Childhood

Childhood

Childhood is a time for learning about the essentials
about the heavenly world and the earthly,
about goodness, beauty and truth.

Childhood is a time to be loved and to love
to express fear and to learn trust
to be allowed to be serious and calm
and to celebrate with laughter and Joy.

Children have a right to dream,
and they need time to grow at their own pace.
They have the right to make mistakes
and the right to be forgiven.

Children need help to develop self-mastery,
to transform themselves and bring forth their highest capacities.
Children have a right to be spared violence and hunger,
to have a home and protection.
They need help to grow up healthy,
with good habits and sound nutrition.

Children need people to respect,
adults whose example and loving authority they follow.
They need a range of experience,
tenderness and kindness, boldness and courage,
and even mischief and misbehavior.
Children need time for receiving and giving,
for belonging and participating.
be part of a community, and they need to be individuals.
They need privacy and sociability.
They need time to rest and time to play,
time to do nothing and time to work.

They need moments for devotion and room for curiosity.
They need protective boundaries and freedom for creativity.
They need to be introduced to a life of principles,
and given the freedom to discover their own.
They need a relationship to the earth
to animals and to nature:
and they need to unfold as human beings within the community.

The spirit of childhood is to be protected and nurtured.
It is an essential part of every human being
and needs to be kept alive.

~The Alliance for Childhood

Autumn Verses

Autumn wind came stealing
Through the woods one day,
And creeping round the tree, he stole
Their beauty all away.
He tore their russet dresses,
Combed off their golden hair.
He blew away the tattered bits,
And left them brown and bare.

* * * * * * * *

Autumn winds are sighing,
Stealing through the forest brown,
As they softly pass the tree trunks
Little leaves come falling down.
But a stronger gale is blowing
And then the leaves themselves
Rise and dance about the forest
Just like little elves.
Faster, faster see them whirling
Till the gale has passed.
One by one the tired leaflets
Sink to rest at last.

* * * * * * * *

The north wind came along one day,
So strong and full of fun;
He called the leaves down from the trees
And said, "Run children run".
They came in read and yellow dress,
In shaded green and brown,
And all the short November day
He chased them round the town.
They ran in crowds, they ran alone,
They hid behind the trees,
The north winds laughing found them there
And called "No stopping please"
But when he saw them tired out
And huddled in a heap,
He softly said, "Goodnight my dears,
Now let us go to sleep."

* * * * * * * *

My nice red rosy apple has a secret midst unseen;
You'd see if you could slip inside,
five rooms so neat and clean.
In each room there are hiding
two seeds so shining bright;
Asleep they are and dreaming
of a lovely warm sunlight.
And sometimes they are dreaming
of many things to be
How some day they'll be hanging
upon a Christmas tree

* * * * * * * *

The world is full of color
'Tis Autumn once again
And leaves of gold and crimson
Are lying in the lane
There are brown and yellow acorns
Berries and scarlet haws
Amber gorse and heather
Purple across the moors
Green apples in the orchard
Flushed by a glowing sun
Mellow pears and brambles
Where colored pheasants run

* * * * * * * *

October is a piper,
Piping down the dell
Sad sweet songs of sunshine
Summer's last farewell,
He pipes till grey November
Comes in the mist and rain,
And then he puts his pipe away
Till Autumn comes again

* * * * * * * *

Jack O Lantern, Jack O lantern
Your light it doth shine,
Sitting up upon the window
And your light it is mine.

Once you were a yellow pumpkin
Sitting on a sturdy vine
Now you are a Jack O lantern,
And in the night you will shine.

Prayers and evening Verses

Some of my Favorites:

The Lady Moon up yonder is like a silver boat
Upon a dark blue ocean all silently afloat.
And when the fairies waken they climb the moonbeams white,
And far across the heavens go, sailing in the night.

Earth, we thank thee for the night,
And for the pleasant morning light;
For rest and food and loving care,
And all that makes the day so fair.

Help us to do the things we should,
To be to others kind and good;
In all we do, in work or play,
To grow more loving every day.-- Rebecca Weston - 1890

Tidying up Verses

While cleaning up toys in general...
(to the tune of "The Paw Paw Patch)
Where, o where, is dear little Brooklyn,
Where, o where, is dear little Brooklyn,
Where, o where, is dear little Brooklyn,
Way down yonder in the paw paw patch!

Picking up blocks and putting them in the basket,
Picking up blocks and putting them in the basket,
Picking up blocks and putting them in the basket,
Way down yonder in the paw paw patch!

(to the tune of "The Mulberry Bush")
This is the way we... (wash the dishes, fold baby's clothes, clean up
silks, put away crayons, etc)

While cleaning up bath toys...
The big ship sails on the alley alley ooh,
The alley alley ooh,
The alley alley ooh,
The big ship sails on the alley alley ooh
On the last day of September!

While cleaning up toy cars...
Open your gates as wide as the sky
And let the king and his men pass by!

While cleaning up baby dolls...
Rock a bye baby on the tree top (or any other familiar lullaby)


Look, look, do you spy a toy ?
Does it go here?
Does it go there?


Look, look Do you spy a toy?
one by one the goes into the basket
thank you for helping pick up




A little toy here
A little toy there
put them in their place


when we clean up 
we have some space
for prancing and playing all day






come one, come all it is time to clean up
come help your mama clean up


come one, come all it's time to clean up
come help your mama clean up


sweet dear thank you 
thank you so much 
for helping your mama clean up.

Helping mama in the Kitchen and more fun Daily Verses

Here are some of our favorites:

Before I jump into my bed,
Before I dim the light,
I put my shoes together,
So they can talk at night.
I'm sure they would be lonesome,
If I tossed one here and there,
So I put them close together,
For they're a friendly pair.

* * * * * * *

There are many things that I can do;
I can comb my hair and lace my she,
I can wash my hands and wash my face,
I can put my toys and blocks in place. 

* * * * * * *

After my bath, I try, try, try
To wipe myself until I'm dry, dry, dry
Hands to wipe, and fingers and toes,
And two wet legs and a shiny nose.
Just think, how much less time I'd take,
If I were a dog, and could shake, shake, shake.

* * * * * * *

Brave and true I will be,
Each good deed sets me free,
Each kind word makes me strong.
I will fight for the right
I will conquer the wrong.

* * * * * * *

When the sun lights up the sky
I sit right up and rub my eye
I dress myself with greatest care
I brush my teeth and comb my hair
Then off to story time I go
To hear the stories that I love so

* * * * * * *

Tick, the clock says; tick, tick, tick,
What you have to do, do quick!
Time is gliding fast away,
Let us work and work today.

* * * * * * *

Tick, tick, tick goes the hand of the clock.
A second, a minute, an hour and a day,
Tick, tick, tick - so goes today and tomorrow:
'Now' becomes a ‘sometime ago’,
and when tomorrow swiftly passes away,
sad to say, many are always in an aftershock.
You will never find time for anything.
The clock just runs too fast, waiting for no one.
You must make time if you want to use it.
Don’t waste it if you want some left as credit.
Time flies. Now is the time for an action.
Its ‘now or never’, the time to make the cling.
You can always find time for what you want to do.
Who says that with a will, there is no way?
The easiest time to find is time for your own benefit.
The hardest is the time one for another to commit.
The door of time is wide and agape.
When it would close, it won’t give you a clue.
There is a time for everything, so the Holy writ says;
A time to cry or laugh, a time to stand or sit.
A time for talk or quiet , a time to sleep or be awake.
A time to build or destroy, a time for health or an ache.
A time to sow or reap, a time for loss or profit.
On this road to of life, there are many times, many ways.
Do one thing at a time, do it as if tomorrow won’t dawn.
Make the most of all that comes, and the least of all that goes.
The past has no use. When it goes, it does not return.
Just an advice: don’t dwell on it.It is a no good court adjourn.
The best you have is now. Don’t waste your life’s arrows
If you do, many things will bid you ‘bye’ anon.
Tick, tick, tick, so goes the hand of the clock,
It has taken a minute or two to read my poem.
Maybe you have learnt something, maybe not,
Its your choice, I have my own cup of tea that's so hot,
I can't help you manage your time even if I write an anthem.
Help yourself for tick, tick, tick goes the hands of the clock.

* * * * * * *

When I get up in the morning
I'll tell you what I do,
I wash my hands and I wash my face,
Splishity-splash, splishity-splash.
I clean my teeth 'til they're shiny white,
Scrubbity-scrub, scrubbity-scrub,
Then I put on my clothes and brush my hair,
And I runnity-run, I run downstairs.

* * * * * * *

I help my mother.
I sweep the floor.
I dust the table.
I run to the store.
I help her beat the eggs.
And sift flour for cake.
Then I help her eat
All the good things she makes.

* * * * * * *