Riverwood House, Studio & Gardens

Summer Experience

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Summer Experience
The Summer Experience at Riverwood House is an extension of the fall/spring program. New families are given the same schedule options as the fall/spring program only over a three month period. There is a 2-week break each year which falls alternating June and July. Outdoor time will fluctuate due to Tennessee's tendency of extreme heat and humidity. Riverwood House will make great efforts to keep a cool environment providing canvas shade in addition to the existing tree shade. Water work/play is part of this program. Appropriate bathing attire/clothing is welcomed as well as appropriate water shoes. Also, Riverwood House encourages each participating child to bring a labeled water container to ensure adequate amounts of hydration. Drinking water and fruit is available as well.

There is a small non-refundable application fee as well as a non-refundable materials fee [materials-garden, art, and food]. Families already participating in the Fall/Spring program are waived of the application fee but must pay the materials fee. Families enrolling in the Summer who intend to stay for the following Fall/Spring program are also waived of the Fall/Spring application fee, but must pay the Fall/Spring materials fee.

Riverwood House requires ALL interested families to schedule a visit to the site. Again, Riverwood House REQUIRES all interested families to schedule a visit to the Riverwood House site prior to enrollment of ANY program.

Creative Arts Summit

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Creative Arts Summit
[ages 2-6]

*includes clay work, collage, painting/drawing, and book-making
The Creative Arts Summit includes 3 one and a half hour workshops on the above visual arts mediums per week in the month of August. Riverwood House encourages families to enroll in a full week of workshops due to the focus on process in each medium and the chance to experience a variety of visiting artists. Fees will include a small non-refundable application fee and the initial set workshop fee for instruction and materials.

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language arts...

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Community tree 2010

mathematics...

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sensorial...

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fall/spring 2010-2011

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September 7, 2010 - May 27, 2011

Riverwood House, Studio & Gardens highly recommends children 4 and older take part in the M-F full-day/half-day option OR the MWF full-day option.

Full-day:

M-F 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Half-day:

M-F 8:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

Part-time options:

M, W, F 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

M, W, F 8:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

Parent's Day Out options:

M, W 8:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

T, Th 8:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

art gallery

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All of the work you see is done independently and produced solely by the child's hand. Please respect this art space for the child and the child's family. Thank you and enjoy!

Josephine, age 15 months

Ziggy, age 2 years old

Zoe, age 2 years old

Jack, age 3 1/2 years old

Rose, age 4 1/2 years old

guests...

2009-11-21T07:27:00.000-08:00

Riverwood House, Studio & Gardens is a place for exploration, orientation, order, and growth. Activities seem to flow out the doors, cautiously into the streets, and slowly into the community. However, that "hard-to-get-to-community" needs to appear within the parameters of the familiar learning environment. We open our doors to the community in hopes that the community will open its' doors to us...

We invite guests from the community [near and far] to share activities appropriate for young children. Retiring at the end of May in 2009, Ann Seiters [aka MiMi Seiters] packed away her third grade materials after 28 years and settled into her continuing passions with music and children [turns out younger children!]. Mimi visited our little spot in East Nashville from Sewanee TN to share her love for singing and playing her famous autoharp instrument! The children revealed giddiness as they worked with MiMi through movement with songs and complex string sounds. The best part was not just her gift of music, but the paper hats she made and gave to the children to wear in an activity. The hats were made out of old sheet music that dates back to when her mother played music! Her presence and generosity is a gift. We will see her again in the Spring 2010...

practical life...

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photo gallery

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practicing the Pink Tower [Fall 2009]

exploring watercolour [Fall 2009]

working community [Fall 2009]

practicing [Fall 2009]

drawing

courtesy of Patricia Majett

[Holiday Party/Open House December 2009]

farming

courtesy of Patricia Majett

[Holiday Party/Open House December 2009]

exploration, orientation, and order
[Spring 2010]

contact

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Currently, Riverwood House is open to families with children between the ages of 2 and 6 for the Spring 2010 program. In addition, we are accepting applications for the Summer 2010, the Summer Creative Arts Intensive 2010, and the Fall/Spring 2010-2011 program. For an application for any of these programs and for scheduling a visit to Riverwood House, Studio & Gardens refer to contact information provided:

Beth Seiters
1604 Riverwood Drive
Nashville TN 37216
615-477-1547
riverwoodhouse@gmail.com

welcome...

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Riverwood House, Studio & Gardens is located in East Nashville [37216] on a small corner joining Riverwood Drive and Olga Avenue. The lengthy Drive runs parallel to Moss Rose and Brush Hill roads. These beautiful roads slightly wind parallel to the Cumberland River. The sound of fog horns are common and on a given day one might see kayakers floating peacefully North up the River. Fortunately, we are surrounded by many trees providing a diverse environment for birds, especially owls! In addition to trees, many surrounding businesses have taken root nearby - Fairtales Bookstore, Smarty Pants, Pied Piper Eatery, Watanabe restaurant, SIP Cafe, Nashville School of Music, Studio 1406, and many more...

The Seiters' family opened their home to families with young children in the summer of 2009 for the first Summer Creative Arts Intensive. This particular program invited children between the ages of 2 and 7. For four weeks, the children explored painting & drawing, collage, weaving, book-making, and baking. Nevertheless, the Creative Arts Intensive is continually evolving - Riverwood House plans to invite children between the ages of 2 and 9 years old and include clay work and visits from Shiloh Hunter [PE Kids!] for the Summer Creative Arts Intensive 2010.

The Riverwood House, Studio & Gardens children's program began in the Fall 2009 for the Fall/Spring 2009/2010 year. This particular program is for families with young children between the ages 2 and 6 years old. On occasion, children between 18 months and 2 years old are invited to join the program with close collaboration with the child's family.

For specific information [such as daily schedule, fees, attendance options, etc] about the Fall/Spring [September-May], Summer [extension of the Fall/Spring begins early July], and Summer Creative Arts Intensive [August] programs, please explore the House label...

What is Riverwood House's background influences and educational approach?

Educationally, Riverwood House's path is that of Dr. Maria Montessori's influences on early childhood development [physical, psychosocial, and cognitive]. Additionally, we tend to gravitate towards the Italian-based Reggio Emilia approach to creative development while building a sustainable community. Both "approaches" propel such focuses for the program - transformation with the seasons and its effects on the body and the environment; developing a sustainable and conflict resolution community for young children and families; and, most importantly, nurturing all types of growth and the child's need for exploration, orientation, and order.

Who directs the program?

Beth Seiters is a native of Tennessee. Due to her deep passion for creativity, Beth attended the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga [home-town] to fulfill further study of how to propel such an important aspect of human development. Majoring in ceramics and then painting and drawing, she extended her studies in art with anthropology and environmental sciences. Professional development deepened when traveling to London for a painting class in the summer of 2001. Needless to say, East Nashville comforted her artistic background professionally. The little part of town, luckily, embraced her eccentricities.

The fascination with the development of learning and human dynamics deepened with the birth of each of her three children and her relationship with her husband, John. From caregiving to interaction with her own children, she wanted to know more about how to observe and guide these little creatures; and, to understand the development of early human development. Beth entered the Master's of Art in Teaching [TN teaching licensure preK-3] at Belmont in the Fall 2006. Receiving her AMS certification in Early childhood in the Summer 2008 and the completion of the Master's program in Summer 2009, Beth wanted to extend her knowledge through embracing her local surroundings and open her home to families with young children creating a natural environment as well as a home atmosphere for practicing acceptance, independence, and exploration. The journey will be a LONG one.

Why will the journey be a "LONG one"?

Well, we have only begun! We have a list of goals or rather a diagram of fresh ideas such as continuing the support from the family/parent/community in East Nashville; gaining recognition from the Tennessee Department of Education as an educational program; work towards the recognition of a non-profit organization; creating a "toddler space" with appropriate Montessori training; transforming the detached garage into a "green certified" studio with a greenhouse wall as well as a "mud room" for clay work; and gaining certification through the Tennessee Department for Agriculture for a "domestic kitchen" business, which will generate funding for the program through an extended business in the form of a small bakery. A Very Small Bakery: goods from a modest kitchen will be marketed locally online and at the East Nashville Farmer's Market.

and,

a child's growth is never-ending and never-the-less...

So welcome to the Riverwood House, Studio & Gardens community for young children [families and the community]...we look forward to the new year 2010!!!

2010/2011 calendar

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FALL 2010

September

7 first day of Fall Program 2010

22 Autumnal Equinox

October

11-15 In-service [parent-teacher meeting, optional], no program

November

24-26 Thanksgiving, no program

December

16 last day of Fall Program 2010

21 Winter Solstice

SPRING 2011

January

4 first day of Spring Program 2011

7 Martin Luther King Jr. Observed, no program

February

14-18 in-service [parent-teacher meeting, optional], no program

March

14-18 Spring Break, no program

21 Spring Equinox

April

21-22 professional development, no program

May

26 last day of Spring Program 2011

SUMMER EXPERIENCE 2011

June

1-30 Summer Experience I

21 Summer Solstice

July

TBA Summer Experience II

CREATIVE ARTS SUMMIT 2011

[sets of 3 one and half hour workshops over a 4-week period]

August

1-5 Clay Work

8-12 Collage

15-19 Painting/Drawing

22-26 Book-making

house

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studio

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under construction...

gardens

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Riverwood House, Studio & Gardens is making the efforts to follow Alice Waters', Principles of an Edible Education. The principles are as follows as derived from her book, Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea [2008]:

*Food is an academic subject
*School provides lunch for every child
*Schools support farms
*Children learn by doing
*Beauty is a language

Outdoor Gardens:
South Sun Garden
North Vegetable Garden
Greens Garden

herbs:

White sage

Italian leaf parsley

Dill

English lavender

Marjoram

Rosemary

Thyme

Basil, Italian large leaf Ocimum basilicum
Cilantro, Santo Coriandrum sativum
Oregano

greens:

Arugula

Kale
Lettuce, black seeded Simpson

Mixed variety
Swiss chard, five color silverbeet Beta vulgaris [Cicla group]

vegetable/fruits:

Tomatoes

Hot peppers/bell peppers

pickling Cucumber

Snow peas, Oregon sugar pod Pisum sativum

watermelon

Beets
variety of Carrots
french breakfast radishes

flowers:

Zinnia

Echinacea

Variety of wildflowers

Sunflowers
Buddleia

Indoor Garden:

Variety of window herbs

a variety of "houseplants"including succulents and cacti

*In our attempts at following the seasons, Riverwood House follows fruits and vegetables that are in season. Due to Nashville's climate and our progressive gardens, we buy locally as much as possible. Currently, we are participating with Avalon Acres CSA. We are looking forward to fall plantings including kale, arugula, peas, radishes, chard, carrots and beets.

Composting sites:
we have indoor and outdoor composting sites! The children have a bucket located under the dishwashing acitvity for organic material leftover from snack, lunch preparation, and lunch. The kitchen has a bucket near the sink for all organic matter from the kitchen.

There are several formal and informal compost sites outdoors. The children are accustom to the formal compost bin, which is black and has vents and small doors on all sides. This site is used mainly for the kitchen and leftover organic matter. Then there are the informal sites that consist of dead leaves and dead plant matter swept and shoveled into a mound. These mounds are located in different areas and dispersed in many of the plant beds. We look forward to growing pumpkins and melons from these informal sites and sometimes we get several saplings such as avocado and citrus fruits!

community

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What would a children's community be without a well-equipped, embracing group of people and establishments?
Not sure, but with family volunteers, Riverwood House once every two weeks [more so in the spring], visits the community. When the Winter season ends, so does our need to "hibernate". Spring erupts and there becomes a great time for obvious growth, discovery, and openness just like in the Winter months although Spring becomes that time to share those discoveries. Places we visit on a regular basis support this growth and openness in forms of animals and plants and human exploration:

Frist Center for the Visual arts: Martin Artquest and courtyard

Shelby Bottoms Nature Center and Greenway

Grassmere Zoo and the Historic Croft Mansion and Farm

Nature Play at Edwin Warner

Our goal for Spring 2010 is to collaborate with a local community garden. Additionally, we plan to join the East Nashville Farmer's Market offering breads, cookies, scones, plants/cut herbs, and various other treats for Spring/Summer 2011...

If you are interested in receiving a monthly "menu of goods" and an order form [wholesale available as well] please contact Beth Seiters at 477.1547

workshops

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Riverwood House, Studio & Gardens is offering seasonal workshops for all ages. If you are interested in any of the workshops offered, please contact Beth Seiters for more information and how to register.

Autumn Workshops:

Book-making/leaf-pressing for ages 7 to 9 years old; Saturday, October/November TBA ; $25 [materials and light fare of food]

Winter Workshops:

Beadwork [ages 7 to 9]; Saturday, January 23; 10 a.m. to 12 noon; $25 [this includes a bead-working kit, instruction, and a light fare of food]

I heart cookies! for young children [ages 2-6]...parents welcome; Saturday, February, 13; 10 a.m. to 12 noon; $5 [includes materials and instruction]

Beadwork [ages 7 to 9]; Saturday, February 20; 10 a.m. to 12 noon; $25 [this includes a bead-working kit, instruction, and a light fare of food]

Spring Workshops:

Botanical/Plant Drawing ; Saturday, March/April TBA; 10 a.m. to 12 noon; $15 [materials and a light fare of food]

Flower Pressing for ages 3 to 6 year olds; Saturday, April/May TBA; 10 a.m. to 12 noon; $15 [materials and a light fare of food]

Flower Arranging Saturday, May/June TBA; 10 a.m. to 12 noon; $25 [materials and a light fare of food]

Summer Workshops:

The Tomatoe is a Fruit-stamping with tomatoes for ages 3 to 6 year olds; Saturday, august TBA; 10 a.m. to 12 noon; $10 [materials and tomatoes ( :]

Painting/Drawing for 7 to 9 year olds; Saturday, June/July TBA; 10 a.m. to 12 noon; $45 [painting/drawing kit and a light fare of food]

Clay Bead-making for ages 6-9 years old; Saturday, August/September TBA; 10 a.m. to 12 noon; $25 [materials, instruction, and a light fare of food]

If you are interested in giving a workshop or have a special request, please contact Beth Seiters with an objective and proposal. Riverwood House asks that workshops relate to the arts, the environment, community, and education.