Gateways

Download the article: Stories for the Journey

Hanan is a sturdy Israeli lawyer and a devoted father who experiences the great joy of storytelling almost every day with his young children. He insists that he would have missed this pleasure were it were not for his wife, Tsipori, who has been practicing storytelling as a healing art for several years in the Jerusalem area. Recently I had the privilege of traveling along with Hanan, Tsipori and their children for an exhilarating dip in the Dead Sea. I asked Hanan for permission to share some of the ongoing story he has been telling his children.

Hanan's saga began four years ago as he was driving his daughter to school for the first time. She sat beside him in a car seat, both of them feeling the anxious, hesitant excitement that often accompanies this special event. Just as they were pulling out of the driveway in the early morning for the half-hour journey to school, Hanan decided to rise to the occasion and attempt to tell his first story for her. His daughter quickly became completely happy. Since then she has looked forward to each departure for school because of the special story they share. Hanan has continued what he began that day every weekday morning for the past four years. His young son, who heard every detail of the story from his sister, eventually joined them en route to school for his first day of kindergarten. Both children continue to remind their father of details he has forgotten.

Download the article: From the Garden to the Table

If you ask any Kenyan what their most meaningful childhood experience was, they would agree that it was linked to the shamba or garden where they would help to dig, plant, and harvest the vegetables for the table.

And so, when pondering ideas for celebrating the end of our kindergarten year at the Nairobi Waldorf School, one of our Kenyan teachers naturally pointed out that the many carrots that we had planted in our shamba would soon be ready for harvesting . . . so why not work with this theme for our end-of-year festival?

In East Africa, there are two significant times of year: the "long rains" and the "short rains." Our children had planted the carrots during the long rains in May, and now in early July there were hundreds of wavy green carrot tops, along with a few different herbs and other vegetables, calling out, "Come and pick me and eat me!"

Download the article: Waldorf Education in Mexico

Waldorf Education first came to México largely through the work of Hans Berlin and the first Waldorf school, La Escuela Nueva, in México City, started in 1957. That school eventually closed, but a seed was planted - there are now fourteen schools striving to become Waldorf schools and several more that have incorporated many attributes of a Waldorf education into their more traditional curriculum. Throughout Mexico, there is an ever-growing interest in Waldorf education, partly in response to the inadequate education provided by the public school system and partly in recognition that the future is calling for something new - it seems that every month a new initiative is born somewhere in México. Most of the Waldorf schools go through sixth grade, but there is one that goes up to eighth grade and several others who are exploring the feasibility of starting a high school in the future. In some schools, the parents have started an eighth or ninth grade for their children (many of whom have been in Waldorf schools since nursery), trying to continue to provide the youngsters with a Waldorf curriculum.

Download the article: In Memoriam: Wilma Ellersiek

A letter from Wilma Ellersiek - what a surprise! And not only a letter - a whole packet of gesture games! This was my reward for forwarding the English translations of six verses of Wilma Ellersiek's gesture game poems. What had started only as an enrichment for my kindergarten, Wilma Ellersiek turned into a gift for the English-speaking children in the West. And so she consciously expressed it.

Already past her seventieth birthday, she took on the guidance of a German immigrant to the US who was trying to form simple German children's verses into simple English children's verses. In her detailed responses to our poetic efforts, she laid open the principles of her hand gesture work. (By then, my husband, Lyn, a native English speaker, had joined my translation attempts to ensure a smooth transition into English.)

Download the article: Book Reviews

You're Not the Boss of Me!
Baking Bread with Children
The Apple Pie that Papa Baked

When I began as a Waldorf kindergarten teacher, there were not many books available to support my work. I remember being at the bookstore at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland in 1991 and seeing the wealth of books about early childhood all written in German. I was sorely tempted to buy some and hope to find someone who would translate them for me. Of course there were many Steiner lectures in English, but not much specifically for the early childhood educator from a Steiner approach. My main fountain of practical and philosophical support was the Waldorf Early Childhood Newsletter (now called Gateways). Well the times have sure changed. There is a veritable cornucopia of books available for English-speaking early childhood educators!

Download the article: Letter from the Editor

This issue of Gateways is filled with many wonderful offerings to support our work with young children. Thanks to all of our contributors for providing a wealth of inspiration and taking the time to articulate in writing what they are doing and thinking. Thanks also to all of those who are starting to put their thoughts into writing, hopefully in time for the next issue. (This means you.)

Included in this issue is an article taken from an upcoming book published by WECAN, You're Not the Boss of Me! – Understanding the Six/Seven-year-old Transformation, and a section from a book jointly published by WECAN, AWSNA and the Research Institute entitled Developmental Signatures: Core Values and Practices in Waldorf Education for Children Ages 3-9. Both of these books deserve a place on the Gateways reader's bookshelf! They will soon be available from the WECAN office. The continuing work of Emmi Pikler is highlighted this issue with two articles articulating the connections of Waldorf early childhood work with the RIE approach. There is a sentence in one of these articles that bears repeating: The Real Work May be in the Real Work. This could be one of the keynote statements about our work with the children in our programs. These are just some of the wonderful contributions to this issue of Gateways.

Download the article: The Role of Handwork: Developing Skills and Meeting the Needs of the Older Child in the Kindergarten

The long-expected You're Not the Boss of Me! - Understanding the 6/7-Year-Old Transformation, edited by Ruth Ker on behalf of the WECAN Working Group on the Older Child, will be published by the end of 2007. This comprehensive resource is packed with information and ideas about working with children who are going through the six-year-old change. Here is a sample from Section Four, "Meeting the Child's Needs: Suggestions for Working in the Classroom."

Should handwork have a place in the kindergarten? Does it serve the children in some way or does it keep them from play? What is appropriate in the class and why? Does handwork keep the children or teachers focused on product rather than process?

Download the article: An Archetypal Festival of Compassion and Brotherhood: Celebrating St.Martin's Day

We celebrate St. Martin's Day each year on November 11, when the days have grown short and the air is cold and damp. We carry our lanterns into the chill darkness, singing:

St. Martin, St. Martin,
St. Martin rode through wind and snow.
On his strong horse, his heart aglow,
He rode so boldly through the storm.
His great cloak kept him well and warm.

By the roadside, by the roadside,
By the roadside a poor man arose.
Out of the snow in tattered clothes,
"I beg you help me in my plight,
Or else I'll die of cold tonight."

St. Martin, St. Martin,
St. Martin stopped his horse and drew
His sword and cut his great cloak through.
One half to the beggar man he gave,
And by this deed his life did save.

Download the article: Salutogenesis

The following is taken from the new publication, Developmental Signatures: Core Values and Practices in Waldorf Education for Children Ages 3 – 9. Jointly published by WECAN, AWSNA and the Research Institute for Waldorf Education, this volume is a translation of the first two parts of a three-part German study on the education of the young child. As Susan Howard says in her Foreword, "As we strive to adapt in insightful and meaning-filled ways to meet the changing cultural climate in which our Waldorf schools and kindergartens find themselves, and to articulate both to ourselves and to others what it is that we stand for, this study by our colleagues in Europe can serve as a helpful stimulus and support."

Salutogenesis as a Foundation for the Educational Process
The interplay between the "I" and the threefold organization is not a routine occurrence in either children or adults. It is an extremely sensitive process prone to disruptions, requiring continual and renewed efforts to bring the whole organization into healthy balance. It is part of human freedom that these efforts can fail or be temporarily impaired. Herein lies the significant cause of illness.

Download the article: The Sistine Madonna: Thoughts and Experiences

In this short article, I describe my personal experiences and ideas in relation to kindergarten work and the Sistine Madonna, painted by Raphael Sanzio in 1513/14. For context, know that I had the Sistine Madonna hanging on the wall in my kindergartens for many years and now I do not.

My first experience of the Sistine Madonna in a Waldorf kindergarten was when I arrived for an interview with my stepson's soon-to-be kindergarten teacher. I was still some years away from taking up kindergarten teaching. The Sistine Madonna hung on the wall above her as she asked many thought-provoking questions about his life. I was impressed by her interest and wisdom, and yet was put off by the image on the wall. It smacked of Christianity to me, and I was into spiritual pursuit, but not religion. I was willing to take a chance though, and he was enrolled.

Download the article: Seven Important Aspects of Mindful Parenting

Usually Gateways does not include articles geared for parents, so the following is an exception. This article can of course be offered to parents, and it can also be a resource for early childhood teachers. In it we are reminded of some essential practices that we can continually attempt in our working with the children, all supporting the essential activity of connecting with each of the children. One could easily substitute the word "teacher" each time "parent" is used. - Stephen Spitalny

The task of parenting is one of the most challenging, stressful, demanding, and rewarding jobs on the planet. There is no instruction manual on "how to parent," and all of the popular guidebooks mostly deal with specific behavioral challenges that children present to adults. Parenting is a subjective activity that is influenced by so many internal and external factors that oftentimes we do not have time or extra energy to consciously examine how we respond to children. Day after day our relationship with our children can become an "auto-pilot relationship," where we merely react to external circumstances that are out of our control.

Download the article: The Kindergarten Apron

As a Waldorf kindergarten teacher, I have considered the question of what to wear in the classroom from a number of different angles. Reflecting on one's appearance from the child's perspective does keep the question simple - anything eye-catching or out of the ordinary in our appearance draws their attention to us, and they comment appreciatively or frankly on what they see. Their attention then is on us and our "stuff," rather than their play or their friends. However, I have found that in practice, wearing clothing that hides one's anatomy and offers a flowing, softened form can hinder certain types of movement. Haven't many of us gotten tangled in our skirts crawling around the circle?

In addition, while many people in many professions wear work clothes that are not reflections of their own personal style, we in the Waldorf kindergarten are particularly concerned with working from a place of truth. Careful editing must be done when we strive to leave our personalities at the door. Leaving too much of ourselves outside of the classroom can result in an empty falseness not conducive to the kind of organic, inspired energy that we hope fills each classroom.

Download the article: Extended Day in the Schools: Sharing Challenges and Raising Questions

Sharing Challenges, Raising Questions

Twenty-four teachers from ten schools and Sunbridge College gathered at the Kimberton Waldorf School for a day-long meeting on April 14, 2007. Schools represented were: Sheltering Arms Family Center, Acorn Hill, Baltimore Waldorf, Green Meadow Waldorf, Kimberton Waldorf, Susquehanna Waldorf, Richmond Waldorf, Shining Mountain Waldorf, Rudolf Steiner School/NYC, Garden City Waldorf, and Sunbridge College. Many of the teachers were working in the extended-day programs in the schools.

After introductions, participants divided into four topic groups: Sleep and rest time, Programs in schools, Teacher and care provider, and Facets of care. Following lunch and a meeting of the full-member schools, a final large group conversation offered reports from the topic groups. Presenters were teachers in the schools and programs: Lisa Gromicko, Lisa Miccio, Monika Gallardo, and Nancy Brown.

Download the article: WECAN Regional Representatives/Board Retreat

The inaugural meeting of WECAN representatives from the North American regions took place at the Lake Champlain Waldorf School in Shelbourne, Vermont, August 16–19. This gathering was funded by grants from the Waldorf Schools Fund and Waldorf Educational Foundation. Representatives were graciously and efficiently supported in all ways by the organization of Sueanne Campbell of the Lake Champlain Waldorf School, and housed in bed-and-breakfasts in the beautiful New England landscape. This gave refreshment to the long days of study and intense discussion of regional issues. The group also reviewed the new tasks WECAN has assumed, in collaboration with AWSNA, to become the oversight body for all Waldorf early childhood programs, even for AWSNA member schools. The first year of this process has shown areas needing attention and revision for the WECAN membership process to be supportive and as easy as possible for members. The diversity of early childhood programs - home, stand-alone preschool/kindergarten, birth-to-three, as well as full school classrooms - calls for flexibility to embrace each one fairly and appropriately.

Download the article: Two Streams Entwined: The Work of Emmi Pikler and Magda Gerber in Relation to Waldorf Education

Striving to Understand the Work of Emmi Pikler and Magda Gerber in Relation to Waldorf Education

We thus see that man accomplishes a momentous thing during the first three years of his life. He is working on himself in the spirit of the highest wisdom . . . This happens because the human soul and entire being are, during the first years of earthly life, in much closer connection with the spiritual worlds . . . Man works on himself by means of a wisdom . . . mightier and more comprehensive than any conscious wisdom of later years.
Rudolf Steiner

As a matter of principle, we refrain from teaching skills and activities which under suitable conditions will evolve through the child's own initiative and independent activity . . . While learning . . . to turn on the belly, to roll, to creep, sit, stand and walk, [the baby] is not only learning those movements but also how to learn. He learns something on his own, to be interested, to try out, to experiment . . . He comes to know the joy and satisfaction which is derived from this success.
Emmi Pikler

The newborn baby . . . is between heaven and earth, not quite here yet . . . Trust that she will develop in her own time, rhythm and manner. After all, who knows better how to be a baby than a baby?
Magda Gerber

Download the article: Waldorf Education and Teacher Training in Chengdu, China

Five years ago I took a sabbatical from teaching at the Chicago Waldorf School to teach English in a Chinese public high school in the north of China. I was amazed and in awe of what I experienced there. After I had finished teaching, I traveled through China on my own, stopping in Chengdu to see the panda research center. At that time there were no Waldorf schools anywhere in China, but I thought if I came back to China I would like to teach in Chengdu. I just liked the city, the parks, and the temples. Later on, people who knew about my connection to China introduced me to Zewu Li, Li Zhang, and Harry Huang, the founders of the new Chengdu Waldorf School. I was very happy to hear about their work and decided I wanted to help them in any way I could to support Waldorf education in China.

The Chengdu Waldorf School opened its doors three years ago with about ten children in kindergarten and first grade. Thanh and Benjamin Cherry are the godparents of this beautiful school. They provided the founders with much-needed practical advice as well as inspiration. Today the school has five kindergarten classes and seven grades. It sits on a huge, beautiful piece of land with a big pond, and is surrounded by farmland. There are plans in the works to build another classroom building. The growth rate of the Chengdu Waldorf School is about the same as in the rest of China's economy. This is a little disconcerting because Li, Zewu, and Harry are burning out fast. And without them things would deteriorate quickly. Because they needed trained teachers, they decided to start the training courses on the school premises. These courses run during school vacation in the summer as well as in October and May.

Download the article: In Honor of Betty Szold Krainis: Early Childhood Building Dedication

Early Childhood Building Dedication

On May 17, the entire Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School community gathered to dedicate our newly renovated early childhood building to our beloved founding kindergarten teacher, Betty Szold Krainis, whose life spanned April 16, 1923 to September 19, 2002.

In 1959 Betty and her husband Bernie Krainis purchased a marvelous fifty-acre property in Great Barrington that included a Colonial-era house, cottage, and barn. Ten years later the Krainis family created the Good Food Coop with more than a hundred families, and housed it in their barn. Some of the same people interested in wholesome food were also interested in starting a Waldorf school, so in 1971 the barn in Betty's backyard was transformed into the Pumpkin Hollow School, a kindergarten, with Betty serving as teacher.

Download the article: Mary Theines Schunemann

Many of you have been touched by the work of Mary Thienes Schunemann of Naturally You Can Sing Productions. She passed away quietly at home in East Troy, Wisconsin on August 30 after an intense, valiant journey with gastric cancer.

After years of being asked to record the songs she taught in several trainings, Mary took the time to create seven children's songbooks to help parents and teachers learn how to sing for and with children. Her music was not only liltingly beautiful but it was full of enthusiasm and joy. A former Waldorf kindergarten and music teacher, Mary finished her final CD one week before she died. This CD, a collection of healing songs, is called I Still Have Joy and is scheduled to be released on her birthday, October 7.

By Sally Jenkinson
Previously published in our sister publication in the UK, KINDLING: the Journal for Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Care and Education.
Extracts from this article first appeared in EYE magazine, February 2005.
Download the article: The World of the Young Child - On the Seashore of the Worlds

The seashore of endless worlds. . .

Shell
Dinky car
Saturday sixpence
Bull's eye (sweet)/lolly - 3d superior to 1d
Catapult
Water pistol
Dead butterfly
Snakeskin
Interesting stone - obviously
Penknife - succession of (you'd lose them)
Rubber band – you fiddled with it mostly but it was a great projectile
Matchbox with something in it - an ant or spider
Magnifying glass
Collecting cards
Conker - in season
Metal and glass marbles - I liked the feel and the look of them

Download the article: This Is the Way we Bake Our Bread... A Note About Work Songs

Work songs can be a lovely way to draw children to an activity, to create a mood of enjoyment and purposeful focus, or to discourage excessive chitchat by parents or older children in a group. Baking songs, grinding songs, sawing songs, cleaning songs: all may have a place in a group of children or parents and children.

On the other hand, if over-used, such songs can become a sort of "Waldorf muzak," going on throughout the time of the activity and becoming an unwelcome and invasive background music. This may seem a strong statement indeed, but it is worth considering the possibility that constant singing may prevent children from experiencing their own internal music or rhythm or imaginations as they participate in an activity or play elsewhere in the room.

Download the article: Meetings with Parents on the Topic of Discipline

Here is a sample of one of the excellent articles that will be available this summer in a new WECAN publication. Entitled You're Not the Boss of Me, this publication will enrich the work of kindergarten teachers who are striving to understand the many challenging and joyful shifts that occur in young children when they go through the change of teeth.

Among the challenges facing parents today, none is more difficult than setting and enforcing limits, creating and holding boundaries, and guiding children with loving discipline. Many parents, feeling that their own parents were too strict, give their children free rein. Others, knowing their children to be creative, bright beings, follow their child's lead, feeling that to do otherwise would infringe on the child's freedom and creativity. Still other parents, spending little time with their children during the day, don't want any unpleasantness in the little time they do spend together and therefore avoid any kind of conflict with their children. All of these situations are unhealthy ones for the child and the parent.

Download the article: A Summer Festival in the Parent-Child Class

Author's Note: In teaching parent-child classes, I discovered that one of the special joys and challenges of festival celebrations is the need to create a simple and meaningful observance for very young children, while being mindful of seeking the essential meaning of the festival. In addition, I felt it was important to address the adult need for a cognitive deepening of the festival experience. This seemed especially important since at Acorn Hill, which includes Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other families, we observe the Christian seasonal festivals in a way which seeks to address the universal in the human being.

For me, Whitsun had always been a somewhat elusive festival, even though our faculty studied one of Rudolf Steiner's Whitsun lectures each year in preparation for our own observance. Last year - my last before retiring - our faculty's study for Easter was "Spiritual Bells of Easter II," found in The Festivals and Their Meaning, and this helped things fall into place for me, giving me the picture I needed for a meaningful Whitsun festival in our parent- child groups. At a parent evening we made felted wool balls of oranges and yellows, and during class attached streamers in those fiery colors. The actual festival took place at an outdoor circle time on the last day of school, as described in the following article.

Download the article: The Inner Life and Work of the Teacher

Previously published in our sister publication in the UK, KINDLING: the Journal for Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Care and Education.

Again and again, the question came: "What is the difference between State education and Steiner education?" How often, as I have been working in Steiner education, I had, usually in a conversation on a bus, or during a walk, or in a new group of people, a new group of students, to try to find an essence, to create a nutshell picture, to make sense of something vast in a few moments.

Now, through 25 years of struggling with this, and finding in these years that gateways have been opening in the souls of many, I have found personally that I can speak, at such times, as also with students, and new teachers, of the truly holistic nature of Steiner education: that we are working with every aspect of the child, which can be termed body, soul, and Spirit. So we try consciously to work with many levels, from the most physical to the most mysterious. A conversation can often lead to the question of the inner work of the teacher. Sensing what is appropriate for each occasion is vitally important.

Download the article: The Art of Fruitful Conversation

From Chapter Six of Mentoring in Waldorf Early Childhood Education, WECAN Publications, 2007.

"What is more splendid than gold?" "Light." "What is more refreshing than light?" "Conversation." (Goethe, "The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily")

When we think of conversation, we tend to focus on what is said. On further reflection, however, we realize that listening is just as essential a part of conversation as speaking. A true conversation is a meeting of two individuals who together have the possibility of seeing something new arise from their understanding of one another.

Download the article: Shingebiss Redeemed

Many of you are probably familiar with the story called Shingebiss, with the central characters a brave little brown duck, and his nemesis, the North Wind. I have loved that story ever since first reading it in My Book House (first published 1930) and it has been a regular in my kindergarten stories year after year. The story has gone on to great popularity among other Waldorf early childhood storytelling folks and has become a beloved winter tale. It was also included in Winter, from the Wynstones Press series put together by Margret Meyerkort.

The story awakened some questions for me, and after many conversations with colleagues, I came to realize that I wasn't the only one who wondered about its authenticity. Among my own questions, I wondered about those four great logs that Shingebiss had, and I wondered if the song Shingebiss sings and its translation were true to the original. It was to my great delight that one day in a bookstore I discovered a picture book entitled Shingebiss: An Ojibwe Legend retold by Nancy Van Laan (published by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1997). Upon opening the book and seeing an illustration of a green duck in its pages my relationship with Shingebiss immediately changed. I knew that if Shingebiss wasn't a brown duck, then there could be some other fundamental differences as well, and I hoped that I would find clarity about the things I had been wondering about.