Dear Parents and Friends,

Linda, Sarah and I wanted to update you about some recent events in the kindergarten. First we have wonderful news for the New Year: Zoe Schwartz has joined our kindergarten. Some of you already know Zoe and her family, so in a way Zoe's joining our group is very much a re-union, and we are thrilled! We would like to announce another addition: Donna Mayo will be joining us on Tuesdays. Donna is a dear friend to many of us and a long-time colleague. She is a trained Waldorf teacher and has taught grades 1 to 3 at Housatonic Valley School as well as parent/child classes at Clover Hill. Welcome Zoe! Welcome Donna!

Thanks to the wintry weather, the children returned from the long Christmas/Holiday break to a snowy scene in the play yard. They are spending most of outdoor playtime taking turns sledding and pulling the sled on the snow. As many of you know, our play yard has been enhanced in another way. In the fall we installed a two-level wooden play structure. It has served as a place where scouts can spy pirate ships, as a jailhouse, a café, and a shower, among other things. The older children love to jump off the second level landing onto the padded clearing below, while the younger ones have enjoyed squeezing into a newly-discovered crawl-through space on the bottom level and balancing up-side-down on a beam. The addition has spawned many new opportunities for imaginative and vigorous play. We are reminded time and again of the children's innate, self-healing wisdom as they pick games where they can practice those physical skills that they need the most.

Indoors, we have a brand-new, elaborate winter circle, which the children have taken to with curiosity and appreciation. Here is a little sampling. Imagine every phrase accompanied by the appropriate gesture, which the children vigorously imitate, including jumping, galloping, and falling to the ground.

In the morn, the rooster true
Cried "Awake, awake cock-a-doodle-do....!"

The children woke up, arose and got dressed:
With coats, hats, and gloves on, snug as can be
We step through the door, and what do we see?

Up above the sun is shining bright...
Fresh new snow is sparkling all about...
On a day like today what shall we do?
On a day like today what shall we do?

Let's take our good pony and go for a ride
To the snowy woods our path we'll find...

Singing:
Galloping, galloping, here we go...
Off to the woods now, don't be slow...
Galloping, galloping, here we go...
Off to the woods now, don't be slow...

Here's a cleaning right this way...
Let's tie our pony to a tree
So he won't run away!

The snow feels right and perfect now
Let's build a snowman,
Here is how:

Roll him, and roll him, and roll him around
Plant him firmly on the ground (big jump)
Give him a tall, black, shiny hat
And a carrot nose like that...

To the tune of I'm a Little Teapot:
Here's a little snowman
Short and stout
Here is his carrot
Here is his hat
When the sun come up
He'll melt away...
Down...down...down...and Oops!
... He's a puddle!

We've just added a new movement where the children each get to roll across the floor. Because it's so important for overall healthy development, incorporating a large a variety of movements into the circle and into the day is very much a part of our curriculum as a Waldorf School . We will carry our circle theme into our next handwork project-- a felted snowman with a carrot nose and finger-knitted scarf. The children are eager handworkers, filled with anticipation as they build up their snowman with layers of soft, unspun wool and get it ready for its bath.

With warm greetings,

Daphna

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Dear Clover Hill Families and Friends,

Sarah, Linda and I wanted to share some stories about the first few weeks of kindergarten life with you. After the eventful first day of school when the Health Department made its surprise inspection visit (we got great feedback), we all breathed a lot easier and were ready for the true beginning of our life together as a kindergarten class. The first month or so of school is always a time of great transition, with the children adjusting to a whole new rhythm, new teachers and new-found friends. The blessings of a mixed-age kindergarten became readily apparent. During those first days when the littlest ones missed their mothers at rest time, there were always older children who were spurred by compassion and volunteered to take them under their wings and comfort them. The feeling of being one family with younger and older siblings is a unique gift.

Waldorf Education is a highly social education and we strive to cultivate a sense of concern for the other in everything we do. The first thing the children see each morning when they arrive is a table arranged with a candle and snuffer on a beautiful silk, surrounded by a ring made of nine pairs of little shoes. The children often help each other put on their shoes, and they always note when someone's shoes have remained at the table, which means they will not be in school that day. (We put a special star in their spot at the snack table and make sure we include them in our blessing.) After arrival, the older children have regular morning chores such as carrying water in a bucket and pouring it into a dishpan or filling a pitcher for snack. After that, everyone is welcome to participate in the work of the day, which may be cutting vegetables for soup, grinding grain, kneading bread, coloring, or making crafts. As soon as our butter churn arrives, we will be making butter too! This physical, purposeful work helps ground the children as they transition into self-directed play-perhaps the most important part of the kindergarten morning.

Play time has blossomed and transformed since the first days of school. The two older boys have been occupied with building astonishing multi-level structures out of wooden stumps, blocks and weighted bags, as the younger boys look on with fascination and try to find ways to join in. The doll corner, which is a roofed area, has been calling the children to test what sorts of weight they can throw on top before the silk covering falls in. Recently some children using long knitted play ties created wind effects and "tornadoes" over the roof. When the two three-year-old boys wanted to join in the fun and asked to be given "tomatoes" of their own, a conversation on the question of "tomatoes" vs. "tornadoes" ensued. In the end, the older ones and younger ones collaborated on moving the doll house people and their furniture out of the danger zone and onto safer ground on a moving truck.

Another favorite game is for a group of girls to create little dwellings and sheltered places with long cloths, wooden clips and play stands. The boys often come over and ask to be let in. Sometimes when they are not let in, the boys like to try making their way in by force. They are then reminded by their teachers that neighbors need to knock politely before they can expect to be let in. The girls are in turn reminded to be neighborly when polite company arrives. Snack time in particular is a time for working on our "social graces." During the first week of school there was need for a pedagogical story about golden manners. A little mouse joined the snack table and shared a tale of having tea with the Queen and how her wise grandmother helped her polish her manners until they were truly golden. Now the children are regularly reminded of this tale with the help of a little verse:

Little mouse, little mouse
Where have you been?
I have been to London
To visit the Queen.
Little mouse, little mouse
What did you do there?
I sat up most politely
And I spoke with care.
The Queen smiled kindly
And she said to me:
Little mouse, little mouse
Come again for tea!

In other news: Our outdoor space continues to transform and evolve into a magical spot for the children to play in. Natural reed fencing now covers the chain-link fence and provides a more sheltered feeling to the whole space. We have a lovely new sign at the gate proclaiming that this as the play yard of the Clover Hill school. The children have been busy planting bulbs, and thanks to a donation by one of our families and to many busy little hands, there is a layer of mulch in the flower bed. We are striving to have the play yard develop as organically as we can, out of our observations of the flow of play and in keeping with a natural esthetic. We are actively looking at sources for new play structures.

Finally, this week we have reached a special milestone as a class by celebrating our first birthday together. The children reverently took in a puppet story depicting a child coming down from heaven to earth over a rainbow bridge. It marked another joyous beginning!

With warmest greetings,

Daphna, Sarah and Linda