We have all been enjoying the stories of the Monkey King. There is a lot of adventure, a little bit of humor, and a great deal about learning life lessons from an Eastern Asian perspective.
We have also been celebrating the four weeks of advent as Rudolf Steiner developed them. Steiner believed that as we begin to experience the increasing darkness of winter, it is a good time to celebrate the mineral world, the plant world, the animal world, and the world of human beings.
The first light of Advent is the light of stones,
The light that shines in crystals, in seashells and in bones.
The second light of Advent is the light of plants,
Plants that grow to the sky and in the breezes dance.
The third light of Advent is the light of beasts,
The light of faith that we may see in greatest and in least.
The fourth light of Advent is the light of humankind,
The light of hope of thoughts and deeds,
The light of hand, heart, and mind.
I have written a tune for the poem so that we are singing it each morning as we light a candle and place items on the table. It is quite beautiful. SInce we will not be at school next week, we will do two days of the light of beast and two days of the light of humankind. Please send a picture of a family pet on Tuesday, and of your family on Wednesday.
This week as we finish up the Fall semester we are going to take some time to relax a little. Monday we are doing nature crafts and snowflakes. Tuesday is pajama day - students can bring a pillow and blankie - we will take some time to hear some stories. Wednesday we were going to bake and then take bags of goodies to an assisted living home and pass them out and sing; however, the oven was damaged over the weekend last weekend, and we can't use it until a new door facing arrives and is installed, so we may have to rethink Wednesday. I will post updates on the Facebook page. Thursday is backwards day. Our schedule will be reversed, students wear their clothes backwards, we'll try writing backwards, etc. If you can get into the groove on Thursday, it might be fun to have dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.
If you have questions about this week, please feel free to text me or email me.
Have a great week!!
