William Dolde

360 341-4124
wdolde@gmail.com
butterflynursery.blogspot.com
August 19, 2009

Dear Families,

Welcome to the Butterfly nursery class. Although Mark Twain might coun-
sel me to spend more time to craft a shorter letter, over the years I have ob-
served the importance of clarity and communication before the first school
experience for nursery children. The time we as adults invest now in read-
ing and communicating will support our children’s transition to the nursery
class and their school years beyond. For this reason I make no apologies for
the length of this letter, nor do I think a kindergarten or grades teacher need
apologize if her or his letter is briefer. Please call or write with any ques-
tions; I will respond to them as soon as possible.

This is my second year at the school, my seventh year as a nursery teacher,

my 11th year as a lead teacher, and my 11th year involved in Waldorf educa-
tion (I worked 2 years each as a Waldorf nursery assistant and as a public
school kindergarten teacher). With gratitude I think of the hundreds of chil-
dren I have taught and parents I have worked with in the past years, and with
excitement I look forward to this year’s group of Butterfly children. As
some of you know, the early childhood faculty has worked hard to make it
possible for new children nursery-aged children to attend our school by ex-
ploring ways to welcome some nursery children into the Sunflower Room.
The Butterfly nursery starts the year as a full and healthy class of twelve (a
norm in the past is that the nursery grows to full enrollment during the year).
Every year’s class is remarkable; what follows are three notable aspects of
this year’s constellation of children:

1. Although more than half our children have participated in the Rosebud
and Dewdrop parent & child program, all of our children this year will be
new to the Butterfly nursery. All of my returning nursery students have
moved on to the Golden Forest or Sunflower Rooms. In my years of Wal-
dorf teaching, this is the first time this has happened (when I was a public
school kindergarten teacher, this happened every year, of course).

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2. Our class consists of ten girls and two boys (one of whom is my son,
Crispin). The Sunflower and Golden Forest rooms, by contrast, have about
two boys for every girl. I have found every group of nursery and kinder-
garten children--whether balanced with boys and girls, or unbalanced one
way or the other--to have its strengths and challenges. This year’s mix of
children will be just right to provide playmates, friends, challenges, con-
flicts, delight, sorrow, and all the other ingredients children need to learn and
grow.

3. Our three oldest children (who are 4 or will turn 4 in the fall) are also
only children. Among the other nine children (all of whom will turn or re-
main 3 during the school year), three are third children, five are second chil-
dren, and one is an only child. This provides an excellent opportunity for
parents to communicate: for parents with many children to share their ex-
periences; for parents with only one child to help remind others of the joy
and beauty of each child. I have full confidence in my and our ability to
nurture all the children in our class.

Please read the Children’s Garden Handbook included in this mailing. Kim
Dunkley (Golden Forest Teacher), Dyanne Harshman (Sunflower Teacher),
and I update this document each summer, so there may be new information--
even for families with older siblings in school. It will answer many of your
questions and provides a list of what to bring to school. While procuring
rain clothes would be a good idea, you do not need to buy a mug for your
nursery child. We will use the same shatter resistant glasses many children
enjoyed drinking from and washing in our Rosebud and Dewdrop classes
and at festivals others have attended. Please pay attention to the section on
dress code in The Handbook; we ask that children’s clothes remain simple so
that children are free to pretend and imagine without distraction or limita-
tion.

I hope to be able to visit every child at home before our nursery school year
commences on Monday, September 14. These home visits need not be long
(15 to 20 minutes) and are intended to help with the transition from home to
school. They are not home inspections! In the past, some parents (having
just moved, for example) have felt most comfortable having me visit their
child outside in the yard or at a nearby beach or park. When my older son,
Liam, was in my nursery class, some families invited him along on the home
visit; they knew their son or daughter might be reticent around me (this is
normal and nothing to worry about) but would relax if my child and a future

Butterfly Welcome Letter Page 2

classmate came along. If you think it will help break the ice, consider but do
not feel obligated to invite Crispin along. Some children may wish to show
me a favorite toy or book or place to play inside or outside. Call 341-4124
or email wdolde@gmail.com to set up a home visit.

I will be bringing a picture book called The Tomten to share if it seems ap-
propriate. I have created a Tomten puppet who will live in our classroom:
he is a friendly helper who helps us tidy the room when we are not there; we
will have chances to leave snacks for him, and sometimes he will leave us
gifts. The idea to bring this helper into our classroom came from the book
Mitten Strings for God by Katrina Kenison: young children have active and
helpful imaginations, and working with living images can help foster qualit-
ies such as generosity without needing to resort to explanation or compul-
sion. I like to use the image of the Tomten because he is a friendly fellow
who travels at night; this provides a balance to the many popular images of
scary creatures at night. This image has helped parents in the past support
children with fears of the dark.

Please look at our meeting schedule on the following page. Here I’d like to
explain several choices I have made about meetings:

A. I have placed them on the same night as kindergarten meetings to avoid

confusion and make it possible for parents with children in nursery and
kindergarten to attend both meetings without committing to being away
from home two evenings in a week.
B.To make this work, our meetings will be a crisp and rewarding hour.
Please arrive promptly. I plan to reserve more of the social aspects (e.g.,
snacks) of our adult work for the four Friday festivals to which nursery fam-
ilies are invited this year (more below).
C.Some of last year’s nursery families felt obligated to come to my parent &
child talks as well as my nursery meetings and reported that it seemed I
asked them to come to too many meetings. Some of my infant specific par-
ent & child talks (which I love to give) attracted few or no listeners. As
such, the 3 education hours listed on the schedule intend to be topics of in-
terest to parents of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, and bey-
ond. If you wish to see me in more meetings, please come to these lectures.
If you find your schedule too full, feel free to refrain from the education lec-
tures. Do try, however, to make our three nursery specific meetings.

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Children’s Garden Parent Meetings 2009 – 2010

Wednesday September 2nd 5:00pm – 6:00pm Nursery

Parent meeting
6:00pm – 7:30pm Kindergarten Parent
meeting

Wednesday October 7th 5:00pm – 6:00pm Early

childhood parent education
6:00pm – 7:30pm Kindergarten Parent
meeting

Wednesday November 18th 5:00pm – 6:00pm Nursery

Parent meeting
6:00pm – 7:30pm Kindergarten Parent
meeting

Wednesday January 20th 5:00pm – 6:00pm Early

childhood parent education
6:00pm – 7:30pm Kindergarten Parent
meeting

Wednesday March 24th 5:00pm – 6:00pm Nursery

Parent meeting
6:00pm – 7:30pm Kindergarten Parent
meeting

Wednesday May 26th 5:00pm – 6:00pm Early child-

hood parent education
6:00pm – 7:30pm Kindergarten Parent
meeting

Parent Meetings (Taken from the Children’s Garden Handbook)

We will be offering parent meetings throughout the year. These will of-
fer social time with one another as well as an opportunity to look deep-
er into various aspects of child development. There will also be times
when your teacher will be sharing aspects of your child’s day and Wal-

Butterfly Welcome Letter Page 4

dorf education. These meetings are an important part of your child’s
education and we ask that you attend all parent meetings. We see
these meetings as a priority and are a contractual requirement for at-
tendance at the school.

We recognize that there are many variables, such as work schedules,

child care, and bedtime routines that can affect your ability to attend
evening events. For this reason, we will notify you at our first orienta-
tion parent meeting of all parent meeting dates for the year. Please,
plan ahead so that you can attend. If you miss a meeting, it will be
your responsibility to speak to a designated parent (to be decided at
the beginning of the school year) about the content of the meeting. It
is our goal to have 100% attendance (at least 1 parent/ family) at all
meetings.

Many adult education events are also offered during the school year.
We encourage you to attend these events as they offer not only anoth-
er opportunity for community involvement and connection, but also
serve to deepen our understanding of our child’s experience.

In addition to these dates, and dates listed in the calendar from administra-
tion included in this packet, please take note of the following.

Cubby Day will be on Tuesday, September 8th (10:00-11:30). Please refer

to the Children’s Garden Handbook for more details. This is a chance for
children to come 1 or 2 at a time to visit the classroom for 15 minutes, see
where their slippers and rain gear go, and get to see the classroom.

Our first day of school for the nursery class will be on Monday, Septem-
ber 14, from 8:30am to 12:30pm.

Our first parent meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 2, from
5 to 6pm. I will share my rhythm of the nursery day and my vision of the
nursery year. We will also make plans for the tearful and/or joyful farewells
on the first day of school.

Some families have questions about how the first days of school will go and
how we can best support children as they say a perhaps tearful farewell to
mom or dad. “Saying Goodbye is Sad” from 1, 2, 3 . . . The Toddler Years

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has helped me and a number of nursery parents in years past. I have posted
a link to this on our nursery blog (visit butterflynursery.blogspot.com). As
some of you know, in an effort to conserve paper, I offer a blog for our nurs-
ery class. This will collect observations, announcements, articles, discus-
sion, and more without using paper. I will provide printed copies of articles
to any family that requests one (it would be wonderful if a family with easy
access to a reliable printer could volunteer to print out articles for families in
need). Please call me at 360-341-4124 to request printed copies. I have
preserved last year’s nursery blog and renamed it butterflynursery.b-
logspot.com. You may find useful information by searching back into art-
icles from last year’s nursery class. Do not, however, feel the need search
back into the archives. I have made this change (of making one blog that
will continue for the nursery class indefinitely) to preserve information for
parents (and grandparents and friends).

Years ago I had parents tell me that the transition would work best for their
daughter if I did not look at her until she felt comfortable coming up to me
and talking to me. For a couple of weeks, I guided the class without actually
looking at this child. Weeks later she was so comfortable with the class and
spoke so freely with me it would be hard to imagine that our relationship had
started out this way. Other children feel very comfortable on a teacher’s lap
right away. Other children waltz into the nursery to work and play with no
apparent trepidation and no immediate need for comfort from an adult. So
that I do not have to guess, please let me know what would support your
child’s transition (e.g., does your child like to be held on a lap when sad or
does your child like to find a safe space alone when sad?); please also be
willing to accept the diverse needs of the children--when communication
was not as clear, for example, parent B became quite upset with me because
I was not instantly picking up and hugging child A (who was crying) even
though child A’s parents and I were both acutely aware that when child A
was sad she wanted to be shielded as much as possible from adult attention
and found the most solace in a pretend fort or house (under a table) where
she could feel free from adult attention. Please call or email me with ques-
tions or a vision of what will help your child’s transition the most. We will
talk more about this at our first meeting.

In addition to cubby day and the home visit, I am offering two other in-
formal gatherings at Maxwelton beach on Thursday, September 10 and
Friday, September 11 from 9am until 11am to help ease the transition to
our nursery class. While children with siblings in school and experience in

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parent & child classes will find these helpful, I think these could be most
helpful to families completely new to the school--do not feel obligated to at-
tend these gatherings if they increase stress. Siblings are welcome (older
siblings will already be in school). Know also that some families from the
entire school gather at Maxwelton beach every Wednesday from 10am until
after lunch--my experience last year was that participation diminishes to-
ward the end of summer, but Maxwelton beach is a lovely place even if you
are the only family which shows up for a Wednesday gather.

Finally, here are a few notable aspects about our year ahead.

1. As some of you know, I will be teaching violin, viola, cello, and guitar to
students in grades four through eight. Rather than making this work com-
pete with our nursery class, I plan to make the two elements work together. I
have always provided an abundance of instrumental music and opportunities
for nursery children to play instruments such as the lyre and glockenspiel.
This year I plan to have elementary students bring their instruments to the
nursery so that I may tune them as my meaningful work while our nursery
children play. When Rudolf Steiner or contemporary teachers of teachers
describe the Waldorf Early Childhood classroom, they emphasize the im-
portance of beautiful, meaningful adult work for the children to imitate
(whether exactly or in spirit). Often the teacher knits, sews, mends, repairs,
cooks, washes, and the like. While we will do plenty of cooking and clean-
ing, much of my work this year will involve tuning and restringing instru-
ments. I think your children will find this work interesting and inspiring. I
will also explore having guitar students learn children’s songs to play and
sing for our nursery students (I still have scheduling to work out and want to
make sure these potential visitors increase joy rather than anxiety for our
nursery children), or 5th grade cellists come to the nursery class to work on
their cello parts for an ensemble. The older children may gain confidence by
being revered by our nursery children; the nursery children will have an in-
teresting experience to imitate. Again, I will only continue in these experi-
ments if they nourish our nursery children.

2. Although I like to use email, blogs, pdfs, and links to conserve paper and
remove clutter, I no longer have internet access at home. While I will check
email regularly, I will not be able to do so daily. If you have an urgent ques-
tion, call me at school 341-5686 or at home 341-4124. Email remains an ex-
cellent way to contact me with non-urgent questions; parents can choose to

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look at their email at times when children are asleep or away. My email ad-
dress is wdolde@gmail.com.

3. Although you have received an electronic all school roster, I would like to
produce a Butterfly nursery roster by or soon after our first class meeting.
Once corrections have gone to our administrator, I will use her list to create
a draft.

4. I intend to start our mornings outside. This worked well for last year’s
nursery class in the spring. Because my colleagues in kindergarten are find-
ing a rhythm of the day that will best accommodate their students, I will re-
frain from setting a schedule or rhythm until I know what will work most in
concert with theirs. I will provide these details at our meeting on September
2.

5. The parent & child winter, spring, and summer festivals went so well last
year that this year I am expanding them and inviting nursery families as
well. They occur on Friday mornings and are for parent and child together.
Siblings are welcome. These are in addition to other all early childhood or
other all school festivals and events. I will be adding an Autumn festival
during which, after seeing a puppet show, we will walk in the woods and
perhaps meet a brave (but not too scary) knight and a kind Mother Earth
who will give us gifts to prepare for the winter. Here are dates for our 4 Fri-
day festivals: Autumn Festival, September 25, 9-10:30am; Nursery Advent
Garden, December 11, 9-9:45am; Spring Festival, March 19, 9-10:30am;
Summer Festival, June 4, 9-10:30am.

6. My excellent assistant from last year will be home with her daughter this
year. Although we have not officially signed a contract, I have a verbal
commitment from an experienced nursery assistant who has worked at our
school before and was well regarded for her work--and she wishes to return
to her role from years past. I will provide the name of our new assistant and
details once everything is official.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde

Butterfly Nursery Teacher

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