So Much Advent and Christmas!

The fourth light of Advent is the light of Humankind

The light of hope that we may learn to love and understand.

~ R. Steiner

So much to do!  So much to do!  Unfortunately,no matter how laid back I try to be about the holidays this week, that seems to be my mantra.  My tasks are not unpleasant, just a little too plentiful!

As we finish our last week of Advent, we are adding human figures to our nativity.  We started with the shepherd and now have two of the Three Kings.  Instead of adding the Three Kings to the scene immediately, they are at a far end of the table, for they have not yet begun their journey to bring their gifts to the Christmas Child.  They will be moving closer each day after Christmas until they arrive on January sixth.  See?  I might not be a religious person, but I've at least done my reading!  It's all in the spirit of keeping it in line with the story.

the shepherd joins his flock on the right

Speaking of stories, we did a little puppet play for one of our Christmas songs yesterday morning during circle time.  That old song, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" is such a nice little story and perfect for acting out with a few little dolls and simple props.  The kids thought it was great fun to sing the different parts and move the dolls accordingly.  We used one of the kings and the shepherd from the nativity, along with a cut out paper star with a "golden" tail.  The kings palace and throne were comprised of several plain wooden blocks.

Said the Night Wind to the Little Lamb, "Do you hear what I hear?"

Another nice little activity we've been doing ties in with the story of Mary's Journey.  Mary is up in the heavens gathering silver and golden threads to weave a shift for her baby.  She is wondering if she will finish it in time for the arrival of the baby.  But all ends well, because the children of the earth are doing good deeds.  The children's angels carry news of these deeds to the heavens where new threads are created in a quantity sufficient to complete the garment just in time.  (I was not able to find this story on line to link to, though I'm sure there must be one out there somewhere. The one I have is in our Live Ed curriculum.  Sorry!)

As much as I don't like to admit it, my kids have needed a few more reminders than usual to mind their actions towards one another this week.  So each time they do a good deed by sharing, using kind and loving words, or helping someone, I write their deed on a little paper star with a "golden" thread hanging from it.  The star then gets hung up around a door frame for all to see and to remind them of their good behavior.  I'm happy to say that the door frame is getting quite full of stars!

Tonight we're getting ready to walk our Solstice Spiral.  Many people kick off Advent with a walk in the Advent Spiral, but the appropriateness of walking the spiral on the actual Solstice made more sense, especially with our more nature-based approach to Advent and Christmas.  I believe there's a link to an explanation of the Advent spiral in my first Advent post.  We're taking a less solemn approach to our Spiral walk, and the children will be singing "This Little Light of Mine" as they walk in and out. (We'll be leaving out the Jesus and Satan parts, thank you!)

Lastly, in preparation for Winter, we stripped our nature table of Autumn items and set the scene for the new season.  Our nature table has three tiers, so we took a new approach this season.  Our lower tier represents the underground, where the gnomes are busy at work making and mining crystals, gems, and precious metals.  The middle tier is the surface of the earth, covered with snow (a white silk).  We will be adding King Winter to this part of the scene at a later date (as in when I finish making him!).  The top tier is for the heavens, where the Snow Queen sits on a soft cloud of white wool and makes the snow fall.  We had two little crystal prisms which we hung from this tier to represent sparkly snowflakes and ice.  The effect is quite charming, and the kids thought it was delightful to create.  They especially loved adding special stones and geodes for the gnomes.

our winter nature table

Since I most likely won't get a chance to write again until after Christmas, have a joyous holiday season with your families and love ones!

First Week of Advent (and some other stuff)

The first light of Advent is the light of Stones

Stones that live in crystals, seashells, and bones.

~R. Steiner

It has begun!  After getting through Thanksgiving in one piece, I was so excited to start our Advent celebrations.  This is the first year in our home that we will be celebrating Advent.  Until recently, I didn't know much about it except that it was some sort of celebration involving a wreath with four candles, and a way of working up to Christmas.  Upon further research, I was so delighted to find how nature based it can be!  Now this was right up my alley.

I have always celebrated Christmas in a pretty secular way.  We are not religious, and my spiritual inclinations have always been closer to nature based celebrations, such as those of the Solstices or Equinoxes.  I love the idea of the wheel of the year and rejoicing in nature's rhythms.  Needless to say, I always felt a little hypocritical celebrating Christmas at all.  However, traditions are difficult to break or change much.  So what a relief it was to find a way to incorporate my take on things into a holiday that I loved, but in many ways was lacking for me.

Perhaps some of you have been celebrating this for years (lucky you!).  For others, who are fellow novices,  I'll break it down quickly for you.  Advent is a four week celebration leading up to Christmas.  Each week concentrates on a different element of our world.  The first week is stones, the second, plants, the third, animals, and the fourth, humankind.  A candle is lighted on the Advent Wreath at the start of each week.  First one candle for the first week, then two on the second, and so on.

Traditionally, it is kicked off with a walk in an Advent Spiral.  You can read more about that here.  This symbolizes our receiving and returning of light into our world during the darkening days that precede the birth of the Christmas Child (this is how we refer to him, some use a more biblical approach.)  We were going to begin this way also, but decided it felt more appropriate to do the walk on the Solstice, when the light actually does begin its return.  So ours will be a Yule/Solstice Spiral instead.

Since we were going to celebrate Christmas and Advent, I felt it necessary to sort of hop on board as whole-heartedly as my conscience would allow.  Most who know me know I'm really an "all or nothing" kind of person.  If we were really going to have these holidays be a part of our family's traditions, we'd better put some real meaning behind them.

And so...[GULP]... I made a stable for a nativity scene.  (Again, our approach to this is really very symbolic and I see it as a means of telling a really inspiring and meaningful story to my children.)  On the first day of Advent, it stood empty, save for an empty seashell manger awaiting the Christmas Child.  On each day (in the kids' Advent calendar) there will be a small gift that corresponds to the current week of Advent.  These gifts will all be added to the Nativity scene until it is at last complete on Christmas day. 

This week, the children will find crystals, shells, and stones to add to it.  Next week, some bulbs to force in small vases and maybe some seeds or a pretty flower.  I am making felt animals to add for the third week, and on the fourth we will be adding the  shepherds, angels, and the family (including the Christmas Child) etc that I will also be making.  The Three Kings won't show up until after Christmas, in keeping with the story. 

Here's a picture of what it looks like so far.  The kids have added special items throughout the past couple days.

I will now leave you here to celebrate the holidays as you will (or will not).  Either way, enjoy!

And to quote a favorite old show I used to watch:  "And now for something completely different."

St. Nicholas Day is coming up!  Monday December 6th, to be precise.  If you celebrate it already, have fun!  What a great little festive day.  If not, you can learn about it here on this fantastic website!