I am planning fourth grade for our second go-around now and have worked out a rotation for blocks. I thought it might be helpful to some of you who are planning.
I want to start the year with Continue reading
Plans for Fourth Grade
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Category Archives: Homeschooling
Notes About Third Grade
I am finishing up third grade for the second time right now. The two children that have completed third grade are very different people.
Our first child was reading and writing in three languages at this point. Very, very language oriented.
Our other child had definite talents in movement, science and the natural world, and music.
All children are individuals, and although there is a “curriculum” in Waldorf education, such as laid out in the schools and on the chart published by AWNSA, the main thing we are prescribed to do as teachers is to OBSERVE the child, UNDERSTAND child development, be interested in the world around us (keep learning) , to not go stale (in other words, what worked before may not work again!). The template of the school and the secondary pedagogical literature of Waldorf education has been helpful to me personally, but I also have read an awful lot of Steiner’s lectures and work. I steer a lot by my strong philosophical orientation of Christianity, attachment and Waldorf.
This year, I started the year with a block Continue reading
More About The Twelve Year Old
The last post I wrote about the twelve year old was here: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2013/09/10/the-twelve-year-old/. I have a little girl who is almost thirteen now, and I wanted to write some more things about the twelve year old before we move out of this age.
First of all, The Gesell Institute has some things to say about the twelve year old in general terms which most parents find helpful. In general, the age of twelve is more calm and tolerant of everyone around them than eleven year olds. Isn’t that a relief? Twelve year olds tend to be kind of detached with their mothers, and sometimes with their family in general, but friendly. Twelve is also often willing for adults to have some of their own “adult’’ life and not watch too carefully over that. Twelve year olds are more tolerant of siblings (sort of!)…in general, twelve year olds get along well with siblings who are under the age of four and those over the age of sixteen. So, sibling quarreling can still exist. Friends are important, too. Most twelve year olds are branching out to have a larger social circle. I have found this to be true with some homeschooled children, and not true with others. Opportunities to make friends and be a friend are part of being twelve.
Other points about twelve: Continue reading
Sixth Grade Medieval History
You can see where my sixth grader and I left off in history in this last post about Ancient Rome here https://theparentingpassageway.com/2014/01/24/gallery-of-work-from-sixth-grade-ancient-rome/ (There are three separate posts about Rome on this blog). We moved on to Medieval History this past month so I wanted to finish up our sixth grade history journey for you all.
My main resources were: Continue reading
Life As A Means
In the tradition of Rudolf Steiner’s inner work according to the rhythm of each day of the week, today (Wednesday) is the day of “Right Standpoint”. It is this idea of ordering our lives with harmony. Put our lives in harmony with our values. Put our lives in harmony with nature. Put our lives in harmony, I would say, with God and the purpose God has set you here on earth for. (As a Christian, I see definite purposes for my life as laid out in the Bible and by the Early Church fathers). Life is one of the means, a tool, to our own inner development as a human being.
If this is important for us as adults to work on, how much more important is this for our children who are still developing? And, because our children are developing, it is up to us to help order their lives in these ways.
We can say no to media and screens because it is “entertainment” that is often full of sarcasm, violence, hypocrisy, and fills time instead of having our children learn to create and order their own time.
We can say yes to Continue reading
Multicultural Reading Lists
These are a few of the reading lists I have for multicultural children’s literature for the English speaking reader:
Children’s literature by Native American authors – from preschool through high school/adult reading: http://www.slj.com/2013/11/collection-development/focus-on-collection-development/resources-and-kid-lit-about-american-indians-focus-on/#_
One of the best sites I have found for African American children’s literature: http://www.best-childrens-books.com/african-american-childrens-books.html (by grade and also award winners by year).
For Asian/Pacific Rim children’s literature: http://childrensbooks.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=childrensbooks&cdn=parenting&tm=103&f=20&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=3&bt=5&bts=75&zu=http%3A//www.nea.org/grants/29506.htm and here: http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/diversity/asian_am/asian_am.html (if you look on the sidebar there are links to books of Chinese heritage, Japanese heritage and Korean heritage). There are also literature awards focused on Asia/Pacific Rim Children’s Literature. The award winners for 2013 are here: http://www.apalaweb.org/2013-asianpacific-american-award-for-literature-winners/
For children’s literature by Latino authors, by grade level: http://ccb.lis.illinois.edu/Projects/Additions%20on%209-20-07/CCB/CCB/mhommel2/Booklists.htm
For children’s literature regarding the Middle East: http://www.pragmaticmom.com/2011/08/top-10-arabic-american-childrens-books/ and an extensive list here: http://bernadettesimpson.com/Childrens-YA-Books-MiddleEast.pdf
If you have a list on your blog of your favorite children’s literature as related to your religion or your cultural heritage, please leave a link in the comment box so my readers can find it!
Thank you,
Carrie
Six Books About Waldorf Education To Consider
It is that planning time of year again, and I wanted to share with you all six books that I have found really indispensable on this homeschooling adventure. All except one will carry you through all of the grades, so here goes! Continue reading
May: Time To Plan
Usually one of three things happens during the homeschooling year:
Life intervenes and the entire year is rather chaotic. Yep, that happens.
The school year starts off strong, and then life intervenes and is rather chaotic. Yep, that happens too.
Everything goes as perfectly planned. Nope, that really doesn’t happen too often.
Homeschooling calls for flexibility, an ability to work with life throws at you, often an ability to juggle different roles of being a parent/spouse/homemaker and to juggle children of a wide spread of ages and stages and temperaments. All of this really requires an ability to get organized and work with planning as a tool. This is important especially for Waldorf homeschooling. Planning is everything in Waldorf homeschooling, and it really can help save you when life intervenes.
So, how is it coming with planning? The last posts in this series were in February and March (you can see March’s post here: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2014/03/27/march-time-to-plan/)
This is where I am so far in planning a five year old kindergarten year, fourth grade and seventh grade:
I planned my start and finish dates and vacation dates based off of the two counties where my children have friends on different school schedules. I didn’t do that this year and ended up regretting it.
I marked out “teacher time”. Plans made over the summer often need adjustment, and at any rate, one needs to look things over and live into the material before the block begins.
I went through all the months of this past year and wrote down any details I wanted to remember – which months did life hit us hardest, how I felt inside, how the children seemed to feel, seasonal details about each month or details related to feasts of the church.
I thought very seriously about extra-curricular activities and how many days we can really be out of the home each week – and what time we will finish school each day and really can realistically make it out to something. The out of the house rhythm I have discussed with my husband, because whereas I am a “yes” kind of girl, “yes, let’s do that!” he is much more practical in terms of looking at how much time we can sustain outside our home.
I made out a sample daily rhythm for all three children. That, to me, is the hardest part, as I often don’t feel as if there are enough hours in the day to meet everyone’s needs with three separate ages of children – early years, mid grades and late grades.
I created my “wheel” of the year – you can see details about that in the March back post. I go mainly around the calendar of the Anglican Communion and have to plan in our feast and fast dates and dates where we will be out of the home due to church. Remember, the cycle of the year is what holds all of your different ages and stages together for your homeschooling adventure!
I sketched out what blocks I think will go where in the year and how long those blocks most likely will be. Subject to change!
I ordered most of my resources and started gathering various titles to get at the library.
I put together notes for two blocks for my seventh grader by day (but have not done any of the artistic work for those blocks ahead of time yet, which is often that part that takes me the longest after I read the resources and get an idea for the order of what to present when in the flow of a block).
I put together some general ideas about work each day of the week for my kindergartner, and ideas about stories for each month, crafts and handwork for festivals.
That is a start, but there is certainly a lot, a lot more to do! I have to start now to really plan it all and fit it all in. Most of this work is being created by me from scratch using different resources, as I am certain it is for you as well.
What are you planning? I would love to hear!
Blessings,
Carrie
The Stresses of the Homeschooling Family
People often ask about the more challenging side of homeschooling when they are thinking about planning their homeschooling journey. They don’t always need to be convinced about the benefits of homeschooling, about socialization, or about the ability to get into college, but they just want to know some of the harder aspects of homeschooling so they are prepared.
The top three stresses I see commonly in homeschooling families include: Continue reading
Guest Post: Learning By Observing At A Waldorf School
My guest post tonight comes from long-time reader Bonnie. Bonnie recently had the good fortune to go and observe a first grade main lesson period, a second grade German class and a second grade Handwork class at a Waldorf school. I asked if she could write a guest post and explain what she learned as a homeschooling parent from observing these classes at a Waldorf School. Here is what Bonnie had to say:
My visit to a Waldorf school as a homeschooling mom….
Last week, I had an opportunity to visit an open house at a prominent Midwestern Waldorf School. As a homeschooling mom to a 6.5 year old daughter and a 4 year old son, it took a lot of planning to make this happen, since the school is quite a distance from our house. But, I knew I had to go – I had to EXPERIENCE the Waldorf classroom for the grades.
Just to back up a moment, I should share with you that I have been a loyal fan of Waldorf and its lifestyle since before I even had kids. So much so in fact, that I visited an open house for a Parent-Child class when I was still pregnant with my first child. The teachers were shocked and all commented on how I was “starting early”. But, for me and I’m sure many of you, reading the blogs, books, and curriculums is not enough. I need to EXPERIENCE it – FEEL it – LIVE it. I want to have a deep sense internally of the beauty and feeling world of the classroom mirrored with the ideas and knowledge a Waldorf-trained teacher exhibits and exudes while working with the students – no matter what the age.
Currently, my daughter is finishing up her second year of kindergarten and will start first grade in the fall. I have been collecting information, curriculums, and ideas for first grade over the years and have a general sense of what is taught at this level. I’ve seen beautiful pictures of alphabet letters and chalkboard drawings on the internet and in curriculums, but I struggle with not only how do I bring this to my child, but what does it really look like, and more importantly, feel like? The ages of 7-14 are the feeling years – so this must be considered at some level. Hence, why I signed up to attend an open house.
So, without further ado, the morning of the open house…. I got there bright and early and was greeted by so many friendly parents and staff. Naturally, they shake your hand, make eye contact, and make you feel right at home. They walked me to a classroom where I met Mr. K., the first grade teacher, and whose class I would be experiencing for the next two hours as he taught the main lesson. He was happy and full of energy. We chatted a bit and then he excused himself so he could meet and greet each child at the door. What I found amazing was that he greeted twenty plus children and every single handshake was not rushed, was authentic, and the child was met with sincerity and reverence. The children put their coats away, took their chairs down from on top of their desk, and then were eager to see the three new numbers he placed on the chalkboard for a “number puzzle”. Once everyone was sitting at their desk, they reviewed the numbers and looked for patterns. After this, attendance was taken. And, I don’t mean the teacher just checked off a name on his attendance sheet or monotonously said one name after the other waiting for a “Here”. Oh no, no, no……after all, this is a Waldorf school. The teacher sang, in a pentatonic scale, “Child’s name, are you here?” And, then the child sang back, “Yes, Mr. K, I am here.” And if a child wasn’t there, the whole classroom sang, “No, Mr. K, she’s not here.” I had goose bumps. Who knew taking attendance could sound so beautiful and magical?!
After attendance, the children stood up and did some stomping, clapping, and jumping jacks focusing on different numbers. Then, it was time for an in-breath. The children stood with their arms crossed over their chest and Mr. K turned off the lights. It was candle time – and a child lit the candle and they said their first grade verse. The candle was then blown out and he played the pentatonic flute, while the children hummed and sang, “Good morning sun. You’re looking through my window….” Once again, I was blown away, not just by their angelic voices but by also hearing singing coming from another classroom. I had read that in a Waldorf school, one could hear singing all day long. That’s great – but, I had no idea what that would feel like at a soul level, especially in a pentatonic scale.
After singing, the children pushed their desks/chairs out of the way and sat on the top of their desk, so there was room in the middle of the classroom for circle time. The teacher turned the lights on, signaling an out- breath. He started to sing, Continue reading
The Parenting Passageway 