Baby Animals, One of the Joys of Spring

Baby animals are such a thrill to spot in spring. While Canada Geese are considered somewhat of a pest in area parks and beaches, one has to admit that the goslings are as sweet as can be. 

I made a special effort to get some photos of goslings and ducklings on my daily walks this spring. Their feathers so light and fluffy, you can imagine how soft they must be. 

Gosling in the grass

Goslings on parade

Goslings swimming 

Ducklings in the park

Brown and yellow ducklings

Mallard ducklings

Ducklings with mama duck

Celebrating the Seasons and Feeling at Home in Nature

In Waldorf education, we celebrate the changing seasons in the classroom, in the community with seasonal festivals, and in the home.  Waldorf classrooms always include a beautiful season’s table that is decorated with gifts of nature, handmade animals, and items that reflect the present season.  Inspired by the beauty of the classroom, Waldorf parents often find a space in their homes as well for a seasonal nature table.

Waldorf Seasons created by Claudia Marie Lenart

The awareness of the seasons and celebration of seasonal festivals has meaning in the Waldorf curriculum.

Recognition of the seasons establishes rhythm for the child and the natural rhythm of life is central to Waldorf philosophy.  Rahima Baldwin Dancy, author of You are Your Childs’ First Teacher, says that rhythmic activities provide children with a sense of security.

“The slower rhythm of the natural world with its changing seasons can provide the “content” of our experiences, as well as a powerful healing influence,” according to Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America.

Awareness of the changing seasons allows children to better appreciate nature and to feel at home in the natural world.  For Waldorf children, daily outdoor play is essential, through the heat of summer and even on the most frigid winter days.  Of course, Waldorf parents send their children to school with boots, hats, scarves, wool mittens –well prepared for the weather.  If the schoolyard has the slightest hill, you will be sure to see the children sledding daily in the snowy months. 

Observation of the changing seasons in early childhood provides a foundation for later scientific study.  As the child progresses through Waldorf school, teachers will take hiking trips where students will study and draw the anatomy of a plant or observe weather patterns.  The seasons are a perennial subject for Waldorf watercolor paintings as well.

Feeling at home in nature throughout the seasons, provides a child with a sense of wholeness and belonging to the world.  This sense of wholeness is at the foundation of Waldorf education and observation of the seasons instills a greater sense of connection to the natural world and to all life. 

This article was first printed on Waldorf on Etsy. 

Too Much Academics Too Soon

Once upon a time, in a land far away and long ago, there was a school. Now in the preschool and kindergarten classrooms of that school, the children’s work was to play. All day long, the children played pretend, and they sang and danced and they listened to the teacher tell stories, and they, too, made up grand stories. The teachers looked at the children and they saw little sprouts which needed lots of time, love and nurturing to grow into maturity. Through their play, the children learned about the world -- they learned how to share and cooperate, they learned how to solve problems and they learned how to use their imaginations to make up new stories. The children loved their teacher and they loved their school. But then one day, the leaders of the land said children were playing too much. They needed to learn to add and read earlier and faster. So the teachers were told to take away classroom play from the kindergartners; children should spend more time sitting in their desks memorizing their ABCs. And what did the teachers discover? There was something wrong with the children! Many of them were unable to learn to add and spell at 5. And the boys were the worst of all! So the leaders of the land decreed that preschoolers were spending too much time playing as well, they needed to learn reading, writing and arithmetic. They needed an earlier start; they needed to get ahead, lest they fall behind. Soon , the children of the land forgot how to play and more and more children were becoming sick and less and less children knew how to read and add. And the leaders of the land wondered what was wrong with the children . . .

Baby Videos --A Brain Drain?

Researchers at the University of Washington recently released a study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, that found popular baby videos, like “Baby Einstein” and “Brainy Baby” may actually hinder language development in babies 8 to 16 months old. The research team led by Frederick Zimmerman and Dr. Dimitri Christakis found that with every hour per day spent watching baby videos and DVDs, infants learned six to eight fewer new words than babies who did not watch videos.
These videos are marketed to parents who want to give their babies a boost. What parents really need to do is listen to the top pediatricians in our country. Way back in 1999, the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) released a statement advising that children under should not be exposed to any electronic entertainment – that includes so-called educational videos and DVDs
Despite evidence that screen time is not good for babies, Christakis and his colleagues found that by three months, 40 percent of babies are regular viewers of DVDs, videos or television; by the time they are two years old, almost 90 percent are spending two to three hours each day in front of a screen.
Christakis says the only thing baby DVDs are doing is producing a generation of overstimulated kids. His group found the more television kids watch, the shorter their attention span.
After this study came out, Disney (the makers of Baby Einstein) criticized the researchers saying they lumped Baby Einstein with all other baby DVDs and videos. That may be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that screen time isn’t good for babies.
When the AAP made its recommendation of no screen time for children under two, it was based in part on the way baby’s brains mature, in response to environmental stimuli. “Stimuli that optimize the development of brain architecture include interaction with parents and other humans manipulation of environmental elements like blocks or sand and creative, problem-solving activities,” according to The Effects of Electronic Media on Children Ages Zero to Six: A History of Research, 2005, Kaiser Family Foundation. The KFF has been pushing for more research on the effects of early media use for years.
Parents who want to help their babies build their brains, basically need to go back to the old time-tested methods – talking to their babies, reading to their babies and letting them explore the real world.
“What made Einstein notable was his capacity to imagine, imagination being the creation of mental images not generated by the sensory system. Descriptive language is the primary and perhaps the only stimulus that develops this capacity, not pictures flashing on a screen,” writes Michael Mendizza, Just Say No to Baby Einstein, www.ttf.com

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Expect Respect From Children

The other day, I was waiting in line at the grocery store. There was a mother and her daughter, about 5 years old, waiting in front of me. The girl was insisting on getting a candy bar and her mother staunchly refused. The girl told her mother she was “stupid and mean.” The mother looked embarrassed and continued to ignore the child while she checked out.

Disrespectful behavior is pervasive in our culture. It is an attitude supported by media. We don’t really know if the media, TV and movies, can be blamed for starting this climate of disrespect, or if they were just echoing the culture. Certainly, it has become a toxic circle. Even children, who are protected from media’s influence, pick up the attitude from their neighbors and friends. Author and lecturer Kim Payne said at a recent conference, “We swim in a culture of disrespect.”

However, as conscious parents, we can’t just shrug our shoulders and ignore the problem. We can’t just blame the media either. We really do need to look at ourselves. Are we modeling respectful behavior at every turn? This can be difficult. As parents, we need to be authoritative, to be the kind leaders in the family. But parenting can be frustrating; children don’t always do what they’re asked to do and they like to test their boundaries. It’s easy to lose your patience as a parent. Soon your tone of voice changes from that of a kind leader to that of jail warden. We need to constantly remind ourselves to speak to our children as we want to be spoken to. Constantly.

We also need to be aware, not only how we speak to our children, but how we speak about others in front of our children. They are always listening . . .

When dealing with disrespectful behavior, the worst thing a parent can do is to echo that behavior back. Your child yells at you and you yell back. What are you teaching him? Yes, it takes a lot of self-control to be a parent.

Another mistake parents make when dealing with disrespectful behavior is ignoring it. Your child yells at you and you do nothing. You’re telling her that yelling at you is OK.

Jean Leidloff, author of The Continuum Concept, says we only know two ways to treat our children, one is punishing/blaming: “you are very bad, go stand in the corner or I’ll spank you.” The other is permissive: “that’s perfectly all right darlings, if you want to walk on mother’s face, she doesn’t mind.” However, he says, there is a third way; it is called information.

Children need to be told when they cross the line; they need to know that respectful behavior is the norm. “Expect children to do the right thing. You then are being a clear model and there’s no conflict. It’s the way nature designed us to behave,” says Leidloff.
Cultural change begins right here.

April is for Love (of Earth)

With April comes an awakening of the earth and all living things. The trees are budding, crocuses blooming, birds are very active and their song is in the air, our children and ourselves have a renewed energy.
April is a time when nature’s forces, whether the loud thunderstorm or the quiet spring breeze, become very present in our lives. We are no longer hiding indoors, we return to nature and to the Earth, and begin to spend more time outside. It is the perfect time to celebrate nature and we are provided with many observances that encourage this. Arbor Day, April 28, is the oldest; Earth Day is April 22, and both coincide with National Wildlife Week, April 22-30.
The biggest environmental threat of our time is global warming. There are many things you can do to fight this threat from adjusting your thermostat to going organic. See http://www.earthday.net/ for more ideas and information.
However, don’t forget about your own backyard. There are plenty of ways, families can care for the gifts we’ve been given, at home.
One way is to ignore all the advertising that is telling you it’s time to take of care of crabgrass and urging you to start chemical warfare in your backyard. Backyard chemicals are unhealthy and unnecessary. I never heard of anybody dying from dandelions. Can’t say the same about lawn care products. Our pets roll in the grass and often eat it; our children like to walk barefoot in the grass. There are non-chemical lawn care products available, such as those sold by Gardens Alive. They take longer to work, but it’s well worth it.
You can also make a difference, environmentally, by planting a tree. As we know, trees clean the air, provide shade and protection. They can cut down on energy consumption by cooling your home in summer and providing protection from cold winds in winter.
Another environmentally-friendly action, would be to return your land to the birds and the bees. As many natural areas are replaced by buildings and concrete, the birds and toads and other wildlife lose their homes. But, your backyard could become a new home for these species. Plant a section of your yard with native prairie plants and try to use native plants throughout your landscape. Create an outdoor play space for children, as well.
You can also help out beyond your backyard by volunteering at your local forest preserve and by supporting the goals of the forest preserve when you vote.
Finally, make a promise to support local farmers. Either join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) or buy your produce at local farmer’s markets. This cuts down on energy use because the produce does not have to travel far to get to the consumer. It also helps keep our agricultural heritage alive.
Hope you enjoy the spring air.

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