Thursday, July 28, 2011

The Shepard's Tent

From the Nursery/Kindergarten room at Green Meadow Waldorf School in New York...
"The Shepard's Tent" is a safe, quiet, and warm space in the classroom for a child to find comfort...
Imagine a young child becoming overstimulated by noise and activity in a place away from home. We all need a space to retreat; maybe we feel better by being enclosed, the lights dimmed....

This amazing Early Childhood teacher created such a place of solace in her classroom. She calls it "The Shepard's Tent". It is created entirely from pieces of wool felt; making the enclosure warm and thick enough to block out noise. She even took into conisderation the color of the "tent"...she chose a deep red because of the similarity of the color inside the womb with light being filtered in.
If there could only be one concept that I have walked away from this whole experience truly loving, it would be the thought,detail, and reverence behind every single aspect and choice in the Waldorf early childhood classroom.





 I especially felt this reverance when the teachers took full advantage of a beautiful moment with us and led us to do so, too...after finishing a beautiful song in the round, we just stood there, holding hands and beaming at each other, the teacher nodding and smiling. There were moments, and they weren't rushed. They were experienced.

9 comments:

  1. oh isn't that just so beautiful! What an amazing experience you're having x

    ReplyDelete
  2. I adore that tent concept. What a special place to be! I so love hearing everything you are learning.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't wait to experience these things!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm going to create a space like this for our home! We'll all probably fight over it though! tee hee!
    I so love the rainbow silks, I know I keep saying this but Thank You Rebecca for sharing your photos and your discoveries!
    ~ joey ~

    ReplyDelete
  5. So, so lovely! I really love the Shepard's tent idea! That shows so much love and caring and understanding that some children occasionally need a place like that to take a break and regroup.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've enjoyed reading your posts on what you learnt while you were at your workshops. Thank you so much for sharing all of these great ideas. I love the idea of a Shepherd's Tent.

    ReplyDelete
  7. These posts are such a treat. Thank you for sharing these wonderful moments. Your photos are always a joy and the Sheppard’s tent is a beautiful and loving idea. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I absolutely love this shepard's tent- so often we forget that the world is awfully big and loud and fast for little ones! Our life is very quiet here at home, but when we're out I can see in my smallest children that sometimes it's all a bit much. My daughter (now 10) as a small child was highly sensitive, and had a great deal of difficulty with sounds and sights overwhelming her, and we'd have to settle her often in bed with soft lighting and books to look at, gentle music sometimes playing. Had she been in a school situation this shepard's tent would've been solace to her!
    <3

    ReplyDelete
  9. the idea of the tent is so beautiful. Wish I'd thought of something like that for my daughter, after her c-section that could have been very healing. thank you so much for sharing some of what you are learning, the photos and words you share fill me with a yearning I can't quite describe and bring me nearly to tears. I have worked in so many settings with children, trying, before i even knew of waldorf to bring in songs, nature, softer colours, more natural toys, rhythm etc. and those children ("normal" children) were in need of so much healing just from the sheer trauma of their lifestyles, rushed, hectic, overwhelming,, noisy, lack of touch and not enough fresh air or connection with people (more tv's etc.) I myself am still largely a part fo that culture. good for you for bringing such a beautiful healing to yourself, family and community, as well as the internet.

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you! I read and appreciate all feedback.. Thanks for stopping by!