Category Archives: First Grade

Lesson Planning: A Sample Form

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In one post I shared my personal form for the rhythm of one of our days of the week, but I was recently thinking about a sample form or list that could help mothers plan their Grades One through Eight  homeschooling according to the eight pillars of artistic work of Waldorf Education that we have talked about in the past on this blog.  Academic subjects are taught through artistic work in Waldorf Education; this is an enlivening form of education for the child.

Please take this as a “I thought of this in quickly and you might be able to tweak it or use parts of  it or come up with something even better” kind of way, not as a definitive end product.  Smile

Anyway, this is what I was thinking: Continue reading →

Children Who Dislike Everything

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I was going through some papers this weekend and came across an article by Michael Howard that I had printed out called, “Educating the Feeling-will in the Kindergarten” and this quote just popped out at me:

“The defining characteristic of feeling will is the capacity to live deeply into the inner quality of something outside us, knowing and feeling it as if we are within it or it is within us. In the early childhood years a healthy child is naturally inclined to drink in the inner mood and qualities of places and persons.  It is one of the tragedies of our times that the ways of the world, including the life of the family and school, can dull rather than foster this natural soul attachment.  Tragically, many young children come to kindergarten with a sense-nerve disposition already strongly developed.  Their thinking has become prematurely intellectual and abstract, and their feeling life inclines toward strong personal like or dislike.”

I have been seeing so many tiny children yet with so many big opinions.  Have you been seeing this as well?  Continue reading →

Relaxed Waldorf Homeschooling

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I wanted to thank all of you who participated and left comments in regards to the post Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschool Resources on Catherine’s blog.  You can see the original post here (and do be sure to read the comments, because that is where the discussion really is, including an interesting side thread on forming the space between two siblings who are very close in age): Continue reading →

First Grade Fairy Tales For Teaching

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I am gathering my list of fairy tales for first grade – you can see the tales I choose the first time through first grade here: http://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/11/25/great-fairy-tales-for-waldorf-first-grade/   (and here were a few more thoughts for those of you who are wondering what Dr. Steiner himself said about introducing the alphabet:  http://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/05/20/infusing-waldorf-elements-into-your-christian-homeschool/)

 

This year, I am planning the following: (# in the Pantheon Edition Grimm’s Fairy Tales) Continue reading →

Guest Post On First Grade Readiness: A Comprehensive Look Through High School

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(7/16/2011 – Comments on this post are now closed!  Thank you for all your comments and questions!)

Our guest post today comes from Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschool Resources (http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/home.html).  This is a very comprehensive look at the topic of first grade readiness.  This article includes her perspective as a Waldorf educator, but also as a parent and homeschooler, and includes a deep understanding of the foundation of Waldorf Education, but also includes more mainstream resources for those of you seeking those.

This article is long, but I encourage you to read all of it.   Donna will be answering your questions left in the comment box in regards to this post, and we both look forward to hearing your thoughts. 

Here is Donna….. Continue reading →

Working With “Brambly Hedge” for First Grade Form Drawing

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I have gotten a few emails asking me about how “form drawing with Brambly Hedge” is going.  I first wrote about this idea here:  http://theparentingpassageway.com/2011/01/22/two-ideas-for-firstsecond-grade-blocks/

 

When we start school, it will still be very summertime weather here in the Deep South.  So, my first thought was to incorporate the summer and autumn Brambly Hedge books into this two-week form drawing block.  I picked a two-week block as opposed to a three or four week block because I think this particular child will be fatigued by a longer block of form drawing at this point in time.

 

My fourth grader will be doing local geography and as such will be creating a map of her room, our home, the yard in the first part of this block, so I thought it might be fun for my first grader to have something “map-ish” as well…. So: Continue reading →

Deconstructing First Grade

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So, I am busy planning a second go round with first grade (along with fourth).  First grade is really fun, simple to plan (I know it probably doesn’t feel that way when you are going through it for the first time, though!), and can be simply magical.

I think there are several things to consider when planning First Grade. Continue reading →

Two Ideas for First/Second Grade Blocks

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I love the book “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” by Grace Lin.  It would make a great read-aloud for Waldorf homeschoolers in the second grade.  You could also make a language arts block out of it.  My friend Jen over at Ancient Hearth did just that, and you can see the spectacular results here:  http://ancienthearth2.blogspot.com/2011/01/la-block-where-mountain-meets-moon.html  I am so pleased looking at Jen’s pictures; her block turned out so beautifully!

I also wanted to share a little idea I am working on for my First Grader’s form drawing blocks for fall.  I want to use the little mice of Brambly Hedge to do our form drawing and I may also move the idea of mice into our math blocks for the four processes. 

For those of you not familiar with the  Brambly Hedge books, they are small pocket- sized books with intricate watercolor illustrations about  families of mice who make their homes in the roots and trunks of Brambly Hedge, “a dense and tangled hedgerow that borders the field on the other side of the stream.”  The main first four books go through each season with the assorted activities of gathering food, storing it for winter, and all the feasts and festivities that go with each season.

These were first published in Great Britain in 1980.  You can see the first four books here: http://www.amazon.com/Year-Brambly-Hedge-Jill-Barklem/dp/0007371667/ref=pd_sim_b_8

My thought is to make a giant wall mural of the hedge and the assorted  places of the hedge and then to use the stories as a springboard for the imagery of form drawing lines and curves.  There is  also a Brambly Hedge Pattern Book to sew fabric versions of the mice characters here:  http://www.amazon.com/Brambly-Hedge-Pattern-Book-Dolman/dp/0399211942/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1295721650&sr=8-8

Many blessings today,

Carrie

A Skeleton Plan for Waldorf Homeschooling First and Fourth Grade

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Apparently Kara over at Rockin’ Granola and I are on the same wavelength recently…..Several weeks ago I got this urge to make a quick skeleton outline of blocks that I am going to start in the fall with my First and Fourth Grader.  This sounds a little crazy for this time of year, perhaps, but inspiration really struck me and it took very little time.

During the quiet of the Twelve Holy Nights, I urge homeschooling parents to take some of these days and lay out a skeleton plan of the blocks you are going to tackle in the fall.  This way you will be ready to order supplies around March and you will be able to start putting your blocks together.  You will be so proud to have a jump-start on your next school year!

Here is my quickie outline for 2011-2012, subject to change at a moment’s notice.  Smile

(Of course this does not include the middle lesson (s) or the afternoon lessons…just the Main Blocks).

Week of August 29 through September 9 – First Grader Form Drawing and Counting Games (2 weeks) ; Fourth Grader Local Geography (3 weeks total)

Week of September 12-  First Grader Beginning Wet on Wet Watercolor Painting and Crayon Drawing (2 weeks total) ; Fourth Grader Local Geography

Week of September 19- First Grader Beginning Wet on Wet Watercolor Painting and Crayon Drawing’; Fourth Grader Math (3 weeks total)

Week of September 26- October 7  First Grader Introduction to Letters (5  weeks total); Fourth Grader Math

Week of October 10– Week of October 31 -  First Grader Introduction to Letters, Fourth Grader Man and Animal I  (4 weeks total)

Week of October 31/November 1 First Grader Fall Crafts and preparation for All Saints Day (1 week) ; Fourth Grader Man and Animal I

Week of November 7-December 2  First Grader Introduction to Numbers (4 weeks total) ; Fourth Grader Norse Myths (5 weeks total)

Week of December 5- December 16th First Grader Writing First Reader (2 weeks) ; Fourth Grader Math (2 weeks) with Grammar as Middle Lesson;  Advent Crafts

OFF December 19- January 7th

Week of January 9-January 13th First Grader Introduction to Pentatonic Flute and Counting Games (1 week) ; Fourth Grader Kalevala (3 weeks total)

Week of January 16-27 First Grader Science (3 weeks total) ; Fourth Grader Kalevala

Week of January 30th- February 3 First Grader Science ; Fourth Grader Local Geography (4 weeks total)

Week of February 6-February 24 First Grader Math (3 weeks total); Fourth Grader Local Geography

Week of February 27-March 9  First Grader Form Drawing (2 weeks); Fourth Grader Local Geography Man and Animal II (4 weeks total)

Week of  March 12-23  First Grader Word Families and Phonics /Make Readers (3 weeks); Fourth Grader Man and Animal II

Week of  March 26-30 First Grader Word Families and Phonics/Make Readers (3 weeks total); Fourth Grader Math  (3 weeks total)

Week of April 2- 13th   OFF

Week of April 16 and Week of April 23rd  Finish First Grader Word Families and Phonics/Make Readers (2 out of 3 weeks); Fourth Grader math (2 out of 3 weeks started before break)

Week of April 30 –May 18th First Grader Math (3 weeks); Fourth Grader  Four Elements (3 weeks)

Week of May 21-May 25 (1 week)  Drama, Stories, Review

Week of May 28th – safety week if we need to make anything up and push school further….Smile

Anyone else care to share their blocks for fall?

Many blessings,

Carrie