Block 1

I am starting a new format this year.  I am so busy that I am unable to

post every week.  Instead I will be posting to recap our blocks.  We break off 

about four week chunks were we focus on one particular thing.  Then we add 

in little bits of extras throughout the weeks.  Block one is on language arts.  For

four weeks we study our handwriting, work on reading through phonics and

word families.  The extras were form drawing, painting, crafting, and modeling. 

I have had a bit of a time juggling around second grade with kindy and a little 

preschool thrown in.  I think it has been working out o.k. though.  Just a little more complicated:)

Here is how our first language arts block played out...

We started out recapping a lot from last year.

I had him write out numbers 1-100 on the driveway

he practiced saying them forward and backward.

We read a book that clearly illustrated what 100 looks like.

In really  big kindergarten news...
my second born LOST A TOOTH!
He was really proud and I am a little nervous
These kids are growing up faster than I can keep up!

Congratulations Big Boy

 In other BIG news My eldest had a birthday!
He turned 8.  
He wanted a small family get together with 
blueberry muffins in lu of cake.  This was really amazing,
it was the very first time he allowed us to sing happy birthday to him.
That smile... you know he loved it.

My little girl is getting bigger too.
and it never ceases to amaze me

Back to our school happenings...

We celebrated Michaelmas by creating a dragon
candle.  Saint Michael is the flame defeating the
dragon with his fire.  We light this candle every
meal to make sure the dragon is banished!

After recapping a little math and reading a lot about Buffalo from our 

American history I started in with our language arts block.  This first main lesson

is introduced through Saints and heroes.  The first story was John Henry.  How

he beat the machine.  I told Julius Lester's version which was perfect!

The kids loved this story of strength.

My other hero I talked about was Johnny Appleseed.

This was nice because then I could bring in little things for the
others to do.  Thanks to the Driggers for generously giving us boxes and bags of apples
we did everything with them!  We also celebrated the autumn season collecting, talking
 and jumping in leaves.

We didn't stop with apples and leaves in our celebration of
the season.  We also planted 100 bulbs for spring flowers!

 

 We made many things with clay, let them harden

then painted our new treasures.

We took a trip to a local petting zoo to check out the
huge Tom Turkey and buy our pumpkins



Matthew worked on his form drawing.
He is beginning to really grasp it.

 

Then, I began introducing the Saints.

I am a Catholic so I have no problem bringing them to the 

children.  Some people take issue with this.  I see nothing but 

beauty!  So much so that now he is enrolled in catechism.  Yes,

I was inspired and felt he needed to learn the faith.  So here we 

are learning prayers and our faith.  To my surprise he LOVES it.

 

"In different contexts Rudolf Steiner repeatedly mentioned the inherent healing forces in the Madonna images, especially those from Raphael, and their healing use in the treatment of both disturbed adults and children."  ~Wynestones Press

 I hung up this picture of the Madonna in our school area.  

Trying to stave off any psychological problems. :)

The saints we covered were 

Saint Francis, Saint Emma, Saint Pasquale, and Saint Genevieve

I love how Waldorf really does meet them right where they are.  He 

has fully embraced the subject matter and I see real benefits from it.

In case anyone would like to add a little Waldorf to there current situation

The wonderful Mrs. M posted a nice ten step list to help get started.

I am posting it here for myself to remember because I still forget sometimes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Remove the TV. Store it if you must in a relative's garage or something but take it out of your home.

2. Keep the computer locked and out of sight when not using. Try to avoid using the computer at all when the children are awake and about. Save computer time for when they are asleep.

3. Avoid talking on cell phones with with your family. Turn off the sound and check once a couple times a day. Designate no cell phone time zones in your life and stick to this. Same for iPad.

4. Go outside every day, year round, for part of a day. On the week ends, go further out and hike, kayak, ski, camp, boat, bike, simply pack a simple lunch and take off, on foot, on wheels, in a car or bus to a trail head, and go! Find local spots of unstructured woods or wild places along the edges of civilization and hunker down, there.

Avoid parks with structures and so on most of the time. Find the wild places with woods and water, and play there.

5. Maintain a daily rhythm including rising, eating, cleaning, cooking, and preparing for sleep. Stick to it. Involve candles of beeswax, songs, stories, and blessings.

6. Form some friendships with like minded people and celebrate the seasons with them. Fall harvest suppers, winter crafting workshops, spring May Day pole dances, and summer camping with the asteroid belt falling stars....Show your children how to create simple meaningful rituals and celebrations, and then keep these up for years and years.

7. Keep the big folk talk, to the big folks! Do not discuss family security, finances, fights, bad world news, and so on with children under 12. Period. Mom and dad are in charge, the world is a beautiful good place, you are a child, we are the grown ups. If I see one more child with huge anxious eyes and dark circles underneath those gorgeous frightened orbs....over exposed to adult life in EVERY WAY you can imagine...this is simply too much for the children, let them be children and keep your urgent icky adult issues for the adults.

8. Adopt a meal habit that supports healthy life. Cook don't re-heat or warm or assemble, study cooking and learn how to make a dozen very healthy satisfying entrees and focus on soup-making. You will never be sorry you know how to make a good soup.

9. Practice art. Be an artistic person, make this a normal part of your lives. Tell artful stories, paint, draw, make music, sing, move, dance, arrange leaves in the park into a mandala, make a design with stones by the creek, arrange a star with driftwood on the beach....speak a poem once in a while. Find a time to be in awe of Mother Nature...be speechless with wonder.

10. Meditate on your child/spouse/family members at night before you fall asleep, think of the highest self of each one, find their shining moments and glory in those...enhance your children's capacities, build them up and expand them. Reflect on the unique wonder and beauty of each one. Feel lucky to have them in your life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until next block

~Blessings