Week 10: Witnessing a child’s birthday is special. This week, little Aurelia turned 4! Her family is invited to share cake and four special memories of each of her years. Aimee loves to make her children feel special, especially on their birthday. We made a pumpkin cake from one of Aimee’s pumpkins for the fall season. Today was my last day at Bird Song for Fall quarter, I am excited to continue to visit through the Winter & hopefully into Spring.
Right now, the garden beds are resting but soon enough it will be spring where we will begin to get the garden ready to plant with the children. Gardening with Young Children has helped me to understand how children can learn in the garden, and learn about themselves. The book lists activities that you can do with the children so I am hoping that we will be doing some of these activities with the children, even in Winter.
Category: Project Weekly
Lantern Walk
Week 8: As winter is getting closer, we are moving into a season of darkness. Lantern walk is a way for us to bring light into our community in the darkness of autumn. Each child is using handmade lanterns with a tea light inside. Families gathered around the fire to keep warm while eating pumpkin bread and sipping hot apple cider.
We lit lanterns then walked along the path of the neighbor hood singing:
“I go outside with my lantern, my lantern goes with me
Above the stars are shining bright, down here on Earth shine we.
The cock does crow, the cat meows, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom.
‘Neath heaven’s dome till we go home, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom.
I go outside with my lantern, my lantern goes with me
Above the stars are shining bright, down here on Earth shine we.
So shine your light through the still dark night, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom
‘Neath heaven’s dome till we go home, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom.”
“Shine our light in the still dark night”. Lantern Walk stems from an old European tradition of St. Martin. Martin was a knight that came across an old beggar on his way home and used his sword to cut his robe in half to give to him. That night he dreamed that the beggar was actually his lord, the Christ. Martin then gave up his warring ways and became a servant to the people. He knew that if he served his people he would then serve the sacred in them.
A peaceful and gentle celebration of the light in the community around us.
Pumpkin Art Day
Week 6: Trees are shedding their leaves at Bird Song Children’s Garden, and the rain is beginning to become climate again. The children bundle in every layer possible, but the rain does not stop them! Some of the them are actively preparing the garden for the change of season while others sew witches hats on their finger puppets. It is yet another art painting day at Bird Song but this time the children are painting pumpkins.
Harvesting Carrots & Autumn Festivities
Week 5: I start each Monday by cutting the corners of watercolor paper in preparation for painting. This gives children a nice canvas to create their art to then bring home.
Today while I was in the garden with the children, we harvested at least two dozen carrots. Since the winter season is approaching and it isn’t getting colder, Aimee is working on cover cropping many of the garden beds. I also raked some leaf litter and helped the children to cut vegetables for lunch. I think my favorite part about this year has been singing autumn songs and playing festive games. One of them is a game where we are all squirrels. One child hides their eyes and the other hides a hazelnut underneath a child and they take turns guessing who the nut is under them. Aimee had a wonderful suggestion to visit a traditional preschool to see what makes this preschool “Waldorf”. It would be a beneficial perspective to see.
Autumn at Bird Song
Week 4: As the seasons are changing, so are the little children at the preschool. They are welcoming the autumn by recognizing the plants in the garden and appreciating the changing colors. This week while I was out in the garden I helped the children till the soil with some shovels to get part of the garden prepared for cover cropping. The area was previously growing potatoes that we had harvested a few weeks prior. Through Ecological Agriculture, the other program I am taking at Evergreen 
we are investigating methods to implement cover cropping into larger farm systems. It is lucky that my two programs are able to connect so that I am able to get a holistic learning experience and apply this in the children’s garden. The children get to pick kale to have at lunch with their coconut rice and vegetables and also helped Aimee to create an autumn bouquet to have inside the house. There are songs that the children sing each week, some that I am familiar with but also most are new that I haven’t heard before. I am having a meeting with Aimee this next week to make a list of questions to ask about her teaching. I was not able to make it to their harvest festival because of a field trip but they present seasonal festivals where they preform songs and dance.
Painting Day
Week 2: Mondays are typically the same routine for the children at Bird Song. The day starts with recognizing which children are present and the parents drop them off at the sandbox. We sing a little tune that goes “Ring a ling a ling” and the children gather at the gate to then have playtime in the garden. There are various activities that the children choose from such as playing in the treehouse, feeding the bunnies, picking crabapples, Sweet Sicily or berries. They also have the option to do garden work with one of the adults or cut vegetables for lunch. After playtime is over we gather the children in a circle and sing to welcome the day, then gather for snack time. In each activity the teachers make sure that the children listen to instructions and are aware of their bodies. 
The children get used to each part of the routine so that they learn to follow directions and get into habits that keep them attentive. What I admire about Aimee DeNey’s work is that she makes sure that every student is heard and respected. Every child gets undivided attention with her that students may not have in a traditional preschool setting. After snack is changing out of wet clothes into indoor shoes and clothing. Each transition can be distracting for the students but I am pleased with this group of young children that have the attention to keep up with the routine. The teacher Louise & I start preparing for lunch while Aimee tells a story particular to the paint in little jars on the table. The children then play with toys in the house that are all made out of organic materials such as wool, wood, nuts & fibers. Some children help to set the table for lunch then we gather for circles throughout the day to give children the space to regroup and sing. Although Monday’s typically have the same routine, every week is a little bit different with stories that are seasonally appropriate.
Bird’s Song Children’s Garden Overview
Week 1: Bird’s Song Children’s Garden provides preschool age children with a safe place to explore themselves and others. Aimee DeNey runs a small Waldorf preschool outside of her house in West Olympia. Each week is the same routine to get the students in a predictable schedule. There are typically 13 children attending each day, while there are around 35 in total enrolled. Every day of the week is similar, but there are different activities scheduled for each day. The goal of Bird’s Song is that it is a special place for children to become in touch with themselves and the environment, and get them into predictable rhythms that will prepare them for grade school. After interviewing Aimee DeNey for this internship position I came to the conclusion that one of her mail goals is to give children a safe place to explore themselves and others. 
Young children are impressionable and are rarely given the space to be children without influence of media and the outside world. Although technology and society are unavoidable, I respect Aimee’s vision because I think children do need a space that they can grow.