by Lindsay Cahill Lord

I wanted to send an email of gratitude to all the teachers at Sweet Clover Nursery (SCN). I've mentioned this specific story to a couple of teachers, but it occurs to me that this really is a sentiment that is across all of your wonderful teachers and assistants, even if I've only personally stopped to see it a couple of times. 

I'm a first-time parent (and I'm also a little older than average for one!), which as you know can be a scary thing to be. Normal stages in my daughter's development have absolutely terrified me. And honestly, as a result, I was a little late giving her some freedom to grow and explore. I am constantly grateful for the experience, expertise, and care of the teachers at Sweet Clover. When my daughter was in Rosebud, Miss Jean recommended books to me that I've really leaned on to overcome parenting worrying; Miss Jung gave me welcomed advice on the introduction of table foods and on how to handle my daughter’s first cold! 

More recently at Sweet Pea, Miss Nolwenn has really invited open and regular communication, and she makes you feel like your family and your child are always her primary focus (when I know that in reality, we are one of many children in the classroom.) When my daughter had an injury at school a few weeks ago, after the second status update phone call to me from Miss Nolwenn, I found myself reflecting on how I am fully comfortable with and trust the judgment and experience of the SCN teachers with my daughter's safety and care. Which is a big leap for me, as I would previously obsess and panic over everything. 

I wanted to share a story that illustrates this, and how it positively impacted how we have since changed some of our home activities as a result: 

A few weeks ago, I pulled into the parking lot to pick up my daughter in the after-care program (at the time). I spotted her right away up on the play structure, and I admit that I completely panicked. She's too little to climb up there! She can't climb those stairs! She can't possibly get down by herself! My first instinct was to come flying out of the car and run and scoop her up. And I had to make myself pause and watch for a bit, and I am very glad that I did. What I observed (after my initial heart attack) was that an adult was standing right there. That she was carefully watching the three children on the play structure. That I could see her talking them through their climbing, and giving them guidance when they got stuck. And I watched my daughter crawl up and down the structure three or four times, each time she carefully chose her footing and descended down first. Since she's usually a daredevil, I can only assume that what I was observing was the result of lots of guidance received on finding her footing and taking her time. I saw that she was confident and practiced in her movements, and you could tell she was having lots of fun. 

At home, I rarely brought my daughter to the playground because I believed she was too little and it was too dangerous. She loves to climb, but I would only let her be carried up to the slide and go down it while being held by me with both hands. The Saturday following this particular pickup day, I brought her to the toddler playground in Northfield Falls, where she climbed and ran all morning. By the time we left, she could take herself up and down the stairs and ramp and go down the slide on her belly without any intervention from me. We now go to the toddler playground every weekend, and I swear she gains new mobility and balance each time. I would never have been brave enough to take her if I hadn't had the opportunity to watch the SCN teachers and carers interact with her outside while on the play structure. I am so grateful for that. I learned a lot in that one observation about trusting her to govern her own movements, but also about being present for safety and guidance without impeding her ability to learn.

The experience that the teachers and carers have in educating children meant they already knew all of this, which is what I observed that day at pick up. But I am so grateful that I could benefit from it as a parent. When we enrolled her at SCNS, I knew that you all would teach my daughter lots of things, but I never imagined that you would teach me as a parent as much as you have. I am so very grateful for that and for all of you!

From Farm and Forest Kindergarten Teacher, Lindsay Miles: 

The Farm and Forest children have come through the winter where we warmed ourselves by fire, drank tea we made from the trees we visited in the forest, and found shelter from the very cold in the yurt. Now, they bask in the glory that is spring.

The cold winds and snowy land brought good work and big movements where the children shoveled, went sledding, and moved through campus covered in snow gear, wool socks, and the occasional toe and hand warmer.

Now that the weather has changed and the children are eager to shed their bulky layers to run free, we can see how much growth has happened for each and every child. Their pants are just a tad too short, the sleeves of their rain jackets just barely touch their wrists, and new shoes are arriving daily as their feet have grown out of the shoes they wore when they first began their days in Farm and Forest. 

Spring time has brought a new connection with the earth. Where in winter it was a hard and often snowy ground when we began our morning circle with “Here is the Earth and here is the sky...,” now the earth has softened, and as we stomp our feet are greeted with warm mud and grass that is beginning to turn green. Our circles outside give us a chance to really experience the words we recite and the songs we sing. As we are “four little chickadees sitting in a tree, one flew away and then there were three” we can hear their call from the perch of our bird feeder. As we recite “in the heart of a seed buried deep so deep, a dear little plant lies fast asleep,” we can look over at our garden and truly see the seeds beginning to sprout. 

The snowmen and snow-shoveled paths are being replaced with energetic cooperative games and creative and thoughtful creations. Some of our toys from inside the tepee have come outside for play in the sunshine. Potions are being made from mud, grass, and hay. Their airplane (a leaning tree) has them crawling up in their “seats” and traveling to the great lands of Africa and Dorchester, MA. Their building of their giant nest has begun, using grapevine we harvested from the southern Orchard. The children become beautiful birds with wreaths of feathers and wings of fallen branches.   

This time of year brings a lot of energy in the children and we can meet this energy with new work to be done. This is achieved through practical jobs in the garden or woodworking activities and by giving them space to explore the changing natural world as their bodies are bigger and ready to do new things they weren’t ready to do in the beginning of the year. They are building bigger forts, climbing trees a little higher, and we will begin working on our jump-roping skills very soon!

Spring also brings a lot of farm work that the children eagerly ask to help with. We have put up a new arbor to our classroom entrance, added hay bales to be planted and to create natural borders, and we are ready to expand the goat yard. We have extended the chicken yard and have added a corn grinder where the children can make food for the chickens to eat. We are raking our classroom and the children use wheelbarrows to bring the fallen hay to the farm house they have made among the apple trees. The goats and sheep have grown from the babies they were at the start of the year. The sheep are eager to begin grazing again and to be sheared, and the goats are mischievous and playful. They love to jump up onto their new play structure and use the balance beam that was made for them over the winter. 

The garlic we planted in our Soup Garden long ago in the late fall is coming up beautifully, and the children marvel at this and the other seeds we have sown. This week we are adding more garden beds to house our Tea Garden, Our Bees and Butterflies Garden, our Herb Bed, and our Medicine Wheel.  

How lucky are we that we get to spend our days outside—still held in the traditional, rhythmic ways that meet our youngest students in our Waldorf school. At the same time, we are instilling a sense of love for our earth, our animals, and our classmates as we are on the land each day. We aim to cultivate a sense of flexibility and ease our movement through the day, the seasons, and the year—a skill that is so necessary as we move through this world.

More than 50 people from the Central Vermont community attended the talk with Dr. Richard Freed on April 24th in Montpelier. Freed, a psychologist and author of Wired Child: Reclaiming Childhood in a Digital Age, offered a well-researched and engaging presentation, which made the case for parents to set strong limits on children's use of technology. "The Waldorf media policy is consistent with what science says our kids need," said Freed.  

Freed acknowledged the pressure on both children and adults to be online and offered parenting strategies to encourage healthy and productive tech use. Here are Freed's top 5 strategies to help us as parents:

Just in time! A new video has launched celebrating 100 years of Waldorf Education around the world. Watch and share this inspiring video!

“Because giving attention is really love.”

Additionally, a new international website, , has been established. It highlights shared themes and activities that will take place around the globe in 2019-2020. Stay tuned for more videos and information over the next 2 years.

Take a moment and watch (or re-watch!) our school featured on WCAX as part of their "30 Schools in 30 Days" series. Although this story aired a few years ago, it is a great reminder of what we do here at ���ϴ��¼� and why Waldorf education is such a powerfully rewarding curriculum choice for our kids. Enjoy!

OVWS Fifth Graders Compete at the Pentathlon at Lake Champlain Waldorf School! Check out the Seven Days video below to see the fun!

This event marks the culmination of the Fifth Grade's study of Ancient Greece. Their learning is all-inclusive as they take up the historical teachings in main lesson through stories, written compositions, drawings and creative expression, and then learn and practice skills in five of the Olympic activities: wrestling, discus, javelin, running, and long jump in Movement Education.
The fantastic culmination, a mini-Olympics with students from Waldorf schools in VT, NY and NH, was held May 26 & 27.