Daily and weekly songs/verses:
Hand washing songs (one from Montessori teacher training and one from Waldorf via Mary Thienes-Schunemann)
Morning song (from the Waldorf tradition; afterwards I say “Good morning, friends, it’s [day of the week].” I’ll also say the activity for the day, for example baking day.)
The Days of the Week (sung while a child carries the day of the week peg doll to the table before breakfast, just after singing the morning song)
Candle lighting verse (just before striking the match; from Waldorf tradition)
Here is a spark (as soon as candle is lit; from Waldorf tradition)
Morning verse (spoken after “here is a spark” in the mornings; from Waldorf tradition)
Open Shut Them / These are Grandpa’s Glasses (for quieting the group for the blessing and putting hands in laps, usually before lunch; learned from other teachers in Waldorf schools)
Meal blessing (sung after I light the candle and before I serve food at breakfast and lunch; from Waldorf tradition)
Thank you candle for your light / Thank you, brother fire (while snuffing the candle; second verse is an adapted excerpt of Lawrence Edwards’ loose translation of Canticle of the Sun by St. Francis of Assisi)
Now it’s time to start our day (spoken occasionally after after snuffing the candle in the morning; a Bower Tree verse)
There’s Work To Be Done (sung while starting to clean up the breakfast table and set up for the day’s activity; melody adapted from a German Folk Tune with words by Ella Wheeler Wilcox)
The Songbird (for preluding a few songs, poems, and finger plays that are not part of circle; Bower Tree lyrics and melody)
Come to the Table (for calling children to the table for breakfast or lunch; a Bower Tree song spontaneously composed during school)
Baking song (for calling children to the table to knead dough; from Waldorf tradition)
Painting song (for calling children to the table to paint; from Waldorf tradition)
Cleanup song (for tidying up after play time; from Waldorf tradition via Mary Thienes-Schunemann)
Let’s make a circle now (for transitioning to circle time; from Waldorf tradition)
What are you wearing (for transitioning from circle to outside; from Montessori teacher training)
The Cave of Mum (for quieting children before story time; from Shia Darian)
Story Opening Song/Verse (before lighting story candle; from the Waldorf tradition)
Story Closing Verse (before blowing out story candle; from the Waldorf tradition)
Wee Willy Winkie (sung while wringing out warm lavender washcloths and passing them out, between story time and rest time; original Bower Tree adaptation and musical setting of a Scottish nursery rhyme)
The Moon is Round (verse spoken while washing faces with warm lavender washcloths; from Waldorf tradition)
It’s Time to Rest (for transitioning from face washing to rest time; sung while children are getting out their nap mats to help keep the mood calm; Bower Tree lyrics and melody)
Come and join my wee ring (for calling children to goodbye circle; from the Waldorf tradition)
Goodbye circle (two songs; one adapted from an old English singing game, the other a Bower Tree song)
Sung periodically when the situation arises, often for ambient mood-setting:
Polly Put the Kettle On (a nursery rhyme set to music, sung when someone is making tea)
Pouring Verse (from Bower Tree)
Spilling song (from Bower Tree)
Dusting song (adapted from Waldorf tradition)
Folding song (from the Waldorf tradition via Mary Thienes-Schunemann)
Table setting song (from Bower Tree)
Sewing song (from Waldorf tradition via Mary Thienes-Schunemann)
Sweeping song (adapted from Waldorf tradition via Mary Thienes-Schunemann)
Honey Drizzling Song (sung while drizzling honey on bread at breakfast; from Bower Tree)
Help me wind my ball of wool (from Waldorf tradition via Mary Thienes-Schunemann)
Thank you, sister water (adapted excerpt of Lawrence Edwards’ loose translation of Canticle of the Sun by St. Francis of Assisi)