Morning

Morning Verse

Morning has come, night is away
We rise with the sun to welcome the day

To Earth I come
To greet the sun
To greet the moon
The stones that rest
The plants that grow
And animals that run
To greet all people in this world
Love greets me in all I do
And I and you and the world are one.

Vegetable Chopping

Vegetable chopping encourages fine motor development, offers and opportunity for purposeful work, and the process lays a foundation for math and science later in development.

To set your child up for success offer them a chopping board and knife proportioned to the size of their hand. For some children, they will be eager to partake in the treasured job of peeling the vegetables wearing sweaters (I.e. skins). Once the vegetables are peeled, prepare your child for success by cutting long, lean pieces for them to chop (the pieces should be the shape of a classic french fry). We chop our vegetables into tiny mousie nibbles.

Story

Song

My Lady Spring
My Lady Spring, my Lady Spring
She wears a primrose crown
And all the little buds and twigs are clinging to her gown
The sun shines when she laughs at all
And when she weeps the raindrops fall
My Lady Spring, my Lady Spring

Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
6-8 c water (or more, depending on how many vegetables are in your soup)
3-4 vegetable bouillon cubes (or replace water and bouillon with 6-8 c vegetable stock)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small-medium onion (or half a large one), chopped small
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 c dry lentils
2-4 tbsp nutritional yeast
Bay leaf
Spices of choice (we use thyme, sage, oregano, and rosemary), to taste
Black pepper, to taste
3-4 carrots, peeled (try letting your child peel a carrot, under your supervision, of course)
2-3 stalks of celery
Whatever vegetables you like! Cedar Rose favorites include potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, parsnips, bell peppers, spinach, and mushrooms, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Just make sure all vegetables are washed and peeled (if applicable).
1 c brown rice spiral pasta (or small pasta variety of your choice)

Instructions:
Boil the water and stir in bouillon to prepare the broth.

In a large soup pot, sauteé the onion in the olive oil over medium-high heat until translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and sauteé for another minute, stirring occasionally.

Add the lentils and four cups of broth; raise heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Add bay leaf. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, uncovered.

Once all the veggies are chopped, add them to the pot along with the rest of the broth (the amount needed will depend on how many vegetables you have as well as your preference for how brothy you like your soup), your favorite spices, nutritional yeast, and black pepper (all to taste). Increases heat to bring to a low boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes.

Stir occasionally, and after 20 minutes, use your spoon to pull out a vegetable or two. Run them under cold water and taste them, checking for tenderness. Once you’ve sampled a few vegetables that are still slightly firm (but not hard), add the rice pasta.

Continue cooking until the pasta is al dente (check package instructions for cook time).

Turn off heat and allow soup to cool for a minute or two before serving. Alternatively, serve into bowls and allow the bowls to sit for a few minutes before eating.

Afternoon

Evening Wind
Adapted from Wilma Ellersiek

Blow the evening wind so mild
Rest my little flower child
Lu lu lu lu lu, lu lu lu lu lu

Flowers Grow
Words by Monica Stone
This verse can be accompanied by gentle therapeutic touch to help your child come to a state of rest and wellbeing.

The flowers, they grow on your ten little toes
With forefinger and thumb, gently caress and massage each toe
All the way up to your little nose
Gently draw finger down the length of child’s nose
The petals, they softly brush your cheek
Gently brush each cheek with back of your hand
As you lay down and fall fast asleep
Gently run fingers along child’s brow

The Windmill
If I could have a windmill, a windmill, a windmill
If I could have a windmill, I know what I would do.
I'd have it pump some water, some water, some water
I'd have it pump some water, up from the river below.
And then I'd have a duck pond, a duck pond, a duck pond
And then I'd have a duck pond, for ducks and geese to swim.
The ducks would make their wings flap, their wings flap, their wings flap
The ducks would make their wings flap, and they would say "Quack! Quack!"
The geese would stretch their long necks, their long necks, their long necks
The geese would stretch their long necks, and they would answer "S-S-S-S-S!"
If I could have a windmill, a windmill, a windmill
If I could have a windmill, I know what I would do

Nature Craft Activity

Go on a little nature walk in your backyard or neighborhood and collect three small sticks.

At home, bind the ends of the sticks together with yarn to form a triangle frame. Using your favorite color yarn, wrap and weave around the triangle frame (like a spider web).

When finished, tie a piece of string at the top and find a special place to hang your beautiful decoration!

Tuesday: Soup Day