the mindful connection - children as healers

i listened into the mindful connection webcast with kristie burnes of earthschooling. she discussed "children as healers"

at preschool level - parent modeling natural healing
- reflexology to heal headache
- calendula for healing burns
- herbal teas for stomach aches
- lavender essential oil on pillow to help them sleep

- use lavender oil on doll that is hurt
- plants herbs in garden and harvest them
- tea tins in play kitchen, mortar and pestle

at kindergarten level - bridge between family and school life
- play creatively, poems and songs
- snacks they help set table and light candles, seasonal crafts
- simple stories that feature healing or herbs ie. 3 bears>porridge is healing food, little red riding hood>basket of goodies with mint tea and herbal remedies, peter rabbit> chamomile tea
- adapt stories to be closer to home
- offer healing properties of food and herbs with meal, ie herbal tea, alfafa, berries, dandelions, salads with violets and clover you find in the yard, apples with cinnamon and honey, carrot juice, spearmint tea, hibiscus tea, chamomile tea
- drops of essential oil in watercolor paint
- simple sewing or make potpourri
- teach them to make herbal infusion - tea - certain amount of time and certain measurement

1st grade (7 years)
- complex fairy tales, Rapunzel, name of herb
- german fairy tale, children searching for herbal remedies or healing plants
- stories from nature, talk about plants
- when painting, beginning color therapy, how do the colors make you feel? what do you think about this color?
- form drawing, circles, iris, iridology chart
- advanced finger knitting, every 3rd one add a healing gemstones
- stories with the personalities of the elements, wind, fire, earth, water
- make aromatheraphy candles
- make your own herbal block crayons
- natural dyes


2nd grade
- fables and saint stories
- model for overcoming adversity
- how plants help overcome advesity too
- stories of healers
- painting plants, talk about what plants resemble
- form drawing, reflexology
- talk about how does the fire effect you? what is your relationship with the fire?


rules of safety
1. use only what is safe and you know
2. heal only small injuries and aliments
3. ask for adult help or guidance
4. ask permission before healing another person

3rd grade
- children wonder where they belong
- old testiment, spiritual literature
- learn about higher power
- healing garden
- edible flower garden
- make herbal syrups
- explore temperaments, painting and drawing, how the colors interact with each other


4th grade
- history / geography of their locality
- local environment, local herbs, farmers market, nature center, plant identification walks
- eating seasonal local foods
- visit local healers
- human/ animal kingdom, more advanced reflexology 
- Norse mythology, a rich history of healing
- teaching temperaments, does hot pepper relate to wind, fire, earth or water


5th grade
- botany
- complex herbal identification
- kids to use herbal identification book
- what element do you think this person is?


6th grade
- temperament theory
- south america - rainforest and how it relates to healing
- geology, how healing gems are formed
- answer questions about how things relate in a scientific way 


* it was said to start with what you know. begin at the preschool level and build from there

websites mentioned:
the BEarth institute