Serene Summer: One Small Step #4

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Our small steps for a happy homelife continues today with menu planning.  Menu planning is important for those of us on a budget, and it is also  important in terms of saving time, energy and for providing healthy foods in as close to their natural state as possible.

So,  after our other small steps of  decreasing commitments so you can actually be at home, spending time with your spouse or rejuvenating yourself, and having a well-ordered home, menu planning is right up there.

After all, nothing goes well if everyone is hungry and there is no food in the house or no food prepared, right?  Small children and hunger leads to whiny, not peaceful,  times!

We have talked about meal planning before on this blog, but I have a few things that have been working well for me lately that I want to share: Continue reading →

Guest Post On First Grade Readiness: A Comprehensive Look Through High School

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(7/16/2011 – Comments on this post are now closed!  Thank you for all your comments and questions!)

Our guest post today comes from Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschool Resources (http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/home.html).  This is a very comprehensive look at the topic of first grade readiness.  This article includes her perspective as a Waldorf educator, but also as a parent and homeschooler, and includes a deep understanding of the foundation of Waldorf Education, but also includes more mainstream resources for those of you seeking those.

This article is long, but I encourage you to read all of it.   Donna will be answering your questions left in the comment box in regards to this post, and we both look forward to hearing your thoughts. 

Here is Donna….. Continue reading →

Working With “Brambly Hedge” for First Grade Form Drawing

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I have gotten a few emails asking me about how “form drawing with Brambly Hedge” is going.  I first wrote about this idea here:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2011/01/22/two-ideas-for-firstsecond-grade-blocks/

 

When we start school, it will still be very summertime weather here in the Deep South.  So, my first thought was to incorporate the summer and autumn Brambly Hedge books into this two-week form drawing block.  I picked a two-week block as opposed to a three or four week block because I think this particular child will be fatigued by a longer block of form drawing at this point in time.

 

My fourth grader will be doing local geography and as such will be creating a map of her room, our home, the yard in the first part of this block, so I thought it might be fun for my first grader to have something “map-ish” as well…. So: Continue reading →

The Parenting Passageway Is Now On Facebook!

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Please feel free to stop over and say hello:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Parenting-Passageway/197493306934950

Thank you for your support!

Many blessings,

Carrie

Deconstructing Grade Two

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Grade Two promises to be an interesting year as not only is there a wide variety of stories to choose from (legends, tall tales, Saints, Jataka Tales, animal stories, Aesop’s fables, trickster tales) but also a wide range of academic, social and emotional abilities and levels amongst eight year olds.

Here are a few thoughts for heading into grade two: Continue reading →

Deconstructing First Grade

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So, I am busy planning a second go round with first grade (along with fourth).  First grade is really fun, simple to plan (I know it probably doesn’t feel that way when you are going through it for the first time, though!), and can be simply magical.

I think there are several things to consider when planning First Grade. Continue reading →

The Christopherus Early Years Book

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is out!  Here is the link to the blog post announcing its arrival, and there is a link at the bottom of the post to order the book. The book is available only in eBook version, and costs twenty dollars.  It is over 430 pages long, and  has responses from so many wise mothers regarding  many of the most commonly asked questions and dilemmas of parenting in the early years.

http://christopherushomeschool.typepad.com/blog/2011/07/creating-our-new-early-years-book.html

Many blessings to you all,

Carrie

Deconstructing the Six Year Old Kindergarten Year

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Have you ever heard of a deconstructed salad? It is a salad that has all the components separately instead of mixed all together.  For those “When Harry Met Sally” fans, it is kind of all “on the side.”

I think the six-year-old kindergarten year is a bit like that; sometimes we have to really analyze the separate components and tailor those components.

This last year of kindergarten need not be intense, but I  think six- year -olds do need something “more”.  And we are fortunate that in the home environment we able to meet our child where they are. Continue reading →

Serene Summer: One Small Step #3

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One thing that provides a foundation for family and homeschooling success after reviewing and possibly curtailing commitments outside the home (Step #1) and building a strong foundation for time with your spouse or to rejuvenate yourself if you are single parenting (Step #2), is to have a well-ordered home.

My favorite small book on this subject is by Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, a health psychologist and researcher in the area of lactation and post-partum depression.  Continue reading →

Waldorf School Graduates

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Three phases of research findings regarding graduates of Waldorf Schools in North America are up for free at The On-Line Waldorf  Library.

These study findings are really much too long to be summarized in a blog post in any manner that will do justice to them, but I think a few points can be pulled out.  I do encourage you to go and read all of the findings so these things are put within the proper context. Continue reading →