We Nurture

Although we don’t always pay much attention to culture, it’s always there. It holds us, sustains us, and informs the way we act, feel, and think about the world.

How do we intentionally craft a family culture that reflects our values? How do we practice those values every day with our children? And how do we continue to hold true to these values as our family grows and individual needs change?

LifeWays’ online course - ‘Creating Your Family Culture - An Elemental Approach’ offers very down to earth and yet imaginative ways that guide you as you create your family’s culture.  Working with the elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, you’ll create ways of living that considers and envelopes each family member in shared values in a positive way that includes life-affirming practices.

To discover more please visit lifewaysnorthamerica.org and kimberton.org

Music is Glacier Bells by Daniel Birch.

One day when the world was new pieces of the sky started falling in a little village in China. The children ran to Loawnu, the wisest person in the village to ask for her help.  Loawnu finds a way to mend the sky and she even adds a magical touch!

For ages 2 to 6

To discover more about Rosebud Garden please visit farmhousemanna.com and kimberton.org

What is Family Culture?

Although we don’t always pay much attention to culture, it’s always there. It holds us, sustains us, and informs the way we act, feel, and think about the world.

How do we intentionally craft a family culture that reflects our values? How do we practice those values every day with our children? And how do we continue to hold true to these values as our family grows and individual needs change?

LifeWays’ online course - ‘Creating Your Family Culture - An Elemental Approach’ offers very down to earth and yet imaginative ways that guide you as you create your family’s culture.  Working with the elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, you’ll create ways of living that considers and envelopes each family member in shared values in a positive way that includes life-affirming practices.

To discover more please visit lifewaysnorthamerica.org and kimberton.org

Music is Glacier Bells by Daniel Birch.

A baker in a village bakes bread and discovers something special about her dough.

For Ages 2 to 5

Adapted from the story Sunday Bread by A. Vinnal from the book Spindrift

To discover more about Rosebud Garden please visit farmhousemanna.com and kimberton.org

The Gunny Wolf is thought to be an old African American folktale that has been passed down orally.  It is a gentle tale of caution that recounts what a little girl experiences when she does not listen to her mother about staying out of the forest.

To discover more about Rosebud Garden please visit farmhousemanna.com and kimberton.org

Farmer John and his wife Betty live in a cozy house on top of a green grassy hill.  Every day, they have lots of chores to do and on this particular day Farmer John must take care of all the chores.  Help comes his way when brother wind, fire fairies, and sister rain visit him even though he's fallen fast asleep.

To discover more about Rosebud Garden please visit farmhousemanna.com and kimberton.org

Time in a natural outdoor setting has so many benefits for children: fostering wonder, encouraging natural observation, building resilience and health, nourishing the senses, and promoting relationships. Recent events have led many early childhood professionals and parents to explore the possibilities of offering expanded outdoor opportunities. With the strengthening power of fresh air and the elements of nature, more time outdoors can be an elixir for adults and children! 

Sign up for the Learning in Nature online course.

Mary O'Connell has been working with the Anthroposophical care of young children for almost 20 years!  In 2002, she opened the very first LifeWays Early Childhood Center in Milwaukee where she served as the director for 13 years. 

Currently, Mary is the Board president of LifeWays North America, she is the training coordinator for LifeWays' extensive onsite and online programs AND she travels and teaches in some of these programs. Mary has taught teachers, caregivers, and parents all over the U.S. and internationally. 

In 2010, Mary co-authored Home Away From Home: LifeWays Care of Children and Families with Cynthia Aldinger, and in 2018 she authored Observing Young Children - A Tool for Meaningful Assessment.  Most recently, Mary started a non-profit farm education program at Paradise Farm in West Bend, WI where she and her colleagues provide outdoor, farm-based education to children and adults.

To discover more please visit lifewaysnorthamerica.org and kimberton.org. 

Music is Glacier Bells by Daniel Birch.

A Buddhist Tale from Ancient India about generosity and loving all the people of the world!

To discover more about Rosebud Garden please visit farmhousemanna.com and kimberton.org

In our last episode with Cynthia Aldinger we heard how LifeWays was founded.  We have Cynthia with us again and we’re excited to hear about the principles and practices of LifeWays.  LifeWays was born out of the need to address the care of young children.  We live in a time where many young children are in full-time care, LifeWays created a model for addressing the needs of the whole child through a strong foundation in anthroposophy and child development.

Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or caregiver, Anthroposophy helps build strength through self-development and through striving to be “worthy of imitation”.  It is through focusing on our internal environment that we are first and foremost able to create a warm, loving environment.  Cynthia, tell us more about this LifeWays principle which she calls Self as Curriculum.

Cynthia Aldinger received her Waldorf teacher training certificate at Emerson College in Sussex, England.  She served fourteen years on the board of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America and was a founding teacher of Prairie Hill Waldorf School in Wisconsin.  Cynthia is the author of Life is the Curriculum and co-author of Home Away From Home, and she presents throughout North America and internationally, as well as through numerous online courses. A mother and grandmother, Cynthia’s passion is the preservation of the playful spirit of childhood and helping to create environments that provide the comfort, security, and activities found in a healthy home.

Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy, developed by Rudolf Steiner at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.  It is a path of knowledge or spiritual research.  Anthroposophy strives to bridge the divide between the sciences, the arts, and the religious strivings of human beings and build a foundation for a synthesis of them for the future. Anthroposophy also holds an impulse to nurture the life of the soul in human beings and in society. Simply put - Anthroposophy means "Wisdom of the Human Being."

To discover more please visit lifewaysnorthamerica.org and kimberton.org

Music is Glacier Bells by Daniel Birch

This story describes the concern of a group of elves during a period of no rain in their forest. It tells of the bravery of one elf, Beecher, who went to search for water to save the leaves from wilting. On his quest, this courageous elf meets many wonders of the natural world.

The Dance of the Elves By Andrew Linnell, Illustrated by Elizabeth Auer

Mercury Press of The Fellowship Community. Discover Mercury Press by visiting their website mercurypress.org

About Mercury Press

"We are a small Non-Profit publisher and print shop located at the Fellowship Community, originating in the 1970s to foster continuing education in the study of anthroposophical literature.  Since many of Rudolf Steiner's significant lectures had yet to be translated and printed in English, this became part of our work and provided material for unfolding the community's spiritual life.
Mercury Press is a "work activity group" providing educational, economic, social, and therapeutic experiences in the editing, printing, binding, collating, and shipping of books to interested English-speaking people all over the world.  This activity, in turn, produces funds which enable us to care for the elderly members at a cost far below more conventional homes for the aging."