| Morning Glory Kindergarten Handbook 2005 LLead Teacher: Mary Bridget Dunn
Assistant Teacher: Dari Fisher In the heart weaves feeling,
In the head shines thinking,
In the limbs lives strengthening will. Light that is weaving,
Weaving that strengthens,
Strength that gives light, That is the human being.
Rudolf Steiner
The Morning Glory Kindergarten Program:
The Corvallis Waldorf School offers two, mixed age, play-oriented kindergartens. Both kindergartens serve the needs of children aged 4—6. We hold a structured daily rhythm, with creative circle movements, fairy tales, nature stories, and handwork activities. Outdoors, children experience gardening, woodworking, and gentle walks as well as time for free play. The age range in the kindergarten class offers opportunities for social development during this important formative period in the children’s lives. In the kindergarten, we breathe with the rhythm of the day, of the week, and of the year. We begin our days with morning songs and verses, and seasonal circle activities. Our weekly rhythm of activities includes painting, coloring, baking, beeswax modeling, cleaning, and handwork. We celebrate the rhythm of the year with special crafts for each season Each day of the week we serve an assigned wholesome grain, some of which we prepare according to the season. We serve almost entirely organic or no-spray foods. We tell fairy tales, multi-cultural folk tales, and nature stories that reflect the rhythm of the seasons and festivals. It is significant that the morals of the stories are never stated, but left to grow and live in the soul of the child. The same story is told orally for a series of days so that the pictures can develop in the child’s imagination. Subsequently, a story may be enacted as a puppet play by the kinder teachers or informally, as a class. The Morning Glory Kindergarten offers a five-day program from 8:30 a.m.—12:30 p.m. Morning Arrival Teachers are busy in the classroom preparing for the day between 8:00 and 8:30a.m. If you happen to arrive early, please wait with your little ones until we are ready to receive them. If you have an early work schedule, please make necessary arrangements in advance. Being on time to kindergarten each morning is a healthy habit to instill in our children and will enable your child to get the most out of the program. Once you see your child safely into our care, we ask that you save non-urgent questions for us until after 12:30 pm. We hope you will understand that we ask this in order to devote our attention to the children during kindergarten time. If you need to inform us of something urgent concerning your child before leaving, please write us a note or tell us discreetly. Rhythm of the Day 8:30 Arrive at school, enter kindergarten from inside door. Place belongings in your child’s cubby. Join our class outside on the playground for free play. (In winter, we may start our day inside.) 9:00 Come inside for circle time. 9:30 Free play time in the classroom/daily activity 10:15 Clean up/bathroom time 10:30 Rest time 10:45 Snack time 11:15 Outside time 12:00 Come inside for story time and Goodbye verse 12:30 Parents arrive to pick up children Weekly Rhythm Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Brown rice Millet Bread/Honey Butter Popcorn Soup
Herbal tea Water Water Herbal tea Water
Painting Baking Handwork Crayoning Walk Beeswax Note Please inform me about any food allergies your child has. Lunch Kindergarten will end at 12:30 this year, and will not be facilitating lunch. If your child will be staying for aftercare, you may pack them a wholesome lunch in a basket with a napkin covering it. The children in aftercare will eat lunch with their aftercare provider. Departure Please pick up your child promptly at 12:30p.m. each day. I will allow a grace time of 15 minutes before bringing children into aftercare. Corvallis Waldorf School charges a $10.00 drop-in fee + $4.00 per hour, even if you arrive shortly afterward. Pizza day Each Thursday, the school holds a pizza fundraiser in the gym. It starts at 12.30p.m. It is a fun community event! Clothing Warmth is very important for young children, as is experiencing the natural world and the seasons. We intend to go outside everyday: therefore, it is very important that your child come prepared for quick weather changes. It is best if your child dresses in comfortable, breathable layers. Your child will also need to keep at school in your child’s cubby: 1) a pair of indoor shoes—light and supportive, in a plain style that the child can put on by him/herself and will stay on his/her feet. 2) A raincoat and rain pants (or poncho) which should fit over a winter coat, so your child can stay warm and dry on winter days. 3) A hat, even if your child’s jacket has a hood. 4) A pair of waterproof boots that the child can put on by her/himself. 5) A complete change of clothing with your child’s name on each article.* *Please clearly label all of your child’s shoes, boots, and clothes. Please keep a tab on your child’s clothing supply at school, especially during wet wintry months. Note: Please, no media inspired images (i.e. TV characters) on clothing or other belongings. We have experienced the distracting effects this has on children’s imaginative play. Please feel free to discuss with us questions or concerns. Personal Belongings—Toys, etc. We ask that you encourage your child to leave personal toys, doll, purses, wallets, money, jewelry, watches, etc., at home. Our “show and tell” time will involve sharing stories at the snack table. Our class has so many wonderful toys and objects to enjoy while at school. When to Stay at Home A child who is not feeling well cannot participate in our day in a meaningful way. She/he feels out-of-sync and needs the loving care of their home environment. Please keep your young ones at home if he or she: * Complains of a tummy ache or headache * Has vomited within the last 24 hours * Has a fever or has had a fever within the last 24 hours * Has pink eye or discharge from the eye * Has lice * Is asking for a day at home with you, and it is possible to arrange this If any of these symptoms arise after morning drop off, we will contact you and arrange an early pick-up for your child. A Note About Sleep Adequate rest is extremely important to a child’s happy experience in any social setting. Also important is how a child enters sleep. The mood that surrounds a child when falling asleep is carried into the dream life. Teachers can offer suggestions for a healthy sleep life. Please consider settling your child into an early bedtime routine will before school starts. Birthday Celebrations On your child’s birthday, a celebration will be held in the kindergarten, to which you are expressly invited. I will form a birthday ritual and tell a special story at story time (12.00). In order to discuss details about the ritual, I will phone each birthday family prior to the special day. We will ask that you bring a plate of fresh fruit, sliced and prepared, at morning drop off. The other children will be asked to bring a beautiful object from nature as a gift for the birthday child, such as a stone, a feather or a special leaf. Home visits I will complete home visits during September. Parent-Teacher Conferences Conferences are scheduled in late fall or early spring, but may be scheduled at the request of the teacher or parent at any time of the year. We are available for any concerns that parents might have and are always grateful to hear, at an arranged time, of significant changes in your child’s life. Teacher Availability Please feel free to schedule an appointment to meet with me to discuss any issues, questions, or concerns. I am available on Monday afternoons after 1:30p.m. I am sincerely open to anything you want to discuss regarding your child and Waldorf education. You may call me at home before 8:00p.m. or drop a note in my box. Parent Evenings Parent evenings are held on a regular basis (3 times a year) for the parents of kindergarten children. Parents are children’s most important teachers. Developing a relationship with a parent is fundamental to developing a relationship with a child. The early childhood classroom is an extension of the child-parent relationship. Parent evenings are essential for understanding and supporting the work of the teacher with your child, and for creating community among families. Gathering together also gives the teacher an opportunity to support the parents and the home life. We ask that one parent for each child attends these meetings. Please arrange childcare in advance. The meetings will be held at 5:30p.m. in the Morning Glory classroom. Advance notice will be given as to the dates of each parent evening. Parent Involvement The quality of education we seek to provide for the children could not exist without the partnership of parents. Your help, according to your individual interests and talents, is necessary and highly valued. As parents are encouraged to participate, the school community is strengthened. There will be many opportunities to get involved with our classroom and with the school in general. Please check the calendar and if possible arrange your schedules so that we can celebrate special holidays together in class. Children and Television In the kindergarten, perhaps more than anywhere else we have the opportunity to observe the effects of television watching on the young child. Unfortunately, television programs intrude on the child’s emerging sense of self and their place in the world. In the Waldorf kindergarten, we support the child’s own innate powers of imaginative fantasy. We recommend that young children watch little if any television. For suggestions about withdrawing from television, ask us. The rewards are many and profound and they last a lifetime. Learning More about the Waldorf Kindergarten There is always more to learn! There is a wealth of pertinent books available by special order through the Corvallis Waldorf Bookstore, the public library, Rudolf Steiner College bookstore in Sacramento, and through the Rudolf Steiner Library in Ghent, NY. (518) 672-7690.
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