Welcome, September! This is one of my favorite months because it is a month of new beginnings, which I love. Cooler weather, harvest, leaves turning colors, long walks and bike rides, apples and pumpkins, acorns, getting the house organized for fall, searching for things to make for the holidays, fall decorating!  So many wonderful things to love about September! 

September often seems to be about new beginnings.  Here in the South, the school children have been back to public school about a month, so perhaps it is not “new”, but  it still has that feel to me and my Northern upbringing (where we always started school the day after Labor Day) , that it is a time of possibility and change.

Two of our three children are finished homeschooling and are at out of state universities. One will be graduating college in December and the other is just beginning college. Our eighth grader is still homeschooling, but in a hybrid program this year as I have been having some serious health challenges. So it is a beginning that looks different than any of the other years we have been home learning, but it is still that autumnal feeling marked by the mood of Michaelmas.

The season of Michaelmas, for me, really lasts from a few weeks before Michaelmas until a week or so before Halloween.  In honor of this occasion, I have been reading the words of Rudolf Steiner from his lectures  collected and entitled, “Michaelmas and the Soul- Forces of Man”  In the fourth lecture, he relates the four major festivals of the year:  Michaelmas, Christmas, Easter and St. John’s.  He says, “ Easter: death, then resurrection; Michaelmas: resurrection of the soul, then death. This makes of the Michael Festival a reversed Easter Festival. Easter commemorates for us the Resurrection of Christ from death; but in the Michael Festival we must feel with all the intensity of our soul: In order not to sleep in a half-dead state that will dim my self-consciousness between death and a new birth, but rather, to be able to pass through the portal of death in full alertness, I must rouse my soul through my inner forces before I die. First, resurrection of the soul — then death, so that in death that resurrection can be achieved which man celebrates within himself.”

You can read these four lectures for yourself here:  http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/MichSoul/MiSoul_index.html  There is also this really interesting collection of articles, lectures, verses and stories all about Michaelmas available in  Waldorf Journal Project #15, edited by David Mitchell.  You can find that here:   http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/WJP15.pdf

I love this festival as one that illuminates the soul into the winter, takes up the challenges in front of us as we wind our way ahead in the dark to help us find that small space of courage and bravery that lets us know we are not defeated yet. We have not given up yet. Imagine a humanity where this was the theme before us of overcoming, of bringing new into the world. I may be attacked along the way of this new birth and new bringing, but I am not decimated. I can move forward.

Here are the things that we are celebrating this month:

• September 1 – Labor Day
• September 8 – The Nativity of St. Mary, the Theotokos
• September 14 – Holy Cross Day
• September 23 – Autumn Equinox
• September 29 – The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels

Ideas for Celebration:

For Labor Day, we are enjoying a day on our farm complete with riding and dreams of new projects to get completed before winter. Tomatoes are still coming in, and I am planning some fall and winter canning projects.

The Nativity of St. Mary and for Holy Cross Day, for us, are days primarily for celebrating in church and through prayer and  literature.  There are some lovely books about St. Mary and St. Helena for Holy Cross Day as well. 

The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels is of course a big feast day in the church and also in Michaelmas in Waldorf Education.  You can see my Michaelmas Pinterest board for some ideas I collected: https://www.pinterest.com/carriedendtler/michaelmas/

The Domestic Life and The Home Mood

This month we are busy getting ready for winter on the farm – planting a fall/winter garden, gathering supplies for winter for the animals, decluttering. We will be hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I am already thinking about that.

To me, the fall becomes a time of turning inward; a time of gratitude and reflection.  How do my words, my actions, reflect my gratitude toward my Creator and toward my life?  How do I interact with others in order to show this?  There is a quote I often think about from Dr. Rudolf Steiner that talks about this. He says;

The cultivation of this universal gratitude toward the world is of paramount importance.  It does not always need to be in one’s consciousness, but may simply live in the background of the feeling life, so that, at the end of a strenuous day, one can experience gratitude, for example, when entering a beautiful meadow full of flowers……And if we only act properly in front of the children, a corresponding increase in gratitude will develop within them for all that comes to them from the people living around them, from the way they speak or smile, or the way such people treat them.”  Rudolf Steiner from “A Child’s Changing Consciousness As The Basis of Pedagogical Practice”

How do I really permeate this mood and carry it, even when things are overwhelming, is for this season of overcoming and courage as we head toward the longer nights of Winter. I think this is especially pertinent for those of us with teenagers and young adults who often are in the throes of figuring out who they really are, what turn their life is going to take as they launch. It can be a daunting time requiring inner strength on the part of the parent to really hold space.

One way I am working with the mood of autumn and MIchaelmas is through drawing and painting. I hope to be able to share some of this work on Instagram in the future. I am also able for the first time in decades to attend a weekday Bible Study, so I am looking forward to that.

Ideas for the Home:

• The seasonal table is transitioning to yellows with dried flowers, seed pods, bunches of oats or wheat or corn that are dried, cornucopias, nuts, acorns, leaves and little “helicopters.”
• I am going through and taking stock of fall and winter clothes and purging what we do not need. When the children were small, this was a time we often stocked up on woolens and hats.
• Fall menu planning – a time of chili, soup, stew, warming dishes. I am putting together some freezer meals for my husband and eighth grader.
• Crafting – I have some autumn crafting ideas on my Pinterest board, but I think I am going to start with Michaelmas crafts  and autumn lanterns. https://www.pinterest.com/carriedendtler/autumn/

Ideas for Celebrating this Month with Littles:

• Quick Autumn Ideas for Waldorf Kindergarten
• Favorite Fall Tales for the Waldorf Kindergarten
• Fall Stories for Puppets
• Cook, bake, and preserve with apples
• Crafts with leaves, although down here sometimes we don’t get the best color to our leaves until October
• Sing favorite Autumn songs

Ideas for Celebrating this Month With Older Children:

• A Beautiful Back to School Ceremony
• Start working on homemade holiday gifts
• Celebrate an attitude of kindness and gratitude
• Celebrate apple picking and cooking with apples
• Knit fall projects!
• Long bike rides and walks in the cooler air

Ideas for Celebrating this Month With Teens:

• Find great theater, museum, and festival events to attend
• Longer hiking, camping, and backpacking trips
• Bake and cook fall dishes
• Work on fall organizing and cleaning
• Stargazing
• Find new activities outside the home that your teen will adore
• Find  new knitting, crocheting, sewing, woodworking and woodcarving ideas to try

I would love to hear how you are finding September and working with the seasonal changes in your area of the world.

Blessings and love,

Carrie

We are back in the summer heat of the deep South and I am enjoying seeing all the life bursting around the farm. Our blueberry bushes are heavily laden with fruit, the tomatoes and other vegetables are growing (we got a late start), apples are already shaping up to be a good season. The bees are busy. I thought they all absconded over the cold winter, but there is definitely hive activity in a few of the hives, so I will suit up and go check it out soon.

Many people I know are traveling right now since here in the States we are coming up on the Fourth of July. We can’t travel this summer as my health isn’t permitting it right now, but I am making plans in my head for next July. My husband and I are talking about going to Alaska – suggestions are welcome! I am also busy looking ahead to harvesting our garden and then also what I will be planting for fall since I love cabbage and kale!

Our oldest daughter and I were talking this morning about the joys of being content at home and being busy in the home. What a blessing to be joyful in all circumstances and within our own place. So, this July, here are the things we are celebrating:

4- Independence Day

22- Feast Day of St. Mary Magdalene

25- Feast Day of St. James the Apostle

26- Feast Day of St. Anne and St. Joachim, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Are you thinking about summer menu planning?  I have a back post on July Menu Planning to grab!

I am looking forward to sunflowers, catching fireflies, and the possibility of a new little kitten to join our household!

Things to Do With Children:

• Fourth of July decorating; patriotic crafts
• Find traditional patriotic American music to listen to!
• Go to Independence Day parades!
• Sunflower crafts
• Drying herbs and making things from herbs
• Picking produce; canning and preserving
• Earth looms and weaving could be lovely; see my summer Pinterest board for even more craft ideas

Here are a few of my favorite things for small children:

• Fourth of July decorating and crafts – there are some ideas on  my
•    July Pinterest Board
• Telling Summer stories and creating the Summer nature table
• Swimming
• Gathering wildflowers
• Gazing at stars
• Catching fireflies

Here are a few of my favorite things for older children/teens:

• Swimming and sliding on rocks in creeks; maybe even venturing to a water park or splash pad
• Catching fireflies
• Gazing at stars
• The Magic of Boredom

Things for the Home:

• Going through the school room or school area and cleaning out
• Ordering art supplies and new resources for the next school year
• Making new seasonal things for the home
• Changing out toys if you are on a toy rotation for smaller children
• I am going to be working in our basement this month – so much to clean up down there and I want it neat and tidy

Homeschooling Fun!:

First of all, a HUGE thank you to all the readers I had consultations with this June!  It was incredible to talk to people from all over North America!  I love you all and it was my pleasure to talk to everyone!  I hope everyone is pulling together their planning!  

Our children are finishing and beginning! Our oldest is finishing up her nursing degree and will graduate in December. Our middle child will be beginning university for Equine Studies out of state. And our youngest will be beginning eighth grade this year. It’s hard to believe!

My main goal for our eighth grader this year, outside of academics and all the work that goes into our farm, is to help facilitate a close group of friends and to help him identify areas of outside interests.

Inner Work:

I feel like being on the farm has brought me back around to the inner work of the family life. Here is a back post that I am working off of: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/12/10/my-plan-for-personal-development-as-a-homemaker/

I hope you have a blessed July!

Warmly and with many blessings,

Carrie

As we are getting so close to Summer Solstice (Wednesday, June 21), I was thinking about how we bring life into our homes. This is the ordinary time of growing in the summer – plants, children, everything is growing!

Does that permeate into our homes?

Our words that we use with our children so matter. Stop telling them they are high needs or that they are demanding. Speak words of life into their character! Traits such as persistence, follow through, initiative are going to serve them so well as adults.

Use your words like the pearls that they are!

I have said this in other blog posts, and I will say it again:  Children do not need sarcasm at ANY age.  Small children do not understand sarcasm (but they will imitate it, and then parents wonder why their children are speaking to them so disrespectfully!)  Teenagers have enough of it on their own without you adding to it!  Children and adults of all ages truly need you to use your words as the pearls they are!

I have a challenge for you today:

Just for today, let’s think about communicating in real ways with our children, our spouses, our family members and our friends.  Let’s eliminate sarcasm and speak to one another they way we should. 

Let’s tell each other directly what we need.  We are all unique individuals and  no matter how well we know one another, we cannot expect others to fully understand our own individuality and read our minds!  Ask for what you need from others!  Make a request!  All that can happen is that person may say no!

Just for today, let’s try to listen more than we speak.  Let’s try to let people come to their own conclusions and ideas rather than force-feeding a solution.  Let’s help children who under the age of 9 come up with solutions to problems with other children through modeling, through example and through help rather than just telling them to “work it out”.

Just for today, let’s try to be compassionate and open to the world and not so jaded.  The world is still a beautiful place, even if you have forgotten that it is so.

Just for today, let’s slow down enough so we have time with our children.  Let’s ask for help so we don’t have to take our children to 4 different stores to run errands.  Schedule time to just be present.  Play a game with your children, and enjoy them!

Just for today, let’s evaluate whether or not the amount of things we are doing inside and outside the home is truly feasible for any one human being and let’s brainstorm ways to stop.

Just for today, let’s limit our time with the screens and go be with our family members. 

Just for today, let’s use our words with each other like pearls and remember that we are all tender and precious human beings.

Breathe life into your home and into yourself and your family members with positive affirmations and loving kindness. Your home and the world will be a better place for it!

Blessings and love,

Carrie

It’s that time of year again in my area of the world – time to wrap up one homeschooling year and get planning for fall! Are you planning as well?

I always like to take stock as to what worked well this year, how was our consistency, where are our skills- academically, socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually. All these areas matter in homeschooling because our homeschooling reflects our family life!

I have homeschooled two of our children through to graduation, although for high school we did use either a combination of outside classes with homeschooling at home or a hybrid school. Our youngest is now coming up to eighth grade, so high school is on my mind again! So, I guess a good question to ask yourself for the coming year is – are my children getting what they need so they can be functional adults? Is homeschooling meeting that goal or do they need something different? What are my options?

If homeschooling is the right option, then I love to look at website of Waldorf schools around the world to see what they bring for the grade you will be teaching and find the “hallmark” blocks. These blocks, to me, are the ones that match the soul development of the child, such as the Man and Animal Block in fourth grade, or Rome in sixth grade. If you feel you are short on time, those are the blocks you want to make sure you tackle! I like to plan a monthly seasonal calendar and also a weekly and daily rhythm for consistency and nourishment of the family.

Then I like to match resources to my block. Typically, I would go to the library and get out all the books on that block and sort of synthesize those into a block plan and then scan the Internet for artistic images I wanted to work off of. I realize this is a lot of work, but it’s the only way things are super personalized to your child. If not, there are premade curriculums that you can use and jump off of. I have used bits and pieces of both Live Education and Christopherus in the past.

I also really like to get a good stock as to what our children need to do socially as they age (past 9 year change) in order to stretch themselves in building character, in building community, in building themselves spiritually as these areas often take other people to help expand these areas. I think it is really important as children age into high school that they have at least a small peer group as the right group can be very helpful in their striving toward adulthood, and some areas of passion and purpose.

How are you planning your homeschool year?

Warmly,

Carrie

This has been an important week to remind myself that our whole being and attitude should exude gratitude. We have so many small moments of beauty in front of us to choose, even if things are not going as planned or as well as we hoped.

In this season of Eastertide, I am constantly amazed by the smallest details on the farm from planting seeds and vegetable seedlings to finding the tiniest of ants,snails, and slugs to watching our horses get baths and how they play with the water. It’s been a time of spring cleaning, of envisioning new dreams, and of planning ahead. There is always something to be absolutely grateful for.

My spiritual life is very important to me, and often as we head toward Pentecost, I feel such gratitude and closeness to the spiritual realm. I have a few Pentecost back posts as Pentecost is coming up on May 28th. One thing I always loved is this explanation regarding Pentecost from the Sunday Papers, which is an Episcopalian resource to explain things to children:

We do not have clear and emotionally affecting mental images of the Spirit, because the Spirit is the very power working within us that enable us to image and love the Father and the Son.  The Spirit is the voice of prayer, prayer through us when we turn with love and longing to our Creator and beg to be made new in the image of Jesus…..the Spirit is what connects us to each other and to God, so that a movement of atoms in my brain becomes living speech, understandable to you.  The Pentecostal images of fire, wind, and speech are all forces that move, invisibly, to animate and set in motion.

It’s a lovely thought in spring to think of the voice of connection calling out to all of us, the forces that tie us all together in humanity and unity and love.

Summer is coming, and every year I love to think about the slow days of summer. You can see some of my ideas in this back post: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2014/07/16/the-slow-summer/ and the beginning of a small series you may enjoy here: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2011/06/27/serene-summer-one-small-step-1/

Blessings and love,
Carrie

You can only give people the amount of access to you that they have proven to be responsible with.

Read that again.

If someone is very irresponsible with your feelings, with your time, with your memories and stories, with how they treat your character and what they say about you when you are not together, then their access to you should be limited (or completely cut off).

If someone is truly caring and responsible with you, your feelings, your time, your memories and stories, with how they treat your character and what they say about you when you are not together, then their access to you is completely warranted.

Too many times we give away our power, our feelings, to people who really don’t deserve as much access to us as we thought they did. It is important to recognize that people are uniquely complicated, and they may have underlying motives that you know nothing about. This can include acquaintances and friends, but also family members.

Do not keep giving access of yourself to someone who makes you miserable, who makes you feel small, who makes you feel unworthy.

Find and surround yourself with people who love you, who understand you, who care about you, who lift you up and help you strive to be an even better version of yourself.

Accessibility and responsibility are equivalent. You deserve the very best, and it is out there for you.

Blessings and love,

Carrie

Beginning homeschooling can be exciting, scary, nerve-wracking, wonderful – all of the emotions!

If you are in the United States, homeschooling laws and requirements are set forth by your individual state, so you can look those up online. Pay attention to the compulsory age of beginning school. In many states, requirements to submit is generally at a later age than you may think. So, if you have a three or four year old, you may not have to submit anything to the state or worry about homeschooling to satisfy the needs of your state for those ages.

If you have younger children where you have to submit something to your state, please do take a cue from our unschooler friends – all of life is learning and if your state has specific requirements, please see how your everyday life can meet those requirements. Health, civics requirements for young people are some that come to mind. Visiting community places, washing hands and being clean and learning hygiene can often satisfy these sorts of requirements.

Arrange your homeschooling to fit your life, not the other way around. Homeschooling is part of your life, and being a homeschooling parent is just another facet to your role as parent. You are not in a public school classroom, so don’t treat your homeschool as such unless you and your family really enjoy that!

There is no perfect curriculum! I look at curriculum within the Waldorf world and within more mainstream homeschooling and there is no perfect curriculum. You need to see what your child needs, and when they are older and getting closer to high school, you can tailor more for what children want to do with their lives. In the meantime, the foundational skills of reading, writing, mathematics, reasoning are all there.

I have had parents of third and fourth graders ask me how they should handle transcript keeping for later college entrance. You really don’t have to keep records like that until eighth or ninth grade and at that point, 120 hours is one credit hour and 150 hours is one science with lab credit hour. Keep track at that point, but before that, just enjoy being together.

Because ultimately, what homeschooling buys you is time with your children including the ability to lay a strong moral foundation, a strong sense of family, freedom to pursue interests. These are the reasons most veteran homeschoolers say they appreciate homeschooling so much.

When you are in the trenches, the days seem so long but truly the years are short. Before you know it, your children will be ready to graduate and head out on their own. It comes quickly, and when that times come, please let them go knowing that you gave them the strongest foundation you could provide. I have heard of parents moving close to their student’s college or trying to get involved in emailing professors at colleges on behalf of their young adult. I hope these are minor incidences because that is such a disservice to our young adults. Let’s trust them to make their lives the way they want, and that they will come to us for guidance when they need us. I see the young adults of this generation that are 18-25 years old, not only my children’s friends but also my own friends who are in their 20s, and I am so excited for the future with these intelligent, sensitive, compassionate young people. Homeschooling is one way to set a foundation in motion, and although it certainly isn’t the only way, it can be amazing.

Blessings,

Carrie

Our third and last child is entering eighth grade and has plans to enter an academically oriented high school hybrid. It is definitely not an arts-focused program, and our focus right now is really getting math and writing at a good level this year so he can feel successful in high school. This is driving our eighth grade as an addition to the important elements that Waldorf Education brings to our homeschooling experience as we endeavor to develop the whole person.

From a Waldorf perspective, eighth grade seems to me one of the years with the least amount of “must do” soul material.  Yes, there is a Revolutions block, but some schools put that in ninth.  There is an idea of “modern” and getting children up to present-day, but again, many schools also spread that into ninth grade if they have a high school program.   The AWNSA chart for the Waldorf School curriculum includes The Industrial Revolution to the Modern Day; American History; Shakespeare and poetry; stories about different people of the world and their folklore and poetry; reviewing all grammar; writing including newspaper reporting, business writing, writing a short play and spelling; Latin and Greek and vocabulary building exercises; World Geography and geography of Asia, Australia and Antarctica; Chemistry, Physiology, Physics  including aerodynamics and meteorology; Three Dimensional Geometry.  “Making Math Meaningful” by Jamie York for Grade 8 includes geometry and platonic solids as a block (which I did the first time around in eighth grade but did not do the second time around);  and number bases and loci as another block.

When I begin planning for the upper grades, I usually begin by looking through at least six to eight websites of Waldorf Schools around the country to see what their description of the curriculum for eighth grade is at their school. If you are also interested in resources to look at, something like this from a Waldorf homeschooling perspective, you can see back posts as to how I planned for the first time around in eighth grade, or how I planned high school American History between eighth and ninth grade in order to earn a high school credit in American History (this is something that would happen in homeschooling, not a Waldorf School setting). You can see my post about Eighth Grade Chemistry here, and  I went through each week of eighth grade beginning here, with weeks one and two.

So, my tentative –  totally subject to change-  plans right now include:

August and September – Aerodynamics, Physics and Meteorology/Oceanography

October – Revolutions (mainly Industrial and Simon Bolivar because our student will be getting American Revolution as part of his hybrid homeschool program this coming school year)

November – Math

December – Chemistry

January – Modern History

February – Physiology

March – Math

April/ May -Energy,  Carbon, Climate, and the Environment

At this point, we will be doing a daily math program in order to prepare for high school. Geography will be 2 times a week. Our son also wants to learn French and to play guitar, so I will coordinate that (but not teach those things).

Our student’s main activities include an all boys adventure/outdoor middle school hybrid program two days a week, riding horses, 4H and helping on our farm. I am looking forward to involving him more in gardening and beekeeping on our land.

I will begin planning week by week plans this weekend for the fall. I like to get a bit ahead as May will be very busy for us with our middle child graduating from high school, and summer will be busy!

What are you planning for fall?

Blessings,

Carrie

April can be such a lovely month in the Deep South.  We have tulips blooming, everything is turning green, and the weather, whilst at times unpredictable, is generally heading toward warm.  It is also a lovely time to explore the mountains and the seaside and to revel in all of nature awakening.

This month, we are celebrating Eastertide in its fullest glory.  The calendar of the Anglican Communion and The Episcopal Church include an amazing array of Saints this month; so many wonderful people.   Our main festival dates in our family this month include:

23- St. George

25- St. Mark

29- St. Catherine of Siena

and I am looking ahead to Ascension Day (Thursday, May 18th) and the Rogation Days that precede Ascension Day ( the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday prior to Ascension Day).  There is also a Novena of 9 days that begins on Ascension Day and ends on the Eve of Pentecost.  So I am really thinking about how to mark that.

These are a few of my favorite things this month for my family:

• Since we are still in Eastertide here,  dyeing of eggs,  thinking of the Paschal candle and light in our home, indoor dish Easter gardens, Easter carols (yes, they are real!) and attending church are in my heart, This is growing my own garden in my heart.
• Gardens outside as well – especially leading up to Rogation Days which is a wonderful time to have seeds, gardening tools and homesteads blessed. My seedlings are getting tall and I will be planting them outside this weekend.
• Spring cleaning, decluttering, and moving ahead with some simple decorating I have wanted to do in our home. We are re-doing our laundry room, which is something small that we can afford, but it will be nice to have that done. Other projects coming up include building a dry lot behind the barn for the horses in inclement weather, and painting thousands of feet of fencing!

These are a few of my favorite things for small children:

• Ramping up all kinds of physical activity since the weather is generally nice…hiking, kayaking, roller blading, walking, never disappeared these past months, but I feel so drawn to these activities now. My teenage son’s outside homeschool program really pushes physical fitness and he has been working diligently on pull ups, push ups, sit ups, running but small children will enjoy all kinds of outside free play
• Incorporating more and more loose parts play and re-arranging indoor and outdoor play areas.

P.S. — For those of you who are using any form of screens with your small children, how about looking at rhythm, play and outside time in preparation for Screen Free Week?  Screen Free Week 2023 is coming May 1-7! You can see http://www.screenfree.org for more details. 🙂

These are a few of my favorite things for grades-age children:

• Spring handwork – wet felting, making beautiful spring crafts
• Movement outside and exploring nature
• Adjusting our rhythm to the seasons, but sticking to strong awake, rest and bedtimes, along with regular nourishing whole foods mealtimes.

These are a few of my favorite things for teens:

**Exploring new interests and possibilities for summer. Our son wants to learn guitar this summer.

**There are many wonderful camps for the summer. Sometimes by age thirteen or fourteen, the appeal of going to camp dissipates and sometimes it doesn’t, so you can carefully observe your child. It can be hard to know how hard to push. Our teen will be involved with our local youth parish activities this summer, including a three-day day camp of service, and helping at a horseback riding camp, but he isn’t so sure about going away for a week.

** Sleep! A lot of teens really need sleep over the summer.

These are a few of my favorite things for my own inner work:

• In the past I had created a Sacred Hour – half to be spent in personal study, and half to be spent with our children in sharing the Saints, the Bible and Anglican traditions. This Eastertide, I am devoting some time to Anglican Studies and also using the Venite App for daily readings.  I am feeling very happy about this.
•  I have been looking closely at boundaries on my own time and what truly makes me feel comfortable and happy in the way I use time. With the farm and work and homeschooling this is super practical.

These are a few of my favorite things for my own self-care and health:

• Continuing to get up and work out before my day starts with the family.
• Drinking water.

These are a few of my favorite things for homeschooling:

• I love to get the vast bulk of my planning done over the summer. I will be posting plans for eighth grade as we go along. I am using several outside resources to shore up our teenager’s academic challenges, so that includes All About Spelling, Oak Meadow English 8 which we have already started, and a daily math program on top of blocks. He needs this to be able to enter a rather academic high school homeschooling hybrid so he won’t be behind. I have never shied away from combining blocks from traditional Waldorf resources with whatever my children have needed to be successful in high school and college. I know what works for our children at this stage based on how I teach, and what things are a weakness for me in teaching.

In the family:

** One young adult is graduating in December and will be in class through the summer.

**One young adult is graduating high school in May and will be off to an out of state university this fall.

Please share with me what is inspiring you this month!

Blessings,

Carrie

Happy Eastertide!  I love the season of Eastertide, which began on Easter Sunday and will last until  Pentecost Sunday (which is on Sunday, May 28 this year).

I find it comforting that the spiritual journey of Lent, often hard and arduous, gives way to an even longer period of joy and yes, even fun.  There are forty days in Lent, and fifty in Eastertide, which to me signifies and marks the very adult needs of beauty, fun, and play.

Oh yes, to play.  Adults need to play.  Play is not only the realm of children.  Play is often the creative wellspring of adults as well.  I am also convinced it a the key to adult  mental wellness.   We often seem to forget this in our drudgery of work, traffic, children’s activities, cooking meals and changing diapers and cleaning the house over and over, but  our need to play (and rest and relax) is every bit as real as our need to work and help each other.  The child inside of us is never far down if only we reach for him or her.

In this fifty days of Eastertide, I challenge you to play, to rest and relax and notice beauty, and to find and take your joy in the ordinary moments.  They are there, even amongst the chores of housekeeping or holding tiny children.  They are there, even in the times of your teenager dealing with end of semester tests and finals.  They are there, even with your children who are feeling the call of spring and nature to be wild and untamed.   They are there, even in traffic and whizzing cars.  Find those moments and hold onto them for what they are; the seeds of creativity and relaxing love.

I am using this Eastertide to do fifty days of physical activity that nourishes me – walking and exercising, hopefully horseback riding. I would love to sneak some camping in there as well! Maybe this speaks to you for your fifty days of joy and fun.

Or, if you would like to do something with your children to celebrate Eastertide, here is a list I shared in 2018 and am sharing again for family activities:

1. Visit a sheep farm where the sheep are being shorn and then wash, card, and dye some fleece.
2. Make projects having to do with sheep – I have an entire Pinterest board devoted to to wool and knitting here
3. Spring clean your house (deep clean)
4. Get rid of things you no longer use; paring down in the spring feels so good!
5. Re-vamp your diet to include even more fruits and vegetables and meatless meals.
6. Take great care of your skin
7. Cleanse your rhythm from things outside the home that are no longer serving you or your family
8. Look at our bee and butterfly friends in the garden, in books, and in crafts.  There are some ideas on my spring Pinterest board
9.  Clear your life from people who bring you negative energy
10. Make time to spend with those you love and trust – family and friends
11. Think carefully about new endeavors.  What are you growing for this season?
12. Find a wonderful new book to read!
13. Go hiking.
14. Go camping. If your spouse doesn’t like to camp, gather a moms and childrens group to go.
15. Spend time in nature every day.
16. Add some puppetry to your life
17. Try journaling 50 days of gratitude
18. Change your priorities so you have time for self-care.
19. Slow down and rest
20. Learn some beautiful new songs for spring for circle time or to sing as a family
21.  Carefully investigate your spiritual path and find a way to deepen your inner work
22. Go easy on yourself and give yourself space
23. Find an app to help you meditate or visualize
24. Go swimming
25. Get a massage or sit in a sauna.
26. Spend time with animals.
27. Get to know your local farmers and enjoy local foods.
28. Create art
29. Plan ahead…or not. Whichever brings you joy in your homeschooling!  Here is some inspiration for planning high school and here is some inspiration for planning the grades.  Also, here is  a whole Pinterest board devoted to the  Early Years
30. Learn some new Waldorf verses
31. Pick fruit
32. Plant a garden
33. Create something beautiful for your outdoor space
34. Plan new adventures in travel –
35. Have a May Day festival shared with friends
36. Plan for Ascension Day
37. Plan for Pentecost through these musings
38. Make some rock art
39. Create, cook, and sing for Pentecost
40. If you celebrate Pentecost as a family, consider a gathering for Pentecost
41. Encourage someone or become someone’s mentor.
42. Drink more water
43. Set up a new exercise plan
44. Catch up on your doctor and dentist appointments
45. Take naps
46. Walk in nature
47. Watch a sunrise
48. Go slow and enjoy spending time with your children.  If you are homeschooling, less books and more play.
49. Have a picnic
50. Dye eggs and try your hand at some spring crafts

Happy Eastertide, friends!

Blessings,

Carrie