education/what_is.aspx

http://www.erziehungskunst.de/en/article/early-childhood/the-breathing-day-of-the-small-child/

http://www.erziehungskunst.de/en/content/early-childhood/

Summer Verses and Circle


Full  early in the morning

Awakes the summer  sun
The month of June arriving
The cold and night are done 
The cuckoo's a  fine bird
She whistles as she flies
And as she whistles  "cuckoo"
The bluer grow the skies

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Come out, come out this  sunny day
The fields are sweet with new mown hay
The birds  are singing loud and clear
For summer time once more is here
So bring  your rakes and  come and play
And toss and tumble in the hay
The sweet  wild roses softly  blow
All pink and white the roses grow
The nodding daisies  in the grass       
Lift up their heads to hear you pass
Upon this happy,  sunny day
When you  come out to make the hay.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The summer's warm showers are falling like mist
My face and my hair by their soft touch  are kissed      
The dry thirsty ground becomes fragrant and cool
On every  green leaf lies a small shining pool
Earth blossoms again
I do love the  rain.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Come bright butterfly, close to me
Your beautiful wings I should like to see
You  fly like a bird,  you sip like a bee
But you're really a flower the wind set  free
 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


 Sunshine Fairies Circle Dance
 

We are  the sunshine fairies
And with our sparks of light
We shimmer and  glimmer in the air

Hugging flowers with colours so bright

(Begin  standing in a circle, children hold out their arms at their sides and turn in  place       
clockwise as fairies. Stop and flick fingers as sparks. Hold out  arms at       
sides, flutter fingers, then turn in place anti clockwise; hug  self and      
  rub hands up and down over folded arms.)

 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 Butterfly Game
 
Dancing  among the flowers with dainty painted wings
Flits the golden butterfly, joy to  my heart she  brings
Stopping only for a rest to sip the morning dew
Then  flits and  flutters off again
Butterfly, I can't catch you!

(Children  sit in a circle   with hands held up and cupped on top of head acting as flowers.  Butterfly   dances inside the circle, flitting in and out of the space between  seated   
children. Butterfly stops behind one child in circle for a rest,  bends,   
     and sips dew by tickling a flower in the child's palms. Flower  child jumps 
       up and chases butterfly back to his place, then becomes the next       
butterfly. Repeat game with new butterfly.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Over in the meadow

Over in the meadow,
In the sand in the sun
Lived an old mother toad
And her little toadie one.
"Hop!" said the mother;
"I hop"said the one,
So they hopped and they hopped
In the sand in the sun

Over in the meadow,
Where the stream runs blue
Lived an old mother fish
And her little fishes two
"Swim!" said the mother;
"We swim!" said the two,
So they swam and they leaped
Where the stream runs blue

Over in the meadow,
By the big oak tree
Lived an old mother bird
And her little birdies three
"Fly" said the mother;
"We fly"said the three
So they flew and they flew
Round the big oak tree
 

Over in the meadow,
In the reeds on the shore
Lived an old mother muskrat
And her little ratties four
"Dive!" said the mother;
"We dive!" said the four
So they dived and they burrowed
In the reeds on the shore

Over in the meadow,
In a snug beehive
Lived a mother honey bee
And her little bees five
"Buzz!" said the mother;
"We buzz!" said the five
So they buzzed and they hummed
In the snug beehive


Busy Bee
I am busy busy, busy, says the bee
I shan't be home for dinner nor for tea
it takes me hours and hours
to visit all the flowers
I am busy busy, busy says the bee


Happy
         Summer!