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May 9 2013 Newsletter 
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Upcoming Dates

MAY FAIR!!
Sat. May 11, 10am-2pm
Rain or Shine


Early Childhood Talk
Tues. May 14
6:45-8:30


Victoria Day 
Mon. May 20
School Closed


Greek Olympics
Grade 5,6,7
Fri. May 24


Wet Felting Workshop
Sat. May 25
9am- 4pm


Simplicity Parenting Book Club
Mon. May 27, 7:30pm
LAST MEETING


Grade 1/2 Presentation to Parents
Thurs. May 30, 2:30pm


Grade 5/6/7 Class to Host Greek Olympics at Mulberry
By Peelu Hira, Administrative Head and parent to Maya, Grade 7 and Arjun, Mulberry alumnus currently in Grade 9
 
On May 24th, Mrs. Schurer’s Grade 5/6/7 class will welcome three other Waldorf Schools to Kingston for a beloved Waldorf tradition - re-enacting the Ancient Greek Olympic Games.  Approximately sixty-five Grades 5 through 7 children will recreate the original Greek Olympic pentathalon (running, long jump, wrestling, javelin and discus) at Grass Creek Park, just east of Kingston. 
 
Ancient civilizations are a major topic in the Waldorf Fifth Grade curriculum and Greek history and mythology is truly brought to life while preparing for and participating in the Greek Olympics.  Students learn poetry, songs and recorder music as well as preparing for the pentatholon.  As in the Ancient Olympics, students are encouraged to focus on grace, form and bearing as well as speed and distance.  There is a strong emphasis on mutual support and each individual doing his or her best rather than just competition. 
In preparation for the event, Mrs. Schurer and Mme. Talbot have been working with the Grade 5/6/7 students to learn a poem and songs in both English and French.  Madame Talbot has worked with the class to make clay medallions for all of the participants (65!), which will be fired by Sue Lyons, a local potter.  The whole school is involved in the preparations - the Grade 1/2 class has been finger knitting the cords for each of these medallions and Ms. Gabova worked with the class to embroider their tunics (which are currently on display at the Novel Idea window). 
   
Recently, I had the privilege of going to the Ottawa Waldorf School with Mrs. Schurer and the class to train with Alan Krueger, who is renowned for his knowledge of the Greek Olympics.  Our students joined the Ottawa Waldorf School’s Grade 5/6 class for a day of learning the how and why of each of the pentathalon events.  The opportunity for our class to meet other Waldorf students was invaluable.  Being a student in small class in a Waldorf school in a small city can feel isolating – meeting other Waldorf students, seeing their classroom and their school opened up the world. 
On May 24th, each of the students of the four participating schools will be assigned to one of five city states (Athens, Corinth, Mycenae, Sparta and Thebes) and compete alongside students from other schools.  All of the students will recite the same poetry, sing the same songs in both English and French and play the recorder.  And then, let the games begin!  The day will end with a grand banquet before the journey home.

 All photos are from the Greek Olympics that Mulberry hosted in 2007.

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WE WELCOME YOUR QUESTIONS 

Bring them to our next

Early Childhood Parent Evening 

Tuesday, May 14th from 6:45 pm to 8:30 pm 

Waldorf Education? Discipline? Communicating with Your Child?

Ideas for Summer Play? Child Development?

Write down your questions and drop them in a question basket by the office and we will discuss solutions together on May 14th.

 

Permaculture Talk at Mulberry
Imagine planning your garden, your business or your home to make the best use of your energy and time, while being more productive.  At its simplest, permaculture teaches us to make decisions and design things following principles that come from nature.  It can help us be more effective in our gardens, organisations, businesses, schools and homes.  Permaculture comes from the words “permanent agriculture” and “permanent culture.”  It was developed in the 1970’s in Australia and has been taught to tens of thousands of people world-wide.
Permaculture and its design principles come from observing natural systems, and include both indigenous and scientific knowledge.  It can be applied to physical things – like houses, gardens and landscapes – as well as to “social” things – like school curricula, organisational planning and business models.
On June 9th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm, the Permaculture Institute of Eastern Ontario will be offering an evening, called "What is permaculture?", at Mulberry Waldorf School.  Requested contribution of $10.  No one turned away for lack of funds.  For details on the event and to learn more about permaculture, please visit:
www.eonpermaculture.ca


Thank you to Anja Troje for her First Aid and Homeopathy talk on April 29. It was timely and well received as Summer approaches and so do all the bumps, bruises, bites and sprains.

May Fair is coming this weekend!  Please join us for a beautiful day rain or shine. Sign up sheets are posted so please consider helping.  We also need help on Friday afternoon doing various tasks, such as digging and hiding gems in the sand box, moving tables, dishes, etc. Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday. 

Crista and Patricia, Community Development Committee. 




YARD THANK YOU!
An enormous thank you to everyone who came out on a cold Saturday morning in April to work on our new and old yard. Sheds were moved, and then moved again, bike racks installed, our new grass was reseeded, a tetherball pole was erected, yards were raked and weeded, newly exposed pavement was swept, and perhaps most exciting of all - a basketball net was finally permanently affixed to the wall. A huge thank you to parent, Mitch Belanger, for enlisting Master Corporal Robert Stewart and Sergeant Samuel Durnford of CFB Kingston to make our new basketball net possible. 




Wet Felting with Andrea Graham
 Create a spring meadow, beach, forest floor, a seascape… or any landscape you can envision in the form of a soft, inviting wool play mat for endless hours of imaginative play for your child.
Saturday May 25th - 9am - 4pm
For more information see our website

Mulberry Handwork Classes for Adults 
Starting in September

 
Mulberry teachers, Carlina Heins and Sara Gabova, will run a series of handwork workshops in the fall. Carlina has taught Handwork and workshops at Mulberry for 10 years. Sara has worked as a Kindergarten teacher, and as Handwork teacher while Carlina has been on sabbatical.


SEPTEMBER 14, 21, 28       
LEARN TO KNIT – KNIT POUCH or ANIMAL
·Learn to cast on, knit, change colour, cast off
·3 classes, 2 hours each, Saturdays 9:30 – 11:30
·cost $65 inc. materials and knitting needles
 
OCTOBER 12, 19      
MAKE A WALDORF DOLL    
·1 1/2 day workshop, Saturdays 9:30 – 4:30, 9:30 – 12:30
· Prerequisite: basic hand sewing
· cost $120 inc. materials 
 
OCTOBER 26, NOV 2                   
EASY DOLLS and ANIMALS
· Learn to purl
· 2 classes, 2 hours each, Saturdays 9:30 – 11:30
· prerequisite: know how to knit
· cost $45 inc. materials

 
DECEMBER 7               
BREAD MAKING (using organic flour)
· Make a Yeast Bread using a basic recipe. Learn how various ingredients can change the quality of the dough, for example eggs, milk, more oil/butter, different flours, and the necessity of salt!! How to modify the basic recipe for various uses, such as pizza, focaccia and sweet buns. During the risings we will be making tortillas,  sharing bread memories, looking at sour dough starters, dutch oven bread, and stone mills.  Bring a bread pan or cookie sheet if you have one.
· 1 day workshop, Saturday 9:30 – 2:30     
· cost $65 including ingredients.
·  Take home a loaf, in one form or another!



Anthroposophy Study Group on Tuesdays at 6:30pm

An anthroposophical study group will meet at the school on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 pm. All are welcome. For more information please contact Mary Jane Crich at mjjmcrich4@hotmail.com
 

Copyright © 2013 Mulberry Waldorf School, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
25 Markland st., Kingston, ON
www.mulberrywaldorschool.ca