Gardening and Farming

The children have been learning to hear and feel Mother Earth's messages during gardening.  All the garden parents have been working hard every Friday to tend the land and give it form so the children can experience adults using their hands for good deeds.  Megan led them in movement exercises where they feel themselves as seeds growing towards the sun and the Earth as plants until they lighten up and decompose into resting soil.  They sowed seed, placed stones, dug out unwanted roots, loosened soil in their hands, and covered the seeds with a blanket of straw.  We try to present the garden parents with gifts from time to time to show gratitude.  Come on down on Fridays to help out, if you'd like to get your garden on!

We've also begun caring for the chickens.  Feeding, watering, checking for pests, gathering eggs will be a regular chore.  We turn the compost, as well.  Farmer Jeff will often mentor a few children at a time in his fields.

Forest Play

All of the children from both grades classes worked together to make this fort on their own!

Form Drawing

The main lesson for the first few weeks of school was "How to be first graders."  The children learned why they come to school and how to work and play with adults and other children as a class.

In addition to that they were introduced to form drawing and practiced it everyday.  They became aquainted with their beeswax crayons and paper.  We discussed where these materials come from and used all of our senses to learn about them.  Every day I would tell a little story to introduce a new form.  The children would find examples of that form everywhere in nature.  Then we practiced the previous days form with our bodies.  We would stand in a straight line, for example, or walk in a spiral.  Finally, we would draw the form from the previous days.

The first day of school, we drew a line and a curve.  Try to find these yourself!  If you look, you might notice that everything we can touch and see is either a line or a curve.

One of the forms we drew was a spiral moving inward which tightened increasingly as it moved toward the center.  Then we drew another spiral inside the first.  I introduced all of the spirals with stories I created about the Northwestern Garter Snake who crawls under a rock when he's afraid or calm, or crawls out from the rock when its time to play.  These are also therapeutic stories which address the social issues coming up among the class.  

Form drawings are actually crystalized movement and aid in the child's development.  They are learning to control their movement, developing fine motor skills, and preparing to write letters and numbers.  The spiral which moves inward actually brings them into their body and can be calming, as are drawing concentric circles from the outside in.

All of these are wonderful!  And we often think of some way to improve next time and notice how we've improved since last time.  Even Teacher!

This week, we'll begin learning letters!

Pressing Cider

As the Autumn approached, our great apple tree shared its bounty with us by daily dropping pounds of apples.  The children used their working hands picking these up and sorting them into eating apples, pressing apples, and compost.  I brought in the cider press piece by piece over a period of a week as their anticipation built.  Finally, we pressed our apples into deliciously sweet and slightly tart cider!  They chopped the apples, filled the press, worked together to turn the crank, hold the pitcher and The children noticed the complex different color, texture, and flavor of the cider as compared with store bought apple juice.  Most thought it was delicious!  All were proud of their achievement.  We saved jars of cider for Lulu and Zen who were sick, and for Ms. Oana, our Eurythmy teacher, who donated Eurythmy shoes to everyone!

Eagle Creek Trip for Salmonfest

We recently celebrated Salmonfest with a trip to Eagle Creek.  Ms. Maura (1st grade intern) and Juanita (Nina's Mom) chaperoned and drove.  We watched the giant, travel scarred Salmon playing, battling, nesting, spawning, and offering their bodies to the river.  They had returned home from the ocean and far away waters to bring their blessing of courage.  The children offered them a song we have been singing every morning.

"The great salmon swimming upstream, brave and true, of you we dream."

They watched in awe, admiration, and playful joy.  Juanita gave them some tobacco to offer the Salmon and Ms. Maura offered some lavender.  Thank you!

We had been hearing the story of Salmon Boy, which can be found here:

http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/SalmonBoy-Haida.html

(Please don't read this to your children off the internet.  When I share this story, it is from my own heart after I've first strived to fill it with meaning for myself. It's not a story I was raised with or is in my cultural tradition, so I first had to decide whether it was appropriate to pass along. Then I strive to fill it with meaning for myself, so it will come alive and I can tell it "by heart." It would be wonderful if you'd like to do the same around this time of year with your child!  Just picture the story inwardly as you read it everyday for three days.  What do the symbols mean? How might this story relate to you and your child's life?   On the fourth you can begin retelling it to your child "by heart.")

The Rains Have Arrived! How to Keep Your Child Warm at School

From now until the end of the school year, your child must arrive at school dressed in WOOL layers (long sleeve shirt, leggings, sweater, and socks) and full WATERPROOF rain gear (jacket with hood, pants, gloves, and boots that they can remove and put on themselves.)

Here is an email from Sarah Page (MES Parent and an Outreach Coordinator)

Here is the gear information - separated into parts (Wool in general, Wool Group Order, Raingear, Boots)

Wool.

Wool is awesome.  You can do all kinds of research on the benefits of wearing wool but the bottom line here is wool will keep your child warm - even if/when it gets wet.  I cannot stress this point enough: cotton can become a soppy, heavy, cold horrible fabric in the wet winter.  Want to experience the outdoors without hating the elements?  Wear wool!  There were several suggestions made at the parent meeting about how to deal with the cost of wool.  One is know that your child will wear these items atleast while they're at school.  That's 3/4/5 days/week for 10 months (I'm betting they will wear them at home too and on a trip to the mountain or the grocery store!).  That's a garment that pays for itself.  You are also very likely to get more than one year's wear out of these items.  Another suggestions that was made is to buy wool items (adult sweaters) at resale shops (and keep checking those "free" piles!).  You can wash hot & dry on high to shrink the sweaters for your child to wear.  Also, these sweaters can be washed & dried ("felted") and the pieces can be cut & sewn into leggings, hats, and mittens.  Wool, wool, wool!  Ask a sheep - they love it!

Wool Group Order.

We order from a lady named Randi with her company Skandikids.  http://skandikids.com/

Mother Earth School receives a group discount of 15% plus no shipping charge for our order.  Our code is mes15 & the discount will automatically be deducted from your order (our code will be "live" as of Sept 1).   The code will be active through Nov. 15.  Estimated delivery time is 4 weeks from time of order.  

I recommend having 2 sets of woolens (one thick, one thin), wool socks, wool sweaters, a balaclava, a wool hat on top to add an extra layer of rain/cold protection, and wool mittens to go under the rain mittens.

Raingear.

The raingear that was passed around at the meeting is ordered from a company called Puddlegear, out of Vancouver, B.C., Canada.  The gear is made by a company called Abeko.  http://www.puddlegear.com/

An outdoor gear store was also suggested as an alternative from a returning parent.  I have not personally had good luck with Columbia - my daughter's knees were always wet at the end of the day.  She was, however dry given all the layers of wool!  My kids are never wet when they wear their Puddlegear; we've been customers since 2004.

I also passed around the repair tape from REI that I've been using for tears in the raingear.  The Puddlegear can tear - there are alot of blackberries around plus bigtime playing.  And the tape works!  It is tent repair tape.  Also, even though the tape wears out after a time, and wet can then seap through to knees, my child does not get cold due to the wool.  Seriously.

The Importance of Sleep

	THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP Susan R. Johnson MD, FAAP, 2/3/2000 I still struggle getting my almost 7 year old son asleep by 8:00. It seems there is a magic window. If we eat by 5:00 and I start slowing down his activities by 6:oo then there is a good chance that he will fall to sleep soon after reading stories at 7:30. If I don't have dinner ready until 6:00 or 7:00 and slow down doesn't begin until 8:00 or 8:30 then my son seems to get a second wind that keeps him awake and active til 10:00 or 10:30 at night. The next day is difficult for him. It is hard for him to get up, eat breakfast, and get to school on time. He is tired and more irritable the entire day. What is happening? If you go to see an anthroposophical physician with these complaints, then chances are your child will end up with a remedy for the liver. Often Hepatodoron (made from the leaves of the vine, Vitus vinifera, and the wild strawberry, Fragaria vesca) is given. It seems that the liver is involved in our ability to have a good nights sleep. It regulates our energy level for the next day and relates to our overall feelings of contentment or depression. The liver follows the cycle of the sun. Around 6:00 in the evening it wants to go to sleep and starts to store up the sugars (glycogen) to be used for the next day. It doesn't want to process any big meals (especially ones high in protein or fat after 3 pm). When our children (and us) stay up late at night we affect the liver's metabolism. It can no longer simply store sugar. Our body, by being awake and active, needs sugar in the blood stream and so we force the liver to reverse its process and breakdown glycogen to provide this sugar. We get a second wind, a burst of sugar in our blood stream, and yet we are really depleting our energy for the next day. Our liver can't store up the glycogen it needs for the next day and so the next day we have a liver that is depleted of glycogen. Our body THEN requires us to release stress hormones from our adrenal glands to keep us functioning. These hormones act to provide more sugar in the blood, but they also accelerate our heart rate, increase our blood pressure, and suppress our immunity (we get colds more easily). You can tell when stress hormones are acting since one also develops cold hands and cold feet during the day from the vasoconstriction of the blood vessels to the hands and feet. The combination of stress hormones and too little glycogen in the liver makes us develop a craving for sugar. When we eat something really sweet (like candy or cookies), especially on an empty stomach, the excess load of sugar overstimulates our pancreas to produce too much of another hormone, insulin. Too much insulin causes our cells to take up or absorb too much sugar so that there isn't much sugar left in our blood. We become hypoglycemic with a low blood sugar. We feel tired, irritable and lightheaded and, for children, their body movements become more impulsive and overactive (less purposefull). Being hypoglycemic makes us crave sugar again and the whole process repeats itself throughout the entire day. Some children and adults are more sensitive to these changes than others. Their pancreas may release more insulin in response to sugar. Some children and adults release more stress hormones in response to sleep deprivation, but this physiologic response occurs in all of us. For children that are already very active and have difficulties paying attention in school, going to bed early and cutting down on sugar really can help the child and family function better. They say that any sleep you get before midnight is restorative and counts for double, and therefore it is far better to go to bed early (7:00 to 8:00 for a young school-age child and 9:00 to 10:00 for an adult) and wake up early to get your work done. Maybe this is the truth in that saying by Benjamin Franklin: Early to bed, early to rise, makes (one) healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Parent Evening Oct. 2nd (7-8:30pm)

Parent Evening Oct. 2nd (7-8:30pm)

It is our great honor to welcome Judy Russell, from the HANDLE Institute, to speak at our first Adult Education evening.  She will be speaking about behavior, neurodevelopment, sensory development and challenges, and therapeutic movement.  She will also be visiting our school that day and observing our classes at circle and playtime so that she can give the teachers suggestions about different types of movements that will be therapeutic to add into our activities each day in order to serve the needs of the children in our classes.  Mother Earth School is paying Judy for her time, and we hope to recover a bit of that money by opening her evening talk up to the public and asking for financial donations.  Please know that any donation that you can give will be helpful, but you are not required to give anything, as we want to encourage all families to attend and will not turn anyone away for lack of funds. 


She has offered to conduct individual assessments for the grades children at a highly reduced cost of $50 each(they are normally $350.)  She'll be at Jean's Farm on Friday October 4.  Please bring me a check for $50 this week or a letter if you are not financially able to cover the fee.

Salmon Fest

The Autumnal Equinox marks a moment of balance between light and dark, a turning point in the seasons. The days are growing steadily shorter; light is fading; tree leaves are turning; the harvest is being gathered in.  The turning of the year invites us to journey inward, to reflect, and to renew our faith, hope, and courage as the world of nature appears to be dying away and as darkness grows day by day.

Festivals in many cultures are practised at this time of year, perhaps little known and seldom celebrated by some in our modern world.  What is it about this time of year that has importance and relevance for our modern world?

We celebrate the central message of this time of year locally through honoring the running of the salmon and the active meteor showers which both represent a force that is highly relevant to the challenges of our age.  We are being called upon to summon courage and inner strength of will to meet the forces of destruction. Fear and evil are represented mythologically through story characters so as to give them a shape which can be visible and readily confronted.  Such stories and enactments encourage humanity to rally, with the aid of spiritual help, to defeat the embodiment of our challenges, thereby subduing evil.  Our modern world has become so much more complex than the ancient times from which many traditional stories emerged; the negative and destructive impulses now often travel in disguised and subtle forms.

Moral ambiguity abounds; it is not always easy to distinguish forces of good from forces of evil. Through our sophisticated development of technology, the boundaries of reality and fantasy have become blurred. We are weary from wars that have no clear outcome and no apparent point of victory.  Living within this modern reality, stories that offer a clear image of good vs. evil (through developing characters that endow each concept with its own shape and form) are therapeutic for children because issues become more manageable, infusing the foundation of morality with more clarity.

More than ever before, we need our inner practices, the anchor and support of the spiritual world, and the strength of true community. As the world of nature dies away and darkness wraps us in a mysterious blanket of wonder, facing our fears offers us the ability to illuminate what is awaiting us.  Confronting our self, recognizing the work that we are being called to do, and exerting our efforts in order for it to take form, channels our immense power into action for the good.  The balance of autumn equinox prepares us for the turning into the darkness, inviting us to awaken out of the dreaminess of summer and to bring full consciousness to ourselves and to the world around us. With the inspiration of the salmon we recall that, although our senses are attuned to the struggle that can accompany the dying away of the world around us, a cycle of new life is beginning which is yet to be revealed.

Original article by Liz Beavon, Dean of Program Development at the Fair Oaks Waldorf School

Adapted for Mother Earth School’s place-based programming by Kelly Hogan

Meet Our Teachers

************Under Construction*********
Check here for pics, bios, and updates on the adults who regularly work with your children

Teacher Frankie (1st Grade)

Ms. April  (2/3 Grade)

Mr. Trent (Music, Kindergarten)

Aki Sensei (Japanese)

Ms. Oana (Eurythmy)

Megan (Gardening)
        (All Parents invited to help on Fridays, I will list the regulars here, Lenka, Michelle, let me know)

Farmer Jeff (Farming)

Ms. Maura (1st Grade Intern)

Mr. Matt

Wendy (Sunnyside Elementary: Teaches 30 Middle School Children Tuesdays and Thursdays at
              Jean's Farm for 8 weeks in Autumn and Spring)

Rhythm of the Year: Calendar

Sept. 4  First Day of School

Sept. 7-8 Camping Trip at Timothy Lake

Sept. 25 7-9pm Grades Parent Meeting: Thresholds: The 7 and 9 Year Changes (9411 SE Wichita Ave)

Sept. 27 SalmonFest: A Feast for Children During School Hours to Honor Courage and the Equinox
              (The first grade visited the Salmon at Eagle Creek on Tuesday 9/24, our field trip day)

Oct. 2 7-8:30 Child Sensory Development: A Parent Meeting with Judy Russell from the Handle
                      Institute (All Adults Welcome, Donations Accepted not Required)

Oct. 14 School Closed (Columbus Day)

Oct. 26 Mystical Garden Halloween Tour at Jean's Farm. Tours start at 2pm (Donation)

Nov. 1 School Closed

Nov. 2 Navigate "Her" Girls Workshop (Donation) 1929 SE Powell Blvd.

Nov. 6 Lantern Walk (Festival, Required with Children) at Tryon Creek State Park at dusk

Nov. 11 School Closed (Veteran's Day)

Nov. 22 Harvest Feast (During School Day, Families Welcome)

Nov. 25-29 Thanksgiving Break

Dec. 5 Grades Parents Only Meeting (required, no children) 6:30-9pm

Dec. 17 Spiral of Lights (Festival, Required with Children) Jean's Farm Yurt at dusk

Dec. 19-Jan. 3 Winter Break

Jan. 20 School Closed (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

Jan. 25-26 Diversity Workshop (Donation)

Jan. 31 Candle Dipping and Open House (Required, with Children) 2:30pm Jean's Farm Yurt

Feb. 7 Education Panel (Donation) Tabor Space

Feb. 13 Grades Parents Only Meeting (Required, no children)7-9 Jean's Farm Yurt

Feb. 17-21 School Closed (Teacher Training)

Mar.19 Curative Storytelling Parent Evening (Required, no children) 7-8:30 1929 SE Powell

Apr. 4, 5, 6 "We the People" A Community Rights Workshop (Donation-details on MES Website)

Apr. 9 Music and Movement Parent Evening (Required, no children) 7-8:30 1929 SE Powell

Apr. 14-25 Spring Break

May 1 May Pole Dancing and Picnic 11-1:30 at TLC Farm

May 7 Nature Connection Parent Meeting with Crafts ( Required, no children) 7-8:30 1929 SE Powell

May 26 School Closed (Memorial Day)

Jun 6 Work and Pizza Party and Class Play at Jean's Farm (During School Day, All Families Required)

Jun 11 Jean's Farm Graduation Ceremony

Rhythm of the Months: Main Lesson Blocks

Sep 4-Sep 6       Intro: Why We Come to School(To Learn How to What Adults Can Do: Good Deeds)

Sep 4-Sep 27     Form Drawing: Intro (Straight & Curve, Vert & Horz, Crosses, Spirals, Lemniscates)

Sept 30-Oct 25   Letters: Writing (Stories to Pictures to Ideograms to Letters, Vowels & Consonants)

Oct 28-Nov 22   Numbers: Qualities of Numbers (Counting, Signifiers, Cardinal and Ordinal)

Dec 2-Dec 18     Form Drawing: Metamorphosis

Jan 6-Jan 24       Numbers: 4 Processes (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division)

Feb 24-Mar 14   Form Drawing: Running Forms

Mar 17-Apr 11   Letters: Writing (Build Phonemic Awareness through Story, Poetry, Writing)

Apr 28-May 23  Numbers: Develop 4 Processes

May 26-Jun 6    Class Play

Jun 9-11            Review: Story of the Year in Reverse Concluding with Straight and Curved Line

Rhythm of the Week: Weekly Schedule

Saturday:      Play, Rest, Eat healthy

Sunday:        Play, Rest, Eat healthy

Monday:       Farm Work: Social Gardening and Crafts
                     Snack: Rice (with Coconut Oil, Tamari, Nutritional Yeast)
                     1st Lesson: Eurythmy (Ms. Oana)
                     2nd Lesson: Social/Therapeutic Games (Ms. April)

Tuesday:       Farm Work: Social Gardening and Crafts
                     Field Trip (Leave after Main Lesson at 10:30)
                          Snack: Oats (Porridge with Coconut Oil, Honey)
                          1st Lesson: Crafts
                          2nd Lesson: Flutes

Wednesday: Farming (with Farmer Jeff)
                    Snack: Millet (with Tamari, Nutritional Yeast)
                    1st Lesson: Japanese (Aki Sensei)
                    2nd Lesson: Music (Mr. Trent)

Thursday:    Farm Work: Fire, Knead and Bake Bread, Chickens
                    Snack: Bread (with Coconut oil, Honey)
                    1st Lesson: Painting
                    2nd Lesson: Flutes

Friday:         Farm Work: Chickens, Chop Vegetables for Soup
                    Snack: Stone Soup (Please Bring a Vegetable, Fruit, or Herb)
                    1st Lesson: Japanese (Aki Sensei)
                    2nd Lesson: Gardening (Megan and Garden Parents (Lenka, Michelle, You))

Rhythm of the Day: Class Schedule

Morning: Eat a good hot breakfast

8:45a Walk in Noble Silence down Mystical Path Observing the Changes of Nature, organize personal items on their hooks and cubbies, Free Play in Cedar Land

9:15a Greet Teacher at the "Gate" of the Garden Circle with a Handshake, Eye Contact, and "Good Morning Teacher"
        Morning Verse        Centering Movement
        Class Song

9:30a Main Lesson Outside:
                 Practice Previous Lesson through Movement, Speaking                 Learn New Lesson through listening to Story

10:00a Enter Yurt for 2nd part of main lesson.  (To write in our books)
                
10:45a Snack:
                 Wash Hands
                 Offer Gifts to Fire, Air, Water, and Earth Fairies:
                          (Light Candle with Song, Ring Bell, Present Water and Food samples on Fairy Dishes)
                 Song of Blessing and Gratitude for Food
                 Serve Food (Grain of the Day)
                 Eat with Joy and Reverence

11:15a 1st Lesson (Eurythmy, Flutes, Japanese, Flutes, Japanese)

12:00p 2nd Lesson (Farming, Crafts, Music, Crafts, Gardening)

12:45p Lunch and Forest Play

1:45p Gather in Garden Ring for Gratitudes, Verse, and Goodbye Song

2:00p Greet Parents at the Gate, go home and rest, play a bit, rest, eat healthy

7:00p Story, Song, and Bedtime: Sleep for 11-12 hours


               

Garden Greetings

Garden Greetings,

I am extending a warm invitation to any parents and grandparents that would like to come together on Friday's at JEAN's farm to work in community on the school garden projects that will be ongoing throughout the year.  We plan to converge in the garden at 9am after drop-off to co-create a beautiful space of love that flourishes with food, flowers, medicinals and invites all fairies, bees, birds and land helpers.  We will work until pick-up, so you can drop-in at any point.

Growing food and stewarding the land as a community is deeply nourishing and we can accomplish so much together!  I invite you all to bring the skills, passion, ideas, and just you to experience to power of togetherness and its expression in the land. My hope is that this time is to just take a break from any stress in our lives to just enjoy the beauty the earth offers us in the moment.

I will be teaching a "garden lesson" on Friday's to the children and would love anyone that is interested in being a helping hand in the activities planned for the day.  You do not need to have any experience.  My hope is to share the knowledge I have of this land (I lived at JEAN's for 5 years and was the farm manager for 3!)  and my knowledge of growing food with not only the kids but with anyone who wants to learn more.  I also hope to create a space where everyone that participates can bring their own intuition/ideas/inspirations into the experience, including and especially the children.

Looking forward to playing in the dirt with you!

Megan Hubbs
Rylan and Juniper's Mama