Monday, September 06, 2010

: Sunday : Reflection :

It has been a little bit of a rough start for Jared at school. Actually, he cosistently claims to like his teacher, his friends, and the daily/weekly ongoings. He purports that he has trouble solely with parting with me. This is certainly a new development in the last 3 weeks of school. He has changed since preschool. Ahhh, yes, the ups and downs and winding roads our children take us on.... :) Things are getting better, though. The daily and weekly rhythms are beneficial to the comfort and security of a child at this age, and Jared is beginning to get into the swing of things. Waldorf is all about rhythms.... I would like to briefly share the weekly and daily rhythms of our Waldorf Sunflower Kindergarten class:

Essentially, the daily schedule would look something like this at this point.........

          ~ 8:40 am - School begins/ Free Play and then Outdoor play
          ~ Wash hands/ Circle Time
          ~ Scheduled Weekly Activity
          ~ Wash Hands/ Snack Time (Such as millet with honey or fresh vegetable soup and bread, etc...)
          ~ Imagination play/ Outdoor play/ Clean up
          ~ Departure for those who leave at 12:45 pm
          ~ Wash Hands/ Eat a healthy lunch/ Clean up
          ~ Rest Time with music and a story for about 45 minutes
          ~ Play and Pick up time by 2:20 pm
         
........And the weekly rhythms look a bit like this.........

          ~ Color ~
Monday ~ Purple
Tuesday ~ Red
Wednesday ~ Yellow
Thursday ~ Orange
Friday ~ Green

          ~ Grain ~
Monday ~ Rice
Tuesday ~ Barley
Wednesday ~ Millet
Thursday ~ Rye
Friday ~ Oats

          ~ Activity ~
Monday ~ Block Crayon Coloring
Tuesday ~ Bread Baking
Wednesday ~ Veggie Chopping
Thursday ~ Handwork: Finger Knit/ Felt Sewing/ Beeswax Molding
Friday ~ Watercolor Painting

Often, the children take nature walks and occassionally celebrate birthdays and other pertinent holidays when appropriate. Jared likes it..... In fact, when I dropped him off on Wednesday, he seemed so upset about going to school that I was emotionally torn and ready to pull him out of school. I began looking into homeschool resources and getting prepared to teach him myself, thinking that maybe that truly is what he needs right now.....but when I picked him up later, he was clearly happy with his friends and excited about the day. I asked him if he wanted to come back the next day, several times actually, and he affirmed that he did want to return, without hesitation each time. This and the fact that his teacher genuinely wants him to stay, both have put my mind at ease. It will get better...It has been getting better...It is a gradual uphill slope. Only time will tell.

Have a great week, and to those of you who have children or who are returning to school yourself, good luck to you and enjoy the ride.

1 comment:

  1. Glad to hear you are sticking it out. It sounds like such a great school.
    -Jenna

    ReplyDelete