1.   Ornaments are fun to make with children. And in this season of abundance and giving, a gift of ornaments for someone’s tree is always appreciated. One can never have too many ornaments. One can have too many socks, or scarves, or coffee mugs, or… but not ornaments. A lovely and personal ornament to make is a child’s handprint. Trace your child’s hand on a stiff piece of paper or card stock. Cut out. Draw or use a potato print to have a red heart on it. Punch a hole, and thread a red ribbon through the hole for hanging. Note child’s age and name on it. Older children can do this independently, and younger children may need a bit of help with cutting. For an elaborate touch, outline edge with glue, and sprinkle with glitter.


All children love paper hats, the simple ones made from newspaper. Using foil or red construction paper, make some paper hats for your tree. Take a standard size piece of paper (8 x 11) and cut in half. This will make two hats. Fold that paper in half - short end to short end. Find center of that fold, and fold in each top corner so that they meet. (You will be making right triangles.) Fold the bottom edge up, and up again, to meet the triangles. Repeat on other side. Crease strongly so the folds remain folded. Then decorate if you like. Dot with glue, or draw lines with glue and sprinkle glitter on for a polka dot or striped hat.


2.   This is a nice time of the year to remember the golden rule. And here is an easy way to teach it to children. I call it the glove thought. Tell your child that you are going to pretend to put on a pair of gloves and for each finger of the glove you are going to say a word. Also mention that they are gloves that have a button at each wrist to keep the snow out.

Now say each word as you pretend to pull the finger of a glove onto each of your fingers. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." There are 11 words; the last finger gets 2 words. Pretend to button the glove on one wrist and say: "For I am love" and for the other wrist, "and you are love." The Golden Gloves are used in Montessori classrooms.


3.   Letters are an abstract system of lines, curves and circles. If you give a child a set of pictures to organize these characters, it will be easy for them to write the letter and also to remember the letter. This is a variation of how letters are taught in Waldorf schools. For instance, this story is told to children for them to remember the letter ‘m’.

A prince lived on top of a mountain on one side of the valley, and a princess lived on top of another mountain far across the valley. They would meet every day at the river that flowed through the valley between the two mountains, and eventually they fell in love. They wished that they could always be together. Their love was so strong that it moved the mountains next to each other … and thus the letter M.

This is an elaborate story but in the Waldorf system of teaching, each letter has its own fairy tale of this sort. Certainly a child will remember the story. To simplify this excellent technique for us, one can create letters that are pictures. I call these nature letters. So, each straight line becomes a tree, a circle is a sun, a curve is a moon, a j is a fish hook, k is a tall tree with a branch up and a root down, e is a moon with a smile, h is a tall tree - go up to the middle and slide down, n is a short tree - go to the top and slide down, m is a short tree go to the top and slide down and go to the top and slide down again, r is a little tree with a branch, s is a snake, u is a short tree, turn the corner and go up, v - go down the mountain and up again, etc.

So guide a child with nature letters by helping them with the visual cues of trees, moons etc. for their beginning writing and letter recognition. This approach appeals to children and thus facilitates learning.


4.   "This corner of the earth smiles for me." This thought by the Greek epic writer, Homer, is an often-quoted sentiment. He voiced this feeling in 800 BC. And it is a sentiment that still rings true for all of us. I think that each person and each child has a special place that speaks or smiles for them – whether it’s a park, the corner of Grandpa’s couch, a particular tree, or the place where friends first met. Helping your child identify a place of this sort provides her with comfort. At any time one can go to that place in their imagination or visit that place when circumstances allow. It’s a form of positive visualization for children that they can do.

Talk to your child and figure out with them just where this corner of the earth is for him. When you need to establish a feeling of security for your child, remind him of that special place. If your child is upset about something, remind him of the feeling that he has at his special place. Suggest to the child to keep that feeling and let the upset feeling go.

We need to feel our feelings, to identify them as sad, or hurt, or angry, but we do not have to linger in a negative feeling or feel overwhelmed by it. Sadness is sadness but there does not have to be a sad day, or week, or year. It is important to know your feelings but not to be controlled by your feelings. You as a person can choose how you handle your feelings – and the ability to move into a place of peace – that place that smiles for you – and thus gives one the ability to decide how to proceed with a feeling. These are valuable skills for all of us to develop – knowing feelings, handling feelings, and having a special place that says safe and happy that we can go to. Help your child develop this skill.


5.   Beginning writing is a hallmark for children. I can reach the light switch, I can tie my shoe, and I can write my name. Children usually have a clear idea of how a letter should be written. However, the beginning writer creates some wiggly interpretations of our alphabet. Then the child wants to erase which usually tears the paper. Or they scribble it out and that makes a huge sign that says MISTAKE! MISTAKE! And a beginning enthusiasm can slip away.

I suggest that one assists the child in creating art from the wired ‘d’ (or whatever letter it happens to be). Most mistakes can be changed into a flower or a caterpillar. Just put a few more loops on that ‘d’, two leaves, and there’s a flower. The stretched out ‘m’ needs two antennas and little legs and there’s a caterpillar. This technique reminds me of the saying ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’. When writing gives you unusual letters, make a picture. Of course, write the letter again and hopefully it will be perfect. If not, create another flower and this could become a garden. This approach makes beginning writing fun.