Making Sense of the News

Monday, November 16, 2015

Dear parents,
While we work hard not to overwhelm you with extra e-traffic, I feel compelled by the tragic events in Paris on Friday to reach out to you today.

How do we respond to this horrible news?  And how do we relay the facts of it to our children in a way that sets a healthy tone within our families and our school community?

One of the key precepts of Waldorf education is that during the precious first seven years of life we are actively cultivating an image of the world as good and beautiful for our children.  We want these children to be happy that they have arrived here to live their lives now.  Of course, as they grow older they will become aware of all of the difficulties this world holds for them and for human kind.  But for a brief interval, we work to keep suffering at bay as best we can.

I ask that you join me in protecting the innocence of the youngest members of our school community.  Children of kindergarten age or younger, as well as those in the lower school grades, should be protected as much as possible from knowledge of an event such as the tragedy in Paris. Please ask your older children not to discuss their knowledge of the situation at school, to protect the youngest and those who don’t yet know. If your younger children do hear about it, then they should be spared the details if at all possible. If you are in a family with only very young children, this should be possible at home by eliminating any media use around the children, and by not leaving newspapers or magazines where they can be seen casually.

If your child asks you about the event, the first thing is to stay calm. Ask them what they know about it, rather than telling them more. Don’t focus on trying to answer “why”, but listen to their feelings, and provide reassurance that they will be safe.  Please give only age-appropriate information, without belaboring the details.  Even older students do not need to know all of the grisly details.

Thank you for being conscious of your own speaking: be aware of what you are saying and who might be nearby listening.   Meanwhile, make sure to take care of your own feelings of grief, anger, frustration, despair by gathering with other adults to seek comfort and companionship as needed.

By upholding the principle of tending to the needs of our youngest students first, we can collectively bring healing and hope to our community and the larger world.

In gratitude for the gift that each of you is to our school,
Missi

--originally published as a letter to our school community on Nov. 16, 2015

Lanterns Walks Bring Light As Days Grow Shorter

The sunlight fast is dwindling.
My little lamp needs kindling.
It beam shines far in darkest night.
Dear lantern, guard me with your light.

Helle Heckmann Visits Madrona School

Join us for a special parent enrichment opportunity right here on Bainbridge Island! Helle Heckmann will speak at Madrona School on Saturday, November 14 at 10am. We'll meet in the Thimbleberry / Salmonberry classroom (lower archway just off the north parking lot) for a lecture entitled "The Five Golden Keys in Early Childhood."

Helle Heckmann is visiting us from Denmark where she founded the outdoor daycare and kindergarten, Nøkken. She brings over 30 years of experience working with young children and is a powerful, internationally-renowned voice for the protection of childhood. This talk will offer practical advice for parents, and an understanding of the young child's basic and most important needs. Helle Heckmann has been a mentor to many Waldorf teachers, and we are honored to welcome her to Madrona School!

All interested adults are most welcome!

Madrona School's Alphabet (C)

Our amazing class teachers are at the heart of Madrona School!

In our mixed-age preschool and kindergarten classes, a young child can expect to have one teacher for the duration of the program, sometimes over multiple years. This continuity of care is comforting to the young child, and it means that when it is time for grade school, the teacher is able to offer a full developmental picture to the incoming 1st grade teacher.

In the grade school, the class teacher loops up each grade with his or her class through the 8th grade. While not necessarily unique to Waldorf education, "looping" teachers are relatively rare in American schools. A class teacher has been a fixture of the Waldorf grade school since Rudolf Steiner founded the first school in Germany at the close of the first world war, however. Steiner believed that the strong relationship forged between a teacher and a student was essential to a robust education and healthy child development. Students in a Waldorf grade school begin each day and have main lesson with their class teacher, who becomes a familiar and beloved part of their school lives, even while they have a chance to learn from other teachers throughout the day in specialty classes. When a teacher spends this much time with his or her class, the education is truly child-centered, allowing a teacher to bring developmentally appropriate and emotionally engaging education to a constellation of students. Teachers and students build long-term relationships, and a teacher can truly foster community building within a class. It is the essential work of the teacher to know and see each student and to meet them where they are in any given year of their development -- no small task, but beautiful to witness as a parent of any grade schooler could tell you!

--edited from our weekly school newsletter, September 17, 2013 and April 28, 2014.