Do I need the Christopherus "foundation" books?

[UrbanSimplicity]

I am pretty well versed in homeschooling/unschooling/waldorf and have read all the early Enki guides - which are very thorough.  My dd is on the cusp of kindy/grade 1 and we are going to try Chrisopherus Grade 1 package.  But - I am wondering if I am missing out on anything by not getting Donna's more basic foundation guides :

The Journey Begins At Home: A Waldorf Early Years Guide

Kindergarten With Your Three To Six Year Old

Waldorf Curriculum Overview For Homeschoolers

From Nature Stories To Natural Science - A Holistic Approach To Science For Families

I am also a bit confused as to how necessary the last two items are since they seem to be a general philosophical/curriculum outline/overview for grades 1-8.  I understand all the reasons Waldorf is great, and I do not need to be converted :)  I am mostly looking for a bit more structure and guidance in my daily planning.

So should I save my money and just get the Gr 1 package????

Thank so much!

[tankgirl73]

I have the 'curriculum overview' and found it useful, but at that point I was less versed in Waldorf -- I knew the basics, but wanted more information on incorporating into a daily life, etc etc.  I've bought the grade 1 curriculum this year to try with my daughter, and find it plenty thorough for what I want to do with it.  I think if you already are well-versed in the theory and practice of Waldorf, then you probably don't need it.  If you're planning on continuing with Christopherus through the years, it would probably be useful, but I wouldn't call it *necessary*.

The kindergarten books I would think would be superfluous at this point for you.  And I don't know about the science book -- I don't have it.  We're not 100% pure Waldorf at all, and we're doing another curriculum for science.

[geemom]

No, you don't need anything else.  I started with 1st grade and it explained everything in detail.

[geemom]

Oh, I also agree with the other poster that you do not need the kindy.  You would probably consider it a waste unless you were completely green to the philosophy.  The useful parts of it are almost entirely re philosophy, save for the recommendations of fairy tale editions and age appropriateness regarding.

[MammaG]

We are using Christopherus Grade One this year.  I also have the Kindergarten book and the Science one.

I haven't used the Kindy one much at all, even though we had it when my First Grader was in Kindy and my second child is in Kindy now.  I use Season of Joy for Kindy and love it.

We just had a curriculum fair for our Waldorf homeschool group and I was primarily interested in what to get for next year.  I do like Christopherus, but want to structure my own curriculum more.  I took a look at the Curriculum Overview (I borrowed it, too!), and decided then and there that I did not need to get the Grade Two package...just the Overview and some of her other books would fit the bill.

I'd recommend either Donna's Form Drawing book (I have it and like it, even though it's pretty brief), or some other resource for that as it's not really covered beyond the first block in Grade One.  Ditto the Science book.  She does schedule a few 'Nature' blocks, but there's not much to go on in the Grade One book if you don't have the Science book.

The other thing I miss in the Grade One book (and I don't know if any of the other curricula out there meet this need?) is a collection of age-appropriate songs, finger-rhymes (what are those called?) and movement verses.  I have lots of Kindy ones, but I need more resources for doing practical math, for instance.

[tankgirl73]

MammaG, Christopherus has all those fingerplays and songs in a separate book  -- Joyful Movement.  I use it all the time, even when I'm not "doing" Christopherus.  

[Mittsy]

The 1st grade curriculum package, and possibly the science book should be the only things you need.

MammaG: Thanks for the review of the Christopherus Science book! I've been wondering if I should get that or not, and you definitely helped me reach my decision!!

[MammaG]

Tankgirl73, I HAVE that one and almost never use it, I suppose because I've been so happy with SofJ for Kindy...I never thought to look in Joyful Movement for older kids' stuff.  Thanks, I will get that one back out and look at it this weekend!