January - "Baking Day" Movement Journey

Our first story for January is "Baking Day," as a tie-in with the study of the Archetypal Professions which the older students are doing.

This lively and fun movement journey is included in Estelle Breyer's book Eurythmy for the Young Child: A Guide for Teachers and Parents. I wrote a previous post, December 2018, on Eurythmy in the Kindergarten classroom. Below I have listed more notes with links to videos, etc.

This book was also revised and later re-published under the title Movement for the Young Child: A Handbook for Eurythmists and Kindergarten Teachers and is available free as a PDF for download from the Online Waldorf Library. The "Baking Day" story is on pages 54-56.

The story can be told as is without eurythmy movements. Eurythmy is the art of "speech made visible" and the gestures are meant to help enliven the story with deeper soul qualities. Small children can imitate the movements. This story calls for

sh (shone / washed / brushed / she)
b (barn / baking / butter)
u u (rooster stood)
k u u (cock-a-doodle-doo)
u o u (Good morning to you)
d (day / done / down)
g (begun)
k (work)
ck (cluck)
m (combed / mmmmm / milk / mix)
p (put / poured / piece)
t (eat / tea)
s (sweet)
ch ch (chocolate chip)
l (all)
f (flour)
n (nuts)

For a quick overview of the concept of eurythmy and the gestures of the alphabet, I suggest

Eurythmy with the alphabet -
why do we order the gestures according to the system of sounds?

Eurythmy alphabet

For CH I used Cynthia Hoven's video for Libra

Libra

For SH I used Reg Down's book Color and Gesture: The Inner Life of Color, pages 154-155. I so appreciate that he organizes it using IPA symbols! These sounds belong to the S and Scorpio family.

Color and Gesture: The Inner Life of Color
by Reg Down

We continued with our Songs, Verses & Movement for classroom routines.

Circle Time

#1 - "Good Morning, Dear Earth" verse

#2 - "Morning Verse"
from A Child's Seasonal Treasury, page 13

#3 - "Good Morning Feet!" verse
from The Breathing Circle, page 65

#4 - "Baking Day" movement journey
from Eurythmy for the Young Child, page 54

Monday, January 13

• read From Wheat to Pasta by Robert Egan
• string pasta shapes on yarn to make patterns

Tuesday, January 14

• revisit From Wheat to Pasta by Robert Egan
• make fresh homemade pasta with eggs, semolina flour, olive oil, and sea salt (plus a food processor and a pasta machine)

Thursday, January 16

• read The Unbeatable Bread by Lyn Littlefield Hoopes
• make fresh homemade Cinnamon Muffins

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Stone Soup this week. We had beef broth, carrot, radish, turnip, sweet potato, and white potato, with a sprinkle of fresh parsley on top. And, of course, we had our delicious fresh hot muffins with a topping of cinnamon & sugar (and homemade butter). MMM. Thank you to Miss Emily for all of her help with today's baking activity!

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