Category Archives: Homeschooling

The Six-Year-Old Waldorf Kindergarten Year At Home

Posted on by
7

As you may have guessed by reading through the previous three posts regarding the six-year-old, I am a big proponent of not starting academics during the six-year-old year while the children are in a time of developmental crisis. Within the Waldorf system, most six-year-olds should still be in their last year of Kindergarten.

However, with this age often comes problems for parents who perceive that their children are wanting “more” and needing more.  Many parents equate this “wanting more” with needing more academic work.

I disagree and offer you some alternatives in this post for what to do with your child during their six-year-old year, their last year of kindergarten:

First and foremost, they need to be outside and connected to nature during all types of weather this year.  They need to be outside every day possible to burn off that restless energy that often pervades the age of six.  There is a rather popular post on this blog about connecting children to nature if you need ideas. (see https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/11/24/connecting-your-children-to-nature/ for that post; it is one of the highest hit posts on here!).    Some Waldorf teachers also feel that daily nature walks are important for children who are weak in their physical and etheric bodies.

Secondly, they need opportunity for real work that hopefully will involve physical energy expenditure.  Do you need a pile of rocks moved?  A great job for a six-year-old!  Do you need the pile of firewood moved from one place to another?  Think creatively about what could be done around your house, your land, your yard,  that is REAL WORK.  Many six-year-olds go through a crisis of play, so do think about work they could do.  Woodworking, to make something real and functional, also comes to mind.

Thirdly, they need a strong rhythm, longer and more involved stories and more involved projects.  Think about things that involve several days to complete – modeling something, then painting.  Finger knitting and then attaching that finger knitting to something to complete a project.  What could you and your six-year-old do with a very large box?  Make  a barn, a spaceship, a house – something that, again, involves multiple steps over multiple days.

Fourth, think about games that involve strategy.  We played a lot of checkers, Battleship, card games, Junior Monopoly, Mancala and other games during my eldest’s six-year-old year.

Fifth, think about gross motor skills.  At home, you can work with your child on riding a bike without training wheels if they cannot do that yet, jump roping, using stilts,  using scissors to cut snowflakes and paper chains of figures to develop fine motor skills and threading needles and tying knots also comes to mind for fine motor skills.

Sixth, is there any way your six-year-old could help someone else?  Some parents feel strongly their six-year-old should not be exposed, say, to residents in a nursing home or such because it is hard to explain in simple terms why we have such a thing in our society.  I personally wonder what is wrong with us that we segregate our elders away from our young people, but perhaps my perspective comes from being raised by my grandparents and having my great-grandmother also live with us.  Some Waldorf Kindergartners actually seek out having a relationship with a nursing facility of some sort.

Perhaps  there is a way your six-year-old could serve within your own family, within your neighborhood (does your neighborhood plant bulbs or flowers or such with the changing seasons?  Could you and your family help?)  Could you bake cookies for elderly neighbors and deliver them?  Make May Baskets on May Day for neighbors?

Seventh, work on social skills in a more direct way – it is okay now to do this!  Not a guilt-trip laden, wordy way but a matter-of-fact way – “We wait to speak.” “You may have this when I am done.” Those sorts of things. For bossy, often drama-laden six, these are valuable skills indeed.  You are working out of more than imitation now – the seven-year-old works out of a picture of authority and you are transitioning to that.  For those of you who put the cart before the horse and have been using these direct words for a long time, please do not beat yourself up over it.  Do remember, however, that the six-year-old may need direct words and authority at some times, but still need arms around them and re-direction with fantasy and movement at other times.

Eighth, work on festival experiences.  Has your six-year-old ever made a sword and shield for Michaelmas?  Gone on a Lantern Walk for Martinmas?  Made Advent crafts in any capacity?  Dipped candles for Candlemas? Made Easter or Spring crafts?  May Day Baskets?  There are many wonderful festival books out there with lots of ideas to try!

Try to enjoy this year.  A year without being tied into main lesson time, main lesson blocks, main lesson books.  A year of wonderful experiences with lots of time to enjoy each other.  This last year of kindergarten is really the best!!

With love,

Carrie

Things I Learned Along the Way in Teaching Homeschool Waldorf First Grade

Posted on by
5

Well, now that we are more than half way through our first grade year, I thought I would re-cap a few things I have learned and discovered; maybe they will resonate with you as you either plan for first grade or finish first grade up this Spring.

1.  There cannot be enough Form Drawing.  I planned three form drawing blocks plus weekly form drawing most months; it is that important.  I highly suggest that you start First Grade with an entire MONTH of Form Drawing.  There is a post on this blog about Form Drawing; please refer to that for further details. 

2.  You simply must plan handwork a certain number of times a week or it will may not happen; your child may love to knit but mine did not.  We worked essentially on a row a day every day in knitting and we are still behind completing the number of projects she probably would have completed by now in a Waldorf school.  This fact does not really bother me, she does beautiful and careful work and I feel certain by next year she will enjoy knitting when she doesn’t have to think so hard about it, LOL.

3.  Which brings me to my third point – sometimes your little one will balk and YOU have to know when to take the day off and go hiking, when to allow play with the siblings,and when to say, “No, really, this has to happen today.  Back to work, please.”

4.  You can imbue many opportunities for nature and ecological study throughout the curriculum.  We kept a gardening day due to my kindergartner and I think next year I may expand this to twice a week in our rhythm instead of once; I also planned nature blocks in with Form Drawing and we also did Nature Blocks in January with the The Year/The Four Seasons and a Backyard Nature Block.  I hope to write a post on the Waldorf way of teaching Science in the future; it is fascinating!  As a science person, I totally appreciate it!

5.  The story of the letters can be taught in many different ways through the use of a container story to hold the fairy tales together.  This was helpful as I made up something that spoke to my daughter, a story with fairies and princesses that also involved some spiritual elements as well.  Think of what truly speaks to your child and work that in.

6.  Wet-on-wet watercolor painting is important, and it is great fun to alternate this with modeling.  We painted twice a week and modeled two to three times a week. 

7.  Math is one of those subjects that people tend to put in a secondary position versus reading; but please do not be fooled.  Math is of the utmost importance; Eugene Schwartz is convinced that there are periods of math windows for math literacy.  I think it is important once you do your initial math block to practice every day you do school where that is not the main lesson focus (with a few breaks here and there for holiday crafting and  such).  Math is one of those subjects that works whole to parts, that needs to build in the child.  Please keep working on it.

8.  Please do not neglect the fun things- festival preparation, crafts, projects.  Don’t forget that the “head” part of your main  lesson can be totally hands-on.  Today we did the Grimms’ fairy tale “The Pink” and drew a huge, as tall as my daughter mural of the castle/tower from the story.  We also wet-on-wet watercolor painted ‘the pink” (a flower) from the story.  Tomorrow we will use our third day of this story to draw giant P’s on the driveway with chalk, walk them, hop them, draw them on each other,  and finally draw them in our  Main Lesson Book.

9.  We waited to start our “blowing instrument” as Steiner called it (we have been using a pennywhistle this year) until after the New Year.  You really don’t have to do it all at once; we did however bring in a lot of singing throughout the school year. We learn at least two new songs or more a month, and often make up repetitive songs to go with the fairy tales or the season.  Think how you can bring music into your homeschool!  Steiner talked about how the seven-to-fourteen-year old learns best through rhythm, so thinking about how to bring this to your child is so important.

Just a couple of things from along the way; if you are finishing First Grade please your nuggets of wisdom in the Comment Box to share and help other mothers just like you!

Carrie

Teaching A Foreign Language in Waldorf Homeschool

Posted on by
4

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.

This is a link that discusses the cognitive and academic benefits to learning a foreign language:

http://www.utm.edu/departments/french/flsat.html

This talks directly about that memory storage theory (and debunks it).  It also looks at current research, including the fact that kids who know a foreign language score higher in the SAT’s, typically do better in mathematics. actually have  (good) changes in the grey matter of the brain and that people who know foreign languages may be less likely to develop Alzheimer’s…

Interesting stuff with lots of links to research.

In our family, many of our friends are European and all of them speak 3 or 4 languages – Dutch, Greek, French, German, English.  We also have many friends who speak Spanish and English.  Languages are important in our family, I guess because of all of our family friends and because my husband has lived all over the world when he was growing up – Korea, Germany.  He is still  pretty much is open to moving anywhere in the world. 

I do speak Spanish, not like a native, but enough to communicate,  read, negotiate services I need, talk to my patients and friends…not fluent, but probably a high medium kind of speaker.  However, we still have a Spanish tutor for our children. The tutor is a completely native speaker and fluent.  This is very important because while I can read to my children in Spanish and such, there are so many of the idioms and sayings that I just plain miss because I am not a native speaker.

Sometimes  if there is a homeschooling group of ANY kind in your area, those mothers may have connections to either teachers who will tutor homeschoolers.  One other place to look is to see what is the immigrant population or  heritage of the people in the town you live in is….Swedish?
Italian? German?  Perhaps there is someone within your community who would be willing to teach your child songs, verses or tell stories within any foreign language.  Is there a church in your town which holds services in another language?  That also gives you a clue as to what foreign languages you may be able to connect into where you live.

Sometimes if there is a large enough group of people in one place who speak a certain language, they may start a language/cultural center.  In my town, which is large, there is a Chinese school, a Japanese school, a Dutch school, a Swedish school, a Finnish playgroup, lots of opportunities for Spanish, at least for the pre-kindy crowd, a French school, a Russian school and a German school.  There probably are even more populations and schools than even I am aware of at this point. Even  if you do not want your child to attend the school, it may be a place  to start to see if anyone can tutor. Talk to the potential tutor  ahead of time, and explain your curriculum so they understand if they  need to bring songs and verses and stories with props or
what…Waldorf may be new to them!

Spanish is obviously a functional language in our country (USA) but
learning ANY language helps activate that part of the brain, leads to
greater cultural awareness and can spark interest in other
languages. My oldest daughter is very aware of people
speaking other languages and now she listens and wants to know what
language they speak and if she can learn that one as well!

Tutors may not be as unaffordable as you think; and I also know moms
who have worked out trades for tutoring. I also know moms who
instead of or as a holiday gift asked family members to cover
tutoring for them for a month or a certain number of months.
Typically the after school or Saturday language schools are not that
expensive for the whole year (comparatively).

The other thing to consider is while sometimes one language sounds
daunting enough, learning two languages that are rather opposite is
really great. My oldest is learning Spanish and German and they
really are nice complements – a Romance Language and a Germanic
language and I feel it will be easy for her to slide into other
Romance languages and even into the Slovak languages.   

There are many wonderful languages – African languages, Romance
languages, Germanic languages…..Sometimes I think we get stuck on
Spanish (which that would be nice to learn because of the
functionality), but there may be resources for something else in your
area as well.  Keep an open mind and see what you can find – you may be able to find for your child not only a person who can provide your child with the wonderful gift of multiple languages, but also with the great cultural awareness that we are all global neighbors.

Yours until next time,

Carrie

More Thoughts About Waldorf Kindergarten At Home

Posted on by
4

Some mothers who have been feeling overwhelmed in their attempt to create a Waldorf Kindergarten at home have contacted me.  I have a few thoughts on this subject.

First of all, while circle time is the heart of the Waldorf Kindergarten in a Waldorf School, I feel the heart of the Waldorf Kindergarten homeschooling experience is often the practical work we do in our homes and with our children.  To me, it is much more important to work on the rhythm of your day and your week first.  What day do you garden? What day do you bake or cook something special?  What day do you do housekeeping?

Someone asked me if regular, mundane housework was what the children were being called to participate in.  I could only share my own experience with her.  When I started trying to commit to doing things on certain days, I started with washing one day and ironing the next.  And what I discovered is that even having the children assist in sorting clothes, carrying clothes, putting clothes into the washer, hanging clothes up to dry, ironing – was just not riveting to my children, even with singing and verses involved and child-sized ironing  boards and whatnot. They would be off playing (or more often than not, rolling in all the clean laundry I was trying to fold and iron :)).  For some Waldorf families, washing and ironing works well as a weekly activity – for us it did not.  Does this mean I stopped washing and ironing? No, it just means I include it more in our daily chores that I do after breakfast – where the kids can join in if they want  or just play.

The work we do as part of the Kindergarten I do try to make special and I try to hook them in.  This may look different from family to family.  However, if you light a candle in the morning with a verse and then blow it out and do your work – whatever that may be- with a song or a story while you are doing it, and giving them opportunities to help – you may find things go better.  You will find what resonates with your own children.  In our family, we have devised weeks  where our activities by day  were wet-on-wet watercolor painting, bread baking or cooking something special, arts and crafts or festival preparation, gardening (always with stories, songs, and something a child would be more interested in than just pulling weeds for two hours!), housekeeping. This is separate from the daily chores we do around the house and yard.  Again, each family will find their own activities and what works for them may also change as their children age.

Second of all, these mothers were going nuts trying to piece together verses and stories.  I explained my thought would be to simplify.  Pick three fingerplays that reflect something going on in the seasons and stick to those for a whole month.  Have one song you learn together for the whole month that reflects something seasonal.  Pick a story and tell it for a whole month.

We recently did the story “Why the Evergreen Leaves Don’t Lose Their Leaves” for a whole month.  I just told it whenever we had story time, so perhaps three to four times a week.  However, we did lots of different things with the story to bring it to life.  We played the part of the bird and hopped around how we thought a bird with a broken wing would hop around.  We stuck green silks on our heads and played the different parts of the different trees in the story. We made birds out of beeswax to sit in a nest.  We made trees out of air-drying clay.  We took nature walks and looked for nests in the bare trees.  My oldest played her pennywhistle for the part of the wind as we added details about the weather in the story (which coincidentally reflected the weather we were experiencing outside.  Hhhmmm, how did that happen?).  We added repetitive phrases in that echoed throughout the story so by the end of the month my Kindergartner could say this phrase at the right points in the story.  We made up a song to sing as the bird walked.  We were never tired of this story,and many of these ideas came to me after I had lived the story for a few weeks.  Try it and see if this happens to you.

If you cannot memorize a story, get two sheets of watercolor paper and write the story out and put it between the covers as your special book.  But do try; you may find that just by reading the story for three nights every night before you go to bed and sleep on it that you have more memorized than you think.  Use props.  Write the key phrases down.  Whatever works for you.

But most of all, keep it fun.  You should be working together, having lots of time outside (see my “Connecting Children to Nature” post if you need help in that area), playing, singing. 

You can do Waldorf Kindergarten at home; just keep it simple!  You have several years of kindergarten, and your four-year-old should be at a really simple level; your six-year-old may need more.

Some of Waldorf Kindergarten really is just like the Nike slogan, “Just Do It.”  Quit reading so much, keep it simple to start and just live it all together and see what wonderful things happen!

Breathe and smile,

Carrie

Resources for Wet-on-Wet Watercolor Painting

Posted on by
3

Here are several resources I have regarding wet-on-wet watercolor painting for your review.

#1.  “Painting with Children” by Brunhild Muller.   48 pages.   The contents include:

Children and Colour

The Moral Effect of Color

Children painting with watercolors

Preparing to Paint – and yes, this does discuss those often-asked questions of how to mix the colors, distribute the colors, water jars, the size of the paper and how to prepare it, and some hints about choosing paintbrushes.

Painting the Colors, including colour stories, painting through the seasons, the background to colour stories, experiencing the colours, moods of nature, painting what you see

Painting with Plant Colours

Poems to Stimulate Painting

This book starts with sections regarding Steiner’s words regarding color and its effect on children, and Goethe’s Theory of Colors, and discusses the way children experience colors in the fairy tales. 

Some considerations:  I have enjoyed using this little book, and it is a quick and easy way to start with lots of color paintings done by children.  The pictures were helpful when I first started out in identifying what a typical four year old’s painting might look like.  Ideas for seasonal themes with verses that are typically Waldorf. Very Lovely to look at.

#2 – “Waldorf-Inspired Watercolor Painting with Children” by Anita Briggs and Nadia Tan; available through Barbara Dewey’s Waldorf Without Walls.  This is a 27-paged spiral bound book with the following contents:

The Changing Consciousness of the Child and Artistic Activity – Colors, Color Moods and Temperaments, Making Colors Come Alive (includes color verses and color experiments)

Painting in the Waldorf School

Getting Started with Wet on Wet Watercolor Painting – Basic approach, Painting Exercises to include single colors, color pairs, many colors, seasonal pictures, silhouettes against an evening sky, animal series, imagination series, and colored landscape patterns

Paintings – 5 pages of paintings in color.

Some considerations:  This booklet has many practical hints regarding wet on wet painting and if you sit down and read it very carefully you will find many tips you can use in your painting.  It would also be useful to paint through the painting exercises list in the last section of the book after the children are in bed and create your own world of color!  You can sometimes find this little booklet on some of the used Waldorf curriculum lists.   (It is only 27-pages long so some families may be happier buying  it used if available).

#3 – Painting in Waldorf Education by Dick Bruin and Attie Lichthart.  This 215-paged book comes with a DVD of painting images and the contents are as follows:

Painting in Education – including Introduction, Colors and their effects on people, the task of the teacher, Goethe’s theory of color, A journey through the color wheel: A concise theory of color for the teacher, painting and the senses, watercolor paints- painting techniques and materials and equipment

Kindergarten and Elementary Grades – including handling the curriculum and the basic exercises for the teacher.

Painting in the kindergarten with two basic exercises for the teacher and a section about “Play and Imitation”.

Painting in the first grade with an exercise for the teacher and a section called “A Journey of discovery through the land of color.”

Painting in the second grade with one teacher exercises and a sections regarding Complementary Colors and Color Mood and Color Movement.

Painting in the third grade with two exercises for teacher and a section entitled,” Drama in Color Experience.”

Painting in the fourth grade (subtitles in this chapter include “from soul-to-nature mood, Earth colors, mythology and landscape, Maps, animals and human figures) (also two exercises for the teacher)

Painting in the fifth grade which includes two exercises for the teacher and notes about experiencing processes, plants and trees, mythology, history and maps, landscape, animals and color perspective, annual festivals.

Painting in the sixth grade which includes “on the path to exact observation”, minerals and the veiling technique, flowers, landscapes and trees, “leaving an open space”, Indigo.

Painting in the seventh grade  which includes “exploring new worlds”, “Heavenly phenomena” and “Voyages of discovery”.

Painting in the eighth grade which includes two teacher exercises and the section entitled “Industrial activities and cultural landscapes.”

Black and white drawing in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades

Perspective and dissections in the seventh and eighth grades

HIGH SCHOOL

Introduction

Painting in the Ninth Grade, including three exercises for teacher and sections on “Durer as a source of inspiration for black and white drawing” and “Drawing and painting in connection with art history.”

Painting in the Tenth Grade, including two exercises for the teacher and the section, “Movement and order in black and white and color.”

Painting in the Eleventh Grade, including painting trees and plants in moods, the impression and the expression – various drawing techniques; shading, drawing plants, animals and people and a basic exercise for teacher.

Painting in the Twelfth Grade, including “The summation – The human: studies of the head.”

ADDITIONAL ASPECTS FOR THE DIDACTICS OF THE PAINTING LESSON

Lesson preparation, post-discussion, temperaments

Curative and pedagogical painting

USE OF COLOR IN OTHER LESSONS AND IN SCHOOL BUILDING–

Drawing, form-drawing, crafts, needlework and drama

Rudolf Steiner’s color advice for the school building

SOURCES

Rudolf Steiner’s color lectures

The School sketches by Rudolf Steiner as described by Fritz Weitmann

AFTERWORD

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SELECTED TITLES IN ENGLISH

Some considerations: A lot here to keep you busy throughout the grades, but lots of text with no pictures (black and white plates in the front of what is on the CD so those are the only pictures).  This book really deserves and  needs your attention, focus, and sitting down to try these exercises yourself!  Worth your money. 

#4 – “How to Do Wet-on Wet Watercolor Painting and Teach It to Children” by Rauld Russell, xeroxed with color cover and tied with ribbon; 43 pages long, available through Marsha Johnson of Shining Star School in Portland, Oregon through her Yahoo!Group waldorfhomeeducators@yahoogroups.com.  Proceeds from sale of this book go to Shining Star School.

Lesson 1 – Yellow (goes into painting preparation as well)

Lesson 2 – The Rainbow

Lesson 3 – Blue

Lesson 4- Red

Lesson 5 – Green

Lesson 6 – Sunrise

Lesson 7 – Sunset

Lesson 8 – Blue-Violet

Summary

PART TWO

Lesson 9 – The Suffering of Light

Lesson 10- The Deed of Color

Lesson 11- The Color Circle

Lesson 12- The Color Combinations: Yellow and Green,

Lesson 13:  Yellow and Blue

Lesson 14:  Yellow and Violet

Lesson 15:  Vermillion, Crimson and Blue in Green

Lesson 16: Complementary Colors

Summary (gives suggestions for colors for the four seasons, the four elements, the cycle of day and night, landscapes and seascapes, the four temperaments, etc. and themes to choose from to paint).

PART THREE

Teaching Children

Pre-School and Kindergarten

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Color Stories

Grade 4-5

Grade 6-7

Grade 8

Summary

LAST WORD

APPENDIX (lists all supplies you will need to complete this course)

Some considerations:  An excellent course for you to start to paint by, ideas for how to prepare, set up, verses, focus for each grade…Worth the price even if it is a xerox copy and such.

I know many of you out there have these resources, please do leave a comment in the comment section as to what you liked and didn’t like about these books as these reviews are only my opinion and may not resonate with everyone!

Thanks, and happy painting!!

Knitting for First Grade in Your Waldorf Homeschool

Posted on by
8

This article can also be found in its entirety at this link:  http://www.waldorf-swlondon.org/item.shtml?x=541431.  I have copied this article below for your reading pleasure due to the importance of the quotes of Rudolf Steiner that it includes:

Handwork in the early classes

by Patricia Livingston

Handwork lesson

A class three child unravels his wool prior to knitting.

We all know that handwork and crafts are part of the twelve-year curriculum of a Rudolf Steiner school, but why are they considered so important, and what do the children learn in the early grades beyond a few simple techniques of knitting, crocheting and sewing?

Rudolf Steiner said that play is to the young child what work is to the adult, the main difference being that play comes out of the inner needs of the child, while work is determined more from the needs of the outside world. The kindergarten child is extremely creative and puts tremendous force and intensity into all his play. This play, this inner force, properly guided, becomes the basis for truly creative work and thought in the adult. “It is the task of the school gradually to lead over from play to work” (Rudolf Steiner), and so to develop a real connection between the child’s inner world and the outer world. One of the important bridges between these two is the handwork lesson in the early classes.

Making things, using materials from nature, makes one aware of all that the world has to give. For this reason it is important that the child be given natural fibres to work with. He should develop respect and appreciation for the earth out of which grows the cotton that magically becomes a pot-holder, wonder for the trees that give him his knitting needles, and great love for the sheep whose warm fleece becomes the wool he knits into his soft scarf. These are the seeds for understanding all that man and nature can do together and how human beings depend on one another. In this way, a true social impulse is born.

When a child makes something he can use or wear, such as a pair of socks, and makes a connection with something that would otherwise remain outside his conscious experience, he again becomes closer to the outside world and makes a step toward wholeness. It is a problem of our times that people feel cut from their surroundings. To know how the ordinary things we use in life come into being makes one less of a stranger in one’s environment.

But nothing can happen in a handwork lesson unless one works with one’s hands! The will must be used, and happily for the child, he can quickly see the results of his efforts. He gains confidence in himself as he sees a simple ball of yarn turn into hat he can wear home. Why be afraid of the world when one can do so much with so little? I think it is important, therefore, that the children make things which they can start from the beginning, and do every step themselves. No ready-made patterns, no hidden steps by the teacher. How does something get turned inside out? How did that cord get through the top of that drawstring bag? Many things that children used to see and learn at home, they are completely ignorant of today. They are thrilled and excited by these magical tricks. All this stimulates their inventive powers and the ability to have creative ideas when facing the unknown. We know how much they will need these capacities in the world they will face as adults.

What is handwork in a kindergarten? This question often comes up and I think has to be deeply examined in the light of child development. The sense of order, form, colour and beauty in dealing with the materials of the world is expressed by the kindergarten child in the care with which he sets the table, chooses the mat to go under the candle, places his two shoes together in a row with others, or neatly folds his jumper before putting it away. That is handwork for the child before the change of teeth. Learning a real craft draws him away too soon from his imaginative, creative world. Far better that he will sit down with two sticks or pencils and imitate the adult knitting than that he learns to do one or two things with threads.

It is different when it comes to class one. Something more is happening. The child has reached the dawn of his intellectual thinking and in the handwork class, he now really learns to knit.

Rudolf Steiner said, “Thinking it cosmic knitting”: the continuous thread of thinking weaves itself into whole thoughts. How can we enhance the co-operation between the hands and the head? We must call upon the feelings. Colour awakens interest, enthusiasm and joy in the child. He should be given the beautiful colours he so eagerly responds to in nature. He must develop a sensitivity toward colours, really observe them, and be aware of how they affect one another. A bright yellow thread cries out to be made into a golden chain. The child responds and the activity of the limbs works with the feelings and stimulates the processes of the head. It should become a harmonious, rhythmical activity. The child must begin to be conscious. He counts his stitches; he must know when one is missing. There is a right way to hold the needles, a right time to put the thread over the needle. Such things slowly bring the child out of his unconscious world.

In the class two, still using the continuous thread, we crochet shapes, a kind of early geometry—a rectangular pot-holder, a round hand bag, a five-cornered mat. Are the sides equidistant? The child must develop judgement and a sense of form and space. Learning of this kind can have a real balancing effect on his whole being. It awakens feelings in the child who is one sidedly intellectual, stimulates activity in the weak willed child, and awakens the thinking in the dreamy child.

To bring about this balanced effort of all the child’s forces is a tremendous challenge to the handwork teacher. She must call upon her own powers of imagination, enthusiasm and play. Then the child will happily participate, and along with all the hidden lessons of life, he will learn the practical skills of knitting, crocheting and sewing.

Children who learn while they are young to make practical things by hand in an artistic way, and for the benefit of others as well as themselves, will not be strangers to life or to other people when they are older. They will be able to form their lives and their relationships in a social and artistic way, so that their lives are thereby enriched.

Hedwig Hauck, Handwork and Handycrafts: Part 1, translated by Graham Rickett, Steiner Schools Fellowship, 1968

Carrie’s Notes Now:  This is a great article, and a great introduction to the role of handwork in Kindergarten, first, and second grades within the Waldorf school environment.

Knitting is an activity that is introduced to children in Waldorf first grade.  There are some Waldorf homeschooling mothers out there who are extraordinarily gifted with handwork, but for many of us, the idea of teaching our child to knit in the first grade brings on chills and fear.

Knitting is an important activity for many reasons, including hand-eye coordination, crossing midline, use of math in a living activity, awakening for the seven-year-old.  In some Waldorf schools, the handwork has the children for four shorter periods each week or two longer sessions.  You must provide this type of continuity at home within your homeschool in order for projects to be completed.

One place many homeschooling mothers start is to look at the cycle of wool.  One could visit a sheep farm to feel the wool on the sheep,  obtain raw fleece and wash and card it, have the homeschooling mother work the raw carded fleece on a drop spindle, take undyed yarn and dye it in your own kitchen, make knitting needles and then have a wonderful story for introducing knitting to your child.  The important thing in this, however, is to make sure that the child gets some yarn on their needles before too long and interest wanes!

Other things to consider is making sure your child is proficient with finger knitting, braiding, and making knots before starting to knit.  Fingerplays are useful for warming up the hands prior to knitting and many great verses for this are available in Waldorf materials.

Some mothers have found great luck with thicker needles and chunkier yarn.  We had the opposite experience here and had better luck with a thinner yarn and a more slender needle. 

First knitting projects may include such things as washcloths, recorder cases, scarves, small stuffed animals.  One idea I personally have always liked is taking a square that your child has knitted and magically turn it into a stuffed animal at night while your child is asleep.

Resources for knitting includes Donna Simmons’ First Grade Syllabus, which includes ways to introduce knitting, a knitting story, and suggestions for projects.  Another resource is Bonnie Gosse and Jill Allerton’s “A First Book of Knitting for Children.”  This has in it the traditional verses you hear for casting-on, knit stitch, and casting-off that you will need in First Grade.  A third resource is FaerieRebecca’s “First Grade Knitting Projects:  A Simple Guide to Three Easy Projects”, available on Etsy.  This little booklet includes instructions for coasters, washcloths, recorder cases.

My daughter so far has completed a rectangular shaped swatch that she is calling a scarf for her teddy bear, and she is now working on a square I am going to change one night into a stuffed animal.  The last project will be a pennywhistle case.

Happy Knitting to you and your first grader!!

 

Waldorf and Learning to Read

Posted on by
Reply

This is a great article by Barbara Dewey regarding Waldorf and learning to read.  The Waldorf grade level is based upon development, not academic skill level.  This is why if you have a first grader who can read well, you do NOT jump into second grade material.  Second grade material is designed to speak to children who are seven and a half or eight, just as third grade material is designed for those children going through the nine-year-old change.

Please take a few minutes to read this article:

http://waldorf2.intercast-media.com/2008/06/post_1.html

Just a few thoughts from my little corner of the world.

Another First Grade Poem

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday my first grader asked what the sky was made of, and today she wrote this poem:

Little Blue Sky

Little blue sky,

How are you up there so high?

Come down to me,

We will play games.

I love you,

Little Blue Sky.

A Very Short Must-Read

Posted on by
Reply

This very short article by Betty Staley has so much truth in it that it should be required reading for all parents:

http://ijoanjaeckel.blogspot.com/2009/01/b-e-t-t-y-s-t-l-e-y-to-educate-future.html

Read and enjoy!!

Hear the Voice of the Griot!

Posted on by
6

I received this wonderful book from my sister-in-law for Christmas; it was just what I wanted.  This 404-paged book written by Betty Staley is a true gem and deserves to belong on every Waldorf educators’ bookshelf.   It is worth every penny!   The full title is “Hear the Voice of the Griot!  A Guide to African Geography, History, and Culture.” 

According to the Forward of the book, the “griot” of the title refers to the “storytellers of African culture who carried the responsibility of passing on traditions by word of mouth. They were the historians, the educators of moral behavior, who held the legacy of their people and captured the imaginations of the people in the villages.”  In the Introduction, Betty Staley herself expands this idea further by saying, “African have a very strong connection to the Word, to that which passes from one person to another.  The griot carried that responsibility.  Because African cultures have been strongly oral, word of mouth provided the lifeline of the culture.  The griots were oral historians who took responsibility for keeping alive all that had been known in the time before writing.  They often accompanied their recitations with the music of stringed instruments or a drum. The griot was often part of a king’s or chief’s court and told stories as part of the historical record of the people.  He passed on the culture from generation to generation.  More than that, the griot passed on the deepest aspects of the spiritual history of the people.”

The book is divided into seven sections as follows:

Section One –Geography

Chapter One: Longing  for the African Land, Chapter Two: The Baobab and the Acacia, and Chapter Three: The Cheetah, the Hippo, The Chimp and The Ostrich.

Section Two-African History

Africa-Its People and Its History, Chapter Four: Prehistoric Africa (including a biographical sketch of Louis Leakey); Chapter Five: History of Egypt and Ethiopia (including biographical sketches of Queen Hatshepsut, Piankhy, and Frumentius, Aedesius, and Ezana); Chapter Six: Great Kingdoms of West Africa (Ghana, Mali, Biographical Sketches of Sundiate and Mansa Musa, the Songhay Empire); Chapter Seven: Islam (including biographical sketches of Ibn Battuta and Ahmed Baba); Chapter Eight: Europeans in Africa (including biographical sketches of Shaka, Ann Nzinga, Cinque) and Chapter Nine:  The Awakening of National Consciousness in the Twentieth Century, including a biographical sketch of Nelson Mandela.

Section Three -Regions of Africa

Chapter Ten: North Africa; Chapter Eleven: West Africa; Chapter Twelve: East Africa; Chapter Thirteen: Central Africa; Chapter Fourteen:  Southern Africa

Section Four – The Inner Africa

Ancient African Spirituality; Chapter Fifteen:  The San View of Spiritual Life; Chapter Sixteen:  The Bantu View of Spiritual Life and Chapter Seventeen:  Ethiopia, the Seed of the Grail Impulse in Africa

Section Five – Fairy Tales, Fables, Myths, and Poems

Introduction to Section Five; Chapter Eighteen:  Fairy Tales; Chapter Nineteen:  Stories of Monsters and Ogres; Chapter Twenty:  Fables and Myths, including Anansi Spider Man stories from West Africa, Aesop’s Fables and Yoruba Myths; Chapter Twenty-One: More Stories; Chapter Twenty-Two: Counting Rhymes, Riddles, Proverbs, and Poems (including a biographical sketch of Wole Soyinka).

Section Six – Saints and Other Holy Figures

Introduction to Section Six; Chapter Twenty-Three:  Holy Men and Women including Christian Saints, Islamic Saints, and A Holy Man From African Tradition.

Section Seven – Other Aspects of African Culture

Chapter Twenty-Four:  Art of Africa,including Rock paintings, sculpture, masks, textiles, and African Art Experiences in the Classroom; Chapter Twenty-Five: Music of Africa; Chapter Twenty-Six: Songs of Africa; Chapter Twenty-Seven: Games; Chapter Twenty-Eight:African Foods.

This is just a fantastic resource for all ages.  There are suggestions for the teacher with every section, and suggested ages/grades for the stories and activities. 

Africa is a continent I want my children to know about.  I want them to be able to name the countries and understand about the different cultural groups living  there.  I have African friends and enjoy them and the culture they bring to my life. 

What are you doing in your homeschool to learn about the continent of Africa?

Just a few thoughts from my little corner of the world.