Welcome to Our Educational House!

Brazil is one of the richest countries in natural resources and with the strongest economy in Latin America. Nonetheless, more than 35% of the whole population lives in poverty, on less than 2 dollars a day, which does not allow them access to a good education or health facilities, water supply or enterprise opportunities (for farmers, handcrafters, other activities).

Itaparica is a joyful paradise island located at the entrance of Todos os Santos Bay on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the state of Bahia, northeast of Brazil; the country's poorest and less developed region. Their production and main activities are fishing, coconut picking and construction, which are passed from generation to generation and mostly to men, while girls learn how to cook the just-picked crabs.

In Bahia, more than 15% of the population is illiterate, and in Itaparica, only 1 in 10 children regularly attend school.

Children are absorbent minds, so if we give them the tools, inspiration and motivation they are seeking, they will naturally achieve all their capacities, being able to enjoy (from the understanding of themselves) who they are and the way they treat others.



Our Educational House (Nossa Casa Educativa) is an intercultural centre; an open free space for the community of Praia Do Sol and Barra Grande (Itaparica island districts) in which children can learn the beauty of knowledge, developing their curiosity, skills and different intelligences through playful dynamic workshops, while adults will learn to appreciate and take advantage of their natural resources, preserving their current activities and abilities, by improving their enterprise skills.



Nossa Casa Educational allows the union of the community, through the expression and exhibition of visual arts , music , books and environmental consciousness , acquiring at the same time , a broader appreciation of the different cultures of the world and their north-eastern culture with respect and equality of race and gender.



Volunteers, both local and international , are responsible for transmitting knowledge, whether by showing their work / professions, or their favourite themes or culture of origin. Thus, there is a constant exchange of knowledge , since from each workshop , some kind of creative expression develops , creating impact and awareness through community interventions, demonstrating that everything around us is connected somehow.



Nossa Casa Educational makes dreaming and traveling through our volunteers and our space specially created for learning. Makes the community of Praia do Sol , mainly their children, know themselves better and understand what are the things that really move them and make them happy, and that studying is a pleasure when you learn to put it into practice in our daily lives.

Goals:

• Expanding possibilities and capabilities of children.
• Improve the quality of life (health - water supply , litter issues )
• Improve security (Through the unity of the community )
• Strengthen the rights of women and girls (identity, gender equality )
• Enhance abilities of the locals. (Raising awareness of their natural resources. preserving their culture)

“Our highest endeavour must be to develop free human beings who are able to impart purpose and direction to their lives.” Rudolf Steiner.


TRADUCCION EN ESPAÑOL

Brasil es uno de los países más ricos en recursos naturales y con la economía más fuerte de América Latina. Sin embargo, más del 35% de la población vive en la pobreza, con menos de 2 dólares al día, que no les permite ni una educación ni salud de calidad, suministro de agua u oportunidades empresariales (para los agricultores, artesanos, otras actividades).
Itaparica es una isla paradisíaca alegre situada en la entrada de la Bahía de Todos los Santos, en la costa del Océano Atlántico en el estado de Bahía, noreste de Brasil; la región más pobre y menos desarrollada del país. Su producción y actividades principales son la pesca, la recolección de coco y la construcción, que se transmite de generación en generación y sobre todo a los hombres, mientras que las niñas aprenden a cocinar los cangrejos recién recogidos.
En Bahía, más del 15% de la población es analfabeta, y en Itaparica, sólo 1 de cada 10 niños asisten regularmente a la escuela.
Los niños son mentes absorbentes, así que si les damos las herramientas, la inspiración, la motivación que están buscando, van a alcanzar de forma natural todas sus capacidades, siendo capaces de disfrutar (a partir del entendimiento de si mismos) quienes son y como tratan a los demás.

Nossa Casa Educativa es un centro intercultural; un espacio libre y abierto a la comunidad de Praia Do Sol y Barra Grande (distritos de la isla de Itaparica) en la que los niños pueden aprender la belleza del conocimiento, el desarrollo de su curiosidad, habilidades y diferentes inteligencias a través de talleres dinámicos y ludicos, mientras que los adultos pueden mejorar sus habilidades empresariales, apreciando y aprovechando sus propios recursos naturales.

Nossa Casa Educativa permite la union de la comunidad, por medio de la expresion y exposicion del arte plastico, la musica, los libros y la consciencia ambiental, adquiriendo, al mismo tiempo, una apreciacion mas amplia de las culturas diferentes del mundo y de la propia cultura nordestina, con respeto e igualdad de raza y genero.

Voluntarios, tanto locales como internacionales, son los encargados de transmitir conocimientos, ya sea de sus labores/profesiones, como de sus temas favoritos o cultura de proveniencia. Asi, existe un constante intercambio de conocimientos, ya que a partir de cada taller, se desarrolla algun tipo de expresion creativa, generando impacto y consciencia atraves de intervenciones en la comunidad, demostrando que todo lo que nos rodea esta conectado de alguna forma.

Nossa Casa Educativa hace soniar y viajar atraves de nuestros voluntarios y nuestro espacio creado especialmente para el aprendizaje. Hace a la comunidad de Praia do Sol, principalmente a los ninos, conocerse mejor a si mismos y entender cuales son las cosas que realmente los mueven y hacen feliz, y que el estudio es un placer cuando se aprende a ponerlo en practica en nuestra vida cotidiana.

Metas:

• Ampliar las posibilidad y capacidades de los ninos.
• Mejorar la calidad de vida (salud - suministro de agua, problema de basura)
• Mejorar la seguridad (atraves de la unidad de la comunidad)
• Fortalecer los derechos de las mujeres y ninas (identidad, igualdad de genero)
* Potenciar los recursos naturales y abilidades de los locales.

"Nuestro mayor esfuerzo debe ser el desarrollo de los seres humanos libres que son capaces de impartir propósito y dirección a sus vidas." Rudolf Steiner.

Activities and their benefits

Activities and their benefits on the island


Casa Eductiva's activities will provide benefit to the community of Praia do Sol, small district of no more than 1000 people on Itaparica island in the state of Bahia, Brazil.
We will encourage the community children's learning process and abilities development to their full potential. As well as locals' enterprise projects and gender equality.
The community of Praia do Sol has no direct easy access to development programs or big help from the government with the water supplying or sanitation issues. There are no organizations actively working on the area, so any help we can give to them, will be a big change for these people.


Eu sou (I am) is our main project, educational proposal focused on better comprehension of the world through wide variety of workshops. Local and foreign volunteers will lead two-weeks to two-months sessions based on their own cultures, main activity/profession or favourite theme.
Through this project, the children will:
• Expand worldview and future professional possibilities.
• Discover their passions and skills.
• Develop their abilities to their full potential.


Song de Raiz is an educational proposal focused on better understanding and appreciation of culture - home and foreign - through music.
The basis of the project is the music-cultural exchange between a school in Oxford and Casa Educativa - Community Education Centre on Itaparica Island, Brazil. The relationship will be led by Stefania Giordano (founder of Casa Educativa) who will travel to Brazil and teach sessions in both the schools, supported by local musicians in each country.
Through this project, the children will:
• acquire a better understanding and appreciation of their own culture.
• expand worldview, creating respect and appreciation for a different culture.
• develop creativity, curiosity and musical skills.
• acquire a basic knowledge of a foreign language.
• improve literacy skills in their own language.
• develop empathy and teamwork skills.


Naturagem is a waste/sanitation proposal focused on better care of the environment through recycling education (crafts and info workshops) and separated-waste bins implementation.
Through this project, the community will:
• Raise awareness of the amount of waste they produce and the importance of their natural environment.
• Appreciate the place where they live by regularly taking care of it.
• Develop creativity, handcraft and enterprise skills.
• Acquire a permanent income from recycling sale to local recycling companies such as CAEC, CAMAPET or CANORE, and recycling handcrafts.
• Solve some of their sanitation issues.


Ilha Viva (Living Island) is a cultural proposal focused on the development of active local participation and creativity through artistic performances, interventions and exhibitions (based on our other workshops) as well as community meals and big-screened film nights.
Through this project, the community will:
• Create a sense of unity and security.
• Develop empathy and teamwork skills.
• Reduce the consume of alcohol and drugs due to stay busy in healthy create activities.
• Develop confidence and sensitivity.


Ela é (She is) is an enterprise proposal focused on empowering women, through handcraft sessions, sexual education and inspiring-women-in-history workshops. Men are also welcome to participate.
Through this project, the women will:
• Acquire a better understanding of their rights and skills.
• Respect themselves and create a healthier relationship with men.
• Reduce promiscuity and sexual diseases.
• Develop enterprise and autonomy skills.


Minha Terra é (My Land is) is an enterprise proposal focused on the better appreciation and use of their natural resources through handcraft workshops, follow by the hand-made-products sale.
Through this project, the local producers will:
• Acquire enterprise skills and future income.
• Understand the value of their natural resources and the preservation of them.
• Acquire a better appreciation of their own culture.


Nos Livres (We are free -Portuguese, Our Books - French) is a cultural proposal focused on the encouragement of reading through the opening of a public library in the Educational House and a series of poetry and storytelling sessions led by foreigners and locals.
Through this project, the community will:
• Improve (or acquire for the first time due to the high percentage of illiteracy) literacy skills.
• Acquire a broader knowledge of general culture.
• Expand their vocabulary, improving their communication and the way they express themselves.
• Develop sensitivity and listening skills.

If Casa Educativa makes any surplus it will be used for the acquisition of educational material for the children as well as it will go directly to the local producers and handcrafters we will work with.

Children learn what they live

By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.


If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

A Nurturing Environment

The essential task of the teacher is to create the proper physical environment around the children. “Physical environment” must be understood in the widest sense imaginable. It includes not just what happens around the children in the material sense, but everything that occurs in their environment, everything that can be perceived by their senses, that can work on the inner powers of the children from the surrounding physical space.

—Rudolf Steiner, The Education of the Child

The air children breathe, the light they see by, the words and sounds they hear, the food they eat, the water they drink, the feel of the clothes they wear, the things they play with, and the attitudes and emotions of the people around them all affect how they grow, develop, think, feel and behave.
Children absorb and imitate what they experience in their environment. Their exterior environment molds their interior environment.
The Educational House aims to active each of the children's senses by a natural spontaneous invitation to collaborate with their environment.
The awareness of their senses (Sight, taste, smell, touch and hearing) will enhance their approach to their community and quotidian activities, building their confidence and consciousness of the purpose of their actions.

It is important to keep the children's creativity and intelligences working all the time. This is why the presence of wise and inspiring phrases (some of them in different languages/alphabets), paintings, great leaders of the world portraits, beautiful photographs, flowers, colours, textures and shapes are essential for the house decoration.

All children need to feel that their world is a safe place where they can be themselves and develop all their skills; they need to feel like they belong to somewhere. A sense of belonging has been found to help protect children against mental health problems and improve their learning. Children who feel that they belong are happier, more relaxed and have fewer behavioural problems than others. They are also more motivated and more successful learners.
The Education House, as the name suggests, will be a familiar welcoming space: a Home. We will have pictures of the children as part of the family, and their birthday dates on the wall reminding us to celebrate them.
Celebrations; the practice of rituals will also contribute to this sense of belonging and self-confidence. Our House will celebrate multicultural rituals (Chinese and Thai new year, Indian Holi festival, Day of the dead in Mexico, Inti Raymi or "the festival of the sun" in the South American Andes, etc.) and our own rituals we will create with our own history.

The division of activities by rooms helps to create respect for a specific repetitive practice. Children need structure and repetition. It is very important to create and do the same things they've done before. Structure and repetition gives a child security, stability and a feeling that everything is good.
The Educational House has rooms for developing all the senses and each room has its own function:



- (1) A sala das Historias (The stories room): Senses: Hearing and touch.
This is the main room of the house. This is where, aside from the storytelling, the discussions, subject introductory talks, beginning and end-of-the-day conversations will take place. The manipulation of objects during/after the storytelling will transport them to the world where the tale belongs, linking objects with cultural rituals and habits due to their sense of touch.

- (2) A sala do Sabor (The flavour room): Senses: Smell and taste.
As Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh observes, we can see and taste the whole universe in a piece of bread. It's important to understand not only our food nutritional value, but also its process and origin in order to appreciate more what we eat.
Our kitchen will be more than just a cooking place; it will be one more classroom in which the children discover new flavours and smells. One of our games to develop the appreciation of these two senses is covering the children's eyes making them guess what they taste/smell.

- (3) A sala do Silencio (The silence room): Senses: Hearing and sight.
At least once a day, the children will enter the silence room in order to connect with themselves and truly LINTEN. By recognizing each of the instruments playing in a recorded song, five-minutes silence listening the outside nature and listing what they hear, contemplating a painting and its details, or just reading silently will balance their mood, feeling free to use this peaceful space whenever they need quietness.

- (4) A sala da Criação(The creation room/art room): Senses: Sight and touch.
This is where all the pencils, paintings, cardboards and the rest of materials will take place. A big table in the middle of the room will provide comfort and a sense of companionship. The poetry and illustration sessions will be taken in this room.

- (5) A sala da Mente (The mind room): Senses: Sight and touch.
This is where the library will take place. Books from all over the world (mainly in Portuguese, but also in many other languages) will encourage them to read and write and appreciate the simplicity and value of a book. This is also an open space for the community to encourage themselves to learn what there is out in the world. In this room there will be jigsaws and other board games, wooden sticks, bricks and dolls for the imagination and psychomotor development, as well as the familiarization with numbers (additions and subtractions).

- (blank) A sala da Purificação (The purification room/toilette): Personal hygiene education.

- (6) Espaço de Exposição(Exhibition area): Their creations (paintings, hand-made objects, sculptures, etc.) will be openly exhibited in order to show and celebrate their achievements and skills. The community will be welcome to appreciate the monthly exhibitions we will organize based on a specific topic we have chosen throughout the month (according to the stories we tell and the culture we are studying by then).

- (7) Casa na árvore (Treehouse): Children love to feel they have their own little world, where they can hide and feel safe. Perhaps because they feel bigger, or because they can see and reach everything in a reduce space, but whatever the reason is, they love it and they feel comfortable in it.

- (8) Horto (Vegetables-growing garden) The process of growing will enhance the children's patience and sensibility.

- (9) Roda de Capoeira: Community participation.

- (10) Palco (Stage): Performances by the children will be set on the stage every six month, inviting all the community to be part of it and learn a little bit of history through our stories.

- (11) Office: Keeping the management and private life separated from the children's learning process.

- Others: Story nights by the fire, possible Henhouse and/or dog, wild birds home-made feeders (the importance of animals in children's life), home-made fountain, mosaics.

Come visit!

“Education should no longer be mostly imparting knowledge, but must take a new path, seeking the release of human potentials.”
Maria Montessori.



"Itaparica is an island located at the entrance of Todos os Santos Bay on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the state of Bahia, Brazil. It is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the city of Salvador, Bahia and covers 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi). There are two municipalities on the island: Vera Cruz (87% of the land area, where Praia Do sol and our Educational House is located) and Itaparica (13%). Itaparica has 40 kilometres (25 mi) of beaches suitable for tourists and exuberant tropical vegetation. Itaparica is the largest maritime island in Brazil."

Praia Do sol is one of the Beaches in the Municipality of Vera Cruz and a small community of fishermen and builders. Their productions are mainly -if not entirely- distributed in the area and so we can say about their people, who follow their family metier or, at worst, search for the same two previously mentioned jobs in the closest city, Salvador.

The community of Praia Do Sol has a relaxing, peaceful lifestyle, but at the same time lacks of motivation and new opportunities for their children. Maria Montessori wrote in one of her books: “The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences.” and their is no new truly constructive experiences if the community is blocking their own people's development.
Over the years, The municipality of Vera Cruz has not changed architecturally, commercially or culturally. It is not a primary need the presence of foreign tourists, but I have to admit that the only clean and cultural active places in the island are the international touristic ones.
I do believe the heart of the people is where there is no tourists, because it's where they express their culture in a natural spontaneous way. I don't pretend to turn the Praia do Sol into a touristic attraction, but I would like it to look naturally like those: clean and lively, participatory and entrepreneurial.

During their educational process in our House, the children of the island can end up realizing how much they love fishing and still thinking is what they want to dedicate their life to, but at least they have learned how to bake and build toy-sized car models, enable to read and write poetry in their spare time.

This is an invitation to everyone who would like to participate to the experience and learning process of these children, bringing them a little bit more of the world.


- How to get to the Educational House:

Itaparica can be reached in about thirty minutes/one hour by ferry from Salvador. The smaller passenger-ferry departs from near the Mercado Modelo towards Mar Grande, while the larger car-ferry goes from about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north to Bom Despacho. Both of the destinations are located at the municipality of Vera Cruz, where there is easy access to public vans/cars -right side of the port, parked by the coast-. The van stops at Praia Do Sol after around fifteen/twenty minutes ride. Same side of the road, there will be signs guiding the way Home...



DECALOGUE OF TEACHER

Gabriela Mistral



1.- LOVE. If you cannot love much, do not teach children.

2.- SIMPLIFY. To know is to simplify without reducing essence.

3.- INSIST. Repeat as Nature repeats the species until reaching perfection.

4.- TEACH with intention of beauty, because beauty is mother.

5.- MASTER. Be fervent. In order to ignite lamps you have to carry fire in your heart.

6.- VIVIFY your class. Each lesson has to be alive like a being.

7.- CULTIVATE. In order to give it is necessary to have much.

8.- REMEMBER that your craft is not merchandise but that it is divine service.

9.- BEFORE dictating your daily lesson look at your heart and see if it is pure.

10.- THINK that God has put to you to create the world of the future.

Education in Action (Program)

“Our highest endeavour must be to develop free human beings who are able to impart purpose and direction to their lives.”
Rudolf Steiner.

Our Educational House is based on a playful dynamic learning process in which the children of the island feel free and welcome to explore their own abilities in order to become a person of integrity, making, at the same time, the community of Praia Do Sol participate to the process of the island development.

Our House will be open to the children and Community during the week and weekends, providing them, not only the space to create and study freely, but also a set schedule of activities related to specific topics to work on every day. Theses topics (universal knowledge) will take place through the following workshops:


- Storytelling: As a folk art, storytelling is accessible to all ages and abilities. No special equipment beyond the imagination and the power of listening and speaking is needed to create artistic images. As a learning tool, storytelling can encourage students to explore their unique expressiveness and can heighten a student's ability to communicate thoughts and feelings in an articulate, lucid manner. These benefits transcend the art experience to support daily life skills. In our fast-paced, media-driven world, storytelling can be a nurturing way to remind children that their spoken words are powerful, that listening is important, and that clear communication between people is an art. (http://www.storyarts.org/classroom/) Stories from all over the world will help them to interact with different cultures and to appreciate the meaning of a book.
Making this possible, requires a several number of books to be donated. Books are a treasure, and for this Educational House any book (mainly in Portuguese) will be a benefit for these children's learning.

- Guest Teaching: As I said in the beginning, theses children don't have much sense of perception of what it's outside the island (not even in the 30-minutes-away big city, Salvador)so in order to open their worlds and choices, the Educational house will always welcome volunteers from all over the world to give a one/two-months-course of the area they specialized in. beside the normal activities organized throughout the year, it will always be an exciting enriching experience letting these children learn from specific areas by their specific experts. My brother Gianfranco Giordano, artist and illustrator, has already offered himself to spend three months giving illustration workshops next year. And as much as they will learn from the drawing and painting, they can learn languages, how to make bread, the benefits of Chinese herbs, the sound of Indian flutes, how to restore antique furniture, etc.

- Cookery: Food is part of our social life. It's on the table where we share moments and create a sense of community. These children don't spend that much time at home, and even though they are independent people, they don't really know how to cook or realize what they eat during the day. Luckily in the island there are several sorts of fruits and vegetables available, but at the same time they are exposed to a lot of sugar and chemicals. Through cooking classes, I would like them to explore different healthy flavours (international and national origins) and to enjoy the creation of colours and tastes in their own meals.
Cooking books and/or recipes are welcome!

- Silence: It is important to encourage children to be comfortable with silence and solitude. Maria Montessori was the first educator to recognise the importance of silence. ‘recognize children’s innate need for intervals of stillness to nourish their inner peace’ (Wolf 2007). She suggested that silence ‘suspends normal life, and raises the person to another level of self’ (The Montessori Method). 2 Games of Silence to try in the classroom Over 100 years ago Maria Montessori created the Game of Silence where she asked the children to remain as quiet as they could and listen to all the sounds around them. The teacher would ring a tiny bell or whisper the word 'silence' or put up a sign to remind children to start their silence. Children would close their eyes and listen to all the sounds inside or outside the room. After a few minutes, the teacher whispers each child's name and they would listen out for their own name and walk towards the teacher. As soon as all the children had been called, the game comes to an abrupt end and children continue with their work. Montessori created this game to encourage self-discipline and improve awareness and sensitivity. Repeating the game for theses children can contribute to an atmosphere of calm, which is needed sometimes in this place full of loudness and impulsive emotions.

Community interactions: This program involves building the relationship between our Educational House and the community of Praia do sol and Barra Grande (both neighbourhoods that belong to the same district in the island).
It has been proved by some studies (Cavaye Community development) that besides enhancing educational outcomes, strengthening Links between Schools and Communities builds the role of the schools (or in this case the Educational House) as contributors to the vitality of their local community.
It is true that the locals are friendly people, and you can feel welcome from the very beginning because you can see how all different ages interact. On the other side, there is a big waste problem in the island; beaches full of beer cans and plastic bags, the streets full of glass bottles and no cultural activities to assist. They say once upon a time there were street musicians playing at the bars and children used to clean up the beaches... but this doesn't happen any more, so that's why it is important to create a community commitment and introduce our children into the locals, as the new active generation.
They themselves will teach the community to respect and protect the environment, not only by picking up plastic bags, but also through artistic interventions such as giving flower seeds to the neighbours and plant them and grow them together, exhibitions of our children's creations during the workshops based on different topics every months, or a once-a-month community reading day in which local people, specially parents or adults en charge of the children in our House, have an active participation in their child's process and their own learning experience (most of them don't know how to read or write, but at least it's a chance to get more familiar with letters and images, always supervised by some volunteer at the Educational House). Another way of integrating locals in this project is by the same idea of "Guest Teaching"; for instances, the handicraftsman, guitarist or the housewife who has this particular way of knitting are invited to give a day workshop, and we all, little by little, get to know the community better.

Museum visits: The children from Itaparica hardly ever go to Salvador, the city right opposite the island, which is a shame since this just mentioned is the first colonial city of Brazil, full of history and cultural influences. Visiting the museums of Salvador is the opportunity to see and handle real objects and the opportunity to experience primary sources. It's also an opportunity for us, as monitors, to see their behaviour outside the island and their progression regarding their appreciation of details and quietness. Salvador has around fifty museums (Archaeology, Anthropology, Music, Religion, Afro-Brazilian history, Antiques, Gastronomy, etc.) all over the city, but mainly in the "Pelorinho", the city centre. This is how they can learn about their own culture in a more dynamic (visible and touchable) way.

A bit of Poetry: Poetry builds resilience in kids and adults; it fosters Social and Emotional Learning. A well-crafted phrase or two in a poem can help us see an experience in an entirely new way. We can gain insight that had evaded us many times, that gives us new understanding and strength. William Butler Yeats said this about poetry: "It is blood, imagination, intellect running together...It bids us to touch and taste and hear and see the world, and shrink from all that is of the brain only." Our schools are places of too much "brain only;" we must find ways to surface other ways of being, other modes of learning. And we must find ways to talk about the difficult and unexplainable things in life -- death and suffering and even profound joy and transformation, and this this exactly what I would like these children to feel/understand: ALL their emotions. Some of the kids in the island, as I previously said, lost their parents and perhaps they are still not able to understand what they've passed through.
Poetry is also a playful way to pay more attention to little things and to find the beauty in quotidian objects. Having little poet messages around the house and working with Odes creations will encourage them to perceive more what surrounds them.
Finally this text about poetry ended up convincing me It was worth it and even necessary to incorporate it in the Educational House, not as a "fancy alternative" method, but as a simple empathy with ourselves: "Don't analyse it, don't ask others to analyse it. Don't deconstruct it or try to make meaning of it. Find the poems that wake you up, that make you feel as if you've submerged yourself in a mineral hot spring or an ice bath; find the poems that make you feel (almost) irrational joy or sadness or delight. Find the poems that make you want to roll around in them or paint their colours all over your bedroom ceiling. Those are the poems you want to play with -- forget the ones that don't make sense. Find those poems that communicate with the deepest parts of your being and welcome them in.

Rudolf Steiner spoke on a number of occasions about the experiences that are essential for the healthy development of the young child. These include:
• love and warmth
• an environment that nourishes the senses
• creative and artistic experiences
• meaningful adult activity to be imitated
• free, imaginative play
• protection of the forces of childhood
• gratitude, reverence, and wonder
• joy, humour, and happiness
• adult caregivers pursuing a path of inner development

What is it stopping us from giving them their essentials?