Category Archives: Homeschooling

“Flow of the Day”

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Hi there all,

I had a mom request a posting of a “flow in the day” kind of scheme as she is working on rhythm.  Of course this totally depends on the ages of your children, but here are some back posts to help you all out:

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/05/09/flow-of-the-day-in-a-waldorf-home/

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/05/05/homeschooling-multiple-children-with-waldorf/  (this post was very well-liked!)

and this one:

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/03/13/baby-steps-to-waldorf-rhythm/

We are still pretty much in the rhythm described in the first post at this point (uh, 38 weeks pregnant now, so I am sure it will change! LOL).  From that post here is our general  rhythm:

  • Up, air out beds while taking shower, cleaning up bathroom and getting dressed
  • Make all beds with children’s help
  • Breakfast with blessing, religious devotional;  clean-up after breakfast including wiping table and sweeping under table
  • Help children with dressing, hair brushing and teeth brushing
  • Throw in laundry
  • Go for walk with children and dog or gardening tasks   (SEE BELOW FOR CHANGES)
  • Snack
  • Call to school with Song of Month on pennywhistle and any festival songs we are learning, light candle, say morning verses  (we may school outside or inside)
  • Circle time or seasonal finger plays for Kindergartner
  • Story for Kindergartner/Activity after story – every week we include modeling of some type and kind.  We also use drama, puppets, drawing, and other things to bring the story alive over a period of two weeks to a month for each Kindy story.
  • Oral Active Math practice for older child if not in a Math Block or pennywhistle and more singing practice to “warm-up”
  • Main Lesson for Grades Child – three day rhythm here…… Remember, an hour is a long time here for a First Grader!   It is important also to realize Main Lesson involves a lot of movement, arts, etc.  Definitely not all seat work!  Not at all!
  • Foreign language two days a week (German on Mondays with arts and crafts for the younger child,  Wednesdays Spanish with free play inside for the youngest child) (And yes, amazingly, this time period may involve more eating and snacking :) )  We also try to work in some other activities, see below.   
  • Closing verses and outside play while I do some more cleaning, lunch preparation
  • Blessing, lunch; clean-up
  • Quiet time
  • Handwork alternated with arts and crafts or wet on wet painting is ideal  (OR OTHER THINGS DEPENDING ON BLOCK)

The afternoons we are home we  spend outside playing or just creating.  We usually bake on Tuesdays and Saturdays and garden on Thursdays for my little Kindergartner.    One thing that has changed from the above post is that we are not walking in the AM because I found it really just took over much of the morning by the time I rounded everyone up again, then everyone had to eat, etc….Just too long for us to get going.  So we are trying to jump into school earlier and get done by 10:30 or so for outside play with lunch at 11:15 or so.

One thing I am contemplating is our Head, Heart, Hands kind of rhythm.  I have  a rhythm with this outside of our Main Lesson Time – for example, for my second grader, we did  2 weeks of Form Drawing from Trickster Tales and 2 weeks of Math for Main Lesson Time followed by Wet on Wet Painting for one week daily and drama for 3 weeks; and for Hands we did introduction to Kinderlyre for two weeks and Arts and Crafts for two weeks.  This is mainly for the Second Grader, who needed some blocks of time to actually finish a project!  She is doing Handwork on Wednesdays with a trained Waldorf Handwork Teacher and knitting in the afternoons during her free time, which seems to be fine.  Her German and Spanish is included in her Main Lesson time currently.

But one thing I am contemplating after looking at many of the “schedules” from Waldorf schools is how to refine this more for my Second Grader and how not to lose the wee one.  So, some things are staying the same but I am going to try to round the troops up after lunch and quiet time for Eurythmy on Mondays (more drama than the gestures, I guess :)) ; wet on wet painting on Tuesdays, and Gardening on Thursdays, mainly for the benefit of my little one.  Just an extra half an hour to focus on the Kindy stuff, from about 1:30 to 2 or so.

We are going out on Wednesdays to Handwork Class, and Thursday afternoons we usually go to the park around 3 pm.  Every now and then we go out on a Friday for a health-related appointment.  Otherwise, we try to be home and have folks come to us in the afternoons or just be in our neighborhood.   I like to do adult handwork with some of our home time as well….. If I grocery shop it is on Wednesdays during Handwork Class or I do it by myself at night or on a weekend or my husband does it.  I try very hard to stay home!

Our weekends are plenty busy due to German School for my Second Grader on Saturday mornings and church on Sundays, so we stay home in the afternoons on the weekends.  My Kindergartener does not go to German School yet, so my husband usually does the driving to and from German School. for the Second Grader. 

Uh, probably clear as mud if you read this far??

It is a constant boundary battle to stay home more days than we are out and that is of importance.  To me, to really be an effective homeschooler, one has to be HOME.  It is impossible  to present a Main Lesson in the car!

Hope that helps stimulate some thoughts for those of you out there interested in this topic; I am a homeschooling mother just like you and I am constantly refining my own rhythm and what works best for my family.

Open to all comments below,

Carrie

A Few Questions For My Waldorf Homeschooling Mammas

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Hi fellow Waldorf mothers,

I am trying to gather some feedback.  Typically when I recommend consultants to folks I use this list here:

and the three curriculum/guides I send folks to check out are Christopherus by Donna Simmons, A Little Garden Flower by Melisa Nielsen and Live  Ed! (although I have to admit that Live Ed! is too pricey for me and I have never touched it in person).  I also like to tell people about Marsha Johnson’s Yahoo!Group.

I know many people do use Seasons of Joy and A Little Acorn as well.

I guess what I would like to know from you all is, well, what you are looking for because it still seems like there is a lot of confusion out there regarding curriculum, implementing Waldorf in the home, at what age to start, etc.

What would be most helpful to you personally and other parents in terms of curriculum?  What baffles you about all  the curriculum out on the market?  What is most challenging when looking for curriculum?  What would you like to see on the Waldorf homeschooling market that does not exist?  I have had several mothers request a Waldorf homeschooling  curriculum more tailored to the Christian family; are there other specific needs/wants that you all are searching for and just do not exist?

I am curious to hear what you all are thinking out there!

Many blessings and thank you for helping me understand!

Carrie

Waldorf Planning DVD Available

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Melisa Nielsen has a Homeschool Planning Webinair available that may be of interest, and if you read this blog, you probably are already aware of Jodi Mesler’s products from HomeMusicMaking:

“While we have been busy getting settled into the new school year, the little gnomes have been tinkering in our shop.  Take a peek at the goodies they have added:

Homeschool Planning Webinar – Join Melisa for nearly four hours of instruction as she details how to plan for and teach grades one through six of the Waldorf homeschool curriculum.  Some important topics covered are working with multiple children, how to present a lesson on the board, and how to put her curriculum into action.  Whether you are new to Waldorf or a veteran homeschooler, there are sure to be tips and tricks to help make teaching easier.  The set comes packaged in a sturdy case, and will make an excellent addition to your resource library.  Three DVD’s for just $15.  Grab your copy today!

HomeMusicMaking Products – We’re happy to offer a full selection of products from music teacher, Jodie Mesler.  With the traditional tin penny whistle, you can recreate the music on her CD or use it for soothing background music or take up her beginner’s music curriculum.  The curriculum is geared towards the grade one parent and child, but can be used by anyone just learning to play an instrument.  Jodie’s products are a cost-effective and simple solution to music instruction.

We’ll keep you posted on the gnomes’ work at A Little Garden Flower.  Until next time, blessings on your journey.

Melisa & Erik Nielsen”

Just to let you know what is out there currently,

Carrie

Starting Christian Education With Very Small Children in the Waldorf Home

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A few of you have written to me and asked at what age to start doing devotions with small children.  I have thought about this extensively.  We did use “Leading Little Ones to God” (modified for our beliefs) in our family when one of my children was three and a half – but here is the big addendum:  There was a seven-year-old as well (who felt this book was too “babyish”, by the way).  But the point was that the older child was there to carry it for the younger child.  So, if your oldest child is only three and a half you may have to think long and hard how you bring these things.  It may be okay, it may not work.  This is a situation every family must ponder and decide to do what works best for their family. 

Blessings and prayers as part of your rhythm are effective, as are preparing for festivals in accordance with your religious traditions.  We never “explain” a festival to small children, but we “do”.

Children also strongly imitate us, so if we show them how we maintain our own spiritual or religious practices, that is going to be absorbed more deeply than any words will be.

Irene Johanson’s  “Stories For The Festivals of The Year” is a wonderful book for children ages 6- 9 that can be found through Bob and Nancy’s Bookshop and Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore  and contains the perspective of the Christian Community.  She writes:

“A question often asked is how families with children can celebrate Christian festivals in a way that relates to the events described in the Gospels?  The contents of the Gospels can have an influence on our entire life.  The story of the life of Christ Jesus on earth is like an archetype for our own biography.  The destiny of each human being is a variation on a theme recorded in the Gospels.  But young children do not experience themselves as individuals with their own destiny.  Consequently, it is not yet appropriate to tell them Gospel stories as if they were part of a human biography, before they have developed a sense of what destiny is.

“In the religion lessons of the Christian Community these stories are not told until the  children are about twelve years old.  Before this age, children feel completely at one with their surroundings and stories best suited for them are fairy-tales, legends and stories in which creatures talk to each other.”

She goes on to write, “Since pictures for the events of the Christian festivals do exist in fairy-tales, children can be told stories that contain images of death and resurrection at Easter, stories about a change of consciousness at Midsummer- St. John’s Tide- and stories describing courage and conquest at Michaelmas.”

This is an interesting perspective and perhaps one also worth pondering. 

Start slow with small expectations as you bring these things into existence for your small child who has no separate consciousness yet.  One post that may be of interest to you is this one:  ahttps://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/04/18/the-development-of-morality-versus-the-development-of-faith/    regarding the idea that the development of morality is different than the development of faith. 

Happy pondering,

Carrie

A New Christian Resource

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I am not sure how many of you remember this post:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/08/21/summer-planning-christian-education-for-the-waldorf-home/    and how I was searching for something different for our morning devotion time?

Well, I found this book by Ruth Graham:   http://www.amazon.com/Step-into-Bible-Stories-Devotions/dp/0310714109/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253494109&sr=8-6.    I like it better at this point than the other devotional book we were using.  I think the other book will be perfect when my children are older, but it just seemed like it was not hitting the spot for my children in the morning.

The 100 Bible Stories in the Ruth Graham book are short with a devotion, lots of colorful pictures, a few quick questions and a Bible Memory Verse that repeats for seven lessons.

Hope that helps a few of you who are looking for resources,

Carrie

Embracing and Uplifting

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If I had to perform two gestures that signified Waldorf parenting and Waldorf education, it would be the gesture of embracing and protecting the child but also one of uplifting the child.

To me, there are two things that a child needs.  One thing is unconditional love and warmth and delight in who they are.  This actually can be a very easy thing to say, an easy thing to give lip service to and a much harder thing to face and confront in practice!   For example, many times if a child is very much like us in temperament, we see the worst of ourselves in that child and we so don’t want the child to grow up and be like us!  We try so hard to mold them into something else, anything else,  but not our worst traits!  Don’t be like us!  Or, conversely, sometimes we have children that are so different in temperament than us that we just are not sure how to handle it or where to go with that.  If only they could be a little more quiet, a little less active or only if they would move around more and enjoy being outside more!

How much better if we could forgive ourselves for our perceived inadequacies; how much better if we could show our children how to live with the fact that humans are not perfect; how much better for the child to feel loved and delighted in because they are just the unique them and they are here, in a sense,  to teach US!

And so here comes the second thing that children need: if these children are indeed on a journey to a particular end as set forth by God or by destiny or whatever you believe, and if we are all here to help each other within this family and teach each other, what a child may need from us is guidance.  They may need our help as they adjust to this foreign life on earth, into these growing bodies, into social and cultural customs so they can function in our world and our society.

And sometimes this involves uplifting our child to the next level even if they are not completely happy about it.  That is the hard and fine line of parenting – respecting that the child is here for us to learn from, but also recognizing that we are here to help them, to help them move to the next level when they are ready (or at least to show them gently that the next level exists!) and how to be respectful in doing that.

Part of Waldorf parenting is respect for the idea that a three-year-old is different than a seven-year-old who is different than a ten-year-old.  That is something that really has helped me along my journey, where so many parenting books seem to think all ages can be dealt with in the same way.

Contrary to popular opinion and Stupid Waldorf Myth, in Waldorf parenting and education, the protective bubble of Kindergarten does not last forever.  The approach to Science through the stories of the natural world in the Early Grades does not last forever.  The world does eventually open up to reading newspapers, seeing television programs, being spoken to directly as opposed to modeling and showing the child something to imitate.  All of these things eventually happen!

But, the point is, that there is a time and a place in parenting and in education for what happens when.  There is nothing within the Waldorf curriculum that is willy-nilly, all of it builds upon each thing taught within each year.  The math of the math of the Second Grade builds upon the math of the First Grade; there is not the hodge-podge of things one finds in most curriculums these days.

I think the difference in Waldorf is that it is not ‘program-based” with a promise of The Latest and Greatest Educational Advancement that wear off over time to be replaced by some other Latest and Greatest Educational Advancement.  It is an educational approach and philosophy rooted firmly in childhood development, holistic education and what will help that child attain optimal health and development not only now but as a future adult.

I find Waldorf parenting to be much the same way.  The things we do for our small children – helping accustom them to rhythm, protecting the senses, understanding where they are in their bodies – lays the foundation for the years of ages 7-14 and 14-21.

Embracing and uplifting; the foundation of good parenting and good education.

Many blessings,

Carrie

What Is Anthroposophy?

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Update – I feel I need to point out that some religious beliefs do not mesh with anthroposophy and that one can homeschool with elements of Waldorf Education without delving into anthroposophy at all.   I also feel the need to point out that since the Waldorf curriculum, while not stated to the child,  is based upon a specific spiritual worldview,  and some mothers will not feel comfortable with it at all. The Roman Catholic Church has things to say about Steiner’s worldview as well, and American Catholics seem to take this to heart.  I have left this article on my blog for mothers who are searching for a thumbnail kind of view of what Steiner wrote about. 

I would like to thank Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschool (www.christopherushomeschool.org)  for helping me so much with this post as I wrestled and pondered the question of anthroposophy.  Thanks for your patience and warmth Donna with my many questions. 

This post has taken me forever to write, I have been working on it on and off for weeks.  Much of this is because while I have read so much of Steiner’s work on education, I have read very little  of anthroposophy.  So I barely feel qualified to answer this complex question of what is anthroposophy?

So my main purpose today is to start you all hunting amongst these links and articles I have found for your own educational purposes, and to point you to people who are well-versed in anthroposophy (not me).  

Donna Simmons has told me it helps to look at anthroposophy as a tool to understand the human being.  Steiner called anthroposophy “spiritual science” as he saw it in this way:

“Not so long ago it was still possible to believe that natural science – which is by no means unappreciated by spiritual science but is as regards to its great advances fully valued – had the means to solve all the great riddles of human existence. But those who have entered with heightened inner faculties into the achievements of modern science have been increasingly aware that what natural science brings as a response to the great questions of human existence are not answers but, on the contrary, ever new questions.”
Rudolf Steiner. “Approaches to Anthroposophy.” Sussex: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1992. Page 39-40.

Wikipedia defines spiritual science in this way, [that spiritual science]  “postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development—more specifically through cultivating conscientiously a form of thinking independent of sensory experience.[1][2] In its investigations of the spiritual world, anthroposophy aims to attain the precision and clarity of natural science‘s investigations of the physical world.”

Donna Simmons writes that Steiner was adamant that one needs to be rigorously scientific in one’s thinking – and thus in one’s path through life and through understanding the world. The complex thing is for people to get how that could be – most people do not understand how the spiritual and what is commonly viewed as the scientific – can be worked with in the same breath.  I think she is right!

The expanded Wikipedia definition of anthroposophy seems to be on target, and looks at anthroposophy in the realms of  spiritual freedom and spiritual knowledge, nature of the human being, the role of Christ.   Here is the link so you read the article yourself:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophy

Here is a wonderful article from Donna Simmons’ website that may be of service to you all:  http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/learning-more/articles-on-aspects-of-waldorf-education/working-with-the-spiritual-basis-of-waldorf-education.html

Anthroposophy is not a religion.  Period.  There is no “creed” to follow per se, there are not any prescribed spiritual exercises you “have” to do (although Steiner does have meditation exercises out there for each day of the week), there are no religious practices or sacraments, there is no one spiritual guide (no, Steiner is NOT a prophet nor viewed as one by the Anthroposophical Society  even though he founded the Anthroposophical Society!),  anthroposophy is not a way to salvation or anything else.  There are no sacred texts associated with anthroposophy. 

(Perhaps where people get confused concerning the question of anthroposophy and religion is that there is The Christian Community, founded in 1922 in Switzerland by Lutheran theologian Friedrich Rittlemeyer, with the help of Rudolf Steiner.  However, according to the website of The Christian Community, even this is “not an “anthroposophical church,” although it is the only Christian church whose clergy recognize Anthroposophy and have accepted it as a decisive aid for the broadening and renewal of theology.”   The link to The Christian Community can be found here: http://www.thechristiancommunity.org/about.htm).   

One of anthroposophy’s main goals is to bring together the sciences, the arts and the religious strivings of man and to build from that a basis for the future.  Steiner worked with many different  kinds of people in many different occupational fields when he was alive, and this led to many different applications of his philosophy in the practical realm, including anthroposophic medicine, curative education techniques, biodynamic farming, eurythmy and  also education.

I am not a philosopher, and I do not have many answers on this difficult philosophical subject.  There are others out there who do though!

For more information on this important and misunderstood subject, please see these links:

http://www.waldorfanswers.com/NotReligion1.htm

For what Steiner said regarding the question of whether anthroposophy is a religion or not, please see here:

http://www.waldorfanswers.com/NotReligion2.htm

This is a lengthy article regarding how Steiner started looking at things as a reaction to Kant’s assumptions (anyone take philosophy in college and remember Kant’s assumption of doing things for the greater good???!!) and because Goethe resonated with him so well.

http://www.sewanee.edu/Philosophy/Capstone/1999/Hancock.html

Here is a site regarding some of the issues surrounding criticism of Steiner and anthroposophy:

http://www.defendingsteiner.com/

 As a homeschooling parent, it is easy to present your own religious or worldviews throughout the curriculum.  Anthroposophy is also not taught in any of the Waldorf schools, and nor is it in any direct way of the homeschooling curriculum written by Donna Simmons.

Thanks for reading,

Carrie

Favorite Fall Tales for Waldorf Kindergarten

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This is NOT an all-inclusive list, just a few of my favorites for the season!

 

For Four Year Olds:

For September: (and many of these could work for October or November as well!)

Anything from Suzanne Down’s “Autumn Tales” – I love
“Pipper’s Wild Plum Pie”  and   “The Apple Elves”

The Pancake Mill from “Let Us Form A Ring”

The Enormous Turnip

The Little Light Horse from “Plays for Puppets”

“The Apple Star”

Any of the wonderful Michaelmas stories available – Melisa Nielsen has a story in her “Before the Journey” book, Suzanne Down has “Little Boy Knight” in her “Autumn Tales”, in the book “An Overview of the Waldorf Kindergarten” (the pink book) try “Michaelmas Story of the Star Children” or “Michael and the Dragon”

 

For October:

Suzanne Down’s “How WitchamaRoo Became the Pocket Witch” from “Autumn Tales”

“The Naughty Hobgoblin” from “Let Us Form A Ring”

“The Anxious Leaf”  try www.mainlesson.com

Suzanne Down’s “Why Trees Turn Colors in Autumn” from “Autumn Tales”

 

For November:

Stone Soup – a song version can be found in “Let Us Dance And Sing”

Melisa Nielsen has a simple story of Saint Martin in her “Before the Journey” book

Suzanne Down’s “Autumn Bear” from “Autumn Tales”

“Autumn Story” from Autumn Wynstones about Hedgy Hedgehog

 

For December:

Suzanne Down’s “How the Robin Got Its Red Breast” from her newsletter

“St. Nicholas and the Star Children” from Winter Wynstones

The Gingerbread Man

 

For Five Year Olds:

For September:

Any of the above plus:

Song version of “The Three Little Pigs” as found in “Let Us Dance And Sing” could be personalized with fall details as could “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” or The Brothers Grimm Tale “Little Red Cap”

For October:

Any of the above plus:

Elizabeth Thompson Dillingham’s “A Halloween Story” 

For November:

Any of the above plus

“Spindlewood”, found in “Let Us Form A Ring”

“Mashenka and the Bear” found in “Plays for Puppets

“The Seed Babies’ Blanket” – try www.mainlesson.com

“The Elder Brother” also try www.mainlesson.com

“Sweet Porridge” many versions out there!

For December:

Any of the above

“The Elves and The Shoemaker” from The Brothers Grimm

The Story of the Christmas Rose

“The Mitten”

For Six Year Olds:

Any of the above plus:

September:

I love “The Hut in the Forest” by The Brothers Grimm – you could add fall details or spring details and tell it any time you like!

October:

The Bremen Town Musicians by The Brothers Grimm

November:

Any of the wonderful Native American tales – many are reprinted in issues of “Gateways” available through www.waldorflibrary.org

December:

“The Star Money” from The Brothers Grimm

“Little Grandmother Evergreen”

“Mother Holle” would be nice for January or “The Snow Maiden” from “Plays for Puppets”

 

Be sure to add YOUR personal favorites in the comment section below!  Share with other mothers and help them!  Also, don’t forget to tell some of the same stories year to year as children love the repetition!

Love,

Carrie

“I’m Homeschooling My Four-Year-Old”

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We often say this out of convention, right?  Well-meaning people ask, “Oh, is your four-year-old going to preschool?  Where do they go to school?”  and we answer something to the effect of, “Well, we are homeschooling.”

However, I think we need to be very careful and clear within ourselves as to what we mean when we say this if we are Waldorf home educators.  Waldorf Early Years is about bringing warmth to our child, love to our child, rhythm to  our child with a strong cornerstone of rest and sleep, helping to foster imaginative play, working together on practical things that create an ensouled home, singing together, and fostering a love of nature and reverence and respect.  It is not at all about direct academics at this point because children under the age of 7 are living in their bodies, in their motion, in the movement of the moment.  They are not living in their heads.

This is,  of course, difficult to explain to well-meaning strangers.  However, when one joins other Waldorf homeschoolers and talks about “schooling” their four and five year olds, I think we all need to get clear.  The Early Years is not about academic preschool skills the way conventional schooling is.

However, it is also not about doing NOTHING, which is what many parents conversely seem to think.  There should be a strong rhythm to your day, there should be times of out-breath and exploration in nature, times of fostering quieter reverence for a special told story.  Waldorf Kindergartens in Waldorf schools often make the day look seamless – outside play or walk, practical work for the day, preparing for snack, having snack and clean-up from snack, special songs and a story, rest time, more play in nature; and all the while the adults are engaged in strong practical work with their hands –  but the reality is that is takes quite a bit of planning to make this come off as easily as it looks!

Many mothers of Kindergarten-aged (and remember while Waldorf schools plan for children ages 3 to 6 in Kindergarten your child will most likely be five and six before having great attention for festival preparations, bread baking and etc without a peer group to carry them along) ask about planning.  Less is more for the Kindergarten-aged child.  Seasonal stories and verses can be simple and revisited year after year.  Craft ideas can also be re-done year after year.  There is comfort to the child in knowing that there is dragon bread on Michaelmas,  lanterns are made around the time of Martinmas. 

Many mothers collect songs and verses and stories by season on their computer in files and then take the time to organize it by day over the summer either by writing it down by hand in a spiral notebook or in a computer file that is printed out.  It takes time to collect verses, songs, stories, ideas for festival preparations and gardening.  This is the time for you to really sharpen your own skills – learn to play that blowing instrument, learn to garden and identify some plants, learn to knit.  Check out all the Waldorf Kindergarten posts on this blog, they will hopefully help guide you as to what you should be doing and what a typical Waldorf homeschooling Kindergarten day might look like.

The day should be short in terms of attention for practical work and the circle/story.  Steiner said if we got just 15 minutes of work done that the child could observe that that was wonderful.   He didn’t say hours of work, and in a Waldorf Kindergarten school setting there are multiple teachers and assistants and older children to help carry the group along. 

Mothers say, “Well, my child doesn’t want to do beeswax crayoning, they just do a scribble and run off.”  The point is that YOU do the activity and model it for them.  Children are notorious for not liking their mothers to sing or do whatever, and then lo behold, there the child is singing the song you were singing this morning!  The one they hated and ran away from.

You can work in a two-pronged manner:  stories and songs and activities that are interesting to the child within the realm of practical work for the day, and also by NOT forcing the child.  The child is free to weave in and out and just watch what you are doing.

Your child IS learning academic skills, believe it or not.  Many nursery rhymes and songs have letters and numbers in them, many things about science can be learned by fostering a connection with nature, many fine motor skills needed for handwriting and other things can be learned through arts and crafts and festival preparations.  You may find your child easily meets the PreK and Kindergarten requirements for your state with no direct academic work at all!

Get clear with yourself; there is a reason for the first seven years to be one of movement and will and not regurgitation of dry facts.  In fact, children who are treated to just dry facts by the age of 7,8, and 9 often seem to rebel against this and need more imaginative stories, more sensory and active movement.  Perhaps this is because this stage was missed earlier, and perhaps because even a 7, 8 and 9 year old needs to learn in this manner.

Four is a great age for sitting on laps, four is a great age for loving each other.  Do not underestimate the most important goal for homeschooling:  spending warm, loving time together and fostering close bonds between siblings.  This is the real and true goal of homeschooling.

So, if someone asks you if you are homeschooling your four-year-old, just know and be clear within yourself that you are giving them the foundation that will make academics even better later on, that you are giving them the foundational skills for relationships they will need later on.  Be clear that you are giving them the best education possible by the things we do every day as Waldorf home educators.

Many blessings,

Carrie

More Fall Resources for the Waldorf Kindergarten Crowd

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Folks have been emailing me in reference to my post here and asking where to find verses, songs and stories. 

www.mainlesson.com has some lovely fall stories for free!  Look under Waldorf Kindergarten, and leave the legends and longer fairy tales out unless you have a six year old, and there is still quite a bit to bit from!

Reg Down has a few of his stories from his Tiptoes Lightly Series on his website, look here:  http://www.tiptoes-lightly.net/stories.html

Another favorite resource for me personally is Bronja Zahlingen’s “LIfetime of Joy” and also Suzanne Down’s “Autumn Nature Tales”

For songs, try Elisabeth Lebret’s small red book “Pentatonic Songs” for some traditional Waldorf favorites or if you are looking for some new Waldorf favorites try Jodie Mesler’s new CD available here:  http://www.homemusicmaking.blogspot.com/

For verses, try the Autumn Wynstones book and also Wilma Ellersik’s “Gesture Games for Autumn and Winter.”

For circle time if you do a circle in your house, try “Let Us Form A  Ring” for verses, songs and some fairy tales in the book and music to go with many fairy tales, or “Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures.”

Hope that helps you gather things.  There are many things out there, but they are copyrighted and therefore not available on the Internet.

If you are short on funds, consider the used Waldorf curriculum group available on Yahoo!Groups.  You may have to be fast to catch some things, but you can get some great deals!

Peace,

Carrie