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Soul Blossom Kids

compassionate support for holistic parenting

Mindful parenting

Waldorf vs. Montessori for little ones–how to choose

When I taught parent-child classes at the Chicago Waldorf School, parents often asked me to explain the difference between Waldorf and Montessori. So I made this little video to share my thoughts on some of the big differences (and similarities) between these two wonderful pedagogical approaches to early childhood. (There are other differences as a child moves on into the grade school, but those aren’t addressed here.)

Waldorf or Montessori–the video

In this video, I share some thoughts about the similarities and differences between these two popular alternative educations–in their early childhood classes. I’ve been a Waldorf early childhood teacher for over 20 years, and certainly have more knowledge and experience with this form of education (not to mention that it capture my heart!). But my older daughter went to a Montessori preschool, where I was also on the Board of Directors and spent some time observing in the classrooms–and did some studying about it, as well.

There are benefits to both of these philosophies–and they both start from looking at a child as a whole human being worthy of respect. How that looks in the classroom, though, is quite different depending on which school you’re in. Both of these pedagogical methods are deep and rich, and of course, the depth and nuances can’t be capture in a short video–but I’ve shared what to me are the most important differences and similarities.

If you’re homeschooling, you don’t have to choose one or the other–you can pick what you like best of both.

waldorf or montessori
Gnomes are everywhere in Waldorf classrooms!

Timestamps

Here are some highlights:

0:00 Intro

2:20 Similarities–holistic, respect for the child, mostly natural materials

3:10 Rhythm of day

4:47 materials in classrooms–open-ended vs. specific use

6:00 imaginative play vs. work 6:40 organization of space in the classroom

7:30 the role of the teacher 10:10 use of technology and homework (another similarity)

10:30 Practical life skills

12:18 role of community

13:45 line time and circle time

15:24 mixed-age classes (another similarity)

16:00 wrap-up

16:51 How to choose works best for your child

Please let me know if you have any questions–or what you like about either approach to educating the young child–in the comments.

You can read more about conscious parenting here. And here’s a link to one of my favorite resources for practical life materials for little ones–For Small Hands

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

Understanding the fascinating world of kid’s drawings

When I began my journey as a Waldorf teacher, one thing I learned about was how much we can learn from looking at kid’s drawings.

Young children go through many developmental milestones like learning to sit, walk, talk, etc. They generally progress through these milestones in a predictable order, though each step–and the timing of each step–reflects their individuality, as well.

In the same way, kid’s drawings follow a predictable pattern of development–with individual variations, as well.

This is the second of three parts of a series on kid’s drawings. In the first part, I shared how I set up for drawing in my early childhood classrooms–including materials, set up, and how to interact with the little ones and their drawings.

Kid’s drawings–the video

I created this video to give you an overview of how kid’s drawings develop from 1 or so up through about 6 years of age. It includes me demonstrating the different types of drawings.

I encourage you to try this yourself and see how it feels. If you can, put your whole self into the drawing and really see what it feels like to, for example, connect a circle for the first time.

An overview of children’s drawings

Here’s a brief overview of how children’s drawings develop. We Waldorf teachers tend to dive deep, but I’m not an expert on this by any means. But I have enjoyed observing children drawing for many years now.

kid's drawings
my version of early stages of drawing

Before 3--The child under 3 tends to draw “scribble scrabble,” but it tends to be round in form. It reminds me of the joy that little ones take in running around in circles. They can fly with the colors on the page. The drawings at this stage are just about the joy of movement and of making marks on the page.

Around 3–In Waldorf-world, we talk about the child having their first sense of being a separate being somewhere around the age of 3 to 3 1/2. This is when the child starts referring to themself as “I.”

This change in consciousness is reflected in their drawings by the closing of a circle (as in my middle drawing). Now there is an inside and an outside, and “I” and “other.”

At this point, the child goes from just experiencing the movement of the crayon in their drawing–or from orienting themselves to their own body–to reaching out into the world.

3 1/2 to 5 The child starts to explore the outer world in a new way, to feel their way into the world, to become more social. In their drawings, you often see the first images of the human being. These often consist of a head with limbs dangling off of it. The child’s consciousness grows from the head down. The limbs reach out like feelers into the world, sometimes branching into numerous fingers and toes.

more kid's drawings
the next phases of drawing

Gradually, the drawings become more consciously formed. Their figures grow a middle, so to speak.

Often, you’ll see ladders and/or spirals in their drawings. The ladders represent our middle realm–our heart and lungs which give us the rhythms of life through breathing and heartbeat. The spiral represents the breathing and the ladder–which may appear on a person, a tree, or even as a ladder–can be seen as the ribcage which holds the rhythmic system. (The children don’t see it this way, of course–this imagery all comes out of their unconscious). You’ll also start to see square shapes, which represent the same thing–in the form of houses, or just square designs like you see on the right side of my drawing. (The children tend to draw these more carefully than I did and color in completely.)

Around 5 The last of the basic shapes to find its way into the children’s drawings is the triangle. The triangle is a shape that brings a lot of balance and stability. The children have reached the earth in a new way. The triangle shows up in the human form, rooftops, all sorts of places.

kid's drawings--triangles
triangle drawings

As the child continues to grow and develop, their drawings become more complex and integrated. I’ve only shown a few simple examples here. But once they have all the shapes, children often draw wonderfully complex and detailed drawings of whatever they think of–from princesses to dragons to trains to garbage trucks and more.

As they approach grade school age, they may become self-conscious about their drawings. The drawings may not look the way they want them to look. This is a natural phase that can be addressed as they enter grade school by teaching some simple skills. But for the young child, it’s best to let them discover on their own.

Further reading

If you’d like to learn more, here are two books that have a lot of good information. If you know of others, please share them in the comments.

Young Children’s Drawings as a mirror of development by Christhilde Blume

Reading Children’s Drawings by Audrey McAllen

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please let me know if you have any questions.

xoxo

Celebrate with a little Waldorf Christmas Magic

Here’s a little Waldorf Christmas magic for you and your little ones. A sweet song and story about Mother Mary and the Child of Light.

In this season of light, I love to share stories about the light every child brings to the world.

I wrote the story in the video–it was inspired by a story in the Winter book from Wynstones Press. It’s one of a series of 6 books–one for each season and 2 for year-round– that all have wonderful songs, verses, and stories. Check them out if you’re looking for some Waldorf inspiration.

Celebrating the season of light and the long, dark nights

Christmas magic
Christmas Magic

I love that we celebrate the light during these darkest days of the year. We need to celebrate. And I feel the darkness this year more than ever–maybe you do, too.

We had our family Zoom Hanukkah dinner last Saturday. It was so lovely to be together with the family–but it left me feeling sad, too. I’m so grateful to the magic of technology that lets us be together. But I miss really being together–in person. I miss the hugs, laughing together, and I really miss cooking with my daughters!

(I shared some fun Hanukkah dreidel songs last week)

I’ve learned to let myself feel sad–and happy. We need all of those feelings, like we need both the darkness and the light.

All the more reason to share some Christmas magic.

A Little Christmas Magic–the video

Over Stars is Mary Wandering

Here are the words to this lovely song–

Over stars is Mary wandering;

In her mantle’s flowing folds,

Radiant threads of starlight woven

For the little child she holds.

Throngs of stars behold her passing,

All the world is filled with light

With her hands she weaves and gathers

Blessings for the first Christmas night.

Stars, Hills, Merry Christmas, Christmas magic

Thank you so much for stopping by. I wish you all happy holidays–whatever holidays you celebrate. And I wish that you find light in the darkness.

Celebrate with your precious Child(ren) of Light

xoxo

Beginning Well Everyday: our new platform!

I’m so excited to tell you that I am part of the Beginning Well Everyday team. This is a new platform that I’ve been working on with my dear friend and colleague, Pia Dögl, author of Beginning Well: Empathy from the very Beginning. (Edited by me) It’s for parents of children from birth to three.

Beginning Well: Empathy from the Very Beginning

Here’s her first announcement about the new platform which we’ll be launching soon:

Get our free self-care checklist

Self-care is not selfish, but it can be hard to fit in to your busy day! We’ve developed this checklist to give you some simple inspirations for self-care.

You can get the free download here.

I hope you enjoy it–and I’d love to hear what you think–what ideas you used, what other ideas you have.

Zzz, Sleep, Pink, Flowers, Wellness

Beginning Well–Celebrate Every Day

If you watch the video that will be released later this week on the Beginning Well YouTube channel, you’ll get to see me speaking with Pia about what I’ll be offering on our new platform

We’ll be offering courses, self-care snippets, interviews with childcare and health experts under 3 basic topics: Nurturing Yourself, Nurturing Your Child, and Celebrate Everyday.

I’ll be offering a lot of songs, verses, crafts, recipes, etc. to help you celebrate the seasons and every day. Plus some Simplicity parenting courses and meditations. These will, for the most part, be different from what I offer here and in my DIY Parent-Child classes.

My most recent offering here on Soul Blossom Kids is a Pumpkin Gratitude Game, including the game, of course, and some other ideas of how to make gratitude part of your daily life.

Pumpkin, Thanksgiving, Squash, Close-Up

I’ll be sharing more about Beginning Well Everyday over the next few weeks–including our Minimalist Baby and Toddler Gift Guide, which we’ll be offering later this week, just in time for the holiday season!

Hand, Gift, Bouquet, Congratulation

Please let me know if you have any questions or any thoughts about self-care. I’d love to hear from you.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by.

xoxo

Harvest the Benefits of Gratitude With a Simple Game

Science has shown the benefits of gratitude. Here’s a game you can play at Thanksgiving or all year round to harvest the benefits with your little ones. Anytime is the right time to be grateful, but we may think about it more around Thanksgiving.

What is gratitude?

Thank You, Thanks, Greeting, Card, benefits of gratitude

Oxford dictionary defines “gratitude” as “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.”

Some physical and emotional benefits of gratitude

There are oodles of scientific studies that show the benefits of gratitude, especially as a regular practice. Here are a few of them. (If you want to read more, check out this article from Harvard Medical School:

  • Greater happiness
  • More optimism and positive emotions
  • New and lasting relationships
  • Better physical and emotional health
  • More progress toward personal goals
  • Fewer aches and pains
  • More alertness and determination
  • Increased generosity and empathy
  • Better sleep
  • Improved self-esteem

Gratitude as a family ritual

Thanksgiving, Fall, Pumpkin, Flowers, benefits of gratitude

I don’t necessarily think that the wee ones need a gratitude practice. They are filled with the wonder of the world all of the time. Just being with them can be a gratitude practice for us–if we pause and really take them in.

Yet creating simple daily rituals with your family can really help bring mindfulness to this wonderful gift of appreciating our gifts. It supports the adults and the children, too.

Below I share the game I played with the 3-6 year olds in my class during our Thanksgiving circle. You can play this game, too. But if prefer, you can make it into a ritual instead of a game. You can pass the pumpkin around the table before a meal, using the verse or not, and say what you’re grateful for as you hold the pumpkin.

Heart, gratitude Stone, Love, Stone Heart, Balance

If you want to do it all year round, maybe you’d rather choose a gratefulness stone to keep on the table and pass around at your chosen time. Before a meal is a good time, but do whatever works for your family.

The gratitude pumpkin game

As I mentioned, I used to play with my mixed-age kindergarten around this time of year–gratitude and a game all in one, now that’s something to be thankful for!

The game is a variation of hot potato, and it’s simple to play. You just pass the pumpkin around while saying the verse. Whoever is holding the pumpkin when the verse ends gets to say something they’re grateful for.

I never would force a child to say something. If they didn’t want to speak, we just passed the pumpkin along to someone who did. If the same person got the pumpkin twice, they could say something else if they wanted to. The third time, they gave the pumpkin to someone who hadn’t had a turn yet. And so we went until everyone who wanted to had a turn. It took a few minutes with 20 or so of us–but it was great fun!

The Verse

Here’s the verse I use but feel free to tweak it if you want:

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, round you go,

Where you stop, nobody knows.

But when you stop, it’s time to say

What you’re grateful for today.

More about gratitude in the video

What are you grateful for today?

What are you grateful for today? I’m grateful for you!

If you’d like more fall activities, check out my post on Autumn Circle Time.

If you want some parenting inspiration, check out my post on The parenting journey in poetry

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Heart, Love, Deco, Decoration

The best kinds of stories for your child–by age

What are the best kinds of stories to tell your child? It depends on how old your child is, among other things. Here are recommendations for what types of tales are most appropriate for young children.

Telling–or reading stories–is one of the marvels of being human. And a wonderful way to connect with your child.

So let’s break it down. Remember, these are suggestions. You know your child better than anyone, so you might want to wait to add some of these or add some sooner. And, of course, you can always try something and see how it goes.

Best kinds of stories for the first year

nursery rhymes are great simple stories for the littlest ones
Jack and Jill

Really, babies probably aren’t ready to hear what we usually think of as story. But they love the sound of your voice. And in order for them to learn language, we want to bathe them in the sounds of your mother tongue. The best way to do this is–

  • Nursery or other rhymes–spoken and sung. Gentle touching or tickling games, especially of fingers and toes can go along with them. And when your child can sit up on their own, gentle bouncing games are fun.
  • Songs–lullabies, made-up songs, any song you like to sing
  • The story of now–describe what you are doing now, filling it with warmth and love. For example: “My little Katie, you are wet. Let’s change your diaper. Then you’ll feel all snug and warm. I’m picking you up and we’re going to the changing table. And look, here we are! …”

Best kind of story for one and two-year-olds

You’ll want to keep it really simple, still for your one-year-old

  • Nursery rhymes and songs will travel with you through the years
  • Simple stories in verse can be fun at this age. Reading these and looking at pictures is especially fun, when your child is ready.
  • You can also add a simple finger puppet to your story or rhyme
  • Keep telling the story of now.

Best stories for three and four-year-olds

  • More nursery rhymes and simple verse tales!
  • Stories about what happened in the course of your day. Children of this age love to hear stories about themselves–but try using your child’s name instead of “you”–today Tommy went to the park and saw two squirrels chasing each other up and down the trees.. You can use this at bedtime to look back on the day–or anytime.
  • Stories about your childhood. Your child will love to hear about what you did when you were their age (or thereabouts).
  • Picture books with simple stories in prose are good–as well as verse. Or try wordless books and tell the story together.
  • If your child is having a hard time, you can find or tell a story that parallels your child difficulty and gets resolved. Sometimes you can find a story like this and sometimes you have to come up with your own. For example, if your child doesn’t like to share toys with a younger sibling, you can tell a story about a bunny whose little brother or sister keeps stealing her carrots and tell how they work things out and become friends. It can be a little daunting if you’re not used to making up stories, but your child will love your story because it comes from you. For guidance, check out books by Susan Perrow, like Healing Stories for Challenging Behavior. She shares stories about all sorts of challenges. I used them occasionally in my classroom.
  • Repetitive stories–like The little red hen are great fun at this age. Or check out my story, Little Mouse eats a sandwich.

Nature tales

Alice In Wonderland, Animals, Tale, nature stories
  • Simple nature stories-about little animals, flowers, stones, the changing of the seasons, anything you find in nature. You can find these or make up your own. Remember, everything is alive for your young one. Tell tales about animals, etc. that your child is familiar with–save the stories about exotic animals for a little later.
  • Telling about Mother Earth, Father Sun, Sister Rain,… will comfort your child and make them feel a strong connection with the earth.
  • Along with nature tales, bring in simple stories about fairies and gnomes or other elemental beings.

Fairy tales for 3-4s

  • Really simple fairy tales–here are some from a list compiled by Joan Almon (please follow this link to see all of her recommendations)
    • Sweet Porridge (Grimm)
    • The giant turnip (Russian)
    • The mitten (Russian– check out the picture book by Jan Brett)
    • Little Louse and Little Flea (Grimms)
  • For older fours, you can add slightly more complicated stories
    • 3 Billy Goats Gruff
    • 3 Little Pigs
    • The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids (Grimm)
    • The Elves (Grimm)
    • Star Money (Grimm)
    • Huggin and the Turnip

Best stories for five and six-year-olds

Child, Girl, Grandma, Grandmother, Stories

Children of this age will still enjoy nursery rhymes, and tales in verse. You can continue with all of the above-mentioned kinds of story as long as your child continues to enjoy them. Certainly, the guiding stories–ones that meet specific challenges your child is experiencing–can continue to be helpful.

  • More complex fairy tales can be added. Be sure to read the fairy tales first. Some of them are pretty dark. I’ll share more about the archetypal qualities of fairy tales in another post–and how to tell the stories to bring out that aspect of them. For more suggestions of stories for this age, refer to Joan Almon’s article (link is above). These are all Grimm stories, but every culture has it’s own fairy tales, so choose age appropriate ones from whatever stories you like and use these as a guide. Basically, you still want stories that have clear “good guys” and “bad guys” and an ending where the “good guys” win.
    • The Frog Prince
    • Mother Holle
    • Little Red Cap
    • The Golden Goose
    • The Queen Bee
    • Snow White and Rose Red.

The End!

I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Storytelling is a wonderful way to connect with your child. And it gets even better when they start telling you stories!

Have fun! And thanks for stopping by.

xoxo