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aseesaw | Jul 22, 2011 | 1 | Posted in Recommend It!

Now that your little baby is maturing into a spirited toddler some of the challenges of being a parent are probably changing for you. Come share at Toddler Talk!

toddler, parenting, skills, friendship, kids, learn, play (all tags)

Waldorf Early Childhood Education class

bensmommy | Feb 17, 2009 | 0 | Posted in Everything Else

This week was a beet and lima bean soup, in honor of Valentine's day. The children took a tiny heart cookie cutter and stamped out a slice of beet to top-off their bowl. Now we've established that my son never eats the soup, but he did eat the heart-shaped beet. I see a cassanova in my future :)

The instructor of our class, Lalla Carini, has made mention several times of the book SIX POINT PLAN FOR RAISING HAPPY HEALTHY CHILDREN by John Rosemond. She mentions that the tone of the book does not necessarily match our San Francisco style but that most of the information in the book is right on. She read us a passage that we brought into discussion. The passage had to do with the amount and kind of attention that we give our children versus how much time and kind of attention our parents gave us, their parents gave them, etc. Finally, thankfully, there seems to be an awareness being brought to this 'over-parenting' trend that has come about. And I know for myself that my son wouldn't hurt from some healthy neglect every now and again. It was interesting how other parents spoke up in this discussion, about how they were treated growing up, by both mothers and fathers and other siblings, and how that may have influenced their parenting today. The moral of the story, at least from what I understood, is that we are the parents now. It is up to us to find our own attentive quality. So what kind of parent are you? A doter? Hands-off? Somewhere inbetween?

And now for a soup recipe, by popular demand, my favorite so far...

Cream of Spinach and Sweet Potato Soup

1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 T minced garlic
1 cup spelt flour
1.5 quarts vege or chicken stock
3 cups peeled and diced sweet potatoes
10 oz fresh spinach leaves, stemmed and coarsely chopped
2 cups skim milk (though I used whole)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
salt and pepper

In a large, heavy pot with cooking spray or butter, coat onion, celery, red bell pepper and garlic over medium-high heat until veges are tender, about 5-7 minutes.
Stir in flour and gradually add broth, whisking until soup is blended.
Add Sweet Potatoes and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and cook about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Add spinach, milk, green onions, sald and pepper, cooking until spinach is wilted and soup is well-heated and thickened, about 5 minutes.

Yum Yum and one more YUM.

Enjoy.
And remember, registration for these classes is next week and they will fill up FAST.
Visit http://www.sfwaldorf.org/programs/earlychildhoodprogram.asp

Happy Sunny Break,
Jessie

Waldorf, early childhood education, rhythm, parenting (all tags)