Camp Woods Play

Exact dates and schedule are determined each season based on participating families' needs.

Language and music including speech, stories, music, games, songs, fingerplays, dances, and playing music are essential for balanced development. After all, why were these art forms created throughout all the ages and in every corner of the world? These various mediums of expression work in many ways on all layers of being, guiding and inspiring physical, emotional, rhythmical, and spiritual activity. For developmental healing to occur the sound and movement art forms need to be repeated until the whole organism of the child learns them naturally without being taught consciously. Engaging in sound and movement pieces can be connected in beautiful, amusing, and predictable ways to the rhythm of everyday life experiences so that the whole family can learn to count on them. Works of music or literature become learning gems that can be repeated throughout the day to help the day's schedule go more calmly, smoothly, and joyfully through the harmonizing of inner and outer rhythms.

Choosing age-appropriate sound and movement experiences

Babies and toddlers, as a general rule, thrive on repetition of older or ancient-sounding music, as well as, complex and beautiful language spoken in "motherese," (the sing-song way people instinctively talk with babies), just hearing the sounds and patterns of language alone stimulates everything from head to toe. In addition, gross and fine movement patterns combined with reciting rhymes and listening to music or singing greatly expands on the developmental value. Rhyme play involves moving the whole body as in peek-a-boo rhymes, or for babies moving the child's limbs for them in a predictable pattern while reciting a rhyme such as this one, attributed to a Chinese folktale; "Ricky ticky tovvy, no so nimbo, haredy baredy busky, merry mimbo!," or rhyme play can include movements of just the hands, head, and feet as in finger play type rhymes. In any case, movement together with reciting and singing is useful for development of nervous system connections, so that at the same time children are discovering fingers and toes, mouth and nose, they can learn how it feels to move these in different patterns. Even simply rhythmically bouncing a baby up and down or rocking them as we sing, or recite, or listen to music, as we instinctively do, helps move the lymph and stimulate the brain of the baby. The same rhymes, or songs, woven into the familiar patterns of the day such as waking, nursing, changing, eating, going for a walk or a car ride, going to bed, etc. create an atmosphere abuzz with love, anticipation, and gentle stimulation.

2 to 4 year-olds continue to be helped by all that the babies should get plus lots of repetition of simple and beautiful nature or life stories, nursery rhymes, and simple folktales that contain repetitive language such as the British folktales: "Henny Penny" and "The Three Little Pigs," or similarly old folktales from other cultures. For music, they are much aided by learning traditional children's songs (many songs from older European or traditional cultures are often a little more beautiful than the British ones) and a continuation of the complex music from the Baroche period and earlier.

4 1/2 to 7 year-olds still need music, dance, finger plays, but now both listening to and acting out nature and fairy tales either themselves or through puppets ( all children can act out all parts - its not good to bring too much individual self-awareness activities yet, very young children should not see themselves as seperate from one another or from adults, so adults should lead the acting out and children be only gently guided ). Children at this age can really benefit from fairy tales from Central Europe or other cultures. They seem to relate very well to the strong combination of light and dark images in them and the struggles to transcend loss, hopelessness, and scary situations. Around 7, as they develop the ability to imagine details strongly and relate to specific characters more than others (littler kids accept all characters as part of something whole), sometimes fairy tales can become too scary for them, although many of the more popular stories are wonderfully romantic and not too gruesome.

For children older than 7, if they did not get enough of the above experiences it is not too late - with sensitivity to what their interests are, choose from the above genres of literature, music, and song - just for instance try more complex or humorous finger plays or whole body movements. At tucking-in times or when there is a tedious wait children are more open. Additionally there is a world full of poetry and music that can be enjoyed and learning to recite poetry or theater monologues helps build vocabulary and oratory skills as well as confidence.

                        The following article is lengthy for a web site and a bit on the redundant side, but I wanted to have the chance to fully explain what I can often only share in part with parents and educators I encounter. It is important advice about the benifits of allowing children to develop at their own paces and the costs of rushing children's development: More than ever, children are at risk of not reaching their potentials because of being stilted and rushed in their development.

                       Everyone who is around children can benefit children and themselves by learning to observe and appreciate the innate wisdom within the developing human being that directs inner and outer activity so that each reinforces the other. Today, children grow up within very different physical and social environments than they are designed to develop in. It is harder for the self-developing capacities of the child to find the right outer experiences to reinforce the inner ones. Ideal development best occurs, and is then best observed, within an ideal environment. The more one adjusts the outer experience of the child to the child's developmental needs, the better one begins to see this development for its genius, and the more one feels hesitant to interfere very much with it or to try to direct or rush it.

Teaching astronomy to children

by Marcie Matthews

In terms of terminology, the Latin derived expression, vernal equinox, means spring's equal night, and refers to the astrological start of spring when day and night are of equal length all over the earth. This equal night happens exactly twice per year, and is refered to as autumnal equinox in the fall. In both equinoxes the earth's constant tilt toward north in the direction of the North Star, Polaris, along with its orbital position, makes for an exciting moment when both northern and southern hemispheres are, relative to one another, equidistant from the sun. At all other times of year the earth's axis is tilted either toward or away from the sun so that one hemispheres is nearer and one is farther away, establishing summer or winter, and relatively longer or shorter days.

Learning comes best from the inside out:

We can often only fully comprehend such complex concepts when adults, and then, in a gesture of enthusiasm and kindness, we may try to explain them to the little folks in our midst. It is very hard for us grown-ups to resist today's modern mission to introduce children to concepts or skills as soon as possible to give them an edge or in order to share with them our eureka experiences. However, when children are asked to grapple with notions whose complexity reaches beyond their current imaginative powers, develop skills beyond their physical abilities, or understand moral notions that do not take into account their maturity level, it can make them feel anxious, rather than confident, about learning and maturing. It can also interfere with learning in a similar vein as has been demonstrated in identical twin research studies whereby one twin, who is deliberately taught to do something such as climb stairs, eventually falls behind in that skill as compared to the twin who learns it on their own. In older cultures, or according to wise caregivers and certain progressive schools, the approach to children helps gaurd against imbalanced development and moreover honors childhood as a time of precious developmental milestones with equally important rests or brief regressions in between. This rushing is especially common and damaging during infancy, when we follow the advice of research done in the 1990's which found that children begin speaking sooner if they have received lots of external stimulation (there is by the way no evidence of a connection between early speech and cognitive superiority). My niece, whose parents had dutifully towed her about to stimulate her, spoke indeed very early. Her first sentence was famously; "When go home?" The following paragraphs describe other common pitfalls we are all guilty of falling into from time to time in raising and educating children:

Fancy talk'n develops ahead of fancy think'n:

                            One of the most common reasons for unintentional rushing of children's development comes because of the amazing ability most children have to learn language - but don't let their language abilities fool you! Young children typically acquire complex language skills before they can understand complex ideas. Because of this we adults and teens all sometimes fall into the trap of conversing with young children as if we expect them to understand academics or the ups-n-downs and ins-n-outs of life in a mature manner. In addition, young children are sometimes very observant and their intuitive wisdom can be uncanny, but we should not mistake these tender abilities for adult reasoning. This can easily lead to our unfairly reprimanding them if one day they seem to know better and the next day they do not - in truth they really often never knew better.

                            Aso, relying on young children as confidants or expecting them to make many decisions on their own may feel as if it imparts respect, but it is better to rely more on modelling moral behavior and decision-making and let children learn quietly about right and wrong by our example, not necessarily through logical explainations. In older cultures, renowned for their strong but gentle ways with children, adults recognize when taking a young child by the hand or picking them up and leading them toward positive activities and away from inciting, confusing, or hurtful ones, is better than explaining or requiring them to behave according to adult logical or moral understandings. If one does need to explain things to a child around age 6 or younger, in general let answers and experiences be wrapped in beautiful stories, which they can visualize and relate to, and that lack what might be for them harsh realities.

Early learning with a stress on one subject may slow learning in other subjects and learning in general:

   "But they ask for it!" Yes, they do. It is easy to also be led astray by little children themselves as to their readiness for learning certain things: At very young ages they pick up notions about the relative importance society or a significant other places on "getting" certain things or aquiring certain skills, and children may impatiently request help. An obvious example is young children's engaging in sports or other competitive activities, organized by adults to live out the adults' needs for success in things that they themselves would love to be better at. Yes, young children often seem to quickly adjust and look forward to the adult-like organized activity or learning, but remember that dogs used for fighting quickly learn to love it, but underneatheis an animal afraid of its own shadow.

                      One of the most prevalent examples of a disproportionate focus on academic learning is the current enthusiasm for early reading. Society's attitude toward literacy, narrowly defined as reading and writing, is akin to a religious belief, provoking high degrees of both anticipation and anxiety. Reading and writing are indeed important skills, but they are less essential to development of litaracy than exposure to a rich, repetitive oral tradition, involving listening to and repeating rhymes, stories, jokes, songs, and games, and should be stressed in early education only if oral tradition is lacking. Reading requires the simultanious application of dozens of mental skills, and once learned it is then utilized at some level constantly, audibly distorting speech, weakening oral recall, and interfering with the balanced development of the senses. Too much reading early on has been proven to strain the eyes, altering healthy visual development, and causes the brain and musculoskeletal system to develop differently.

                        From three generations of Waldorf education's international collaboration, the concensus is that early reading reduces imaginitive skills. When children think or listen to story, if they know how to read, they appear to have a shallower experience of it within their own minds. Maybe these pitfalls associated with early reading are why many European countries still wait until children are six or seven or even eight to begin even teaching them their letters. American teachers I have spoken to feel that even if children learn to read at four or five there abilities by age ten are on average not better than children who have learned to read at six or seven. If you feel anxious about your child's being ready for future academic success remember the old addage: "Once children begin to read they stop reading from the book of nature."

The pitfalls of the "Why" stage:

Concerning children's academic aspirations, you might quip again that: "Well, they are always asking why." Young children do go through a very long "why?" stage, but they are often just practicing the language of thinking, not really yet needing to think abstractly. Also, sometimes they are only wanting conversation or needing interaction or energy from us rather than wanting to know the whole truth about everything. Children of course want to begin to feel the connections between all things, but the best response may be a story that relates aspects of reality within the context of the child's framework of understanding and feelings. Answering their persistent whys should be a challenge for us to sensitively weave increasing doses of reality into their imaginative world in a way that fortifies it without toppling it. Often persistant "whys?" are simply a verbal form of fiddling with a caregiver's hair or earlobe while sucking on a favorite finger - something that gently stimulates, soothes anxiety, or builds an emotional bond - they are just needing interaction.

Along with asking questions, children frequently try explaining their own ideas about the way the world works. They are beginning to practice finding answers on their own and learn the language of thinking. Practice in using their own words to explain phenomena and observations is the externalization of an inner activity that forms a two-way dynamic, actually fortifying their ability to think. Although this process is dependent on experience, obsevation, and collecting facts, developing language skills should preceed actually understanding things. In other words onlookers should listen and respond while allowing the logical connection to be a little loose. At this stage adults and older siblings should strive to simply understand the child's reasoning and introduce new language by gently or playfully rephrasing a young child's ideas in a slightly more sophisticated way, as if we are asking a question we don't quite know the answer to ourselves. In this way we are modeling the language of thinking and encouraging creative pondering: both vital areas for developing cognitive and metacognitive abilities later. Insisting on all the facts being straight during this process can easily get in the way of a child's learning to think things through on their own. If a child is overly concerned with understanding it can be a sign that they are feeling stressed in general as well. Intellectualizing is related to anxiety. Caregivers who are confident that children will one day be very bright leave more space for children to be "wrong" for a time, letting children figure things out through their own slowly maturing powers of questioning, observation, visualization, creativity, analysis, reasoning, and evaluating. If it helps, try to think of answering whys and listening to your child's reasoning as explaying, rather than explaining. Remember: The single greatest contributor to a higher IQ is confidence in one's ability to figure things out and human confidence is fragile. Correcting too much can diminish confidence.

Children mistake the earth for a sort of heaven:

Another aspect of early childhood that requires sensitivity and patience, is how to best handle the still strong connection young children have, or seem to have, depending on one's beliefs, to the divine. Indeed little children seem to happily mistake the earth for a sort of heaven populated by adults and teens whom they mistake for enlightened spiritual beings - "Who, me, deity?, no way!"To us it is often children who seem, or truly are, nearer to heaven or the spiritual realm. Young children's comments and questions attest to a wisdom that will go underground for much of their childhoods and young adulthoods. This happens in order for them to reach a stage whereby they will come to rely almost purely on logic devoid of intuition -aka common sense - to solve problems. Human development then proceeds and hopefully we learn to use intuition and intellect in concert with one another as adults.

                            Around age nine children often go through a crisis of disenchantment when they become aware that not all adults are good and wise and that they themselves are not in some sort of heaven anymore. Sadly this should be a slow transition, but because we are often excited to see our children finally "wake up" we again may unintentionally and prematurely push them to jumping from age 9 to 35. Replaement of children's heavenly or magical interpretations of life should be a slow process.

                       To help children feel protected by the forces of goodness, we should always strive to minimize irreverant or materialistic experience or conversation around them: Think about that village that it takes to raise a child. It would be ideally, in most ways, an old-fashioned village, if we were to manifest it as best we could in our own children's lives. It would be simple and reverant of nature, culture, and the spiritual or communal, rather than full of influence from the modern, materialistic, marketplace world. As an antidote to the irreverance that abounds everywhere else, children can strongly benefit from a spiritual practice and education at home or within the community. Caregiver or community led spiritual experience, celebrations, stories, and rites of passage, will help children connect with what is right and good and provide stories about superheroes and superpowers that surpass the commercially created ones.

Overstimulation in general and video stimulation specifically causes hormonal, neurological, and emotional changes:

Concerning children's enthusiasm toward modern culture you may cry once again; "But, they ask for it!" Yes, and with noisy tantrums if it is denied. We human beings are drawn toward what frightens or stimulates or especially overstimulates us. In ancient times there must have been natural checks and balances on the availability of the outragious, but in today's world our innate drives cause us to be our own worst enemies. Somehow, within our inborn desire to seek out novelty and adventure within a natural landscape may lie the increasing threat of society's demise. To save ourselves we need to continue efforts to reconsider what sort of cultural experience and "landscapes" we expose children, and ourselves, to.

What the world appears to be and to value on the outside fortunately or unfortunately quickly becomes what our children's nervous systems, bodies, and emotions adapt to. In choosing appropriate experiences for children Rudolf Steiner spoke about learning to decipher for children the difference between fantasy and the fantastic. Fantasy involves imaginative stories told orally, through theatre, or through books and or activities that connect experiences of nature or culture with values and ideas that promote a beautiful, loving, and sustainable connection to the world. With fantasy there should be elements of surprise, adventure, and a contrast of light and dark, but it is only there to accentuate the positive. Fantasy experiences should involve using the imagination actively through mostly listening, not passively through mostly watching. Experience based on the fantastic, on the other hand, is connected to the following: Television and video media, modern commercial life without respect for landscapes, resources, species, or cultures; depictions of violence; computer technology and games; science fiction; aliens; depictions of dangerous or oversized animals or insects; overly powerful or unnecessarily high-tech machines and vehicles; suped-up super hero culture; modern music that is loud, heavy, overtly sensual or sexual; or stories that are caustically sentimental, insipid, cold, or darn right dark and evil. With the fantastic passively being stimulated through surprise and extreme contrasts of light and dark is often the whole point. Often the fantastic comes packaged as if it is harmless fantasy complete with a moral thrown in (for instance much of Disney), but this is only to qualify it or provide the "tear jerker" effect. Choosing between the two is difficult. What appears to bring delight is not always easy to understand as dangerous to that child. What complicates things more is that because children are bonded to us strongly and get happy and thrilled about the same things we do, we may make choices based too much on what we like. When in the mid 90's Switzerland gave in to pressures to allow the big networks to televise within their borders, they did it knowing it would reduce the age of puberty on average by 1.5 years and thus lower the IQs of its citizens. And yes, it doesn't take that much television viewing per week to have that effect plus other detrimental ones on the developing brain.

Try to observe a child's deeper reactions to experiences and stimuli: What for instance is their mood and energy afterward or the next day or days? It is superior to use the years before they are 15 or 16 to strengthen their connection to what is wholesome, old-fashioned, and nature-based. Try not to worry about them not being tough and media-hip when they are teens - eventual exposure to all things modern is inevitable and awareness of such things ultimately necessary. In their later teens or early twenties, if you have aimed for fantasy not the fantastic, your children will strike other children or young adults as truly hip - able to make fun and not just consume it, and easily able to stand up to peer and marketplace pressure. How to help them be tough in a healthy way? Children can get plenty toughened from working steadily with hands, head, and heart together to serve others and also engaging in age-appropriate outdoor sports and camping. Working around the house, yard, and if it can be arranged farm, builds true toughness as well!

Thank you for your kind attention so far. So, finally, back to astronomy....

It is fine to explain to children younger than age 9 that vernal is derived from the Latin ver meaning spring, while autumnal relates to fall, equi equal, and nox night, and to say; "Today, is a special day: Day and night are of equal length!" telling them a story about this - a story or myth they can imagine and relate to emotionally - or by letting them count down to sunset, or noting setting times of consecutive sunsets to see if their is a trend, but to go beyond this is abstracting for them, rather than letting them some day have the real joy to construct understanding themselves, or with minimal assistance, when they are ready!

In summary, we adults should always strive to avoid pushing young children's energies up into their heads, but rather let these developmental forces work in a more dynamic way throughout their organism -allowing for a harmonious integration of the senses, emotions, thinking, and physical, as well as, spiritual abilities / morality. All of these parts of the developing child should evolve in concert with one another, with the child as the head conductor. We adults are here to listen, and bring refreshments, decide when its playtime, break time, and work time, as well as, guide, challenge, cheer, and occasionally correct. But mostly, we are to patiently and lovingly await for the unique rhythm, dynamic, and beauty of a child's individual song to join the world's chorus.

Summer Camp Information Individual Programs Links of Necessity and Interest
A place where a child's development can find its balance point and an adult can rekindle a bond with nature
Camp Woods Play Day Camp Each day at Camp Woods Play, forest, meadow, and pond's edge conspire to surprise and challenge us. One day's experience builds on the next and imaginative play, games, art, and music grow out of a shared exploration of nature. This will be the camp's fifth season! Camp activities are planned via group or individual choice and include going on shorter or sometimes longer adventures, watercoloring and drawing, co-creating puppet shows and nature skits, learning camping and survival skills, or visiting a nearby bird Wild Wings or the Monroe County Mounted Police horsebarns. Of course water play is included on hot days. Most importantly, each day will include a chance to freely play in nature, à la Scandinavian Forest Kindergartens. The forest has been described as an ideal environment for fostering the growth of a healthy imagination and for balancing physical development: Its architecture lifts the spirit and provides a fortress of cooling shade, gentle breezes, and filtered light; Plus, countless natural play objects are scattered all about! Nature provides the perfect playground, and studies show, a comparatively safe one. Camp Woods Play is the inspiration of Marcie Matthews, MsEd, who is trained in outdoor, elementary, and Waldorf education, and has been bringing people and nature together for many years. Her specialty is in helping children's play return to more cooperative and old-fashioned themes using materials found in nature rather than toys. Additionally, other talented teachers, CITs, and parents wishing to share their creativity, training, and experience will be helping with music, athletic skills, as well as arts and crafts, or...whatever! Camp central is located in a white pine forest, which remains cooling even on the hottest days and is handy to a park shelter and bathrooms. For the youngest campers a portable potty is available. With attention to health and dietary restrictions, filtered drinking water and organic non- or low-sweet snacks are provided. Camp is insured. See details below.
Camp has begun! contact marcie(at)woodsplay.com On certain Friday evenings there is always the chance for you and your child or you alone to meet the director, other parents, and other teachers by joining us for our Friday night nature experiences (see details in program list below). We will meet at the Algonkian shelter, which is right off Pond Road near Deep Pond. Check the link to the map of Mendon Ponds Park. There will be forms to fill out if you decide to try camp, but there is no committment. The next Friday walks are Friday, June 26th. Please try to send an email if you are planning to come unless you regularly come then only if you are not coming. Otherwise just contact me via email: marcie(at)woodsplay.com. and I can email you the forms and suggest when you might try camp. The first two times your child attends camp it is expected that an adult caretaker come along who knows the child well. This helps ensure a successful transition into the program for everyone. We are, as yet, still growing and do not have a limit to programs as there are enough teachers to expand to other times and even places . Continue to check back if you'd like to try or regularly partcipate at any point in the summer or if you can get together a group near you. This year it seems so far, that we will have at least two parallel camps, exact times and dates to be determined soon Tuesday & Thursday Morning camp from 9:00 - 12:00 for ages 0 - 4, plus any older kids interested in helping. especially geared to the preschool aged child . For those who would like to come after snack at 10:30, there is the possibility of an extension until 1:30 or 2:00 including lunch time at 12:00, story time, and further play and art in the forest. Please try to send an email, even that morning, to tell me, yeh or neh, about you and your child(ren)'s planned attendance. Friday afternoon camp from 1:30 - 5:00 for older preschool or Kindergarten kids age 4.5 and older plus any older kids or teens wanting to help with this group. When there is a little more sign-up, days will be added. Please try to send an email, even that morning, to tell me, yeh or neh, about you and your child(ren)'s planned attendance. Camp for older kids ages 9 and up, if there is interest. It might run two days per week and would include longer hikes, more in-depth exploration, and more complicated projects. Please try to send an email, even that morning, to tell me, yeh or neh, about you and your child(ren)'s planned attendance. Friday evening forest experiences: 6:30 - 7:45 for the Littles with parents and adults, and 8:00 - 9:30 for the Biggers with parents and adults. A lot of fascinating and beautiful things happen in the evening that are hard to see during the day time. Clear red foil and rubber bands will be available to cover flashlights for the later walk. The next Friday experience will be Friday June 26th. Please try to send an email, even that morning, to tell me, yeh or neh, about you and your child(ren)'s planned attendance. Although bugs are not a big problem in a healthy ecosystem, there are ocassional mosquito population booms so.... If you want my advice, the sunscreen and insect repellent available from Dr. Mercola is the healthiest. Go to mercola.com to order. This is also a good site to help begin taking charge of your family's health. There is a newsletter and product listing. Dr. Mercola used to not sell anything, but so many clients complained that they couldn't follow his advice that he now offers a good number of products.

Schedule:	Time and dates to be determined by needs of families
Cost:	Whichever is less: $6/hour or .00008 x total family annual income/hour
Siblings:	50% reduction for siblings
Payment:	Daily sign-in/out sheet is for security & billing, weekly bill comes with a return envelope
Provided:	filtered water, and low-sugar juice/teas
Bathrooms:	Park facility is near, also we have a hidden portable one, and the nature center has a flush one
Comfort:	The forest is quite a bit cooler and most days fairly pestering-insect-free
Rain:	Day rain is rare and actually fun in the pavillion, with heavy thunder it becomes car storytime
Health:	Information on nutrition, sun exposure, and outdoor safety provided at camp
Injuries:	The forest is usually safer than the built environment, but we carry first aid kits and cell phones
Security:	cell phones are with teachers; often mounted patrol is nearby
PDF Forms:	For downloadable and printable registration and health forms please use links below
Emailed/mailed:	Email is below for info and to receive brief registration/health forms via email or post
Contact:	Marcie Matthews, at marcie(at)woodsplay.com, phone # and address will be in reply email