Mixed-age Care

Laughter and Versatility, by Mara Spiropoulos

[Editor's Note: This article explores personal experiences with two of the attributes of "The L.O.V.E. Approach to Discipline" developed by LifeWays founder, Cynthia Aldinger.  To learn more or to share your own experiences, see information at the end of this article.

L - laughter and listening
O- order and objectivity
V - versatility and vulnerability
E - enthusiasm and energy]

Today as I lie next to my sleeping eldest child, watching her breathing calm and her sweet hands twitch from dreamy wonder, I whispered an apology. I had grown impatient with her just before she fell asleep. Ellia, four-and-a-quarter years old, is my deeply sensitive thinker of a child with a stubborn streak. More often than not, she resists napping.

Read More ->

A Winter Festival Celebrating Community, by Rahima Dancy

 

At Rainbow Bridge we always scheduled our “Winter Festival” on the last day before winter break.  We would invite all the parents to come from 11:30-12:30 and take their children home with them—no afternoon care that day because it’s so hard for children to have parents come and go without taking them home.  Because December is COLD in Colorado, this festival required careful planning to fit everyone inside! Here’s how we did it.

Read More ->

Helping a New Child, Then Stepping Back

I'd like to share with you something I learned last Fall. It was mid-September, and there was a new little boy in the room, one of many. This boy however, rather than bond with all the teachers equally, bonded exclusively with me. I must admit, it made me feel special. I alone had the power to comfort this little one. I was happy to give him a comforting smile when he looked for me. I was delighted to pick him up when he reached for me. Our dynamic continued in this way for a week or two.

Read More ->

Pumpkins All Year Round!

Image

Children love the jolly jack-o-lanterns, but at Spindlewood we like to keep our pumpkins alive all year round, beginning with hunting for them in the overgrown summer garden.

Read More ->

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Image

I didn’t mean to be a gardener. Somehow it just happened -or did it? My earliest memories of gardening were the ones of an annoyed teen being forced to help dig and build beds for a large succulent garden that would one day become the front yard for a LifeWays center in San Diego set in an organic garden environment. The seeds of working with the soil, plants, and seasons were subtly planted in my soul by the very act of helping my parents to tend their (our) garden.

Read More ->

The First Hike of Spring, by Esther Leisher

 

Some celebrations can be so fun and so simple-- not much more than the highlighting of a special day. One of the simplest at our house was celebrating the first hike of spring. All we did was to make a hobo bag for each of us, then go off on the first hike of spring, celebrating Nature’s awakening, and delighting in the increasing light and warmth. We used bandanas (but you could use large cloth napkins) to wrap our lunch in and knotted each onto a dead branch or old sunflower stalk sanded where you hold it. These were our hobo sticks, which each person carried over their shoulder. I carried the extras -- water bottles or whatever -- in a backpack.

Read More ->

Welcome Home!

LifeWays goal is to support the development of home in the lives of children, families, and caregivers because we see home as the natural environment for young children and home-like settings as the ideal for childcare.  We do this by offering trainings, seminars, and workshops that lift the participants out of the chaos of the world and reorient them to the foundations of meaningful, purposeful, delightful living.   We do this because we know that children thrive in the presence of adults who find meaning in life, who are engaged in purposeful activity and who delight in finding the “yes” in whatever life tosses their way.

Read More ->

Stories of mixed age childcare

From Ursula Wald of Tucson, Arizona

Ursula cared for a three-year old girl who had recently been expressing occasional aggressive behavior. She had taken to beating up the dolls and saying she was going to smash the babies (dolls). Occasionally she was striking out at the other children seemingly unprovoked. Things were changing in her family which could have played a role in her behavior. When Ursula added an infant to her childcare group, she noted that all of the children changed in their behavior. They all, including the three-year old girl, loved the baby. Specifically, she noted that when this little girl arrived she immediately went to the baby dolls, gathered them all up, and began to wrap them and care for them.

From Mary O'Connell in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin (Mary’s home program before she opened  her centers)

Read More ->

Reinventing Spindlewood: An Off-Site Waldorf Kindergarten Embraces LifeWays

--Excerpted from an article by Susan Silverio, LifeWays trainer

Read More ->

SUBSCRIBE TO LIFEWAYS BLOG

Subscribe to Lifeways Blog

Page Bottom

DONATE TO LIFEWAYS   |   CONTACT US   |   GET OUR NEWSLETTER - BE INSPIRED!  |  Copyright © 2011 Lifeways North America