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SRV 1929 to 2009
October
80 Years Ago
The progressive philosophy of SRV's founding parents and teachers was quickly translated during the first year into practical teaching methods. Children were encouraged to pursue topics of interest and to actively experiment and explore their environment. The Oldest Group followed the daily newspaper accounts of Admiral Byrd's exploration of the Arctic. Child–sized furnishings and a sunny window invited this little one to linger over a great book.
October 2009
I love October at SRV. The incredible blueness of the sky, the ripening apples and drying (and disappearing) grass, the yellow jackets and wooly–bears all fill my senses and heart. Then there are the children, whose activities at this time of year are not unlike those creatures that must prepare to survive long cold months of winter.
Everywhere, children are building. The little ones are hard at work in the sand–boxes. In October, much of their work is about moving the sand – filling the trucks and dumping them out some–where else, or carrying sand back and forth to the playhouse, where some of it makes it into the ice cream cones, but most is on the floor.
In the woods, the forts have sprung up once again. Some of them look like beavers' dams or Eyore's house – seemingly random piles of sticks laboriously and lovingly constructed. Others are more difficult to discern, as they might simply be stone rings on the forest floor, or even structureless collections of tools, buckets of shiny dust and balls of clay. Some of the forts are sturdy and improved daily, and one can easily imagine children actually taking shelter in their bowels. Others may be abandoned, their building materials quickly salvaged to reappear elsewhere. What's important to these children are the acts of building, solving problems, negotiating roles, making trades. They're very busy, and the work/play is so very serious. Survival itself, it often seems, is at stake. And to the child, this indeed is the case.
Eva, Kai, Alex and Daniel work in the woods
Other children scurry around the campus in October, like squirrels frantically gathering food for the winter. This year we actually have a bountiful crop of apples to harvest, and the temptation to pick them early is nearly (okay, actually) irresistible. There will still be plenty for cider on Apple Day, though. Children have been helping Dawn collect the last of the vegetables and settle the garden for winter. They inevitably find at least one toad. Acorns are rediscovered in October, and horse chestnuts are hoarded. Soon the children will start collecting pretty leaves, chasing them as they fall on windy days, and when there are enough on the ground, they'll rake them into piles for jumping. Collecting things is simply fun for children, but it also leads to counting, sorting and classifying, and great scientific inquiries and discoveries.
Then there are the migrators. October is a time when many of the children are starting to figure out who they are and what they want to be, together and at school. The kindergartners have been playing their first and the safest of Mike's games, "Kick the Jug," for a few weeks now, and are ready to try "Ghost in the Graveyard" – or at least to watch. Some of the older ones are flexing their muscles as leaders of an organized sport, basketball this year, which becomes another vehicle for sorting out leadership and alliances. A few children are still a little aimless, looking for purpose, or a project to throw themselves into. The boundaries are tested in October. This time for children to try new things out, to be bored, even to get into a little bit of trouble, is so important. It allows them to choose their directions, and discover new skills and passions.
I encourage you all to come by SRV at least one mid–day this October, when the children are outside. The campus is beautiful and the weather is fair, so it's a lovely time to take a walk. But more importantly, I think you'll see and enjoy, as I get to, how the children are using the tremendous gifts we give them every day: a wonderful campus, extended time in which to play outdoors, and the philosophical stance that these things are essential for their learning, growth and well–being.
October 1935
(excerpted from weekly teacher progress reports)
Each child planted a daffodil bulb in the triangle of ground which we prepared last Friday. Although the process only took a second it seems to have made quite an impression, and several children have speculated on when the bulbs will start to grow. Spring is an event which is still somewhat foggy in their minds, and several of the children have been watching the bed expecting immediate action.
We took a short walk to the Sauls, except for Lynn, Miles and Josephine who went over to see the big school instead. On the way up to Sauls the ones who were in nursery school last year ran ahead eagerly. Adrian alone held back and when we got near the barn held tight to my hand. Nicky and Mary and Judy wanted to go and see the cow in the meadow, but we decided to put it off until another day. We watched the ducks and chickens for a long time, listening to their noises and imitating them.
Twelve Turnings
October. This is a month of definite high spots. On the lanes and in the gardens, it is the most glorious of the year. In school, it is the month of new year hopes and surprising energy.
For example, the flamingo sugar maple on Manchester Avenue is evidence of what can happen outdoors. From the moment trees plug their leaf stems with cork, the colors that have been dormant so far begin to show themselves. And what a display! And how surprising they seem! The sugar maples are the most exciting, but the sober colors make up the harmony. The band of forest at the end of the playing field offers a constantly changing back–drop of crimsons, yellows, purples and bronze that invites a deep and joyful feeling.
Children beginning a new year have large appetites and large ideas. They eat as they never ate before. They hammer away in shop as if they had been starved for the feel of tools. The tempo is intense until the first rapture of having tools in their hands and making something has ended in accomplishment. This steam is evident in academic subjects too, because children welcome getting bigger, having more responsibility for themselves and feeling the success of getting on. To be sure, they cannot always keep the pace they set, but in October they think they can.
Grace Rotzel – 1955
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