This is a spiral bound book of 100 pages  by Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschool Resources,  and it really is a book that you can turn to time and time again.  I have even  had parents who are not Waldorf homeschooling  tell me how valuable they thought this book was for the Early Years and homemaking with small children!    So, I think this book would be worth the addition to your library.

I love Donna’s Introduction.  One thing she wryly notes, “Let’s not forget that Waldorf Kindergartens are based on what a healthy home environment should be like!  So it seems an odd reversal that parents now seek to make little Waldorf kindergartens at home!  You do not need hundreds of verses, scores of songs, stacks of fairy tales to “do kindergarten”:  you need strong and nurturing family rhythms; opportunities for open-ended play; the will to include your children in household tasks; and the courage to tell stories to your children.” 

This book, as Donna remarks herself in the Introduction, is not a set curriculum to tell you what to do everyday.  She goes on in this book,  however, to provide tools for you to establish a healthy homelife, which is really what the Kindergarten Years should be about.  She talks extensively about the major “points” of Kindergarten:  physical activity, developing the senses, the idea that the small child is one with his or her surroundings, imitation, creative play.  She even  has a chapter as to what to do about people outside your family – what do you do about neighbors, people wanting your children to watch TV or play video games in these Early Years, how do you do play dates?

One of the most valuable sections in the book is the section on “Family Life.” In it are many examples of rhythms, how to create a strong family rhythm, how to work with multiple children because homeschooling is first and foremost about family, how to choose toys, what to do about electronic media, ideas about discipline and about children with special needs. 

One chapter is entitled “A Typical Day” and runs through several different rhythms and then goes on to discuss how to do different components of the rhythm – household chores, morning walks, story times, creative play, bed and rest times.

She has recipes for making salt dough, how to wet on wet watercolor paint, how to make a nature table, cooking with small children,  ideas for crafts and handwork, coloring and drawing, and how to choose fairy tales and tell them. 

I think a very valuable section of this book is “The Six Year Old” chapter.  As many of you know, I think that the six-year-old Kindergarten year is very, very important and that the child  should be seven for most of first grade.  This chapter provides some very excellent ideas regarding how to structure that six-year-old year, projects to include, what to do with academic interest in the six-year-old year and answers to other challenges that are unique to the six-year-old year. 

There is also a Questions and Answers section, and a section that includes a scattering of fairy tales, traditional rhymes and seasonal verses, music,  and a section on what to read next to educate yourself as to Waldorf education and Waldorf parenting. 

Here is link to look at this book yourself:  http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/bookstore-for-waldorf-homeschooling/early-years/kindie.html

Happy reading,

Carrie

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Many blessings,

Carrie

Why is this one of my favorite Waldorf resources?

1. Did I mention I am a pediatric physical therapist?

2. Despite the perception that the Waldorf Early Years is one gnome and fairy fest (and I mean that in a loving way, not a snarky way because don’t we all love the gnomes and fairies?), the Waldorf Early Years are truly about working with a child through his or her body.

3. The Early Years are about protecting all of the 12 senses and for developing  the lower four of Steiner’s 12 senses and we do this through the way we act upon the body.

4. Most parents have little understanding of how to bring developmentally appropriate movement to their children.  (HINT:  It is not through organized sports as early as possible, as much as we all love a good baseball or hockey game!)

5. Uh, did I mention I am a pediatric physical therapist? LOL.

That is why this book is so wonderful and one of my favorites. There is nothing else out on the market like it for the Waldorf homeschooling family, and actually ANY parent would be enriched by reading it and implementing the things in this book!

Chapter 1:  Waldorf As Therapeutic Education (with a word about that most famous of topics, Waldorf Guilt!)

Chapter 2:  Creating a Nurturing Environment (Birth- about 18 months; Toddlers-3 Years Old; Ages 3-7; Ages 7-9)

Chapter 3:  Ideas and Advice :Bilateral Coordination/Body and Spatial Awareness (broken up into under age 5 and over age5); Fine Motor Skills for Hands and Feet’; Balance and Coordination (broken up into under age 7 and over age 7); Listening/Silence; Touch; Visual; Warmth; Memory; For Dreamy, Sluggish Children; Calming Down/Centering; Getting Into the Body/Gross Motor Skills; Smell, Taste and Touch At Home; Dominancy of Hand, Foot and Eye; Horseback Riding; Gardening; Being in Nature; Active Math; A Waldorf-Inspired Backyard Assault Course (ages 6 and up)/ A Backyard Obstacle Course; A Summary of Things to Be Aware Of

Chapter 4:  Songs, Fingerplays, Movement, Verses

Including Opening Verses, Closing Verses, Waking Up and Going to Sleep, Giving Thanks, In the Kitchen, Counting and Numbers for Kindergarten/First Grade, Autumn (any age), Winter (any age), Spring, Summer, Nature (any age), Fantasy and Fun, Tongue Twisters, Using the Hands:  Finger Plays and Clapping Games, Movement Verses, Clapping Verses for Older Children and other Ideas,

Chapter 6:  Groups (and yes, it does say Chapter 6 and I can’t find what page Chapter 5 is on as a heading)

This book is 101 pages long, so each section is only a page or a few pages.  And like other Christopherus books, it is spiral bound with paper covers.  (I personally always wish the covers were something sturdier). 

As you can see by the outline of the chapter headings, this book is one that will see heavy use through multiple ages and children, so I feel it is a worthwhile investment to have a book of your own.  

Here is a link to this wonderful book:  http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/bookstore-for-waldorf-homeschooling/publications-for-grades-1-through-5/joyful-movement.html

Happy budget planning,

Carrie