Today we officially broke ground on our yurt platform. It was great to see families gather together and work toward a common goal. These work days are always slightly odd for me. I get geared up and ready for them and then I never seem to do any hard work. And I want to work! Instead, I end up keeping Banyan away from power tools and feeding yummy food to everyone in attendance. I could argue that this too is important work. Anyway, I figured that since I was watching everyone work, the least I could do was photograph them so we can watch the progress.
We hired a carpenter to organize the day and tell us all what we needed to do. It was very helpful, to say the least! I think we would have gotten a fraction of the work done without him. As we were building the first part of the platform with him, he asked some questions about our school. When we mentioned that the Little Round Schoolhouse is a Waldorf-influenced kindergarten, he lit up. He is a trained Waldorf teacher! It felt really good to have someone helping to build our school who really understands what we’ll be doing here. And it made him even more excited to help!
Step One: Build an octagon.
The fun part of this step was actually after the octagon was finished and we all gathered around and decided which way the door should face. What do we want our children to see when they look out the front door? What do we want them to walk past as they come to the schoolhouse each day? After much shifting of directions, our front door has found a way to face–the woods and beyond to the mountains.
Step Two: Level the octagon
It was fun to watch all the different leveling instruments come out and be put to work. And what a great time for the children to help!
I find it joyful to watch children work in the construction of their own school. This place will truly feel like home once complete.
Here is a photo of the finished and leveled octagon. The next step is to dig holes for footers. Then we can begin adding the next layer of wood to the platform.
