Author Archives: Carrie

Favorite Waldorf Resource #5: Three Resources To Help You Get More Movement Into Your Homeschool

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Okay, so I cheated and decided to put several resources into one favorites slot because I think movement within your homeschool is that important.  I am certain (hopefully) that you have heard about using movement for teaching math actively in the grades for Waldorf, but I wanted to point out some perhaps lesser-known links for movement in the grades.

The first link is for The Association For A Healing Education’s links and articles section:  http://www.healingeducation.org/resources.htm.  There are many great articles regarding development of the twelve senses, including my very favorite article regarding the lower four senses by Nettie Fabrie.

The second resource is this Waldorf-inspired website:  http://www.movementforchildhood.com/index.htm.   There are articles there as diverse as movement standards for Third Grade, what to do about team sports, how to use copper rods, and, my favorite, blocks for the Early Grades for movement:  http://www.movementforchildhood.com/classroom.pdf.  An overall excellent resource.  My only fear is that those without a movement background and without a grounding in Waldorf Education would find this material hard to integrate into their homeschools.  Please let me know if the movement blocks would be usable for those of  you who do not have a movement background and for those of you who do not have the books “Take Time” or “The Extra Lesson.”

The third resource in this category is the book “Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures” by Nancy Blanning and Laurie Clark.  I included this book here simply because many children in Kindergarten have siblings in the grades, and your Kindergartner can be the back door for your Grades child to experience movement if you can teach them to lead these movement circles.  You have to love the wonderful advantage of homeschooling in this sense; that your older child can experience what the younger child does on a different level!

At any rate, the introduction of this book discusses the difficulties today’s child faces in regard to movement, the twelve senses, the role of pentatonic music in these circle adventures, how to set up the environment and use the book, a listing and description of developmental movement exercises and the equipment list.

There are four movement journeys for Autumn, four for Winter, six for Spring/Summer and two for any season.

This book could provide you with some challenges as the teacher though; the circles are typically four to six pages long; there is music involved so for those of you who cannot read music that would be a challenge; you must work to find the authentic gesture within the characters of these circles.  However, I think these circles and movement themes provide a great chance for you to improve your own skills!  Please see this link to order this resource:  http://www.waldorfbooks.com/edu/curriculum/eurythmy_games_gymnastics.htm

I have already mentioned “Joyful Movement” in this series of blog posts, one can refer to that post here:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/12/17/favorite-waldorf-resource-1-joyful-movement/

Peace,

Carrie

Favorite Waldorf Resource #4: The Files of Marsha Johnson’s Yahoo Group

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Marsha Johnson is a veteran  Waldorf teacher who has put together file after file after file of FREE lesson plans outlining the whole year for each grade, outlining specific day-by-day lessons for certain blocks, and she has whole files devoted to festival preparation and celebration and handwork ideas.

She has a deep anthroposophic understanding and offers so much wisdom and advice for free on her Yahoo!Group.

This is an especially wonderful place to start your Waldorf homeschooling journey as Mrs. Johnson has files specifically devoted to how to start with Waldorf if you are new.  There are also many topics of interest just for parenting in general and discipline from a Waldorf perspective.

I encourage you to utilize this free resource!  To join, please see this link:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorfhomeeducators/

Many blessings,

Carrie

Favorite Waldorf Resource #3: For Inner Work as A Parent: Melisa Nielsen’s “Be A Beacon Program”

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Okay, this is both a resource for Waldorf homeschooling,  for parenting, and your own inner journey as a human being!   I think ALL parents could benefit from this program and work, not just homeschooling mothers (although there is something wonderful about someone who understands the particular needs of the homeschooling mother!)  Melisa’s Nielsen’s “Be A Beacon” program rolled out this year, and it is a wonderful mix of members-only blog posts, members-only newsletters, members-only blog radio shows, worksheets, meditation exercises.

Essentially, if you do not know where to start with inner work, this is a great place to start!  All the worksheets and radio shows and such are archived for members only, so you have not missed a thing.  This would be a wonderful present for yourself or a friend for the New Year in order to improve your own parenting and teaching.

The topics have covered such diverse things as biography, temperament, marriage, relationships with family and friends, setting boundaries, meditation exercises and setting up an inner work program for yourself. 

It is easy to listen to the Internet radio show whilst you are knitting or doing something else at night, and very inspiring.  Melisa draws on not only Steiner, but across a number of spiritual teachers and world religions and sacred texts.  She is a Christian mother, and I appreciate that in her work, but she has a way of drawing in people of all faiths as we explore how to “Be A Beacon” for our families, how to actually make our house a home, how to be a better wife and mother.

For those of you who are learning how to be “The Queen” of your home (remember that post here? https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/12/19/cultivating-how-to-hold-the-space-the-inner-work-of-advent/), this might be a wonderful gift to yourself in order to jump-start that process.

Here is the link:  http://site.beaconmama.com/

Many blessings,

Carrie

Waldorf 101: Do I Have To Be An Anthroposophist To Homeschool With Waldorf?

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Do I think you have to be an anthroposophist in order  to work with Waldorf Education at home?  No.  Do I think you should read Steiner’s lectures regarding Waldorf Education?  Yes.  Do I think you must have a truly deeper understanding of Steiner’s ideas as far as anthroposophy  in order to be a really, really good Waldorf Home Educator?

Possibly.  And I say possibly because I think in the home environment one can choose how much or how little one wants to work with the some of Steiner’s views alongside our own faith for our own spiritual journey. 

Here is an old post regarding “What is Anthroposophy” that Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschool assisted me in writing:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/09/04/what-is-anthroposophy/

The relationship between anthroposophy, religion, and Waldorf comes up as people are drawn to exploring the spiritual nature of the basis of  Waldorf Education.  One of the major questions is this dual- sided coin of:  1.  Is Waldorf Education Christian?  or 2.  Is Waldorf Education Pagan? (or the corollary questions of  is Waldorf Education compatible with Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism?)

And because others say it far better than I ever could, here is a great post by Donna Simmons regarding “Anthroposophy, Religion and Waldorf” here :   http://christopherushomeschool.typepad.com/blog/2005/12/anthroposophy_r.html

She has a small section regarding Judaism and anthroposophy that is interesting, and talks about how Christians and Pagans will find things here that resonate with them, and perhaps things that don’t! 

 Here is an article by Eugene Schwartz relating anthroposophy and The Kindergarten Years:  http://knol.google.com/k/anthroposophy-and-waldorf-education-the-kindergarten-years#

and Mr. Schwartz had this to say regarding anthroposophy in Waldorf Education and whether all Waldorf teachers needed to be anthroposophists as well:  http://www.southerncrossreview.org/41/schwartz.htm

 If one concentrates solely on the lectures by Rudolf Steiner as related to education, and there is a page of them here at Bob and Nancy’s bookshop:  http://www.waldorfbooks.com/edu/steiner_waldorf.htm (beginning works) and here (more in-depth works):  http://www.waldorfbooks.com/edu/waldorf_depth.htm, that is probably the best place to start.  You can then decide how this relates  to your use of Waldorf Education within your own home. 

This is a complex subject that deserves pondering.  Where are you in your journey with this?

Many blessings,

Carrie

Favorite Waldorf Resource #2: “Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier and More Secure Kids” by Kim John Payne and Lisa Ross

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Kim John Payne postulates answers to several of the more pressing parenting issues of our time and opens his book with the premise that “As parents, we’re the architects of our family’s daily lives.  We build a structure for those we love by what we choose to do together, and how we do it……You can see what a family holds dear from the pattern of their everyday lives.”

He goes on to say, “This book is about realigning our daily lives with the dreams with the pace and the promise of childhood.  Realigning our real lives with the dreams we hold for our families.”

This is an excellent book, full of the things I talk about on this blog all the time.  How did he read my mind, LOL?

In the United States, this Australian is a fairly well-known (in Waldorf circles at least!) educator  and speaker.  His website is here:  http://www.thechildtoday.com/About/ 

This book really is a wonderful book for all parents, and should be at the top of your gift-giving list for any parents you know. 

He talks about children in this book that are suffering from what he terms “cumulative stress reaction” (CSR), and how this can be helped by simplifying and not over-parenting our children because we are anxious about life.  He discusses how a child who is sliding to one end or the other on a behavior spectrum (a normal reaction to normal stress) can be assisted by simplifying. Children do learn from the normal stresses of life and build their own character and emotional intelligence from these stresses, but at the same time children do need some protection from adult information and worries, from so many choices and an ove -packed schedule of activities.

He talks about the concept of “soul fever”; how a child may be emotionally  overwhelmed, and how simplification can help this immensely and re-set this pattern (and of particular interest, he gives concrete examples of how to do this). 

He has a whole chapter on toys and the “power of less” as he calls it and includes a ten-point checklist to help you decide which toys to discard.  He has a whole chapter on how to establish rhythm, including meal and bedtime simplicity ideas. He has a whole chapter devoted to the idea of  balance in schedules and outside activities.  He addresses what to do about team sports and martial arts,  what to do about technology and adult information,and how to talk less to your children with very concrete examples.

This leads to my favorite quote (well, one of them):  “One way to “talk less” is to not include children in adult concerns and topics of conversation.”  He writes, “It’s  a misnomer to think that we are “sharing” with our children when we include them in adult conversations about adult concerns.  Sharing suggests an equal and mutual exchange, one that is impossible for a child to offer and unfair for an adult to expect…….”  He also makes a great point at the end of this section:  “There is one more point.  When there are topics that you don’t address with your child, they carry an image of you, and of adulthood, that retains an element of mystery.  When you have an inner life, your children have a model of self that is both loving and unique, an individual.   They’ll come to realize that there are things about you they don’t know, things that they may learn over time.”

I know attached parents and homeschooling parents may balk a bit at this notion, and I know it is difficult when you are with your children 24/7, but I urge you to keep part of your life and the adult concerns in your life for yourself.  You really don’t need to share every detail with your under-7 child or even your over-7 child!  You can still be a loving and attached parent without over-sharing too much information with your child.  Your child wants to love you, your child wants to RESPECT you and look up to you as this loving authority who can lasso the moon!  Give them that piece of their childhood, it is so vital and important!

Sorry to digress, onto the rest of the book.  Actually, I think I will just give you the link to it on Amazon so you can buy it and read it for yourself.  Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/Simplicity-Parenting-Extraordinary-Calmer-Happier/dp/0345507975/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261878069&sr=8-1

We are also having a great discussion about this book on Donna Simmons’ Waldorf at Home Forum, please do come join us!  Here is the link: http://waldorf-at-home.com/  

Many blessings,

Carrie

Inner Work for The Holy Nights

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What inner work have you done for The Holy Nights so far?  This is one thing I have been playing with, and perhaps you will find it of use.  This was inspired by Lynn Jericho’s meditation for The First Holy Night found here:  http://innerchristmas2009.blogspot.com/2009/12/december-25th-first-holy-night.html  I am going to work with this meditation throughout the Holy Nights this year.

I was very inspired by the idea of drawing what my soul inhales – what have I taken into my soul this year?  I found I took in much joy, laughter. support and love from my friends, love from my children, intimacy and love and laughter from my spouse, warmth, the quiet and stillness of nature.  I made a very conscious effort this year to let go,  plan for things that bring me joy, plan things with friends and to be easy with myself.  Overall, this is one of most joyful years I have experienced in my life and in my 17 years of marriage.   But it would also be honest to draw the moments of extreme sadness and despair for a friend ‘s experiences, moments of feeling anger or feeling overwhelmed, and also to draw those “steely” moments of intense determination and preservation.  What did I breathe out to those around me?  What did I breathe out to my spouse, my husband, to my Beloved Creator?  What did I breathe out to my friends?  To strangers?  These things I will draw tonight.

And over the duration of these Holy Nights, I will be drawing what I want to take into my soul this year,and most of all. what I want to breathe out this year.  In the past two years, I really worked with being easy with myself (essentially, being “good enough”, not perfect! Can any of you relate to that at all?)  This year I added being able to “let go”.  One thing I am really meditating on is just being able to listen with “no comment.”  (Do you all remember the “No Comment” post here:https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/12/11/cultivating-no-comment-the-inner-work-of-advent/    )

I will be drawing and then moving into wet-on-wet painting to express this.

So, what have you taken in this year?  What have you breathed out to those around you?  What do you want to take in more of this year, and how will you make this happen?  What will breathe out to those around you this year and how will you do this?  What will your inner work look like this year?  What will your parenting and your homeschooling look like this year?

If you feel inclined, please do share what work you are doing!

In Gratitude for You on this Special Day,

Carrie

A Lovely New Waldorf Blog to Watch

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This blog is written by Meredith, who is a Waldorf teacher and also on a Waldorf homeschool list I am on, and she is gathering reviews of curricula and books along with posting her own notes about things.

See here:  http://www.waldorfreviews.com/

A lovely blog, with lovely photographs by this kind-hearted teacher.  Thanks for sharing with all of  us Meredith!

Many blessings,

Carrie

Learning a Foreign Language in Your Waldorf Homeschool

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I found this lovely post on the Syrendell blog here regarding teaching foreign language in their homeschool:  http://syrendell.blogspot.com/search/label/foreign%20language

What a beautiful blog!  Such gorgeous handwork!

At any rate, I wrote a post awhile back regarding foreign language within the Waldorf homeschool here:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/02/17/teaching-a-foreign-language-in-waldorf-homeschool/

Part of that post mentions the typical way foreign languages are approached within a Waldorf school:

“In most Waldorf schools, two languages are started in Kindergarten.  Many times the two languages taught are languages that are in linguistic opposition so to speak, for example,  a Romance Language and a Germanic language other than English, or a Romance Language and a Slavic Language.”

In our homeschool, we do Spanish and German.  I admit I am fortunate in several ways in this regard:  we have many neighbors and friends that speak in these two languages that my daughter gets to spend time with, I speak Spanish in a moderately fluent way and can read and write in Spanish, and we live in a major metropolitan area so my oldest daughter  now attends a Saturday morning  German school and also  has a Spanish tutor and a German tutor.  We are also fortunate that our extended family considers languages to be important and are willing to help us with some of  the expenses for this.    My youngest daughter (age 5) just recently gave signs she is interested in Spanish and is trying to speak, so I am reading to her in Spanish and she will start German school as well next fall. 

These are the few tips I can offer for teaching a foreign language the Waldorf way in your homeschool:

1.  If you know the basics of any language, that is enough to get started.  Waldorf teaches through an immersion method, but even if you know a little, you may be able to bring in songs, verses, colors, numbers, weather, names of articles of clothing in the target language via puppetry, drawings on your blackboard and other props.  One source I like for a few rhymes in Spanish are these:

http://www.amazon.com/Deditos-Other-Rhymes-Action-America/dp/014230087X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261626274&sr=8-2

and this one:  http://www.amazon.com/Bilingual-Rhymes-Songs-Stories-Fingerplays/dp/0876592841/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261626341&sr=1-1

A Waldorf resource is Cante, Cante, Elefante:  http://www.naturallyyoucansing.com/books/cante.htm

I don’t have sources like these for German (other than music); many of the verses and songs I am getting are through our school or tutor who are all native speakers.  When the children are old enough to write,( my daughter is in Second Grade), they still play a lot of games and do a lot of singing, but they also have a workbook to follow up with at home.  Her second grade is using  a festival and song book from Hueber and the workbook is from Hueber as well.  This is the website listed on the back cover:  www.hueber.de

2.  Think about what you can offer that affect all the senses in your foreign language teaching.  Can you offer props that involve the whole body, how many of the twelve senses can you include?

3.  Work seasonally.  Many of us are coming up to a cold month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  Can you work in songs or verses  regarding snow, snowmen, tea time, animals in Winter,  the color white for snow?  Can you use a puppet that would be cold in the snow?  Bbrrrr.

4.  Realize that Waldorf schools  work orally for quite some time before introducing writing and reading in the target language.  Look for the nursery rhymes of that culture, the festivals where you can bake and craft and involve that holiday and culture and language.

5. Realize that true fluency takes repetition and time.  It can take a good five to six years or more for a child to build up true fluency if they are not speaking the language every day.  I expect my children will be fluent in German eventually, but I also know it will take longer than her classmates who are speaking German at home.  Our oldest is doing an excellent job!

Hope this stimulates some ideas for you. 

In the post I wrote earlier this year, I mention the benefits of having any foreign language.  Many people want to do Spanish because it is so functional here in the US, but any language will provide benefits for the brain and compassion for the heart to learn about another culture.  Consider seeing if there is a church in your town that offers services in another language; that might give you a place to start finding native speakers (even if it is not Spanish!)

Hope these ideas are helpful,

Carrie

When Both Parents Need A Break

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I hear the following scenario(s) a lot:  Mom and Dad have a preschooler; Mom is at home: Dad has a lot of commitments: Dad would like to have some time to himself; Mom would like some time to herself and therefore would like Dad to spend some time with preschool-aged child OR Dad would like to spend some time ALONE with Mom but Mom is very attached to their child and finds it difficult to leave.(And I know some mothers who feel Dad cannot handle their child and won’t leave child with Dad or child doesn’t seem to want to stay with Dad).  Whew!  Lots of different things going on here!

I have many thoughts on these scenarios; let’s see if I can sort them out bit by bit.

Scenario #1 – Dad has many commitments. Mom would like a break when Dad gets home but Dad is rather tapped out.

Here are some thoughts:

The first thing my husband said when I said, “Quick!  What comes into your head with this scenario?” was this:   “Life before children is not the same as life after children.  Can Dad back off on some of these commitments for these Early Years?”

Yup, he said that.  No prompting, just honesty!  I love that man!

So, Number One:  BOTH of you look honestly at your commitments  outside the home and ask is it essential or not?  What is essential right now is  raising your child.  That has an expiration date and the time to this child-raising is now.

Also, these times may call for tough choices if all these commitments are economically necessary.  Could you move to something smaller to live in?  Could you go to one car?  Could you cut back anywhere?

Okay, moms, before you get all happy over that (“See honey, I told you so!  You need to be home!”) please consider this:  Dad may need some time to switch gears prior to walking in the door and being handed a child. There may be several ways to handle this:   Dads, can you stop on the way home and work out?  Listen to something that settles you down on the commute home? Or Moms, can Dad have some time when he walks in the door to switch gears – sometimes feeding the children a snack or having a craft at the ready keeps the children from attacking Dad the minute he walks in the door.

And Moms, make home a place Dad wants to come home to.  If all you do is nag and complain, why would he want to be there?  Think about this, meditate on it, pray on it.

The other facets of this scenario to consider include these three things:

1. Many small children really only want their mothers at bedtime unless you have worked to make Dad the main bedtime person.  Bedtime may not be the best time for daddy-child relationship success and yet it is the time of the day when mothers are completely tapped out.

2. So, if the end of the day is everyone (including the adults)  falling apart, it may be your child is completely overtired.  If you have a three or four year old who is not napping, they most likely will be ready for sleep at 6:30 or 7. Stop trying to keep them up to see Dad get home from work at 8 PM unless your child gets up late in the morning.

3.  Moms, if you are that worn out at the end of the day, look back to your rhythm.  Does it have a balance of out-breath and in-breath?  Can you gear your whole afternoon toward bedtime?  Dinner in the crock pot so  you can spend a good amount of time outside in the afternoon?  Switch up the routine so your child has a nice warming bath with a lavender foot massage, warm food, warm bed?  Snore.

Scenario #2 – Dad would like some ALONE time with Mom, Mom is reluctant to be away from child.

I say this a lot  on this blog:  It is Attachment PARENTING, not just Attachment Mothering.  A relationship with your child is not a substitute for the intimate relationship with your spouse.  Check out the back posts on marriage here: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/07/27/more-on-marriage-how-do-you-work-with-the-differences/

and https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/10/08/parenting-as-partners/

and https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/11/17/using-your-first-year-of-parenting-to-fall-deeper-in-love-with-your-spouse/

However, I think there are many ways one can accomplish this without leaving your child with a babysitter.  Much of this hinges on an early bedtime though.

Intimacy needs to happen sooner rather than attempting two hours after a small child falls asleep and is likely to wake up.  This time needs to be a priority for both of you.  The crafting, the computer, the TV, the reading can wait – let those things be the things that are interrupted, not the special time that holds couples together!

Scenario #3 – Dad is ready for a outings with child; Mom and/or child not sure about child having an outing with just Dad.

Mothers, you have to feel secure.  If you loved this man enough to marry him and have children with him, (and assuming things have not changed and you still love and trust this man), please give Dad a chance to do things his way with his child.  You may not choose to take your child to Chik- fil- A for lunch, but if Dad does, let that be Their Thing.  Please do not micromanage their relationship.

Experiment.  Is it better if you leave the house and have Dad and child do something at home or is it better to have Dad and child go out of the house while you stay home?  Can Dad take child for a walk regularly to build up confidence on both sides of the coin before a big date out? 

The other question is how involved is Dad in regular day-to-day care in general – it is parenting by both Mom and Dad that count. 

Dads, be patient. Sometimes you have to get through “mommy-only” phases of development.  As our older two grew, my husband and I had a phrase called “PPW” (Preferred Parent of the Week).  Sometimes the PPW was him, sometimes it was me.  Sometimes it is hard not to take it all personally, but don’t, because it just is.  These phases come and go and pass.

And please, Dad pick things that are not too over–stimulating or crazy for the under-7 crowd.  An under-7 child would be just as happy going to see a construction site for free rather than a huge tour of the museum or a carnival.  Remember that under-7 children, while they love “new” and “special” don’t need to do everything under the sun whilst they are little.  New can be a walk where they see something new, a trip to a construction site, shooting hoops in the park…it does not have to be “big and better and best” to get a child’s attention. 

Just a few thoughts in this subject,

Carrie

The Twelve Days of Christmas

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In times ago, Christmas was celebrated as a festival of twelve days and thirteen Holy Nights.  Christmas Eve is actually the first of the Holy Nights, with the first day of Christmastide being Christmas and then the Holy Nights extend until Twelfth Night on the eve of January fifth (anyone remember Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare?)  January 6 is of course Epiphany.

These Holy Nights, is one of my most personally fulfilling times of the whole year.  It is a very inward time, a time to dream and a time to plan.  I do a lot of reflecting and thinking about what I want to see in my family life during the next year and what I want to see in myself.   I try very hard to schedule nothing during this time, and to have copious amounts of time to just be.  We hike a lot during this period if the weather holds up, and otherwise just enjoy being together.  You can see my thoughts about the Holy Nights and where I was in inner work last year at this time here:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/12/24/the-holy-nights/

Some families give gifts on only Three Kings Day, and some give a small gift every day throughout the Twelve Days.  It might be nice to spread out your gift-giving.  This Wikipedia definition has more about these days in general:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_days_of_Christmas

Many Waldorf families mark this time by setting up a path of stars for the Three Kings to travel on to reach the infant Jesus.  Some families make an Advent-type calendar to mark these days.  Some families make a Weather Tree, and have fun guessing what the weather will be like each month of the new year based on the weather of each of the Twelve Days.

This is a great time to play card and board games with your family, to catch up with your family and friends, to grow more intimate with your spouse or partner as you plan and dream together.

Where are you right now in your inner work?  Where are you in parenting and homeschooling? Planning for the next school year (assuming you will be starting another school year in September of 2010) is right around the corner.  Perhaps you can use some time during these Twelve Days to talk finances with your spouse regarding your homeschooling budget.  This is important; there would be expenses even if your children were in school, so you should also be thinking and planning for Spring purchases for Fall.

Where is your house?  Perhaps during these Twelve Days you can consider what projects around the house might need to get done.  Where is your rhythm, your menu  planning?

This is your time to slow down, to take stock.

Enjoy this quiet, introspective time –

Love,

Carrie