Our Waldorf Homeschool Journey

Many people seem to only give their boys traditional “boys” toys. I’ve found having a son and daughter that they both seem to like all sorts of toys until the age of about 8/9.

Juliette still loves her “Barbie” dolls (for want of a better description). Dolls that go places, get dressed into many clothes, give parties, fight, cry, get married, have children etc. etc. In other words she acts out real life but in a 10 year olds way. Now StJohn is 7 at the moment and he has always loved to join in this game, but he wants a man, not a lady doll. So what is available for boys? Well…an action man. Usually a soldier with a mean angry face who comes in a box with weapons and being plastic, breaks within a 10 day period.

I can’t stand these awful plastic soldiers! They seem so grown up and aggresive. They don’t seem to be interested in doing loving, nurturing things. So I finally said…No!NO! today we make a gentleman! This was a while back, so we got out an old action man, and we cut out a felt dude! Here he is…

 We made StJohn an orange and yellow one, as those are his fave colours. He then made clothes for his “little gentleman”. He is the same height and everything as a normal action man. He has pipe cleaners in his limbs so that he can bend, sit and dance. He has yellow roving for hair. That went from nice haircut to fright wig within 2 weeks as it started felting, just mildly but still felting! StJohn loves him! When it came time to do his face, I asked StJohn if he wanted eyes, mouth etc. and he said, “No.”

When I asked him why not, he said to me,”Well if we give him a smiley face then he can’t be cross but if we don’t put in any face then he can be cross, happy, sad, anything. You see it happens in my head, Mom.”

So there you go my answer to action man! Oh and last of all we sewed on a heart, so that he came alive (according to StJohn). He needed a heart to love you see…

Filed under: Anthroposophy, Handwork & Crafting, Waldorf Homeschooling, Waldorf Toys on August 29th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

I sat down a while back with the grade 5 curriculum and started to plan the study of Atlantis. Step 1 – find as much info as possible, from everywhere, differing opinions etc. Now this is where planning really takes off and there is usually such a glut of info that one needs to sift and you can pick and choose!

Well not this time. The info available was minimal and kept referring to the same sources, one of which was Plato. But again there were such differing opinions and heated argument that I ended up reading all the information myself and putting into a short book that is easily digestable! Not what I had planned at all but such is life. It was great fun and I think slightly addictive! I can’t get enough of Atlantis and what happened to the Atlanteans after the flood…

Let’s go back to the beginning.  The earliest mention of Atlantis appears to be in Platos’ writings back in about 345-3600BC. So I found an english translation of Timaeus and Critias and proceeded to read it. It was a wealth of information!

Next I read Atlantis by Rudolf Steiner. This book is a compilation of various lectures he gave about Atlantis. You can find out more about it by scrolling down the right side of this blog and clicking on the book. Now if you have no interest in anthroposophy you’ll find it as befuddling as a lot of Steiners’ other work.But if you have even a basic understanding of anthroposophy you’ll love it. It is a powerful book, which as you read it you feel truth. I found many questions I had from a spiritual perspective were answered. Our very origins are there… I can’t explain it any other way. Just get it!Buy it!Borrow it!Whatever just read it!

From these 2 sources and a few others such as Graham Hancock, Rand Flem-Ath etc, I put together the story of Atlantis. From creation to destruction, as we see it from the writings of Plato and Steiner predominantly. I’ll be doing the lessons from 01 September to about 08 September, then I can let you know how it went and have some pictures. But as it stands at the moment it’s broken down as follows:

Creation

Involves Greek Mythology mainly, the main characters and the layout of Atlantis.

Plants

Information about the fertile plains, and various plants that grew there.

Animals

Information about the animals of Atlantis both wild and domestic.

Architecture

Again the layout of Atlantis, but also the building materials and temple.

Technology

How did the Atlanteans get around both on Atlantis and across the seas?What minerals did they find deep within the earth.

The End of the World

The final days, the sending of wise people throughout earth to bring knowledge to various civilisations.

Included in all of this for the week is mixed media work, painting, form drawing, animal studies, botany and the gift of a quartz crystal each.

Putting together this small lesson block took weeks of reading, but it was worth it. Once I’ve given the lessons to my daughter, and any adjustments made, and the illustrations have been done for the little book, we’ll have it available on the blog. I look forward to sharing it with you.

Next on my agenda is Ancient India…That should go quite quickly as there is piles of info around, and we have a great little indian bazaar-type shop close by to us, so there is plenty to see. I’ve already got most of the books, and fun readers for Jules so I think I’ve past the biggest hurdle which was Atlantis! I certainly won’t by writing a book on Ancient India!

Filed under: Ancient Civilisations, Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner, Waldorf Homeschooling on August 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »

Well we’re nearly at the end of our holiday between grades, and I’ve been sleeping, playing with my cat, playing boardgames with the kids, having breakfast at strange places and having numerous pajama days!

And I’ve been reading….in preparation for planning the lessons. Now when you get Melisas’ curriculum you are given the daily lesson plan for the entire school year, including reminders about festivals and so many other extra activities and ideas. Obviously you do still have to gather the information to present to your child. Melisa provides you with all the resources etc. but if you’re teaching a Waldorf curriculum, you need to understand the subject in the light of anthroposophy. This part is so important for me, as I truly believe that if you don’t understand the subject you can’t teach it to your child.  Steiner says as much in many of his lectures. The child has to see your interest and excitement, in order to become interested and want to absorb the lesson.

There are days when I am not at my best and I can see the kids attention slipping, as I haven’t inspired them. Thankfully those days are few! I often just do a painting lesson or games of some sort or long walks, but no planned lesson, as I wouldn’t be doing them any good.

Anyway, everyone plans differently, so this is what I do. I read the entire curriculum for the year,order any additional books I want(usually I don’t need, but I sure do want) then pull out Steiners lectures on the various subjects (and there are many). After I’ve read these lectures I then start gathering information, books, lots of “google-ing” and then I start laying out each days work and writing up each lesson, it’s objectives and any activity on a day by day basis. I scribble in the actual curriculum book and make endless notes on my laptop at this point. I love being comfortable so this part is usually done here…

 I literally got up from the couch one evening last week, found the camera and took a quick pic. So this is exactly how I do it. (The cat is essential!And so is the tea!In my favourite mug!)

Now the day to day stuff…I first plan the Grade 5 lessons, 1 block at a time. We’ll be starting off with Atlantis. I then plan the Grade 2 block. We’ll be doing Fables.I print and bind our curriculum in an A5 size and having it ringbound, means it opens easily and lies flat! This is the one for Grade 5…

 And the one for Grade 2…

Now I do this in 5 days blocks. Making sure that we have joint activities, meaning handwork, clay, beeswax,painting,form drawing,baking etc.. It makes life easier for me. An example would be that on day 4,  grade 5 looks at architecture in Atlantis. We’re looking specifically at the main temple which was covered in silver on the outside. We’ll be using tinfoil in our mixed media artwork for that day.  So what can grade 2 do for the day which will make use of tinfoil in a mixed media artwork? I found one of Aesops’ fables about a bold and quite boastful lamp, which StJohn will do on that day. We’ll also have some gold paper so he should be able to make a remarkably interesting lamp. See so that’s how I plan… Once all of that is done, I then transfer it to the big day planner I have, again from Melisa. This is the stage I’m at now and have only copied joint activities into the day planner, and the shopping list for items needed, in other words, one day we’re making cheese so the day before I need to buy the ingredients. Also for the first week we’ll have delphiniums on our table as we’ll be looking at those in Atlantis studies. All of this goes into the day planner!

If you want to look at planning in detail there are a few videos that Melisa put together that are quite useful. To have a look at them click HERE.

Now I’m supposed to be in the garden clearing a new bed, as spring is around the corner, but it is chilly and I’m off to make more tea. I want to do a post on Atlantis a bit later today, as this is the only lesson block I had trouble finding info for. I mean in depth information, not just a clip on National Geopgraphic. It turned out awesomely! And turned into a 6 day lesson plan, which if it goes smoothly may be the best block we’ve done!It’s exciting beyond measure.

Filed under: Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner, Waldorf Homeschooling on August 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »

Well it’s been 8 months since I lasted posted on this blog. I don’t want to speak to soon, but our life is looking settled. John had an accident in January and then just as he appeared to be mending well, he had a minor heart attack…so blogging has been far from my mind. It has been all that I could do to keep our journey going. We nearly lost him twice in 7 months!!Talk about a lesson in treasuring someone! But I’m tentatively trying to blog again, as I have so much to share with you all.

Juliette is in Grade 5 now, StJohn in Grade 2…Time sure flies! We’re still using Melissa Nielsens’ Curriculum – a little garden flower. I love it, all the basics are there and you just go with it. It is my humble opinion that Rudolf Steiner would have enjoyed Melissas’ guides.

In his lectures Discussions with Teachers he states the following; “The teacher must be a person of initiative in everything done, great and small.” Now there are a number of Waldorf Study Guides etc. out there which are wonderful, but…for me they’re just a bit to “easy”. I’m trying to find the right words here. To know a subject, to allow the spirit to flow through you to the child, you need to have embraced it yourself. To plop a book down or read from it, is fine but not ideal.

An example to share with you would be teaching Norse mythology. When I taught it to Jules I saw her feeling Freya’s pain as she searched for her husband and realised she had lost him. The spirit flows, it’s awesome to experience. It doesn’t matter what the subject is you can feel it when it’s right!

You see with Melissas’ Curriculum everything is provided (including a daily lesson plan!). You need to read about the subject, understand it and only then present it to your child. Only in this way, can you truly give your child an Anthroposophic education.

I want to share a quote of Rudolf Steiners’ that I keep stuck on our fridge… As a homeschooler it is a bit difficult if you wake up feeling fed up, irritated or miserable. You can’t just bundle the kids in the car and drop them at school! You are the school, so I have this on the fridge next to the espresso machine (my first port of call each day)….

The teacher must never get stale or grow sour. Cherish a mood of soul that is fresh and healthy! 

Rudolf Steiner

 There are a few days when I swear under my breath at the quote, but they’re few, most days it seems to calm me and I start to smile.

Blessings to you all, there are so many of you I need to email, and I will return all the mails I’ve received, I just couldn’t up to now, my apologies…..

Filed under: Waldorf Homeschooling on August 11th, 2009 | No Comments »

Hi Everyone,

We’re in the throws of advent and I haven’t had any time to blog, but I got a really nice email from someone thanking me for sharing my work, and it got me thinking…I’ve been planning advent for our family from a Steiner Waldorf Perspective and have done all the research and searching for resources. First came the search to understand the festival and secondly how to turn advent into something special in our home.

Needless to say I’ve put all that research onto an advent page and uploaded it to the site, so if you’re struggling with advent or just want to try out something a bit different, then please click on the Waldorf Festival Resources Page 

Hope it helps!

Many Blessings to you all, and if you’re looking for lanterns for advent, you can click on the festivals category on the right hand side of the blog, and use the same ones we made for Martinmas, just change the colour of the tissue paper, maybe pure yellow to represent light, or a christmassy, red, green and white?

Thanks for popping in…

Sue.

Filed under: Festivals, Waldorf Homeschooling on December 9th, 2008 | No Comments »

Hi Everyone

Today was Juliettes’ last animal in her animal studies block. We start Norse Mythology tomorrow. To make this transition smooth, even though it is a completely different subject, we studied the Mountain Lion of North America yesterday and today…

Well we crossed the ocean! We looked at a world map, tracking our journey, from North America across to Norway. In doing this we chatted about the Northern Lights, and I found some stunning videos on Youtube which I showed Juliette (after school). Pictures people have taken and actual video footage of the Northern lights.

Once this was done, I then introduced her to the Norwegian Forest cat, which was around in the time of the Norsemen, in fact it is believed that Freyas’ Chariot was pulled by these specific grey cats. They were used on the ships of the Norsemen to keep rats at bay. They were also believed to be a part of the household even 3500 years ago. And they are, still today, found wild in the forests of the Nordic countries. If you go to Norway or Denmark you’ll hear people talking about the Faerie Cats. Well those are the Norwegian Forest Cats. And here is Juliettes’ main lesson book, with the Mountain Lion and the Norwegain Forest Cat sharing a page…

I may have cheated a little, you see we have 2 Norwegian Forest cats, one is mine, Ruby-Rose is her name, and one is Juliettes’, Iceland Poppy is her name. It just seemed such an awesome opportunity to join two lesson blocks, and truly have an understanding of an animal, that though she is a part of our family, could quite easily survive in the wild, like her family do. We’ve watched her hunt, we’ve been brought gifts of live snakes by her. We hold her, feel her and have a deep understanding of her. It was an incredible main lesson this morning. To teach about a creature that I adore with all my heart and who I know Juliette adores as well.

These are our 2 Norwegian Forest Cats….

Iceland Poppy, fast asleep as per usual, she’s either asleep, or is charging around like her tail’s on fire!

And that is Ruby, my most loved animal in the entire world. I adore her and she appears to love me. If I talk to her she starts purring. She’s a typical NFC, aloof, yet loving and strong willed.

Well these are the 2 cats that we finished our main lesson with today. Tomorrow we tackle the very beginning of the Norse Myths…. We can’t wait it’s so exciting. And next week is advent! We’re making stained glass windows with a Norse flavour. More on that later….

Many Blessings to you this day,

Sue

Filed under: Waldorf Animal Studies, Waldorf Homeschooling, Waldorf Norse Mythology on November 25th, 2008 | No Comments »

Hey Everyone

The kids are climbing trees at the moment before bedtime, I know, rhythm and all that, but it’s a beautiful evening so let them enjoy it, I’ll call them in in a minute….

Tonight is the eve of the last Waldorf Animal Studies lesson for this year for Juliette (Grade 4) We’ve enjoyed every minute of it. It’s not just about the animals it’s about us as humans. Over the past few weeks we’ve looked at the physical characteristics of each animal, from the buffalo to the owl. We’ve seen how each animal is uniquely designed to fulfil it’s task in nature and to survive.

For example the owls’ eyes are different to the bald eagle as the owl hunts at night, and the eagle during the day. The mountain lion has large muscular hind legs to leap and pounce onto it’s prey. We’ve looked at how animals keep warm and dry, whether they can smell well, how big and sensitive are their eyes, ears, noses etc. ? Do they live in packs or solitary, as this effects the way they hunt, and care for their young.

And through all this we looked at the animals in relation to us as humans. Why do we not have super sensitive hearing and sight? Why do we not have thick coats? Well in essence we’re a completely balanced creature. We were blessed with the gift of thought, which the animals have not. We do not need to have thick coats to keep dry, we’re able to build our homes, and find shelter, using our hands, knitting jerseys. We do not need to be able to hear superbly to avoid predators, as we have the gift of thought, we’re able to think ahead, stay out of danger, and keep safe.

It’s been an interesting few weeks. It turned into a 6 week block lesson at the end of it, as we did a number of complimentary animals along the way. Every animal was drawn and written about in Jules’s main lesson book. I asked Juliette to finish each written piece. I would start it off, kind of like this….I am a mountain lion. I love to stalk through the long grass and….

She would then finish the story. Anywhere between 150 and 300 words. Here’s one of the pages from her main lesson book (A3 size). Often for the additional lesson, like this one, of the owl, I’d find a poem that sums up the animal, and yet does it in a beautiful or fun way. This poem is available on www.canteach.ca. It’s not a Waldorf site, but has some really nice resources.

The Owl

There’s a wide-eyed owl
With a pointed nose,
He has pointed ears
And claws for toes:
He sits in a tree
And looks at you;
Then flaps his wings and says,”Tu-whit, tu-whoo!”

You’ll notice that she has written on a lined piece of paper. She absolutely cannot bear to write on a blank piece of paper. She needs the lines, so I let her write her work on lined paper, and then stick it in her main lesson book. She then draws the animal and decorates around the stuck in story.

Before teaching this lesson block, not only did I research each animal, but listened to the series of lectures by Rudolf Steiner, The Study of Man also known as The Foundations of Human Experience. Only once I had listened and understood these, was I able to teach about the animals and us from the perspective of thinking, feeling and willing.

It’s an awesome lecture series, long and drawn out, but absolutely essential. I found that I couldn’t listen to more than 1 per day, otherwise I couldn’t absorb everything and would struggle to sleep, I assume because I was trying to process what I had heard that day.

Now I have to go and bring the children in they’re singing, “Down with darkness, Up with light!” from the top of our bluegum trees, which knowing some of our neighbours will scare them and they’ll be convinced we’re casting spells on them. Some people!Really….

Have a blessing filled week.

Sue

Filed under: Waldorf Animal Studies, Waldorf Homeschooling on November 24th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Hi Everyone

I’ve been swamped, good swamped though, and would like to bring the Blog up to date with our school stuff. So today it’s Waldorf Form Drawing. If you’re not a Waldorf person, you’ll be thinking what? Why? I know my husband and I thought the same many years back. Waldorf can be so confusing, and appear mystical. It’s not. There is a reason behind everything, and everything has a specific time and place. No action is wasted or just done because. So here goes, my opinion…

One of the activities that I insist the kids do at least twice a week is form drawing. Put very simply, form drawing is a shape/pattern that the child draws which has a soul quality. This isn’t just a Waldorf thing, it is spoken about in many ancient texts.

The form drawings are different for different ages, grades and stages of development. In Grade 1 form drawing is introduced before writing begins, and then throughout the year. But it aids in the shaping and forming of the alphabet. StJohn is in Grade 1 and one of his form drawings looks like this…

Form drawing is done on an A3 piece of paper, and I let him use stick crayons. There are days when he has used his block crayons, but after reading the various lectures of Rudolf Steiners, I believe that the stick crayon was the writing implemented intended, not the block crayon, at this stage . Just my personal opinion…

I really recommend that when your kids are doing their form drawing that you do one as well. You’ll feel the various qualities of the shape. A spiral, for example, drawn from the inside out will give you a feeling of freedom, of breathing easier, of bringing yourself out of yourself. I know it sounds weird but it’s true. Just try it, relax and feel it, you’ll be amazed. Once you connect with the various feelings and qualities of a specific form, you’ll intuitively know which form needs to be done on any given day, and for which child.

For StJohn specifically he has various personal issues of soul development, that we use form drawing to help him overcome, and it does make a difference.

Juliette, in Grade 4 this year, studies Norse Mythology, and her stage in development needs something entirely different. She has far more complex shapes, forms with knots and twists, over and under. Pretty much what’s happening in her life at this 9/10 year change. Norse mythology is beautifully echoed in the various shapes and designs of her form drawing.
One of my favourites of hers is this one…..

The idea is to have one form per A3 page which StJohn is completely comfortable with. Juliette on the other hand will do a smaller form, and repeat it many times. I leave it for now, as this is okay, she also has issues that she needs help overcoming.

Every child is different so to try and force them to do something in a specific way goes completely against the teachings of Dr Steiner. They needed to be helped, inspired and encouraged positively. So for now Jules will draw 3 small form drawings on a page….

We’re busy planning advent at the moment, and designing an advent calendar to make!!That’s in my spare time

What I’ve been trying to come to grips with this past week, is the new main lesson block for Juliette for this coming week. She starts her Norse Mythology block, and it’s not just a matter of hauling out the curriculum and saying, hey cool, lets read these stories. They’re in the Waldorf Curriculum for a reason, for this specific stage of development, and there is a complete lectures series, being The Mission of Folk- Souls which Rudolf Steiner gave in 1910, that I’m trying to finish reading.

I truly believe that if you understand the reason behind the teaching, and hear what Dr Steiner said about it, NOT SOMEONE ELSE’S INTERPRETATION OF WHAT HE INTENDED, only then can you truly teach your child using his Waldorf educational method. We’re not here to fill our childs’ head with facts, there is plenty of time on earth for that. We’re here to nurture their soul.

But back to Norse Mythology, after that little rant, I’ll blog about that another time, as I’d like to put a file together on how to pronounce the various names used in Norse Mythology, as I have struggled with them and found bits and pieces here and there. I’d like to share that with other parents. A simple example would be Muspell (pronounced…moo-spell) or another Ymir pronounced…im-meer). So I’m putting a list of all the relevant names together, and if you need them you can just download them. Quick and simple.

Anyway back to my lectures and preparing the last animal studies of the year. They’ve been great but I can’t wait for Mythology. Or is that just Sanguine me talking?

Many blessings to you all this peaceful Sunday.

Sue. xx

Filed under: Waldorf Form Drawing, Waldorf Homeschooling on November 23rd, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Boy have we had a week! We had floods on Sunday, with the rain running through our bedroom. This resulted in no loss of belongings just piles of washing! Towels by the dozen, and….well it rained on my huuuuge ironing pile. So I had to wash it all again. The universe’s hint…hey Sue, how about doing some ironing, huh? Well I finished that round of washing and drying on Tuesday evening.

Then came Wednesday, when I made the decision to re-install our dishwasher. I haven’t been using it as it gobbles water and electricity and it just didn’t feel true to our principles. Well I’ve had a guts full of dirty plates and cups and bowls and well, honestly I’m exhausted… So I thought, for now I need a bit of extra time in the day and I can save the better part of an hour if the dishwasher does the washing up. (Yes I timed it ) )

Anyway we bring it in from the store room, and I proceed to get it connected and for some reason the connection wouldn’t tighten. So I called John and asked for his strength in doing it. Well, then came flood number 2. The pipe in the wall just burst it’s end off! The kitchen and lounge were an inch under water within 5 minutes. We managed to turn the water off for the whole property, but then had to wait a day for the plumber, so borrowed water from our neighbor. But as at now the dishwasher is working and helping me immensely!

But from that little episode, came another piiiilllle of towel washing! Which was finished finally this morning, when, you’ll never believe it, the washing machine hose, just slipped out of the outlet, flooding the bathroom with water! But I set my mind to it and those clean up towels are now washed and dried.

Our pool vacuum has just given up the ghost so we are now shopping for a new one, preferably one that’s a little more reliable.

Hopefully life can commence as usual now and the water will just behave!

Other than that I’d like to share our garden news with you. Our winter lettuce is pretty much finished now and we’ve left it to go to flower and then to the seed stage. If you’ve never seen a lettuce flower then here is a pic for you, isn’t it beautiful?

Then we’ve planted more seeds of course as we do regularly, in the hope of abundant food, the hope is usually dashed by a storm or high winds, but we love the process so keep it at none the less! We don’t eat any animals or fish, so one of the plants we needed is a chickpea plant. Well our nursery thought I was daft and said they had no clue. I was unable to find seeds, so being as stubborn as a mule, I went to our look grocery store and bought chickpea sprouts, supposedly for salads and stuff. Well I warmed then and wet them and nursed them and now look….

We have chickpea plant seedlings! There are about 10 of them so lets see how it goes, if it works then what that means is we have a “faux meat” plant!

And then on a seriously light note….here’s a really good reason to be patient, if you have rocky soil, and put it through a garden sieve (which we have believe it or not)! Most of our carrots are pretty straight but this one was just bizarre….StJohn pulled it out and his face was just filled with wonder. Of course I told him the Gnomes did it, the mischievous ones, that sleep under the gem squash bush next to the carrots.

Hey who knows maybe they did?!

Blessed be this weekend, Sue.xx

Filed under: Bio-Dynamic Gardening, HOMESTEADING, Homeschool on November 21st, 2008 | 3 Comments »

Hi Everyone

Just a very quick post…I’ve been busy trying to put up new webpages. So you’ll see I’ve done a Waldorf Curriculum Review and there are new goodies in our Waldorf Inspired Shop!

So if you’re considering a Waldorf Education for your child or a new Waldorf Curriculum, please visit the Waldorf Curriculum page.
And if you’re interested in Waldorf Inspired Gnomes and Rainbow Angels please pop into the shop. You won’t be disappointed!

I’ll blog again later in the week, as we’ve just had Juliettes Rainbow Bridge, yesterday and I’m still exhausted, more about that later this week…….

Blessed Be,

Sue

Filed under: Homeschool, Shop, Waldorf Homeschooling on November 18th, 2008 | 2 Comments »