Morse Code

Braille Intro

The Cloud Fable

This is a Fable from the Independent Fourth Reader, by James Madison Watson. It is about a cloud who has to sacrifice himself for the people who needed water--likened to the Atonement. Good for Easter and spring weather perhaps?

Verse: Springtime is Here

Radiant Sun from his throne in the sky, 
looked down on earth where sleeping seeds lie, 
and thought to himself, I think it's time 
for flower babies to rise and shine. 
So with his rays of gold he knocked and knocked 
at each flower family's door, 
Wake up! Wake up! he chuckled with glee 
Time to wake up and color Earth¹s floor! 
The snowdrops were first, the crocus and rosies, 
daffodils, violets, and all sorts of posies, 
yawning and stretching under Radiant Sun. 
Yes, all we flowers create spring time fun!


*waldorf verse

Leprechaun Story for Saint PAttys Day

How the Leprechauns Learned to Count Their Pots of Gold

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a land full of rich, green hills. Far away from the cities full of people, there were whole ranges of hills covered in nice, green grass. Now a few of these hills were hollow. And inside of the hollow places in these hills, there lived whole towns full of very small men, who dressed all in green, so that they would blend in with the green grass of the hillsides. They wanted to blend in, for they didn’t want to be seen. But despite the fact that they were very careful to avoid being noticed, the big people never came as far away as the green men lived. For they lived at the very end of the land, past the end of the rainbow, and no big people had ever found their homes before, unless they had been caught and compelled to take them there. If one of them ever ventured into civilization, he was at risk of being captured; and when he was captured, he had to do what he was told. But they were seldom or never captured, for they were very, very clever. For these little men were Leprauchans.

The Leprechauns loved gold. They loved it so much, that they always went out searching for it, even if that meant they were in danger of being seen and caught by the humans. They would collect all of the gold that they could, and bring pieces back to put into their pots, which they kept in special chambers under the hills that were just meant for hiding pots of gold in.

Now the trouble with Leprauchans, was that they were also tricksters. They could not help playing silly tricks, especially on humans, and sometimes this put them in imminent danger of being caught. But for the most part, they were still so quick, that they still didn’t get caught, and their naughty tricks just confounded the humans on whom they played them.

Among these Leprauchans, there lived a particularly clever one named Paddy O’Conner. Paddy was the perfect model of a tricky, sneaky, impossible-to-catch Leprechaun. He always played the trickiest of tricks whenever he possibly could, and came into more danger of being caught than any other Leprechaun. But because he was so fast and sneaky, he never got caught. The other Leprechauns admired him, and many asked him what secret he had, that he never got captured. But he would never answer. Instead, he would pinch the one who had asked the question, or tweak his nose, and disappear in a twinkling.

As time went by, Paddy began to get bored, because he was so clever, that nothing was thrilling anymore. When he knew that he was too quick to get caught by a human, playing tricks on them lost the element of danger and fun. So he started to play tricks on his fellow Leprechauns. One day, Seamus O’Leary came home to find that somehow, a skunk had made its way into his kitchen. On another day, Finnigan O’Brian woke up to find that he was wearing his shirt on his legs, and his pants on his head. He had socks and shoes on his hands, and when he reached up to his face to undo his pants buttons in order to see, he found that his shoes were kicking him in the face.

Then, the Leprechauns gathered together and decided that no one could possibly be behind these tricks but Paddy O’Conner.

“Paddy O’Conner,” they told him, “you must go. We do not like your tricks. We play tricks on humans, not on each other. You are hereby banished from the Leprechaun clan.”

Paddy hung his head. He had never meant to harm anyone, just to have a little bit of fun. But Finnigan said that his nose still hurt from being hit by his shoes, and Seamus said that his kitchen was so stinky, he could no longer cook in it. So Paddy could do nothing except pack his bags, and sadly leave to go out alone into the wide world. He didn’t take much with him, just a small parcel of his belongings, which he tied to a stick and swung over his shoulder. He left his gold in his gold chamber, thinking that it would be safer there, even if he could never come back.

The first person he met on the road was a milkman, sitting in front of a wagon full of milk bottles. An old horse was pulling the wagon, plodding along slowly, and the milkman was humming softly to himself. Paddy was growing tired, so he jumped into the wagon and fell asleep. It was so comfortable, bumping along gently among the bottles of milk, that he dozed sometimes, and woke sometimes, but never wished to leave. When he got thirsty, he just drank from one of the milk bottles, before sinking back into sleep again. He was so tired, and so sad from having been driven out of his home, that he forgot to be clever and careful, and he forgot to stay awake so that the milkman wouldn’t find him. Imagine his surprise when he was woken up by a rough hand squeezing him, the face of the milkman very close to his, and a gruff voice crying out, “Gotcha!”

Back in the green hills where the Leprechauns lived, everyone was so happy that Paddy had been driven out. They had a party with cupcakes and balloons, to celebrate their freedom from his tiresome trickery. But after some time, life began to grow more and more dull. Something was missing from their green hills, but no one knew quite what. Seamus was even heard to mutter to himself one day, when he thought no one could hear him, that he was getting bored.

But then something happened which  had never happened to the leprechauns before. Clancey McCormick, one of the oldest Leprechauns alive, collected an unprecedented amount of gold. When he brought it back, he found that he had more gold than any other Leprechaun had ever had before. In fact, he had so much gold, that he did not know how to count it, or where to keep it.

To be exact, Clancey had already had nine pots of gold. No Leprechaun had yet ever collected more gold than could be fit into nine pots. For that reason, the chambers in which they kept their gold were simply not big enough to fit more than nine. And, also for the same reason, the Leprechauns, as clever as they were, had never yet bothered to learn how to count any higher than nine. But on this day, Clancey collected enough gold to fill up one more pot. But when he brought it back, and tried to add it to his other nine, and count them up, he found that he simply could not do it. So he sat outside and ripped at his hair and gnashed his teeth and wailed with grief. He simply did not know what to do.

The other Leprechauns came running, but when he told them of his troubles, none of them knew how to help him. Soon, all of the Leprechauns were tearing their hair and gnashing their teeth and wailing with woe.

But then, Finnigan stopped wailing. “I know what we need,” he said, sadly. “We need Paddy O’Conner. He was so clever, he is the only Leprechaun alive who is clever enough to solve this problem. Oh, how sad that we drove him away! Oh, woe is us!”

“Oh, woe is us,” cried all the other Leprechauns, and they began to tear their hair and gnash their teeth with redoubled energy.

But then, what should happen, but a very loud “POOF!” Right near where they were all gathered. They looked up to see a cloud of green smoke just clearing. Out of it appeared none other than Paddy O’Conner, but he was held tightly in the grasp of a mean-looking milkman.

“Oh no,” all the Leprechauns murmured. “Oh, now there is nothing we can do. Paddy has been captured. He was always so very clever, always the least likely to get caught. Fancy him being the one to get captured now!”

No one went to help him, for they knew that it was the law, magical and unchanging, that if a human caught a Leprechaun, then the Leprechaun must take him to the place where he hides his gold. So Paddy had to bring the milkman to his home beneath the hill, where he had departed not so long ago, thinking never to return. He had three pots of gold under there, and he had to give them all up to the milkman. Now the milkman was about to demand that Paddy take him magically back to where they had come from, gold and all, but he did a silly thing. He took his hands off of him, to put them onto the pots of gold. And the moment you let go of a Leprechaun, he is no longer bound to you and can easily escape.

So “POOF!” Paddy disappeared in a puff of green smoke, and so did all of the other Leprechauns. The milkman took the three pots of gold, but he was lost, and so very far away from his own home, that it is doubtful he ever made it back. He tried, but more than likely, he ended up in a new city, far from his own comfortable, country road, and never found out how to return there.

But we don’t really know what happened to the milkman. We do, however, know what happened to Paddy O’Conner. He came out of hiding, and looked shamefacedly at all of the other Leprechauns, who had also come out of hiding as soon as the milkman had left. “I’m sorry,” he said to them. “I had meant to stay away, on my honor, I did. But when a human captures one of us, we have no choice but to bring him back here.”

He was expecting them to come after him and chase him away again. You can imagine his surprise when they ran to him and hugged him, and lifted him up and told him how happy they were to see him again. As quickly as they could, they brought him to the hill where Clancey lived. They showed him how Clancey had nine pots of gold, but then one more again, and explained to him how Clancey neither had room to store it, nor the ability to count it.

“Oh that’s easy,” said paddy, laughing. “We’ll just call it ten. And since your storage space is too small, we’ll have to build a new one. A much, much bigger one. That way, whenever you get another group of ten pots, you can simply put them, altogether, into the larger chamber. We’ll call that chamber the “tens” chamber, and all the things that are put in it don’t have to be counted one by one, but by groups of ten. You see? It’s easy.”

So they built the “tens chamber,” and Paddy showed them how they now had one group of ten in the tens chamber, and zero in the other chamber, which they now called the “ones” chamber, because the items in it were counted by ones. Because Clancey was such an old, clever leprechaun, he soon collected more pots of gold. Soon, he had two pots of gold in his ones chamber; then five; then nine; and finally, yet another ten. But because of how Paddy had instructed him, he knew just how to count it, and just what to do with it. He gathered all ten pots together, and put them into the “tens chamber,” next to the first group of ten pots. “Now,” he said, “I have two groups of ten in my tens chamber, and zero in my ones chamber. How wonderful. I shall go out, and collect some more!”

And that is what he did.

Now Paddy, for his part, lived his life as a transformed Leprechaun. Since losing all his gold, he decided to spend some time collecting more, for what is a Leprechaun without a pot of gold? Never again did he taunt his fellow Leprechauns. And never again did he take the humans for granted; for he had learned from experience that even the most clever Leprechauns can sometimes get caught.


*story from https://woodstockwaldorf.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/a-fun-leprechaun-story-for-st-patricks-day/

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This is a great story for counting by units of ten. We loved practicing our counting by having a "one's chamber" and a "tens chamber" and using colored popsicle sticks. Once the nine sticks in the ones chamber got to ten, we moved that colored set of popsicle sticks to the tens chamber as one set of ten and started a new color set of popsicle sticks in the ones chamber. By the end of practicing we had 70 sets of ten that made a rainbow and it was fun counting seven sets of tens in the tens chamber. :)

A Birthday Story

A great way to enjoy a birthday is to do a birthday circle. 

You can also tell this sweet, simple story to invoke a sense of the sacred on a child’s birth with the parent telling the story/watching while the child acts the story out.

Once upon a time there was a little child named____________ who was still with the angles in heaven and he/she was very happy there. He looked at the beautiful colors and listened to the lovely music, and that was where he belonged. But one day the clouds parted in heaven and __________saw the beautiful green earth below with all the people happily playing and working and he suddenly longed to go there and see what it was like. He saw all the rainbow colors of the earth, He saw butterflies visiting flowers and birds flying in the air. They seemed to be beckoning him. He saw fish swimming in the sea and all the different plants that covered the earth. he saw children climbing trees running and jumping in the meadows and walking through sand and leaves. It was all so beautiful!

So he said to his angel, ‘Please, may I go down to earth now?” But his angel looked at him and said, “No, it is too soon. You must wait a little while yet”. So the child went and was happy and soon forgot about the earth. Then one day again he saw a glimpse of the earth through the clouds again. He saw mother and fathers doing their work. He saw bakers and engineers and writers and farmers. He saw mothers and fathers loving their

children. Then he saw a beautiful mother with love and longing in her heart for a child and he asked his angel now, “May I go to her?”

The angel said, “You must go through the land of dreams first.”

The next night the little child had a dream. He dreamed that he met and man and a woman and they stretched out their arms to him and asked him to come be their child. The child told his angel the dream. The angel said, “It is now time for you to go.”

So the child asked, “So may I go now?”

“You shall see.” Said the angel.

That night the child went to sleep into dreamland and while ten moons waxed and waned he rocked in a little boat. And at the end of that time a beautiful rainbow bridge stretched from heaven to earth and on it came the child as a tiny baby and slid into his mother and father’s waiting arms. They looked in awe at this new life and said “We shall call him/her ____________ “

*story from www.earthschooling.com

Verse: Starting Something

Hands together hands apart

Hands together, we’re ready to start

*This is a short little phrase that helps kids remember to not be figety and to be respectful as we begin a new activity, while they listen to instructions first.

Verse: Dwarf Song

Little dwarves so short and strong
Heavy-footed march along
Every head is straight and proud
Every step is firm and loud.

Pick and hammer each must hold
Deep in earth to mine the gold
Ready over each one’s back
Hangs a little empty sack

When their hard day’s work is done
Home again they march as one.
Full sacks make a heavy load,
As they tramp along the road.

*This is a good song for a story about dwarves working. To help instill the value of work...but in a playful way.

Verse: Here We Are Together

This is a great verse for getting everyone to join hands in a circle and notice everyone is together.

Oh Here we are together, together, together.

Oh Here we are together in our family (gathering):

...there's _____ and ______ and ______ and ______

Oh here we are together in our our family.

Story Time Verses

Attention  Getter- Wise Owl

A wise old owl sat in an oak.

The more he heard, the less he spoke.

The less he spoke, the more he heard.

Why aren’t we more like that wise old bird

The Wise Owls (can use this to gather the circle before the above attention getter)
One wise owl sitting in a tree
Hooted to another, "Come sit with me."
Two wise owls sitting in a tree
Hooted to one more, "Come let's be three!"
Three wise owls sitting in a tree
Hooted to a fourth, "Join our family."
Four wise owls sitting in a tree
Hooted to eachother, "come quietly."
Now all the wise owls sat as still as could be

While the wise old Owl shared his great story.

Attention  Getter- Wise Owl
Be quiet your faces, be still everyone

Fix deeply on me your eyes

And out of my mind a story will come

That is old, and lovely and wise

Story Starter

Anything can happen

In a fairy tale or rhyme

When you say the magic words

Once a upon a time

The Winter Garden Tale

The Winter Garden 

(from http://junipertreepuppets.com/a-winter-tale/)

Imagine this little tale as a puppet play… I like creating surprise in my
puppet shows.  Here, the snow cave can be revealed from under a white
snowy landscape silk, already set up with little twinkle lights hidden
with white veiling, that can be turned on with a dimmer light. 
How magical it will be for your  children!

*****************

King Winter went walking one day oh so cold,

He called to the snow clouds, so it is told.

Come snowflakes, come dancing down to the ground,

Tis time for the earth to not make a sound.

Your silence and calm, and peaceful white cheer,

Brings good will to all and welcomes the year!

*****

It was early in the new year and the winds blew icy from the north.  It was the coldest day of the winter.  King Winter went walking through the falling snow across the land and he heard something. It was sounds from the animals…

Yip, yIp called the Fox. Thump, thump drummed Rabbit. Tap, tap, tap, deer’s hoof on the frozen ground rang out in the cold air, And brown bear’s tummy growled from his winter cave. Squirrel chittered, And Robin sang a sad song.

‘The animals are hungry’ thought King Winter.  ‘I know just what to do.’  

King Winter called to the old wise gnome who dwelt in winter’s hidden garden below the earth. Very soon, an old gnome came trudging through the snow. ‘Here I am dear King,’ said the old wise gnome.

‘The animals are hungry,’ King Winter said to his trusted old friend, ‘and there is a long cold winter ahead.  I need your help.’ ‘Go to the deepest cavern of the earth where seeds are being cared for until spring.  Go to your hidden winter-land garden, the earth’s root cellar.  Make soup from roots and seeds and grains.  I will build a shelter fit for a winter feast for the animals.’ Old wise gnome bowed and went to prepare food for the cold and hungry forest creatures.

King Winter then called to the snow children to make a large, sturdy snow cave big enough for the animals to find shelter from the wind.

King winter brought candles to the cave to shine light and give warmth.

Gnome and his helpers were busy preparing food in the winter garden beneath the ground, and when it was ready, they brought steaming soup for all.

King Winter called to the animals, ‘come, come and feast and warm yourselves dear forest friends.’

One by one the animals came to the welcoming snow cave.  Fox, deer, rabbit, bear, squirrel, and robin too all came and ate the good warming soup. How grateful they were.

King Winter and the old wise gnome left piles of grain and seed for them.  Enough to feed them until spring.

King Winter looked at the animals gathered in warmth, safe shelter, with food and friendship.  He looked at the old wise gnome and they nodded to each other.  Their work was done, it was time for the old wise gnome to go back to the winter garden and keep caring for the roots and seeds getting them ready for spring. And King Winter walked on over the snowy land, unfolding winter and caring for all.

*****

King Winter went walking one day oh so cold,

He called to the snow clouds, so it is told.

Come snowflakes, come dancing down to the ground,

Tis time for the earth to not make a sound.

Your silence and calm, and peaceful white cheer,

Brings good will to all and welcomes the year!

The End

Beeswax Bee Story

**pass out beeswax and let he children play with it while telling the story.... By the end the wax will be warm and they can manipulate and shape it. I make a bee so by the end I can show the bee to the kids as a final result of the story. They love that. (some children may get frustrated if they expect soft, workable clay to shape right away, so you don't even need to tell them what to do with the beeswax except hold it, smell it and play with it in their hands while you tell the story)

And you can begin with this short beeswax/sculpting verse

Little bees give their gift of gold
For you my little dears to warm and hold.
Story time is here to tell
Come listen to the fairy's spell
Create with your gift of gold
Something kind, true and bold.

-----

The Bee's Work

Nestled deep in the woods there is a tiny city. The folks that live there love their city very much (after all they built it their very own selves!) and take very good care of each other there. There is always plenty of delicious food, the babies there are always well cared for, and the rooms (each one exactly like the other) are all snug and well crafted. It is a very busy place as each one has special work to do and does it cheerfully and well. Even the Queen, in her royal chambers at the center of the city, stays busy with her special work of tucking new eggs each into their own cozy cradle. 

This tiny city is a beehive and the folk that live and work there are, of course, the bees!

In the Spring and Summer and Autumn, when flowers are blooming, I’m sure that you’ve seen the bee-folk humming merrily as they move all about over the land visiting blossoms. Look, here is one now…watch her as she forages, sipping a little nectar here and a little nectar there. Sometimes as she flies she gathers yellow flower dust into her little leg-baskets as she goes. But today she is gathering nectar. She visits hundreds of flowers! She is collecting nectar to bring home to the hive-city, sometimes sipping a little for herself. Now both her tummy and her nectar bag are quite full of nectar and she is flying home with her heavy load. 

In the city, there are many sisters waiting to help her. She gives them the nectar from her bag and they take it away to make it into golden honey. (This will be the food that all the bee folk will need in the cold months when there are no flowers blooming on the land.) Sometimes our little bee brings her nectar to her sisters and then flies right off again to collect more, but today her tummy is so full that she must rest. She climbs to the ceiling of the hive where some of the other full bee-folk are already gathered. She tucks up her wings and smooths her pretty yellow-and-brown jacket and takes a nice, long nap. 

While she is resting something wonderful happens….for when she wakes up and stretches and straightens her little jacket, she finds that all eight of her jacket pockets are full of wax! She takes it out of her pockets and presses it, and pulls it, and pushes it, and kneads it until it is smooth and soft, fragrant and golden. This beeswax is precious and important…it is what the bee-folk use to build their entire city! Beeswax forms the perfect walls of all the snug little houses, all the little honey pots and their lids, all the little cradles for the growing baby bee-folk…what a wonderful thing our bee has done! She takes her bit of beeswax and puts it together with the wax that her sisters have made, then off into the blue sky she buzzes, in search of more blossoms.

The bee-folk work so very hard that they often make more honey and more beeswax than they need for their city. Sometimes there is a gentle and careful person, a “beekeeper” who cares for and protects bees in their hive-city and is able to share in their honey and beeswax. So, somewhere there is a city of beefolk and a careful beekeeper who together made it so that we could have this treasure.

**story from www.bobbinsandbrambles.blogspot.com