KINDLING’s Story
By Janni Nicol, Editor
Many years ago, two kindergarten teachers Lynne Oldfield and Stella Jarman began the Kindergarten Newsletter in order to keep contact and share information between the 20+ kindergarten teachers and assistants who were working in the UK. From 1986 it was printed twice a year, had grown to around 20 pages, and continued to be edited by Lynne and Stella until 2000, when Stella retired.
In 2002 I interviewed Stella for KINDLING, and she explained:
“During a meeting it was suggested that it would be nice if we had a way of communicating about the work for new people coming in, especially to find out what was happening in UK. I said I would be willing to start a newsletter if someone else could help me. Lynne Oldfield who had a kindergarten in Stroud offered to help. Lynne and I worked on it together. The first issue came out in February1984, (around four pages long), and it grew from there. It was a way of communicating with each other, sharing ideas, ring times and crafts and reporting on conferences.”.
In a meeting of the UK Steiner Waldorf Early Years Group, formed of Regional Representatives, advisors, training course leaders, parent and child, childminding and the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF) co-ordinator, we were asked by Stella to find someone else to take on the Kindergarten Newsletter. It was agreed by the Fellowship that I, as the SWSF early childhood co-ordinator at the time, could have time to develop the newsletter to continue the good work started by Lynne and Stella so many years ago – connecting, educating, enlivening, and informing.
KINDLING, The Journal for Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Education and Care came into being in 2002, starting small and growing to the 64 page journal it is today – reaching those parents, educators and carers interested in Steiner Waldorf early childhood education and care (Birth – 7 years) around the English-speaking world.
The two issues a year are themed, and cover subjects such as play, movement, sensory integration, equality and diversity, sleep, festivals, puppetry, storytelling, technology, diversity and recently sustainability. It also includes nature observation, book reviews, information on conferences and courses, natural medicine, stories, songs and more.
The themes are often suggested by members of the UK early years group (SWEYG), meeting the needs of our times, or come out of burning issues or study addressed in meetings of the International Kindergarten Association (IASWECE).
It is edited and published by me. My dedicated husband Simon does the administration, finance, packing and posting. My daughter designed the website – so generally a family affair.
BACK ISSUES
We have limited printed and many PDF back issues available, as you can see here. We are slowly converting all old issues into PDF’s and they will be shown on the website when available. Simply click on the issue you are interested in to find out more.
PRINTED OR PDF
We sell printed or PDF journals to subscribers, libraries and book shops in the UK and most English speaking countries around the world. You can find out costs and how to subscribe here.
