Monthly Archives: April 2011

Strong-Willed At Three and Four Years of Age

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This is a question that comes up frequently in my local groups and in my email inbox: what to do with children of three and a half or four who have very strong wills, where everything is a struggle?

One thing I find interesting is that this question typically comes from parents about their first-born child.  It also comes from parents who have had all one gender of children and now have a child of the other gender approaching three and a half or four.  Just an interesting side-note I have observed over the years.

First of all, take a deep breath and step back for a minute and evaluate.  I have often talked about the shift in parenting that occurs (or should occur) at this age, which can be very challenging to attached parents who felt they were essentially one with their very small child.  Suddenly, the child has their own ideas and their own will, and for perhaps one of the first times the parent really has to figure out how to set boundaries as the child begins to exert some will and push against the forms of the day and the rhythms you have crafted.  This can be a hard task!

It very well may feel as if  your child is pushing against everything and anything.  So please take out a piece of paper and answer these questions before you read the rest of this post. I think one of the essential questions is:  is it really and truly everything, or what is it specifically?  Is it transitions?  Coming in from outside?  Or eating?  Or clothing?  What is your rhythm like, and what are you doing to take care of yourself?  If you are not a single parent, is your partner or spouse stepping in to help as well?  Does that change up the energy in a good way?  How does your spouse or partner feel about your child’s behavior?    How is your environment structured so you have thought about things ahead of time and your child can’t get into things you don’t want him or her into when you are not right there supervising?

What are the boundaries, how are you guiding this child toward those boundaries and what happens if the child is not working within the boundaries?  A strong, strong rhythm and unhurried life is really key with the three and four year old.  Even a five and six year old will get completely out of character when their rhythm is off and the family is doing too many things and going too many places and being outside of the home too much.   Try this post:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/10/07/back-to-basics-how-to-do-gentle-discipline/  and this post for help:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/12/15/gentle-discipline-connection-plus-boundaries/

The second thing I want you to do is to write down what language you are using when you are talking or thinking about this child on your piece of paper.   Are these words that are making you feel loving and connected to your child, words that make you feel like you can set boundaries for this child and guide this child toward those boundaries or are they words where you are creating a battlefield where you are one side of the line and your child is on the other side?   Many of you long-time readers know I have a particular aversion to the term, “high needs child” for older children…You can read my small rant about that here:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/08/05/parenting-the-high-needs-older-child/

But, perhaps for you to really take a hand in this situation, your language must change.  Here is a back post on that:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/05/23/changing-our-parenting-language/

Okay, now that you have some thoughts down on paper, let’s go on to some of the developmental hallmarks of three and a half or so….Three and a half is very, very little…I wrote a post about the three and a half year old awhile back and am including part of it for you here, take what resonates with you:

“AGE THREE: Three is very, very little. According to Waldorf parenting and pedagogy, the first three years are for the establishment for walking (which takes about two and a half years to be a very mature walker without needing the arms for balance, being able to run, etc); the development of speech and the development of thinking as first seen by use of the term “I”.

Typical developmental things about the three and a half -year-olds include (this is according to the Gesell Institute, not necessarily my personal opinion!):

  • Turbulent, troubled period of disequilibrium, the simplest event or occasion can elicit total rebellion; strong and secure gross motor abilities may turn more into stumbling, falling, at this age; new- found verbal ability such as “I’ll cut you in pieces!” and lots of whining
  • May refuse to do things a lot, or howl and scream, or say a lot of “I can’t” I won’t” kinds of things
  • Three and a half to four may be the height for the most “WHY?” “WHERE?” “WHAT?” kinds of questions
  • Demanding, bossy, turbulent, troubled but mainly due to emotional insecurity
  • May refuse to take part in daily routine – expect some pushing against what you do daily, and have some distraction plans at hand.

REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS:  I think one important things, especially for parents where this child is the first-born or an only child, please make sure the expectations for this age are reasonable.  Many times parents whose three or four year old is the oldest child in the house are expecting an awful lot.  Here are some realistic expectations from a traditional physical therapy/occupational therapy perspective -a three-year-old may most likely be able to:

**At three and a half to age four, may use a spoon for liquids; may use a fork with some spilling; may refill his or her glass from a container that holds less than the glass does; can drink from a water fountain an adult turns on.
**Can distinguish between a bowel movement and urination; around three and a half may or may not go to the bathroom at regular intervals
**Can turn off water in bathroom when you ask; may be able to put toothpaste on toothbrush and wet the toothbrush; can put comb or brush in hair; can pull pants up; can get clothing out and put it on by around three and a half, although the average age for complete dressing is age 5. Can pull off shoes and unzip and unsnap clothing.
**Probably knows own name and names of siblings, may know if they or their family members are male or female.
**Can string large beads; roll clay or other modeling material into a snake shape, probably can match objects, cut paper with scissors, may know primary colors, may be able to roll clay into a ball.
**May be able to play a game with another person, such as rolling a ball back and forth; they can usually talk about a game that just finished and start a new game; can take turns in a game at least 25 percent of the time
**Can sit quietly for at least one minute; this moves up to five minutes at three and a half
**Can say please and thank you; request help when needed
**COMPLETES 10 PERCENT OF A TASK WITH ATTENTION AND REINFORCING BY AN ADULT; will start a task only when reminded at around three and a half and at that point may be able to complete 10 percent of the task with little input from an adult. Carrie’s note: Waldorf expectations and ways of working with a child’s will is often more in line with this than mainstream methods we see out there!
**May sing parts and phrases of familiar songs.
(These milestones came from the Hawaii Early Learning Profile for Children ages 3-6).

I think the main thing to remember is that the consciousness of the tiny three and a half year old is completely different than older children or adults. They do not mutter under their breath, make faces or say things you perceive to be rude to be disrespectful or defiant….

Some things that may help:

  • Sit down and make a list of animals and how they move, so you can pull out some creative animal games to “hop over here like a kangaroo” or other animal movements you will need to get something accomplished. Think about what appeals to your boy or girl with moving objects or occupations so you can round up blocks like a shepherd rounding up sheep (clean-up) and other tasks.
  • Think about how to structure your environment so less toys are immediately available without your help; this avoids much clean-up.
  • Think about setting up play scenarios; at three they are just learning how to start fantasy play and making believe and they may need your help to get started!
  • Expect some struggles around bedtime perhaps; think about how to shorten your bedtime routine and how you will handle things when they are not going well and everyone is just tired.
  • Think about less choices and less words all the way around for this age.
    There are many posts on this blog regarding how to stop talking and less choices.
  • Figure out how to be strong and carry the work and rhythms of the day even if your child does not participate!
  • Most of all, you have to be strong, peaceful and centered.  Breathe, give the child a moment before you jump in, do things WITH the small three and four year old and don’t have the expectation they will do things with only a verbal command.  Three and four year olds are really tiny; they need constant supervision and structure.
  • Double check nutrition, media, sleep and food allergies…All of these can contribute toward making behavior better or worse.  Many children whose parents have reported were “out of control” ended up being diagnosed with food allergies.  Media is another culprit, as is lack of sleep.  Double check, double check, double check.
  • Boundaries are so important; there are so many posts on boundaries and respect and authority in parenting on this blog.  Please go back to those and re-read and see where you are and where your spouse or partner is and where your child is.  That could be a key piece to the whole thing.

Many blessings,

Carrie

A Round-Up Of Blog Posts and Blogs To Enjoy

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Oh, I am so enjoying this:  a “craft-a-long” blog to go with the book “The Children’s Year”:  http://wwwthechildrensyearcraftalong.blogspot.com/ 

Here is a lovely blog post by Sarah Baldwin over at Bella Luna Toys regarding rhythm in the Waldorf Kindergarten:  http://blog.bellalunatoys.com/2011/waldorf-kindergarten.html#comments

Here is a post with beautiful pictures and words of wisdom from one of my very own readers and her experience with being mentored by a Waldorf Early Years  teacher:  http://bendingbirches2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/waldorf-nursery-observations.html

This article is by Elizabeth Foss, whom many of you know from her wonderful Serendipity website and her Kind Conversation network.  Here is an article from her about ending her school day with tea-time.  I love this and plan to incorporate it into our school day:  http://charlottemason.tripod.com/tea.html

And finally, Ann Voskamp’s “10 Points of Joyful Parenting”:  http://www.aholyexperience.com/10-points-of-joyful-parenting-printable/  I am sure many of you are familiar with Ann’s bestselling book!

As for me, I have been spending my nights reading about St. Benedict and slowly starting to homeschool plan for fall.  My oldest just took her standardized test for the year (required in my state), so we have a few blocks of school and feel relieved that is out of the way.

What are you engrossed  in recently?  I would love to hear from you in the comment box!

Many blessings,

Carrie

Homeschooling Children In Multiple Grades

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Ah, this is the million dollar question, isn’t it?  Waldorf Main Lessons are wonderful, but doesn’t the rub occur when you have MANY of those to do?  How does one get everything done and keep true to the spirit of Waldorf Education?

Here a few of my favorite tips:

  • Plan ahead, and remind yourself that unless you are creating things from scratch that the curriculum you bought will need to be tailored to your family, and that many times the authors of curriculum write it to be “very full.”  You may not be able to do everything that is in there, even if you had only one child!  So release that guilt!  This happens in almost every “kind” of homeschooling – for example, I have many Christian friends who use Sonlight (not Waldorf) …Sonlight is famous for having Instructor Guides with all these little boxes to check off and lots of material.  As a homeschooling mother, only can decide what “boxes” to check off in your homeschooling, and only you can free yourself from guilt if you don’t do everything in a certain curriculum.
  • Also remind yourself that sometimes in the home environment the lessons can really be on fire and go quickly, and the child is enthused and “gets” it all, and sometimes the child does not. Leave some breathing room for those times in your planning.  Extra days planned in your schedule here and there in case you need catch-up are important.
  • Waldorf homeschooling is not like a workbook that one opens up and just does lesson A, B, C, etc from beginning to end.  It is more like a range of  possible topics and artistic and academic skills for the age and development of the child.  So, don’t be afraid to pick and choose.
  • If you read Steiner, understand the seven year cycles, then you can tailor things faster and easier because you understand child development.  Waldorf homeschooling in a big family of five or more children will look different than school – and that’s okay!  Just knowing what speaks to the soul of each age will help you combine and tailor things though.
  • Things go “faster” at home than in a school setting.  For example, a main lesson for a first grader will most likely take under an hour on most days. 
  • Don’t forget the movement!  Lots of movement to start school, lots of movement before you actually put something on paper.  Form Drawing starts with walking forms, drawing them with your toe in the sandbox, all different ways…and then the writing.  The activity of writing always proceeds the reading.  Active math games and bean bag tossing and jumping rope and clapping games before math.    Movement can span multiple grades, with every child working on their own level.  Handwork, crafts, music  can also be places where everyone is working on these things at the same time either rotating turns if they need assistance or working together. 
  • Don’t forget the advantages of home – cooking and gardening, morning walks, days spent berry picking, going ice skating and roller skating, hiking.  These activities also promote learning and span multiple ages.  Practical skills, and having everyone in the homeschooling family is so important.  It cannot be just mom as the teacher on top of every household chores.  The children must work with you for the good of the family and mom’s sanity. Smile
  • Do have your homeschool space set up so your younger children can play and still be in sight, even if you  have to gate things off or have a rule that during school everyone stays on the first floor of a two-story house or whathave you.  Also, consider homeschooling outside so the younger children can practice moving and play. I think I did the vast majority of my oldest child’s first grade in the garage and driveway so my younger one at the time could practice riding a bike and scooter.  This year we will be in the backyard quite a bit with a sandbox and a play set and garden.  Thank goodness for chalkboards with wheels!
  • Your third graders and up can start to do some independent work.  You can throw in a load of laundry whilst they start on a math problem or copy something in a main lesson book.  Fourth graders and up should have something to do independently every week to practice that skill of working independently – it may be something small, but we start there and build up for later ages.
  • Your older children can help entertain toddlers and mobile babies whilst you are working with another child.
  • You can find lessons that span multiple ages, and put everyone in doing at least the same kind of main lesson at the same time – everyone is doing math, now everyone is doing language arts.
  • Draw your chalkboard pictures the night before.  Write out your spelling words on the board.  Put up what form you are doing the next day.  This makes life go so much more smoothly.
  • Don’t forget your toddlers and babies.  Put a few songs and  nursery rhymes each month on the homeschooling schedule and teach your older children these.
  • Constantly turn to prayer, to inner work, to personal development.  Some of the most important lessons of homeschooling are not to be found in main lesson books at all, but in the way the children treat each other, in how they respond to stress and when things are not going their way, in the common sense they display in situations.  Anchoring your children in faith, in something bigger than themselves, in morality, is the biggest part of  Waldorf  homeschooling.  In Waldorf homeschooling, care is taken in every subject to present “man” as an upright, moral human being.
  • Own your authority as the leader and teacher in your home; maintain your calm center through prayer and inner work, cultivate that when the children need this most. Working in the moment is an important part of teaching and life.  Can you adapt a bit on the fly if you need to go down a rabbit trail?  Can you reign it all back in  if it needs to be reigned in?

If you are Waldorf homeschooling children in multiple grades, please share your greatest tips for success in the comment box below!

Many blessings,

Carrie

When You Are Fearful In Homeschooling

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Doubt and fear can be such a poison in the homeschooling experience.  If you go into your homeschooling planning (this is the time of year to start gathering your resources, are you doing this yet?) with negativity and anxiety, it can undermine the core stability of your homeschool experience.

Every mother has decisions to make regarding what type of homeschooling works for their family, what curriculum and resources to obtain, and how to actually implement these things for the long haul of day after day, year after year in homeschooling.  However, what can unfortunately happen is that mothers can really second guess themselves and become paralyzed with fear.  Are my choices the right ones?  What if they are not?  What do I do about Little Girl or Little Boy who is not (insert here:  spelling well enough, writing enough, understanding math well)?

And I will ask you:  How convicted do you feel that homeschooling is right for your family?  Have you really meditated on these decisions and challenges?  Do the same things keep coming into your mind over and over in regards to what kind of homeschooling experiences or resouces your child needs and if so, why are you second guessing this?  If you and your partner have talked about these challenges and come to a decision and formulated a plan, why are you still carrying this around and agonizing over this?

Show your children clarity of thought:  make a decision and stick with it.  See it to the end of a school year and then change what needs to be changed.  Give it time.  We can be such an impatient society, and Waldorf homeschooling takes a much more long-term view than traditional cramming of facts into a child for a standardized test.

Do you all remember from test-taking in school that the first answer you are drawn to on a multiple choice test is usually the right answer?

So don’t change your answer; yes, sometimes strategy has to be adjusted but not vision.  Shut that negative voice out of your head.  Take some index cards and write down some inspirational phrases that will help you focus on seeing the glass as half-full; seeing the challenges as the opportunities that they really are. Put these quotes where you need to see them; repeat them to you as you wash dishes or do laundry or comb your hair.  And then get started with what you know is right to the best of your ability.   Homeschooling, education and development can take years to really see and reap the benefits of what you are doing, but you must start now.

Start with your own inner work in the morning, and at quiet time and before bed.  If you don’t know where to start with inner work, I suggest the reading of sacred texts or the use of a Daily Office.  Some Waldorf homeschooling families use the verses from the Calendar of the Soul or Steiner’s basic meditative exercises as an inspirational starting point as well.

Before we start school in the morning, I always say this prayer to myself.  It is from The Book of Common Prayer, an Anglican resource, and I  modified it slightly here so you can put your name and your children’s name into this prayer:

“Almighty God, heavenly Father, you have blessed (me or us) with the
joy and care of (your children’s names): Give (me or us) calm strength and patient
wisdom as (I or we)  bring them up, that (I or we)  may teach them to love
whatever is just and true and good, following the example of
our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen”

The children and I also pray through a special prayer just for them and the Morning Daily Office.

You will find what works for you and your family; but my point is that if you have a starting point that is inspirational to you, and faith-filled for you, then your mind is going to be more protected from negative thoughts.  If you can keep taking those doubt-filled thoughts and turning them to prayer or meditation, this will carry you through some of the more challenging spots of homeschooling.

Have courage!  Take the reigns!  Here are few back posts about courage and being an Authentic Leader:

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/07/05/parenting-with-courage/

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/10/02/trust-your-intuition/

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/08/05/do-you-ever-worry-your-homeschool-teaching-is-not-enough/

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/08/06/start-now/

Authentic Leadership:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/12/01/power-authority-and-respect-in-parenting/

Many blessings,

Carrie

Loving Yourself

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I see so many mothers striving to set the tone for their families; mothers who are really working to create a family life that will nurture their children even if it means hard work and facing emotional growth on their part.  It is heart-warming and exciting to see mothers who are doing that!

I also see so many mothers who want to strive but don’t seem to have any idea how to take the bull by the horns and be the authority for their family.  For whatever reason, the idea of being the person who sets the tone in their home for their family is scary, or met with fear instead of joy.

I think the root of this may lie in that these mothers do not think they are worthy of being an Authentic Leader in their home.  I have a few words for you today, just for you.

To My Precious Striving Friend,

You know, you are worthy of setting the tone for your spouse/partner and your children.  It doesn’t matter if you didn’t have the best childhood, and have no memories of home-cooked meals or nightly routines and rhythms.  It doesn’t matter at all if you can find the will within yourself to rise up and to want to learn how to create a nurturing home life for your family.

The truth is, this process will nurture you.  It will nurture your family, and it will nurture the children in the neighborhood who come over to play with your children, it will nurture all those who come into your house.  Your house is more than a physical space, but it has an ambience, a feeling, and a  tone to it that you set and nurture every day by having a vision and what you do to feed the beauty, truth and goodness that lives in your home.

You are worthy of having this.  You love your family, and you are being drawn to this idea of being an Authentic Leader in your home for a purpose and a reason.  You, this very day, are helping to raise your grandchildren by the way you love and treat your children.  You are extending your values and beliefs through the generations to come.

You feel confused as to how to take on this role?  Don’t be afraid.  Authority is  not a bad thing; only misuse and abuse of power is…Authority is about making the right decisions at the right time for the children in the family who are not yet ready to do it for themselves.  They need all the lessons you have learn; you have experience in love and warmth to share.   No one will ever love your children more than you!

You don’t know where to start in practical terms?  Start with yourself.  Parents and homeschooling parents are not more patient or better than anyone else, but we have to be more persistent in working on our own areas of challenge.  Work on your courage, your patience, your warmth…pick one area and make a plan!  Read sacred texts, find inspiring verses to keep you on track, study, meditate, pray. 

Create warmth through the beauty in your home, through the truth and goodness you show your children, your partner, yourself!  Ask yourself, is this good, is this true, is this worthy, is this pure?  If it is not, what are you doing?  You deserve to be surrounded by these things.  Rise up and claim it!

To My Precious Striving Friend, you can do this!  Be an Authentic Leader in your home, do what is right!  It is not about perfection but the process of striving.  Overcome your own inertia, your own doubts, your own fears and make a plan to start somewhere.  The journey begins with the one step, and if you stumble, get back up and keep going.  Your family is counting on you.

Live big!

Love,

Carrie

Homeschooling With A Calm And Quiet Heart

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I think the single most important thing one can cultivate  in homeschooling (and in parenting) is a calm and quiet heart.  It is easy as a parent new to homeschooling to have a vision of rosy-cheeked children running to your side to love learning, but the reality is that some days will be fantastic and some days will be less than stellar.  Some days your children will love homeschooling, and some days all the children will be crying that they don’t want to do school, that they hate school (which is very easy to take personally when you are the teacher and have slaved away all summer in order to create lessons!) or  your child will be crying about the math, drawing, reading or knitting that is “just too hard.”

If you have a strong conviction that this is the right path and you can be calm and quiet, then you will feel peaceful even in the midst of the worst days.  Your calm and your peacefulness will carry your children during these days and will enable you to be the wall your child needs to bounce off of when something is hard and they need to persist in finishing a task.

You may asking how one maintains a calm and quiet heart; I have some suggestions.

  • Do your own inner work as to why you think homeschooling is right for your family and surround yourself with positive people who will support you. 
  • One of my best suggestions is to start your day with prayer, meditation and inner work.  Bless the beginning of your school day together.  Ask your Beloved Creator to bless you and guide you as you work to parent and educate your children. 
  • Talk less.  If your child is melting down over reading or math, or your children are yelling about not wanting to do school, one of the worst things you can do is start a back and forth dialogue with your child or children whilst they are completely screaming and upset.  Be calm, be quiet, be the authority and wait a few minutes.
  • By the same token, though, part of experience in homeschooling means you know when to take a break, when to take the day off and go hiking, and also know when to push through and buckle down. Children do have to rise up and cultivate their will and finish tasks, but the manner and timing in which we approach this is part of our own development as a teacher.
  • Cultivate a strong rhythm.  Children in the grades may very well be resistant to doing school if your rhythm is changing every day.  Sometimes life necessitates this due to pregnancy, illness or other circumstances, but if you are in a stable place and all over just because you are lacking in will in developing rhythm, then this should be a priority for your coming school year.  And part of cultivating rhythm and getting things done is to be home.  Schedule things in the afternoon when school is done.  Put in time to have the family work together to do the things that will keep the house running smoothly. 
  • Plan ahead; get organized. If your home runs relatively smoothly and your school year is planned out and you have the resources you need then you be in a place to bring things to your children out of a position of preparedness.

Many blessings,

Carrie

A Primer For Waldorf Homeschooling Success Part Two

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One thing I hear a lot from mothers is essentially what to do all day with this child?  What can I do to entertain this child – this child is bored.  Or,  I hear, how do I fit all this household work into the day on top of homeschooling, being a wife, being a mother.

The answer is that children need to see work, real work done with your real hands, from birth onward.  And then your children need to work to have a sense of purpose.  And then your children need to help you because you cannot do it all.

For homeschooling mothers, I highly suggest you look carefully at such things as house cleaning, laundry, meal planning/cooking/shopping.

House Cleaning – There actually have been quite a few back post on house cleaning on this blog, I am sure if you use the search engine they will come up.

  • Step One to house cleaning is getting rid of things and de-cluttering things so every thing you own can have a place of its own. 
  • Step Two is to not put every thing you own out and to feel okay with that.  You may have many children’s books for your child who is under the age of seven, but that child only needs four to six books out per season.  Your child only needs ten to  fourteen outfits out per season.  Pare down and then rotate.
  • Step Three is to take tasks and break them down. For example, many of you know I have a little eighteen month old right now.  I wanted him to start partaking in work.  So, after meals, my middle child clears the plates off the table, my oldest daughter gathers the silverware and then supervises the littlest one dropping each piece of silverware into a bucket of soapy warm water to soak whilst the rest of the dishes are being rinsed or washed.  Break it down so your children can be involved and help contribute to the family. 

Laundry – Most homeschooling families tell me they do best if they do laundry almost every day: put a load in the morning after breakfast and switch it at a break and fold it before lunch. If days are skipped, families feel as if they are being buried under laundry. Again, involve the children.  You can have certain items collected (ie, napkins used at dinner, for example) and hand washed and hung on a line to dry and other items you wash in a more traditional manner.  It just depends upon how much time you have.

Also, perhaps think about where your laundry area is located; we have a small house and my school room is in what should be a dining room between the kitchen and laundry room.  Where should your school room space be in order for you to effectively be the captain of the ship in your home?

Meal Planning/Cooking/Grocery Shopping – Having a meal plan is exceedingly important; cooking should involve all children prior to meals.  Crock pots are exceptionally handy.  Many homeschool mothers like to grocery shop alone, but grocery shopping can also  be a time of comparison shopping, weighing and estimating and other mathematical treats if you plan it out.  So, think about what is right for you, and that may vary each week.

You may be noticing a theme of planning here.  I think there is also one other theme so obvious here that it is easy to overlook: one must be home in order for the laundry to be done, the meals cooked, things cleaned.  Be careful the number of days you plan out of your house each week!  Does your child need to take every lesson, every class, participate in every homeschool sport or event when they are seven, eight, or even nine?  If you do everything, what will be left for the teen years? Think ahead and plan!

Next post – homeschooling and parenting with a calm and quiet heart.

Many blessings,

Carrie

A Primer For Waldorf Homeschooling Success

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Now is the time of year to go over some quick tips for Waldorf homeschooling success.  I do this every year, and it always revitalizes my commitment to homeschooling using Waldorf pedagogy. 

Success lies in  reminding ourselves why we do what we do, and how we can plan and organize to make homeschooling life successful.  I believe homeschooling, especially homeschooling multiple children in multiple grades, can require and demand a large degree of organization to go smoothly

One suggestion I have is to re-visit the benefits of a Waldorf Education AND homeschooling.  Waldorf Education is an education that addresses the development of the child right where that child is.  It is an education that really provides for an almost Renaissance experience of well-roundedness, that respects the unfolding of development and abilities.  It is academically rigorous and progressive.  It makes art the vehicle for teaching and enlivens every subject.  If you need a further pep talk regarding this subject, I highly recommend you try reading Rudolf Steiner’s “A Modern Art of Education” for parents with children in the grades.  If your children are under seven, how about reading “Kingdom of Childhood”?

Why are you committed to homeschooling?  Homeschooling is first and foremost about family.  What is helping you keep your commitment to homeschool and what is hindering it all?  Head back and read the posts on this blog from the book “Hold On To Your Kids;  Why Parents Need To Matter More Than Peers” to inspire you again!

I think one thing to really focus on with homeschooling is to realize that we may SAY we are homeschooling because we want to put family first, but then if we treat every day in an angry, complaining, whining, “this is so difficult” kind of way, we are defeating the primary goal of homeschooling.   Just defeating the beauty of the whole thing. There will always be bad days when we homeschool, just like when you worked every day was not the perfect day, but we have to keep striving and moving forward.

What we need to fix this is an active life of personal development and prayer and meditation. 

What are you doing for your personal development as a parent?  What are you doing to work on your weaker or more challenging areas of being a parent?  May I humbly suggest this ever popular series on this blog: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/09/17/20-days-to-being-a-more-mindful-mother/

I recently started to keep a little journal.  I am writing down every single thing that I find irritating or upsetting during the day.  I had three things today that upset me.  (I know some of you are laughing right now because you may feel as if your list would have a hundred things on it!  You could still do this though – it may help whittle down what is major and what is really only minor).    I plan to do this for forty days, and pray and meditate during this time so I can meet the things that personally bother me (that probably wouldn’t bother other people at all) with a gentle spirit, a positive attitude, a closed mouth and an open heart. If you approach things with a hardness of heart sometimes, perhaps something like this would work for you as well. 

The other thing I think is very important is to understand where your child is developmentally.  Every age from birth through the nine year change is on this blog; “Soul Economy” by Rudolf Steiner goes through each age, and “Education for Adolescents” by Rudolf Steiner is excellent for those of you with the upper grades aged children/children in the high school years.

The third thing that will bring you success is to  get organized inside and out.  Are you organized in your house?  How many toys and clothes do your children have and can you de-clutter?  Do you need so many dishes and glasses and towels and sheets?  Can you open all the closets and drawers in your house without things falling out?  Could you make it a priority this summer to hire a mother’s helper from the neighborhood or arrange with family members to play with your children for a few hours each week so you can get your house under control in time for the new school year?

Things such as knowing what day you will shop for groceries, what day you will run other errands, when you will clean what and having a meal plan will go a long way toward keeping your homeschool from being buried under a mountain of laundry with no snacks.  

More about cleaning and children and homeschooling in my next post.

Love to all,

Carrie

Waldorf Homeschooling Third Grade: Second Old Testament Block

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You can see this post regarding the first block of Old Testament we did here: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/10/30/waldorf-homeschooling-third-grade-first-old-testament-block/

The  main resources I used for this second  block included (other than several Bibles of different versions):

  • The Christopherus Old Testament Manual and Stories – the background information in there, the ideas for puppetry, modeling, and wet on wet painting were really very helpful.  
  • Ruth Beechick’s “Genesis:  Finding Our Roots” and “Adam and His Kin” were helpful during the first block, but they chronologically ended where our first block ended.
  • Jakob Streit’s  “And Then There Was Light” was used in the first block and now in this second block we have moved into “Journey To The Promised Land” by the same author.   Some may find this esoteric companion to be quite startling, but I liked much of it because it incorporated what is said in the Bible and what was said in Hebrew legends surrounding these events and fleshed the Biblical events out in a story format.  
  • Arthur Auer’s “Modeling:  Sculptural Ideas for For School and Home” had excellent suggestions for modeling the Tower of Babel.
  • Dorothy Harrer’s “An English Manual”
  • Roy Wilkinson’s “Commentary on Old Testament Stories.”
  • For this second block, I found Geraldine McCaughrean’s “God’s People:  Stories From The Old Testament” helpful for some of the drawings that I could easily translate to more archetypal figures and such.

This second block of Old Testament Stories we did included the stories of The Tower of Babel, Abraham,  the story of Isaac’s servant at the well meeting Rebekah, Esau and Jacob, the story of Joseph, Moses in the Bulrushes, Moses and the burning bush, The Exodus, and  The Ten Commandments.

We did several modeling projects, wet on wet paintings and crafts.  These stories are very deep and really penetrate into the nine-year-old child.  I came out one morning long after this block had ended and my daughter was actually drawing on one of the chalkboards a picture of The Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.  She didn’t say anything about it; she didn’t have to as these stories so deeply affect a child of the nine-year change.

Many blessings,

Carrie

What To Do This Month: More About Planning Your Waldorf Homeschooling Year

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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