So, in my last post I urged you to get your resources ordered by the end of this month so you will have plenty of time to sit down and read it all.

With this in mind, you might be thinking you have  nothing else to do until your resources arrive!  Well,  I have a few suggestions for things to do to prepare this month:

1.  Contact the Waldorf homeschoolers in your area if you can find any; see if you can get together to look at resources in person to decide if you want to buy these resources or not.

2.  Sit down and look at the calendar. How many days do you  have to homeschool by law in your state?  What are the other requirements of your state?

• Figure out what your start date will be, and figure out your holidays and festivals.  There are typical “Waldorf” festivals, and you may also have religious holidays to consider as well.
• When will you stop for the Winter Holidays?  Will you take two full weeks off around Easter – Holy Week and the week after Easter?  Will you schedule in any fall, winter or spring cleaning days?
• When will you stop for summer?
• Are there going to be field trips or other things that you do seasonally every year, such as apple picking or berry picking or visiting a farm to see the sheep shearing?
• You can start to plan this even without resources in your hand.

3.  Now is an excellent time to plan for any toddlers/early “preschoolers” in the house.  They need a language-rich environment, so think ahead for each school month.

• What verses or fingerplays will you use with your really tiny children?
• What songs will you sing each month?
• What simple nursery rhyme or very simple “everday”  story will you tell each month?  Do you need to make puppets?
• Does this story have a worker character?  If it does, what practical work will you be doing this month that may tie in with that worker character?  Small children need to see, and be a part of practical work…(Big children as well!)

4.  Is there anything for festivals you could get a jump start on?  Anything you saw that you would like to have this year to help you celebrate? Maybe it is that wall hanging you wanted to sew or something you wanted to needle felt?

5.  Are there any supplies you need for fall?  How is your schoolroom doing?  Do you need to go through and cull old books or papers? 

Do you need a schoolroom table, blackboard, main lesson books, chalk, block or stick crayons, a blowing instrument?

6.  Is there anything you need to work on so you can bring it to your child in the fall?  Kniting, music, drawing? 

7.  Do you have a general idea what this grade is about?  One resource I suggest is the Christopherus Homeschool Resource Waldorf Curriculum Overview.  I reviewed this resource here on my blog. 

8.  What in your home needs to be pared down or organized?  In the fall, will you be ready  to find everyone’s shoes and coats?  Your bread making supplies?  Are your children’s clothes organized?

Many blessings,

Carrie