Thy winter night bestowing; Saint Lucia Day

Saint Lucia,
Thy light is flowing.
Through darkest winter night bestowing.


Author unknown


 Today, December 13 is Lucia Day and the longest night of the year. This is a celebration we do every year in my classroom and it is one of the festivals of the light.  Lucia seems to have taken on many stories passed down over generations but above all, the more positive role, as a symbol of light in the dark Swedish winters and as a symbol of growth for man. She is a figure who emerged from obscurity at a time when light and nourishment were most needed.

The girls who are selected in cities all around Sweden are voted into this role. They wear the cedar wreath made of real candles and white gowns adorned with tied red ribbons. The young girls participate in local ceremonies, church and village functions. In their individual homes the eldest girl is selected to carry out the role of St. Lucia. The family prepares saffron buns and she rises to serve their families.  Traditional St. Lucia carols are sung. The angelic tone of children's voices and the gentle glow of candlelight make this day an emotive one.

Today, we selected our St. Lucia since she was the eldest girl in our classroom of six girls.  She wore a cedar wreath adorned with soft flannel candles, a white gown and a red sash. The boys wore white hats and carried star wands.

  I was delighted so see the calmness and acceptance that the children displayed this morning. The children took turns while helping to ice all the cinnamon buns and  then served them to the whole school before receiving one for themselves. We sang soft Christmas carols as we walked through our school halls. The children were joyful and eager to help St. Lucia when we walked through the school dispensing our festive buns. 

How often do you see such maturity from Preschool children?  They waited until all had been served before they had the opportunity to eat these delectables.

May the light of this holy season radiate love and goodwill to soul friends throughout the world.

Away in a Manger

“Children and Festivals around the World”

Our focus in the curriculum for December is the cultures, children and festivals taken from around the world. 

In chatting with my group it has been sometime since I have actually told the story about the baby Jesus and why we celebrate Christmas. In a private school we are able to tell these spiritual stories. One of the little girls in my class loves to sing: "Away in the Manager" so that is where I started last week . 

 Saint Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene in 1223 intending thereby to cultivate the worship of Jesus Christ. 

Many Christian traditions celebrate this every Christmas. 

Away in a manger

No crib for a bed

The little Lord Jesus

Laid down his sweet head

The stars in the sky

Looked down where he lay

The little Lord Jesus a sleep on the hay...

Making our manger scene

Today we were acting out the play together. It was a very sweet time. 

We had two Mary's today.

The baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.

They made the basket cradle for the baby. The sheep are looking on. 

The morning continued with acting out the story with figurines and natural lavender play-dough. 

Creating this creche scene together brought out such sweetness in the children.  Using natural materials also brings forth the calming spirit in the young child.

Joy to the world the Lord has come

This was a show and tell nativity scene from one of our classmates. 

Let heaven and nature sing, let heaven and nature sing, let heavn and heaven, and nature sing. 

 

Spirit and nature dancing together

My classes celebrated today our Fall Harvest Festival at my home in the Ananda Community. We live on almost 6 acres of land surrounded by many varieties of trees. Today's visit was to help harvest the apple trees. We cooked, sang, marched in a parade, played games and I told stories. Today was a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest. Divine Mother was shining her sunlight down on us.

We also had a very auspicious event happen. As we were picking our apples off the tree, we looked up and saw a bald eagle was flying over head. It soared above our heads for the whole time while the children were picking apples.

The children drew cards from the recipe. Her card was cutting the butter. The others are showing respect and patience as they wait for their turns.

Team work

Stirring the apples for mini pies

This needs a little more apples on top.

Look how many I found

I can get it

  Our spirits and nature really danced today. What a glorious day we had together dancing in thy light.

The Sequel: All the World is my Friend"

Three dimensional shaving cream world painting.

All the world is my friend when I learn how to share my love,

When I stretch out my hands and smile,

Then I live from above.

 These words are from a song;  All the World is my Friend, by: J. Donald Walters, which I shared with you in my blog on September 14th.

 Friendship is such a powerful way to bring a classroom or a school together. We want our children to love and nurture their friendships in the classroom. How often though, do the activities, songs, games and dances infuse this consciousness into their awareness? Practicing friendship is what makes our school so unique and inspiring. We just don't talk about friendship; the children actually live it daily. 

The other day, one of our school’s first grade students came into our preschool classroom, excited about the classroom project that his class was creating. He wanted to share it with the whole school. He wasn't embarrassed, or afraid of being made fun of.   He just wanted to offer the children in our Preschool classroom tours of their "recyclable" clubhouse his classroom was making in our back acreage at the Living Wisdom School. He wasn’t bullied or laughed at for coming into our classroom. He was encouraged by all the students to share his class’s new creation.

The song’s words are stated: then I live from above. “Living from above” is expressed by sharing friendship in accord with the higher truths of our spiritual nature.

At the Living Wisdom school the children are given examples daily about what it is to be a friend. We offer mentorship programs and the teachers offer opportunities that bring out the best in each child. 

 

My preschool classroom activities also embraced the theme "friendship".  We were making “All the World is my Friend” necklaces.  The children made the clay beads, painted them as worlds, and strung them onto necklaces. Each child was given pictures of their classmates and their teacher to bring home. This project allowed the children and their parents to learn the names of each student. This creates a deep bonding experience for each family.  

Volcano painted by a four year old

Forest made and painted by a three year old.

The children also designed mountains, deserts, and forests made out of natural earth clay. They were dried and then painted.

"Hey, look that's me!"

This little girl is showing her friend how to art cast her earth. These were later painted and used for healing prayers for the earth.

"Please don't worry this will not fall on you. Watch your head! .

The children at Living Wisdom love to go to school, where their inner joy is awakened from their divine  friendships. They soon find that awakening inner joy is where true happiness lies.

Moon light, Moon light guiding our sight

Every month our classroom celebrates the rotation of the moon and we have a "full moon"celebration.

In the Education for Life classroom I want the children to expand their awareness outside themselves.

The best way to start this expansion for the young child is be in spiritual harmony will all of nature. The moon for the young child is magical and mysterious. I have seen over the years and heard from many parents that children have to say goodnight to the moon every night.

I have adapted for Preschool the "moon celebrations" taken from this beautiful book: Kindergarten Education by: Betty Peck.  We have a wonderful time with crafts, snacks, stories, games, costumes, crowns and a musical parade throughout our whole school.

Well its cloudy here in Seattle but I am hoping that you were able to enjoy the moonlit evening with your loved ones through out the world. We all feel so connected on this magical evening.

Until next time......

Many Blessings

" All The World Is My Friend"

At the beginning of each school year I have taken the words to one of the songs we sing and created our first unit " All the world is my friend". The next few posts will be on these activities in the first unit at the Living Wisdom School of Seattle.

To start the school year the children are focusing on new friendships. In the Education for Life classroom the teachers are creating these new fresh ideas while infusing them with an experience of friendship into their beings. Here is one of the activities from this past week.  Let's start with the song: All The World Is My Friend". Here is the link of that song to purchase. The children sing the song throughout the day during their experiential play and directed art activities.

These are clay beads that are being painted as earths. These beads will be used  to make all the world is my friend necklaces next week

He used the larger format to paint his beads and create his own picture

 I often have the children work on murals together. This process opens up harmony and first hand exploration with team work. They love to come up with little songs and expressions of what it is to work as a team.

Earlier in the week the children made their own individual bodies for this mural. We put it all together at the entrance of the school today. The banner reads:

All the world is my friend, when I learn how share my love"

Are you a teacher or parent? How do you infuse harmony, friendship and beauty into your children's environment? Please comment below.

With a song in my heart.

There is a song that comes to mind: " Lets' start at the very beginning, its a very good place to start. When you read you begin with A-B-C, When you sing you begin with do-re-mi." So here I am, beginning with a song.

Everyone has to start somewhere. In my classroom at school, we begin with a song or a chant each morning. This can be something as easy on my mp3 player playing in the background or me sitting to play on the harmonium, a new chant that I want to teach my students.

The main reason for my writing a blog is that over many months of research I have yet to find many educators teaching to young children in the way I teach through the Education for Life principles. Education for Life is a philosophy of holistic education that emphasizes experiential learning, spiritual development and practical skills for living such as concentration, self-discipline and compassion. The fundamentals of the philosophy are described in the book: Education for Life, by J. Donald Walters. Using these principles the Living Wisdom School was  founded in 1972 by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, the author of Autobiography of a Yogi. From this original school the Education for Life System has expanded to now include campuses on three continents.

Thus begins my journey with sharing our way of teaching to young children using these universal concepts . This blog will include content from my classroom, our Living Wisdom School in Shoreline, Washington and through other venues where I may be teaching. I look forward to your comments. It is a little frightening beginning something like this. But as so many before have taken the leap of faith I too will be just singing a chant as I begin the process. Until tomorrow. Joy, Joy, Joy, Ever New Joy, Joy.