HeathRobinsonWaldorf

Child History

• How was the pregnancy? Great! Bradley was more interesting than Lamaze. Everything went smoothly. The doctor induced labor 10 days before Heather's due date because of her elevated blood pressure.
• Hospital or home birth? Women's center, drug-free labor (using a birthing tub) and birth.
• If adopted, at what age?
• Approximate weight at birth? 8 lb 9 oz
• Was child breastfed? yes
• How Long? 14 months
• At what age did your child crawl? Walk? Speak? Heath crawled at 6 months, walked on own at 13. We started signing around 10 months and he starting speaking words around 15 months.
• When was your child toilet trained? around 3
• Does your child wet the bed? no
• Does your child suck thumb or fingers? never
• Does your child have any other habits (bites nails, twists hair, etc?) no

Home and Family Rhythms

• What time does your child awake in the morning on weekdays? Weekend? 7 or 7:30a most days
• How does your child awaken (dreamy, crabby, cheery, etc.?) fairly cheerful
• Does your child eat breakfast? yes
• How do you discipline your child? (give examples) We decided before he was born that we wouldn't spank, and we haven't so far. We'll send him to his room for 5 or 10 minutes when he is acting rude or disruptive. Dad will give him a stern lecture (at great and tedious length, sometimes) for some things. Toys and things that he is misusing get taken away. None of the adults will give him what he wants if he does not ask nicely. If he starts acting cranky in the evenings it usually means he's tired and he gets put to bed. Maybe 3 or 4 times he's gotten himself worked up enough to lash out physically and Dad has held him until he calms down. Mostly Heath is a pretty well behaved kid. Many sorts of acting out gets dealt with by taking him away from the situation, though often he can be distracted from whatever minor evil he is perpetrating without resort to any sort of discipline.
• What time does your child go te bed on weekdays? Weekends? 7:30 - 8:00 on weekdays, 8:00 - 8:30 on weekends
• What, if any, is the bedtime ritual? dinner, jammies, bedtime story from dad, then mom (and sometimes the occasional guest), then lights out
• What are your weekend activities? working around the house, going to the park, parties, Sunday brunch
• What language is spoken in the home? English
• What languages does your child speak? Mother? Father? all speak English. Mother speaks a little Italian and French. Alicia speaks some Spanish, Heath knows a few words.
• What festivals do your family celebrate? Christmas, Easter, Passover, Halloween, Thanksgiving birthdays

Play

• Does your child use a computer or play computer games? How often? no. he Sometimes watches Mom work on the computer.
• Does your child watch TV or videos? When? How often? What programs? How long? Heath watches movies on his own when he is sick (rare) or on cross country car or airplane trips. He likes Miyazaki especially, but enjoys most animated films. Our TV is rarely on before his bedtime. When it is baseball bores him, hockey fascinates him and most other things cause him to compete for adult attention. On average may see an hour of TV a week, most weeks none, but sometimes several hours at a go.
• Describe how your child plays. Heath engages in imaginative play with toys and household objects. He likes to find out how things work, and he enjoys puzzles or things with small parts that fit together. He loves to help mom or dad or Alicia or Noemi around the house. He likes to play by himself at home but really enjoys playing with others. He's independent and likes to do everything for himself. He can be quite put out when told that, no, he's not big enough to solder or use power tools.
• Has your child ever received any special therapy for physical or emotional Reasons? Please explain. no
• Is there anything that you feel is pertinent to your child's biography that has not been covered above?
• We encourage you as parents to be actively involved in the school community. How might you actively contribute? (mention special interests, talents, hobbies, skills, etc.)
  • Jim knows a hell of a lot of sea chantys. He also knows a fair bit about technical theater, computer systems, youth camping programs, oceanography and shopcraft.
  • Heather is a graphic/web designer. She's happy to help with the school website in whatever capacity, or design flyers or invitations or newsletters. She is also a working visual artist (abstract mixed-media painter) and would love to work with the students in art classes. She makes pysanky (ukrainian decorated eggs) and could make them for winter fair or spring celebrations (and would love to teach the students how to create them.)
  • Alicia is a children's librarian and experienced storyteller, as well as an excellent singer. She does storytimes at Heath's current school and hopes to continue at Walforf.
  • Noemi is an event planner and would be able to plan events or parties. She's been a Girl Scout leader and summer camp counselor for years and really enjoys working with kids. She is hoping to start a Girl Scout troop here in San Francsico.
• Please relay any further information which may be helpful to us in getting to know your child.
  • In addition to the opportunities for Heath to grow into the best person he can become, all of us adults are eager to participate in our own growth opportunities. We all feel like Waldorf is the education we'd have liked to have had as children and are looking forward to participating in Heath's Waldorf education.