{"id":3637,"date":"2011-12-27T02:48:20","date_gmt":"2011-12-27T02:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/?p=3637"},"modified":"2012-01-30T03:38:27","modified_gmt":"2012-01-30T03:38:27","slug":"january-opening-circle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/?p=3637","title":{"rendered":"January Opening Circle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here are the songs, transitions, and blessings for Earthroots Forest Kindergarten&#8217;s opening circle in January 2012.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Follow, Follow Me<\/strong><br \/>\nFollow, follow me<br \/>\nTo the ring of the fairies<br \/>\nFollow, follow me,<br \/>\nWhere the fairies dance and sing.<br \/>\nGather with you now<br \/>\nAll the magic you can carry,<br \/>\nAs we circle \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcround the dancing fairy ring.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Now Look Around<\/strong><br \/>\nNow look around<br \/>\nWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made a ring<br \/>\nBy holding hands you see.<br \/>\nYes, here I am,<br \/>\nAnd there you are,<br \/>\nTogether we are we.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Four Directions Chant<\/strong><br \/>\nGood morning to the East where the sun rises in the morning.<br \/>\nGood morning to the West where the sun sets at night.<br \/>\nGood morning to the South where the land is warm.<br \/>\nGood morning to the North where the land is cold.<br \/>\nAnd good morning to the Earth which is my home.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Morning Song from Betty Jones\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <em>A Child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Seasonal Treasury<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nGood morning dear earth. (<em>Crouch, touch ground<\/em>)<br \/>\nGood morning dear sun. (<em>Rise and extend arms to sky<\/em>)<br \/>\nGood morning dear rocks and the flowers every one. (<em>Crouch and knock fists on ground, then wave fingers and sway hands for flowers<\/em>)<br \/>\nGood morning dear beasts. (<em>Remain crouching, put hands on head for horns<\/em>)<br \/>\nAnd the birds in the trees. (<em>Flap arms while rising to stand)<\/em><br \/>\nGood morning to you and good morning to me. (<em>Bow to others twice, then stand upright and cross arms over chest.)<\/em><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eX7NwaHTW2M\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<strong>Winter White<\/strong><br \/>\nWinter white, winter white.<br \/>\nSnow flies round and round us.<br \/>\nPiling high to the sky,<br \/>\nOld Man Winter&#8217;s found us.<\/p>\n<p>Winter white, though the night<br \/>\nSilence fills the forest.<br \/>\nWinter arms open wide<br \/>\nAnd lay a blanket o&#8217;er us.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Noble Duke of York<\/strong><br \/>\nThe noble Duke of York<br \/>\nHe had ten thousand men <em>(Marching in place)<\/em><br \/>\nHe marched them all up the hill <em>(<em>March standing as tall as you can<\/em>)<\/em><br \/>\nAnd he marched them down again! <em>(<em>March with knees bent low)<\/em>)<\/em><br \/>\nAnd when you&#8217;re up, you&#8217;re up. <em>(March standing as tall as you can)<\/em><br \/>\nand when you&#8217;re down, you&#8217;re down. <em>(March with knees bent low)<\/em><br \/>\nAnd when you&#8217;re halfway up <em>(March with knees bent just a little)<\/em><br \/>\nYou&#8217;re neither up nor down! <em>(Stand up, squat down quickly)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>He marched them to the left <em>(March to left)<\/em><br \/>\nHe marched them to the right<em>(March to right)<\/em><br \/>\nHe marched them upside-down<em>(Bend over and keep marching)<\/em><br \/>\nOh, what a silly sight! <em>(Marching in place)<\/em><br \/>\nOh, what a silly sight! <em>(Marching in place)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Open, Shut Them<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>(Do all the movements described in the verse)<\/em><br \/>\nOpen, shut them, open, shut them,<br \/>\nGive a little clap, clap, clap.<br \/>\nOpen, shut them, open, shut them,<br \/>\nLay them in your lap, lap, lap.<\/p>\n<p>Creep them, creep them, creep them, creep them<br \/>\nright up to your chin<br \/>\nOpen up your little mouth<br \/>\nbut&#8230; do not let them in.<\/p>\n<p>Open, shut them, open, shut them,<br \/>\nTo your shoulders fly.<br \/>\nThen like little birdies let them flutter to the sky.<\/p>\n<p>Falling, falling, falling, falling<br \/>\nAlmost to the ground<br \/>\nquickly pick them up again and<br \/>\nTurn them round and round.<\/p>\n<p>Faster, faster, faster, faster,<br \/>\nSlower, slower, slower, slower,<\/p>\n<p>CLAP!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Squirrel Bounds<\/strong><br \/>\nSquirrel bounds about the wood <em>(Bound on all fours)<\/em><br \/>\nAnd jumps from tree to tree<br \/>\nSwinging on around the trunks <em>(Hop about in own place)<\/em><br \/>\nTo see what he can see<\/p>\n<p>Among the highest branches<br \/>\nHe waves his bushy tail <em>(Lift rear-end and wiggle)<\/em><br \/>\nAnd chatters out his loudest song, <em>(Squat on two feet facing in)<\/em><br \/>\nTo say, &#8220;Good morning world&#8221; <em>(Make clicking squirrel songs)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Back Song<\/strong><br \/>\nDot, dot, dot<br \/>\nAnd a big question mark.<br \/>\nLittle spiders crawl up your back<br \/>\nLittle spiders crawl down your back<br \/>\nLittle spiders crawl up your arms<br \/>\nLittle spiders crawl down your arms<br \/>\nCool breeze, tight squeeze.<br \/>\nEgg on the head and the yolk drips down.<br \/>\nCreepy crawlies, creepy crawlies\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<br \/>\nGotcha.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TRANSITION SONGS AND BLESSINGS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Story Song<\/strong><br \/>\nAnything can happen<br \/>\nIn a fairy tale or rhyme<br \/>\nWhen you say the magic words<br \/>\nOnce a upon a time<\/p>\n<p><strong>Handwashing Song <\/strong><br \/>\nTime to wash our hands,<br \/>\nTime to wash our hands<\/p>\n<p>Welcome, welcome<br \/>\nWelcome to our table<br \/>\nWelcome, welcome<br \/>\nWe all join hands together. (We sing this until every one is at the table)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Snack Time Blessing<\/strong><br \/>\nEarth who gives to us this food.<br \/>\nSun who makes it ripe and good.<br \/>\nSun above and earth below,<br \/>\nOur loving thanks to you we show.<br \/>\nBlessings on our meal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quiet Time Poem<\/strong><br \/>\nSitting, sitting quietly<br \/>\nI wonder what I may see-<br \/>\nWhat sound or smell the wind may bring&#8230;<br \/>\nI stop to notice everything.<\/p>\n<p>Breathing, breathing calm and slow,<br \/>\nI let myself get in the flow<br \/>\nOf what is happening in this place<br \/>\nWhen I keep a slower pace.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lunch Gratitude<\/strong><br \/>\nBless this food and everyone who made this meal possible. Let it remind us of our connection to the Earth, the Sun, the Water, the Air, all those who came before us and those who are yet to be born. May we keep them in mind in all we do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLOSING CIRCLE<\/strong><br \/>\nWho will come to my wee ring?<br \/>\nMy wee ring<br \/>\nMy wee ring<br \/>\nWho will come to my wee ring?<br \/>\nAnd make it a little bit bigger?<\/p>\n<p>The earth stands firm beneath my feet. The sun shines high above. Here I stand, so straight and strong \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all things to know and love<\/p>\n<p>I can turn myself and turn myself and stop me when I will. I can reach high on my tippy toes and hold myself quite still.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Earthroots Tree Song<\/strong><br \/>\nStanding like a tree with my roots down deep,<br \/>\nBranches wide and open.<br \/>\nCome down the rain,<br \/>\nCome down the sun,<br \/>\nCome down the fruits to the heart that is open.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rainbow Bridge Song<\/strong><br \/>\nGoodbye, goodbye<br \/>\nBlessings on your way.<br \/>\nMay the sun shine bright<br \/>\nIn your hearts today.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are the songs, transitions, and blessings for Earthroots Forest Kindergarten&#8217;s opening circle in January 2012. Follow, Follow Me Follow, follow me To the ring of the fairies Follow, follow me, Where the fairies dance and sing. Gather with you &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/?p=3637\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,159,130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-earthroots","category-forest-kindergarten","category-waldorf"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3637\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.womantalk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}