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Story with puppets proves captivating BY CHRISTINE HAWES CORRESPONDENT Sarasota Herald Tribune January 09. 2008 Children's author Shelley Davidow greets Lisa Bull and her son, Max, arriving to hear Connie Manson, puppeteer and storyteller. Davidow and Manson are both teachers at Sarasota's Waldorf School.

Connie Manson has spent her life helping youngsters learn to kindle their own imaginations, with her tools consisting of little more than her handcrafted puppets, her expressive face and voice, and folk tales passed down over decades or centuries.

More than 25 youngsters -- and many of their delighted parents -- had a chance to hear Manson's classic and simple form of entertainment during a recent afternoon at Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Accompanied by her husband, Peter Chin, on acoustic guitar, Manson told the American Indian tale of Shingebiss, a duck who perseveres through the cold winter. The children, most of them age 3 to 5, adored fuzzy Shingebiss and Manson's other puppet creations during the Dec. 8 show.

Parents admired Manson's use of plant-dyed silk and cotton for much of her scenery, and the organic cotton handmade puppets. And they expressed appreciation for Manson's way of reaching their children.

"What makes her so special is the love she has for what she does," parent Marlene Panet-Raymond said. "You can't make that up."

"It doesn't make any difference whether you are 3 or 5 or 10 or an adult," parent Julie Schechter said. "You're so enriched by her storytelling and its ability to foster the imagination."

Manson has been teaching and telling stories to young children for more than 20 years, including five years running a nursery. Manson is also featured on several recordings of children's stories. She and her husband are teachers at Sarasota's Waldorf School, part of an international network of private schools focused on educating each student's "mind, heart and hands," according to the Waldorf Web site.

Manson's use of plant dyes to color some of her scenery is actually part of the training for all Waldorf teachers; her emphasis on spurring a child's own imagination is also essential to the Waldorf philosophy of fostering creativity and self-sufficiency in its students.

"The story is shared in a quiet, respectful way to attempt to engage and draw the children's attention, as opposed to presenting a louder and more visually stimulating method of entertainment that only asks the child to sit back and observe," Manson explained. "In a culture where our children are often overstimulated with sensory input, this approach acts as an antidote or a balance."

Siesta Key Kiwanis Club Luncheon :

Lisa White, a founding Board Member of the Sarasota Waldorf School was the guest speaker at the Siesta Key Kiwanis Club Luncheon on Wednesday, Nov. 15. The Kiwanis Club generously awarded the school $1000 toward their Tuition Aid program, and has supported and helped to promote the school for several years. Lisa gave a 20 minute presentation on Waldorf education, complete with visuals and a audio-visual presentation. The video was created
by Chris Bull, a film expert and parent of a kindergarten student. Because only 8 years ago Lisa was a newcomer to Waldorf education and was often struck and sometimes perplexed by this very unique educational approach, Lisa humorously structured her presentation around questions that people commonly have about Waldorf. One such question was "What's up with all the singing?" Lisa, mustering much courage and humility, sung, complete with gestures and props, the Squirrel Nutkin and Dusty Gnome songs to a crowd of about thirty adults before answering the question. Other questions answered were "What's up with all the knitting?" and "What's up with the no TV thing?" The presentation was very well received and garnered one enthusiastic response of "that's the best luncheon presentation the Siesta Key Kiwanis Club has ever had!" The school is very grateful to the Kiwanis Club for inviting Lisa to speak and for the scholarship. The school looks forward to working with the Club in the future.

Profile of a Developing Waldorf School: The Sarasota Waldorf School

My experience with Waldorf schools has been primarily around established schools such as Hawthorne Valley in Harlemville, NY (where I was a class teacher) and the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School in Great Barrington, MA (where I am a parent). Schools have personalities. Some are strongly teacher run; others seem more guided by board decisions; some are open to parental input, others not. Often these habits” seem to go back to the founding of the school. How a school is founded—the mood, the collegiality, the presence or absence of established teachers, etc.—seems to determine how a school functions in the future. I always wonder about new schools. Can one establish habits at the founding of a school that start it off on a healthy road? Whenever I visit a new school, I always hope that the particular story of one school will shed light on others. Here is what I discovered on a recent visit to Florida.
The Sarasota Waldorf School is developing, barely out of its infancy. During my visit, the lead class was just completing its year as first graders. The fall of 2005 will see them in second grade and a new class of first graders will begin. In addition to the grade school, the school has a playgroup that meets weekly with families and children from birth to 3 1/2 years, a nursery program for children aged 3-4, and a kindergarten for children aged 4-6.

SteinerBooks is a leading provider of books for and about Waldorf Education. Visit them at www.steinerbooks.org

HERE is a link to the PDF file of the entire article.

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