My heart gives thanks

That my eye may see

That my ear may hear

That, waking, I may feel

In Mother and Father,

In all dear people,

In stars and clouds,

The light of God

The love of God

The being of God

Which, when I sleep

Shining,

Loving,

Bestowing grace

Protect me

Rudolf Steiner

This beautiful bed time prayer was shared with me by another parent at Golden Hill when my own children were in kindergarten and we were going through a challenging time. I spoke it to them every night before bed and it had a healing effect. Of course the word “God” may not sit with your own belief systems and could be replaced with what 

resonates most deeply.  It seemed right to share it as some of the  

children  have been experiencing sleep difficulties, along with other changes frequently observed in children around their sixth year.

As we spiral towards the shortest day (the Midwinter Solstice ) just a few weeks away, and the days become darker and colder, it can be a challenging time of the year for everyone. So we often notice even greater challenges for those already experiencing a time of transition, such as our 5.5-6.5 year old children.

The website;      

http://www.creativelivingwithchildren.com/the-profiles/children-up-to-seven/five-and-a-half-to-six-year-old-profile/  is an excellent resource for helping parents and teachers to understand expected behaviours for each age group. I would like to share the following extract from the Older fives and Younger Sixes that might help explain some of the stories that come home from school!

“Children in this stage have a growing sense of what is “good” and what is “bad”, (in this case “good” and “bad” usually being defined by the child’s adult authorities) mostly with a far greater idea of what is “bad” than “good”; it is typical of children around Six to come home and want to tell of all the “bad” things another child did at school. It is this growing moral sense which is nourished by the fairy tales and stories which plainly outline that bad is punished and good is rewarded, that provides a feeling of safety in the world for the child, even though as adults we know life is not so simple. They need to know the world is a beautiful place first, to build inner strength in a place of safety. The time will come to know the harsher realities of the world later. Nevertheless there is definitely a developmental readiness at around Six to start to work with the idea of transforming and taming the behaviours (their little ‘dragons’) which are inappropriate, hurtful or unhelpful and which come from our lower nature, and working to draw out their desire to be good and true (their best ‘shining selves’). It is hard sometimes to believe that the child of this age wants to be good behind all that confused defiance and self-centeredness. Perhaps it helps to remind ourselves that research shows we are essentially social beings and want to do what is also best for others. We do want beauty, goodness and truth. 

Then we can again try to draw the goodness out of our children by our belief in them.”

With warm wishes at this darkest time of year!

Denise