Sparking Empathy By Jerilyn C. Burke empathy: noun 1. the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another 2. the imaginative ascribing to an object, as a natural object or work of art, feelings or attitudes present in oneself I often ascribe feelings to objects when I […]
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Warm Hearts in Alaska by Jennifer Sundquist My name is Jennifer Sundquist and I am the lead pre-school teacher at Palmer LifeWays in Palmer, Alaska. Our winters can be quite chilly up here and our valley is known for its blustery days. We make an effort to infuse warmth into many parts of our day.
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Transforming Circle Time for Mixed-Age Groups By Rahima Baldwin Dancy I have found that the “typical kindergarten circle” learned in Waldorf early childhood training needs to be simplified and changed in different ways for a preschool group of two- and three-year-olds or for a mixed-age group of children. At Rainbow Bridge we had a mixed-age
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The Play’s the Thing: “Spontaneous Theater” with Mixed Ages By Faith Collins What can we do to promote imaginative play in young children? How can we encourage and facilitate children playing together in ways that everyone enjoys? How do we help integrate the play of mixed-age groups? How can we increase our enjoyment of spending
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Thoughts about Circle Time with Older Children by Sharifa Oppenheimer Sharifa shares from her extensive work with kinder-garten-aged children: Circle Time has always been one of my favorite times of the day. What I love is that Circle Time incorporates many of the elements we strive to bring to young children throughout the day, all
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Lynn Coalson writes: Greetings from sunny Northeast Florida, home to Seaside Playgarden, a LifeWays Representative Program, and the first in Florida. The Seaside Playgarden, located just two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, is a perfect place for children to explore, grow and create. We focus on the whole child: head, heart and hands and offer
Forest Kindergarten at Seaside Playgarden, Jacksonville, FL by Lynn Coalson Read More »
“Did you hear that?” my daughter-in-law and I queried one another. It sounds like she is saying “Thank you.” Such are the fantasies of a mommy and gramma of a newly-one-year-old. But hey! It might actually be true. Maybe my one-year-old granddaughter’s first words were “thank you,” translated something like “da do.” That would be
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Kerry writes: The story of Mumbuto and the White Bird is a transformative tale written for young children. The life-giving baobob tree holds the central position on the set. The base of the tree is a needle-felted trunk with a jar of water within – which holds branches of fresh green leaves to denote the branches
Mumbuto and the White Bird, a puppet play written by Kerry B. Brokaw Read More »
I remember the crisp autumn day the well-dressed early childhood professor from a nearby university came to spend the morning with LifeWays’ preschoolers. She was impressed with the way the children played outdoors, climbing trees, balancing on fallen logs, gathering acorns and telling stories with them, as comfortable and relaxed in their outdoor forest environment
Earth, Water, Air and Fire by Mary O’Connell Read More »
“Focus more on who your child is than on what your child does. Remember, you are growing a person, not fixing a problem.” L.R. Knost Emily and I are currently taking a class together about the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards. The class, despite being held from 6:30-9:30 p.m. on Wednesday nights (yawn!), is
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