Waldorf Homeschoolers Thread - Page 4

[kanga2roo]

trouble with reporting

I am having a little trouble with our school system, who wants a first grade filled with typical public school stuff. Has anybody had a similar situation? Given the nature of Waldorf, we aren't up to snuff in their eyes.....:

[mamaofthree]

oh, i like those little cones.

hey and thanks for the tip on the little garden flower! she has some great stuff! i ordered the 2nd grade and K for two of my boys. i sure hope that little acorn comes back in Sept. she didn't do anything for aug. her stuff was lovely this past winter. :

h

[mary3mama]

Originally Posted by kanga2roo

I am having a little trouble with our school system, who wants a first grade filled with typical public school stuff. Has anybody had a similar situation? Given the nature of Waldorf, we aren't up to snuff in their eyes.....:

I've not dealt with this issue before, but I'm sure others have.

What is the school system wanting you to show? Is there testing or some other way they intend to confirm what you are covering in 1st grade?

There may be ways to 'spin' what you're doing to seem more in compliance, but it depends on those things...

[mary3mama]

Originally Posted by mamaofthree

hey and thanks for the tip on the little garden flower! she has some great stuff! i ordered the 2nd grade and K for two of my boys.

Great! I really love the Little Garden Flower materials!

[LuxPerpetua]

Has anyone gotten the Before the Journey book from A Little Garden Flower? I'm curious to know if it is a generalized, this is what rhythm is, type book or if it is more specific with it's ideas.

For those who have used A Little Garden Flower for older children, what have you loved about it? How has it helped? (I'm trying to get ideas as to what we might want to buy in the future, and ALGF is awfully economical!)

[mary3mama]

Allison,
I've not held the actual book in my hands yet...but my understanding that it is not just about Circle Time but actual ideas and activities for that pre-K age group...helping with getting the family into a good rhythm and such.

Hopefully someone on this thread can fill in the details. I do intend to get Before the Journey...I just haven't yet as my sons are both 'on the journey' and my wee-ist one is just 2.

[MommyKelly]

Originally Posted by LuxPerpetua

Has anyone gotten the Before the Journey book from A Little Garden Flower? I'm curious to know if it is a generalized, this is what rhythm is, type book or if it is more specific with it's ideas.

For those who have used A Little Garden Flower for older children, what have you loved about it? How has it helped? (I'm trying to get ideas as to what we might want to buy in the future, and ALGF is awfully economical!)

I love that it has great lesson plans, ideas for festivals, and everything else!
It is easy to read,and it has great pictures of examples.

I have several grades and am happy to answer any specific questions. I also have the math book, which is AMAZING!

[mary3mama]

Originally Posted by MommyKelly

I have several grades and am happy to answer any specific questions. I also have the math book, which is AMAZING!

I have the math book as well. I love it! I also have the D. Harrer book that Melisa references often. Together I feel totally ready for math through grade 5. I also have a geometry book for grades 4 & 5 and I intend to buy Melisa's geometry curricula eventually.

[jp79]

Originally Posted by LuxPerpetua

Has anyone gotten the Before the Journey book from A Little Garden Flower? I'm curious to know if it is a generalized, this is what rhythm is, type book or if it is more specific with it's ideas.

I just got the Before the Journey ebook last week. I'm waiting for the DVD supplement to arrive in the mail. I have limited experience in Waldorf, but I do consider myself well-read on the subject.

The book is written from the perspectives of four women (one for each season) that are following Waldorf with their children. The chapters are an entire season's worth of entries from a journal of each woman's experience. The final chapter is an overview of rhythm and festivals and storytelling. I personally liked reading the journal entries because I've never seen Waldorf families outside of my own and while I understand the background, it's sometimes hard to figure out how to put it into actions.

When the time comes, I will definitely purchase the next level of the program. Also, the woman that writes the material is a joy to work with. HTH

[Tassy]

I am interested in beginning Form drawing with at least DS this year (8) and am wondering where to begin. I see Beginning form drawing as well as Form drawing grades 1-4.... then should I get a special book to hold the work or will any paper do? What about writing instruments? I am very new and would love a little hand holding

TIA!
Tassy
DS 8, DD 4, twin DDs 2

[pampered_mom]

: My kiddos are too young at this point for any specific "schooling" - ds is 4 1/2 and dd is 19mos. At the same time there are aspects of Waldorf inspired homeschooling that I think could be helpful for us.

I had briefly (very briefly) considered enrolling ds in the free 4yr old kindergarten offered by the school district - mostly because I could pick where he'd go and I knew the teacher (my sister). It's been a rough year (a surprise pregnancy, dh's second shift work schedule, etc) and when I really admitted that to myself, it became obvious that wouldn't solve the issues at hand.

Many of the books/ideas I've seen out there (Earthschooling, Christopherus, etc) really appeal to me. I'm thinking some sense of rhythm and greater predictability to the day would be helpful. I have purchased one month's curriculum/enrichment lesson from Earthschooling, but didn't really care for the way it was presented. I have ordered the Kindergarten book from Christopherus because the sample pages and some of the other things I read really seemed like it might be a good fit. I'm hoping that in spite of Donna's being up front about her foundation in Anthroposophy that I can still find items of worth in it. Has anyone been able to do that?

While what we do will certainly be for ds' benefit...what I'm really hoping is that it will help me feel like things are a bit more manageable so I don't feel so very overwhelmed all the time. So...I guess you could say I'm seeking out "kindergarten" mostly for me - anything ds gets from it will be icing on the cake.

[bendingbirch]

To me, Donna's book does not present muchi if anything about Anthroposophy specifically at all, but because she has that foundation she understands why X is done within the Waldorf curriculum because of how Steiner viewed the development of the child.
The Kindy book is very practical and deals with rhythm, discipline, lots of ideas for activities, stories, how to handle a 6 year old in Kindy, etc.
I think you will find a lot to use!

[mamaofthree]

have any of you seen or used... http://ebeth.typepad.com/serendipity/ i really loved the gnumber gnome math stuff. i think we will be doing that again this fall. she had a bit on form drawing, but i don't think she ever finished the tale that went with the drawings, which was a bummer to me because it was good! LOL i like her "Shakespeare friday" thing she started. i think i will be doing that with my older son this fall also. the woman who wrote the shakespeare book she uses ("Tales from Shakespeare") also wrote one on the canterbury tales (which i love!) which i think i might introduce.
how many of you have a big age gap in your kids (if you have more then one). my oldest ds is 11 and then i have a 7 year old, a 5 year old and a 2 year old. (my oldest child dd is going to high school). i find it sort of hard to do things with everyone at the level they need. i feel like ds #1 is forever on his own.
also, do you find that you are sort of alone IRL about your feelings about education? we have about 25 kids in our neighborhood (a two block area) but all kids go to school (which is fine) and all are forever on the computer or play violent games. i hate forever keeping my kids away from everyone, and they love to play with the other kids, but i find that they tend to be wild after they hang out with those other kids. and in general the kids are kind, and their parents seem really nice... i just sort of feel alone in my thinking out here in reality. lol

h

[calynde]

Originally Posted by Tassy

I am interested in beginning Form drawing with at least DS this year (8) and am wondering where to begin. I see Beginning form drawing as well as Form drawing grades 1-4.... then should I get a special book to hold the work or will any paper do? What about writing instruments? I am very new and would love a little hand holding

TIA!
Tassy
DS 8, DD 4, twin DDs 2

We're currently doing a form drawing block (1st grade). We put the forms into an unlined notebook (like a thin main lesson book) and DS does them with beeswax stick crayons.

We're mainly using Form Drawing grades 1-4 as our guide.

HTH!

[saphire]

mamaofthree- yes, I do feel alone in the hs journey. There are many kids in our neighborhood, but we are the only hs'ers. While our city has quite a large established hs group, I don't know any other waldorf oriented families. I see a lot of secular and school at home families though. So that does make me feel alone. I'm just thankful that I have internet access- so I can find other families who do hs like us. Sure, it would be fun to have someone else to do lessons with occasionally. Maybe someday we will.

Dh is almost done putting the shelves in the craft/hs room. I'm so excited.
I can't wait to see the room come together. I picked up a desk for my 7yo, and I'm painting the legs a bright sunny yellow. We still need another desk and 2-3 chairs. And I need to go through the boxes and find all our hs resources. I'd like to re-read some of my waldorf and hs books again too.

[blumom2boyz]

Originally Posted by Tassy

I am interested in beginning Form drawing with at least DS this year (8) and am wondering where to begin. I see Beginning form drawing as well as Form drawing grades 1-4.... then should I get a special book to hold the work or will any paper do? What about writing instruments? I am very new and would love a little hand holding

TIA!
Tassy
DS 8, DD 4, twin DDs 2

This is based on my understanding on how to approach form drawing from Donna Simmons book: tell a story and draw the form on the blackboard, then the child practices through movement- walking the form, drawing with toes in sand, etc. BEFORE they draw the form on paper. I plan on using the large drawing pads and then for a final form drawing, smaller paper. All the forms will then be kept in a special place to be made into a book at the end of the year. For drawing the forms on paper, we will be using block crayons and then eventually stick.

[blumom2boyz]

Originally Posted by bendingbirch

To me, Donna's book does not present muchi if anything about Anthroposophy specifically at all, but because she has that foundation she understands why X is done within the Waldorf curriculum because of how Steiner viewed the development of the child.
The Kindy book is very practical and deals with rhythm, discipline, lots of ideas for activities, stories, how to handle a 6 year old in Kindy, etc.
I think you will find a lot to use!

Ditto this. I have her kindy book and LOVE it. I think you will enjoy it very much and won't have any conflict with it at all.

[prairiebird]

I don't know why I couldn't find this online somewhere, but I thought I would ask here. Has anyone made a nature shelf on a bookshelf / wall shelf rather than a table? The kids are choosing things that can be choking hazards and I don't want to stiffle them.

If I do this, should I have a step stool near the shelf so even my 3 year old can interact with it? I just don't want my newly walking 14 month old to swallow shells or acorns or something!

[SandyBeachBums]

I don't see why not. We used the fireplace mantel in our last house. It was really the only place in the house with a flat surface that was covered or used most days.

[SandyBeachBums]

Originally Posted by kanga2roo

I am having a little trouble with our school system, who wants a first grade filled with typical public school stuff. Has anybody had a similar situation? Given the nature of Waldorf, we aren't up to snuff in their eyes.....:

How are you reporting it? I have read about educationese. Perhaps you need to learn how to speak their language.