Browsing Tag

waldorf early childhood education

Childhood, Parenting, TV and Media, Waldorf Education

Weekend Reading

Well, September 1 has come and gone. It was the date I had hoped to get the new and improved Bella Luna Toys website live. I didn’t make my original goal, but I am determined to open its doors to you before the month is over.

Plugging away around-the-clock, as I am—editing product descriptions, uploading photos, and adding scores of new natural Waldorf toys—has left me with very little time to do much writing. (Even though I have dozens of ideas percolating!)

In the meantime, I thought I’d leave you with some interesting reading for the long weekend. Here are a few of my favorite blog posts from the past week on the themes of childhood and parenting.

Did you know that spanking is illegal in Sweden?

Today on her blog Not Just Cute, Amanda Morgan writes about Sweden’s anti-spanking laws, and offers gentle suggestions for positive discipline (that won’t require calling in law enforcement officials!).

No Spanking in Sweden

Watch What You Say! Young Children Affected by “Racy Talk.”

One of my favorite sites focused on children and media (and my favorite guide for learning what movies may not be appropriate for children and teens) is Common Sense Media. This week, Caroline Knorr addresses a recent report from the American Academy of Pediatrics that determined that “racy talk” and suggestive innuendo doesn’t go over young children’s heads. (Another pet peeve of mine when it comes to Disney movies.)

Racy Talk: Kids Are Listening (and Learning)

Are Our Fears Making Us Crazy?

Another of my favorite bloggers, Lenore Skenazy at Free Range Kids writes about the insane ways in which we behave, propelled by our fears of the all the possible dangers that are waiting to befall our children. On a lighter note, she addresses the absurd comment of a produce distributor that watermelon seeds could pose a choking hazard.

Kids! Watch Out! It’s — God Help Us — a Watermelon Seed!

And more seriously, she recounts a young man’s experience of being harshly and unfairly disciplined in high school for carrying a pocket knife. In his native Switzerland, it was customary for children to carry pocket knives to school. What, I wonder, would public school officials think about the many Waldorf early childhood teachers I know who give a pocket knife to each of their students on his or her sixth birthday? Call the spanking police, no doubt!

The Most Insane Zero Tolerance Story Yet

There you have it. Now I need to batten down the hatches in preparation for Tropical Storm Earl, which is scheduled to hit the coast of Maine this evening. I hope the weather is better where you are, and that your Labor Day weekend is full of play!

What blog posts have intrigued or inspired you this week? Please share your links!

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LifeWays, Shop, Waldorf Toys

Happy August!

It’s August and I’ve decided that Moon Child needs to take a little vacation. As you may know, I’ve been hard at work on upgrading Bella Luna Toys‘ website, which is turning out to be a much bigger job than I had ever imagined. My goal is to have the new site up and running by September, but I realized that in order to meet that goal, I need to devote every free moment I have during the month of August to that end. I’m excited to share the results with you, and hope you will find that it was worth the wait! There will be many new products and I think you will find the new system to be much more user-friendly with lots of cool new features.

Once that transition has taken place, I look forward to resuming regular blog posts in the fall with the new energy and vigor that the change of season brings. I will, however, be making my first post over at Simple Homeschool this month as a guest contributor, so keep an eye out for that!

Things are humming along as usual at Bella Luna Toys. I’ve been so grateful to my son Harper who has been packing and shipping all your orders this summer, as well as helping me edit photos for the new site. He’ll be holding down the fort as I head off this week to a LifeWays board retreat in California. (What will I ever do when he leaves for college in a few weeks?)

I’m looking forward to spending a week with my fellow LifeWays board members, a group of amazing, powerhouse women who have dedicated themselves to the needs of young children and their families. I’m also looking forward to gazing at the Pacific Ocean for a few days instead of my computer screen! It will be a most welcome change of scenery.

In the meantime, be sure to “friend” Bella Luna Toys on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. I’ll keep in touch with quick updates and notices of promotions there. Most importantly, please leave comments here if there are new products and features you’d like to see added to the new site! Your suggestions are invaluable to me.

Blessings on you and your children, and hoping your August is full of play!

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Block Crayon Drawing
Art, LifeWays, Photographs, Waldorf Education

Teaching Block Crayon Drawing and Watercolor Painting

Last week, I had the pleasure of teaching several sessions to LifeWays students who had come to Maine for the east coast training. The experience allowed me to take a welcome break from the endless data entry I’ve been doing to ready the new Bella Luna Toys website. The LifeWays Child Care Training is a comprehensive training to give students the understanding and skills they need to transform themselves and their work with young children, and is inspired by Waldorf education and the insights of Rudolf Steiner. These students teach in Waldorf schools, childhood centers, pre-schools or home programs.

Among the classes I taught were crayon drawing with beeswax block crayons, and wet-on-wet watercolor painting, as practiced in Waldorf education. I had a marvelous week preparing for the class, immersing myself in form and color! With thanks to Madrona Wienges and her camera, I am able to share images of our classes with you.

Sarah Baldwin Teaches Coloring

Beeswax Block Crayon Drawings

Coloring with Beeswax Block Crayons

Coloring with Beeswax Crayons

Birthday Pictures

Beeswax Block Crayon Drawings

Scott

Painting with Stockmar Watercolor Paint

Waldorf Watercolor Painting

In addition to the Stockmar Beeswax Crayons, Stockmar Watercolor Paint, Waldorf art supplies and the book Painting With Children which are currently available from Bella Luna Toys, I am excited to be introducing new resources for coloring and drawing when the new site goes live. Stay tuned!

Have questions about drawing or painting? Leave them here, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

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