Questions about homeschooling (in general, and with Waldorf methods specifically)

[Sena]

Hi Mamas and Papas (and whoever else might be homeschooling children in their lives),

My family is relocating from CA to Australia in about a month.  My children (7-year-old twin girls) are currently attending a local Waldorf methods charter school.  They totally thrive in that environment, and I'm hoping to continue their schooling with Waldorf curriculum through homeschooling (since private Waldorf schools are out of our price range).  I'm planning on purchasing the curriculum online, and then teaching or presenting it myself.

Since I'm new to all of this, I have a lot of questions, so please bear with me.  My Questions:

1) Is there an online Waldorf homeschooling curriculum site that you recommend?  Right now we're leaning toward Oak Meadow, which I just saw that other thread about today.  What I like about their curriculum (based on what they say on their website, since I haven't used it yet) is that it seems to be a little more academic than other Waldorf curriculum options.  I think my kids (and myself) will respond well to this.  We totally love the magic and reverence and creativity of all Waldorf curriculum.  But the three of us (my kids and I) also happen to be intrinsically interested in things like math, so we could use a little more of that in our day than some Waldorf methods seem to offer.

2) Is there some more affordable source of Waldorf materials (besides curriculum) somewhere out there?  I love that this type of schooling emphasizes using quality, natural materials, for so many reasons.  But we're on a tight budget, and if there were any way to get the beeswax crayons and wooden knitting needles on the cheap, that would awesome.

3) Here's one that any homeschooler can answer:  I'm looking for advice on how to structure our days.  I don't know if tips on that come with the curriculum we'll be purchasing, but I'd love to hear others' tips and stories in any case.  What's a typical day like for you and your children?  How rigid and/or structured do you think an ideal day of homeschooling should be?  And subject-wise, do you do all subjects every day, or do you do one each day, or something else?

Hmm, that's only three main questions.  I could have sworn I had a hundred.  Maybe I'll come back with more, but in the mean time, I'll stop here and look forward to any advice I might get.

Thanks so much!

[AAK]

Originally Posted by Sena 

3) Here's one that any homeschooler can answer:  I'm looking for advice on how to structure our days.  I don't know if tips on that come with the curriculum we'll be purchasing, but I'd love to hear others' tips and stories in any case.  What's a typical day like for you and your children?  How rigid and/or structured do you think an ideal day of homeschooling should be?  And subject-wise, do you do all subjects every day, or do you do one each day, or something else?

We do reading and math daily.  We try for spelling, penmanship, other language arts stuff 3 days/week.  We do science and/or social studies once a week scheduled, but I prefer science/social studies to be more 'unschooly' so it often turns out that we do it several times a week if I allow our whims to direct us.  Art/crafts happen daily as they are a love of my child, but official "art" is once a week.  For this we use meet the masters.  We also have books of brain teasers, hidden pictures, word searches, etc that I incorporate into our learning.  It is fun for the kids and I think they benefit from them.

Scheduling:  we start around 9:00 AM and are done by noon except for explorative learning which often goes on throughout the day.

Amy

[Sena]

Thanks for your response, Amy!

And I have to say that I am very impressed that you're able to homeschool kids of three different ages.  I'm feeling overwhelmed at just the thought of homeschooling two kids, and they're of the same age!  I bet you work hard.

Your schedule sounds about like how I was hoping to schedule things, with the sit-down academics in the early day, leaving the rest of the day for out and about exploration and learning.  Especially since we'll be in another country, I'm really hoping there will be enough time, in addition to the necessary academically structured time, to get out and explore and see new things.  But really, I have no idea what I'm doing here, and I don't know that it's that simple or that it will work out like that.  Thanks for your input - it is very helpful!

[AAK]

Originally Posted by Sena 

Thanks for your response, Amy!

And I have to say that I am very impressed that you're able to homeschool kids of three different ages.  I'm feeling overwhelmed at just the thought of homeschooling two kids, and they're of the same age!  I bet you work hard.

Your schedule sounds about like how I was hoping to schedule things, with the sit-down academics in the early day, leaving the rest of the day for out and about exploration and learning.  Especially since we'll be in another country, I'm really hoping there will be enough time, in addition to the necessary academically structured time, to get out and explore and see new things.  But really, I have no idea what I'm doing here, and I don't know that it's that simple or that it will work out like that.  Thanks for your input - it is very helpful!

To be fair, I only have my youngest on two of the mornings.  She goes to a play based preschool the other three.  :)  I think twins would be great. . . while their individual levels would vary, they will be using the same materials for many subjects and it is more fun to play math games, etc with 3 instead of two. 

If I was in another country, I would plan on having that BE our social studies/history.  See the sights and tie it in.  It will leave a lasting impression on their minds.  I would also have it cover science.  Austrailia has great places to explore.  Look at the wildlife (plants and animals) and let your children ponder why certain species are native to Austrailia instead of America.  Take soil samples from CA before you leave and then take some from Austrailia.  How are they the same/different?  Also, being south of the equator would be a great way to "get it" in regards to December being summer/ July being winter.  How does that change things like Christmas?  Do they still sing "Frosty the snowman" or songs like it.  Also, how does the Austrailian English compare/contrast from American English.  Your kids could make a glossary of new words or word usage that they hear.  I could go on and on.  I think Austrailia would be a great place to move to for a while. 

Have Fun!

Amy