More Greece

The Pentathlon was the culmination of a year's worth of athletic training and a major writing, history and artistic block on Greece which included geography, mythology, history, architecture, art, and the reading of The Odyssey.

This is Lou's illustration of Hercules

and a charcoal drawing of an urn.

The class performed Demeter and Persephone a few weeks ago.

Lou was Persephone and did an outstanding job.

Now? On to end of the year festivities as Helen graduates from Waldorf school in 2 weeks!

Read more...

The Pentathlon

We're back from an incredible trip to "the olympics".

The Pentathlon is a carefully designed event meant to challenge and honor the many qualities of a child--social, artistic, and athletic. There were artistic events each day as well as athletic. The event began with each school giving an artistic presentation to the crowd. Here is part of Lou's class dancing the misirlou, a Greek dance. Lou and her friend accompanied on the violin.

After the performances, the children were divided into city-states. It was very exciting to find out who would be in each group, as from that point on, they were no longer with their classes. After some ice-breakers, they spent the day practicing the events--javelin, long jump, sprints, wrestling, and discus.

Each athletic event is designed and scored on the three-fold qualities of head, heart, and hand. For instance, in the sprint, the child is scored on how well she keeps her head up and eye on the end-game (head), the form/pace/rhythm of the run (heart), and of course, her speed and place at the end (hand). It's not just how fast they run or how far they jump, but also how they set themselves up and how they accomplish their goal.

It was virtually a silent day with the kids allowing each athlete to do his or her best--setting an individual score with which to challenge themselves the next day.

Lou at the javelin event--nice form!

At the end of the day, the children had a full evening where they designed their city-state banners, ate dinner with their new friends, heard a Greek story, and fell into bed (well, onto the floor--they slept in the classrooms at the school). Lou made it through the night. Hurrah!

Day 2 began with a big procession to the field house led by a drummer, Zeus, and Hera. Everyone was in tunics. This drummer was fantastic. He kept the energy going for the entire day.

Here's Lou with the Athens banner that they had made the night before.

After a beautiful opening ceremony, which included a drumming performance by the older students, the games began! Here is Lou landing her long jump.

The closing ceremony was just as moving as the opening. After a massive relay race filled with drumming, cheering, and energy, everyone settled down for the end. The judges gave each child a medal and reflected on the strengths they saw within throughout the two days.

The medals, made of clay, were sculpted by parents at the host school.

The children had all been learning a song back at their schools. They gathered and sang "Torch of Peace" as a group of 150. You would never have known that they had never sung it before as a large group.

The two days were fun for all the parents as well. Here are parents from Lou's class taking photos. We all had a good time. I, especially, had fun as I ran into old friends from other schools. Helen also had fun as she ran into siblings she had met when she was there 3 years ago. She was also called on to help the judges with some of the events.

We are so proud of Lou. Every child had challenges to meet and the teachers and judges quietly helped them to meet those challenges. For her, it was to spend the night with new friends and to run the sprints, marathon, and relay. She managed first place in one of the sprint heats and made it through the marathon without walking. She's home, exhausted, and still soaking it all in!

It is times like these when I am reminded of why we have given our children a Waldorf education.

Read more...

Off to the Olympics

Lou has headed off to Shelburne, VT, for two days of Olympic games. 5th grade Waldorf students from New York, Quebec, and Vermont all join together for these games. The children are mixed into city-states and eat, sleep, and compete together.

There was a lot to pack!

It's a big week for Lizzy Lou--
She has never had a successful sleepover.
Running is not her favorite thing and there are several running events.
She and her friend are playing the violin alone in front of the entire crowd.

I came downstairs today to find this list taped to the door.

I know she's going to come home just a bit taller, standing just a bit straighter!

Read more...

The Trunk

Recently, I came home from one of my trips to discover that my parents had delivered this little trunk. It had lived in my bedroom throughout my childhood. When I was young, I kept china dolls and antique doll clothing in it.

I slowly filled it with letters and other mementos during my teen years. My parents put it in the attic after I finished college and there it has rested, forgotten (by me anyway). When I opened the trunk, it was full to the brim with papers from my teen years and it took me all afternoon to read through them.

The most poignant were letters from all my Grandmothers and my Mother.
There were many from those first homesick weeks of freshman year.

Every valentine I had ever received was in there,
including some hand-painted ones from my Father.

There were even snapshots sprinkled about.

I wish we still wrote letters the way we used to. It is an art that is passing us by. I have often had visions of turning Sunday afternoons into a family letter-writing time, but it has seldom happened. When I see the sloppily-written emails Helen has written to her friends and then look at the stack of letters I have from my teen friends, I wish I could turn back the clock on technology, just a little bit!

Read more...

Eventful Days

The past few weeks have been just filled with travel (I've been to Philadelphia, Ohio, Washington, and Alabama all in one month), plays, a May Fair, and a birthday. I've just cleaned off my camera of over 200 photos.

Here is Helen as Feste in 12th Night.
She had two long solos which she sang beautifully.

She also turned 14 this week!

Here she is wearing a couple of birthday gifts.

She graduates from her Waldorf school in 3 weeks!

High School is right around the corner.

Read more...

Home from Washington

I have just returned from escorting Helen's class to Washington, DC. It was an amazing trip. Every girl was challenged in some way whether it was from having to negotiate with a metro employee over a fare card or from learning to read a map and lead the group across the city. We stayed at a Quaker Hostel where we ran into friends and met interesting people from all over the world.


I had fun planning this trip. My favorite day was at the monuments. We spent a long time at the Lincoln Memorial where we looked at maps and photographs tracing 150 years of challenges to the notions of equality. We all got shiny new Lincoln pennies to examine as a way to organize our thinking about both the statue of the man and the architecture of the monument.

Helen sketching Lincoln's hands
One outstretched in compassion, one clenched with strength.

At the Vietnam Memorial, the art teacher and I combined our knowledge of sculpture and history to talk about memory. I gave the girls envelopes with soldiers' names. They found the soldiers, then opened the envelopes to find out that the soldiers were from our own hometowns. We made rubbings of the names and talked about the presence of the past. It was very moving.

Here is Helen's group finding "their" soldier.

In planning the trip, I tried to create an interdisciplinary experience that connected to their 8 years of Waldorf education. In addition to the American history connections, we explored literature at the Shakespeare Library, music at the Kennedy Center (where we heard a very talented young violinist), the evolution of knowledge and philosophy at the Library of Congress, and found many paintings they had studied or drawn at school at the National Gallery, the Hirschorn, and the Phillips Collection. We learned about government and met a young Legislative Assistant at our State Representative's office. We also attended evensong at the National Cathedral--a moving experience and touching end to our trip.

The cathedral just before evensong, shining in the late day sun

I also worked at continuing the Waldorf approach of inbreath and outbreath through each day. This was quite difficult to figure out as there was just so much to take in (and, in retrospect, this is where I could have improved the trip). In addition to just stopping and allowing the girls to roll about like puppies in the green grass (while it snowed in VT), we also journaled.

Part of the group hanging out on the mall

We carried our journals with us everywhere and sketched whenever we could. In addition, we spent an entire afternoon, an evening, and much of the train ride home adding to our journals, processing what we had learned and experienced. Without a doubt, it was one of the most important (and fun) components of our trip.

After studying DaVinci last year,
it was exciting to see one at the National Gallery

I brought gel pens, glue sticks, tape, scissors and watercolors. They used it all as they poured through their own drawings and writing, connecting it to other photographs and quotes they found in brochures. Their journals are works of art.

The hostel was a perfect place for gathering together to work and rest

I shamelessly eavesdropped on conversations with parents to hear what they were enjoying. They particularly liked the THE OBAMA SIGHTING(!), Vietnam Memorial, the Hard Rock Cafe (of course!), the violin concert, and the art museums. This is a group of girls who truly love art (over half chose to go to a modern art museum for free choice time). Each girl had a favorite artist--Helen is newly in love with Mark Rothko's work after visiting the Rothko "chapel."


I'm exhausted, but pleased. Ten years ago I never would have imagined escorting a group of 13 year-old-girls on a week-long trip. I grew too, as I gained a new level of tolerance for GIGGLING and new ways to share my knowledge of history with young teens. The best part? My own daughter appreciated me. She was proud to have me along and I don't think I embarrassed her too much :).

Read more...