Waldorf HS Support Thread January - Page 2

[mimiharshe]

It's so great to see so many of us being inspired and supportive of one another! I am not part of any h'schooling group as I just decided for sure 2 days ago that I was going to h'school for sure and dd is only 3 and ds only 19 months, so we are at "pre-school" level. It's been a fun 2 days though!!! Sorry I can't give any insight on math or any other subject material as we have not gotten there yet. I'd look at Lucie's website though...it's great!

Here's my question moms...what exactly is circle time and how do you do yours? Also, I of course get baking, artwork, etc, but what do you do for handwork?

Thanks for all the support and insight,
January

[Cisne]

Circle Time

Our circle time is very informal. We will start to light a candle once we move back to the states, but at this point, I don't want to have anything else that I need to pack up. Know what I mean? We say our morning verse, do fingerplays, nursery rhymes, a poem that DS has memorized and likes to share, we say a prayer, do our letter verses for the week, sing a song that we are working on etc. Closing verse and that's it!
Michele

[damselfly41]

Hello, all! I am heading out to a used bookstore this afternoon. What are your favorite titles I should look for? I'm very new to this and have practically no information on Waldorf in my house. Hit me!

[mamaofthree]

I too am new to Waldorf! I have read "Waldorf Education A Family Guide" although it seems to focus on the school aspects (like what to expect) it is pretty broad and easy to read and gave a good over view.
I am wondering how many of you have read anything on anthroposophy. I have read nothing and it confuses me alot.
Also, how old are your children? I have a 12y dd, 8y ds#1, 5y ds#2, 2y ds#3 and I am pregnant with #5.


H

[annettemarie]

Welcome, Rebecca! (And hello to everyone else! ) Yesterday was a bust, as I have a double ear infection and a sinus infection and was barely vertical, but so far today has been lovely. I'll jump back in later.

Oh, and I'm loving all the resource links, and hearing about everyone's days!

[wonderactivist]

We're having such a great time with this that I wanted to shareAll this week, we're working on UN Living Values Peace Curricula - I'm sort of combining their two different curricula - and as part of the 8-14 curriculum we're baking a World Cake.

Baking a World Cake

We started by figuring out the best human qualities that would bake a great "cake" - a better, more peaceful world,

...then how much of each we wanted to add - the right proportions - well, the ingredients quantities got kinda huge because the sixth-grader wanted to be sure there was plenty of cake for everyone in the world!

Ingredients -
(this is totally from the kids with my only asking
them questions from the curricula)

2,000,000 ounces each:
Thoughtfulness/compassion,
Knowing right from wrong,
and Peacefulness

1,500,000 ounces each:
Helpfulness
and Strength

1,000,000 ounces each:
Communication,
Inventiveness,
and Helpfulness

500,000 ounces each:
Humor/Laughter (with a dash of naughtiness),
Intelligence,
Responsiveness/Quickness,
and Playfulness (with another dash of naughtiness)

Now today we're figuring out how to mix it:

Thou-ventiveness - inventing something that helps someone else
Mora-helpfulness - learning right from wrong by helping others in our life
Stre-peacefulness - being strong enough to not fight, and for grownups to be strong enough to not have war...

They decided that you have to have a lot of strength to have peace because you need a lot of communication to avoid fighting, communication requires pateience, and patience requires us to be very strong - that was our breakthrough moment.

Responsa-passion - being quick to help people in need

They've decided that to bake our cake we'll render aid to the people/animals in Colorado somehow and we're spending the rest of today trying to figure that out so we can start tomorrow.

This is such a refreshing way to start the year.

Lucie

P.S. MamaKass - We buy our Golden Beetle mostly from Bob & Nancy's Bookshop, though I think it's available from several sources including direct from Australia

[frogguruami]

Originally Posted by wonderactivist

We're having such a great time with this that I wanted to shareAll this week, we're working on UN Living Values Peace Curricula - I'm sort of combining their two different curricula - and as part of the 8-14 curriculum we're baking a World Cake.

Baking a World Cake

This is great!

[jessicaSAR]

Wow, I am so happy to see all these waldorf inspired families. I don't post much on this board, because so much of it doesn't really apply to our lives. But, a waldorf support thread is a great idea. My girls are 6yo and 3yo.

We won't really get back into the swing of things here until next week. My mom is visiting, and it is impossible to keep to our normal rhythm. She wanted to take the girls to see a movie, but fortunately I was able to pull up the trailer for it online and show the girls, and she could see that it was just too loud and they were not really interested. So we dodged that bullet.

We did go to the mall yesterday to have portraits done at Sears. I absolutely hate the mall. Even on a Tuesday it is just garish and loud and overstimulating. Of course my youngest was exhausted and slept for 30 minutes on the way home and then was up until 9pm. I really don't appreciate how wonderful our daily rhythm is until I don't have it.

With regard to circle time, we keep it pretty simple: an opening verse and morning song (lighting a candle), some seasonal poems or finger plays or songs (usually with some props), something active (clapping game or dancing or something), and we end with two stories ( one for my 6yo and one for my 3yo). I posted the details of my Jan circle in the other waldorf "on the wagon" thread.

We are involved in two homeschool groups, one is waldorf and the other is not. There are real benefits to both.

I am thrilled to have a sounding board for beginning our first grade mail lesson. I have been doing waldorf kindergarten for the last two years, but this will be my first go at a real main lesson block. I am enjoying the prep this week and hope it runs smoothly as we get started next week.

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by wonderactivist

We're having such a great time with this that I wanted to shareAll this week, we're working on UN Living Values Peace Curricula - I'm sort of combining their two different curricula - and as part of the 8-14 curriculum we're baking a World Cake.

I love the look of this and it fits so well with one of our long-term goals for our boys - the art if communication. I think I am going to buy the one for 3-7 year olds and incorporate it into our weekly/monthly rhythm. Thanks for sharing!

[mimiharshe]

Lucie...thank you for sharing. That is wonderful! When I read things like that I can't wait until my kids are a little older. We can do things like that on a much smaller scale though.

Well, since Jessica brought up the movies, that goes along w/my question. Do all of you do ZERO tv? We did no tv for a while, but we are back to about 30-40 minutes a day. Usually in the late afternoon when I'm getting tired and burnt out...we pop popcorn and I put on a dvd and let them watch like 2 20 minute episodes. Don't attack me here! We used to watch 3-5 hrs of tv b/c this was one thing I didn't care about until dh came home from school one day and told me about the lesson his nuerology teacher gave him about kids watching tv. So, do you let your kids watch tv or movies and how much if ever?

January

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by mimiharshe

Lucie...thank you for sharing. That is wonderful! When I read things like that I can't wait until my kids are a little older. We can do things like that on a much smaller scale though.

Well, since Jessica brought up the movies, that goes along w/my question. Do all of you do ZERO tv? We did no tv for a while, but we are back to about 30-40 minutes a day. Usually in the late afternoon when I'm getting tired and burnt out...we pop popcorn and I put on a dvd and let them watch like 2 20 minute episodes. Don't attack me here! We used to watch 3-5 hrs of tv b/c this was one thing I didn't care about until dh came home from school one day and told me about the lesson his nuerology teacher gave him about kids watching tv. So, do you let your kids watch tv or movies and how much if ever?

January

Until more recently (last couple months), I used to allow a lot of TV and finally started seeing the direct connection between it (and computer use) and ds#1's behavior post-TV (and this is only pbs kids stuff - we don't have cable). Now it is much more severely limited, like you, to the late afternoons when I am fried. Some days it never comes on; some days its for about 1 hour (typically 2 pbs kids shows). Once in a while we'll cuddle on the couch and watch Nature or something on PBS at night, or a family movie. But our total daily and weekly viewing has gone way down. With ds#1 getting a little older (and a bit better at delaying gratification by a half hour or so ), I will give him more choice as to what/when he watches TV *OR* plays on the computer - and he is still typically kept within the daily average of 1 hour max. Dh and I have definitely come a long way in our attitudes about TV, which is good. We don't want to necessarily get rid of it completely, but we definitely want the boys (and us) to be much more mindful of when it is on and what we are watching. I've even shorted my "must see TV" to one show a week; and it doesn't come on at all if it's a repeat. It's a very nice change, that is for sure.

[KnittingKara]

Hey mamas! Just a quick hop in, but hopefully will get back on the computer tonight for some longer responses and reading ...had to say though how much I'm really enjoying reading about everyone's days! Fantastic & so inspiring!

One quick thing regarding circle time ... we dont' really do a specific circle time. We sing throughout our days and I try to include some different songs and poems from the Seasons of Joy books in a two week rotation. I will sometimes write them out and hang them somewhere, too. But, in our home we don't have a set time of the day for circle time. We may some day, I just haven't figured out a way for it to go into our rhythm at this point :

And, January/Mimiharshe you asked about how we went about decluttering toys in the last thread - basically I just started with a big dejunking of anything that was broken/unplayed with/required batteries and got rid of those things at once. Then, I have slowly been boxing some things up - like the HUGE Polly Pocket collection. They have been in storage for 3 months now and she hasn't asked for them (if she would have I would have returned some of them to her) so they will probably be getting donated soon. We're trying to keep more natural, open ended toys like dolls, blocks, the play food ... really just looking for toys that require some interaction and don't play themselves. Things that feel good like wood, wool, or cotton (not that we've completely gotten rid of the plastic by any means) Keeping the play space uncluttered has been a major improvement, too! I've got some great links about Waldorf play and setting up a play space but I'm sure lots of other mamas here do too.

Here's a quick link, with pictures, from the Three Sisters store - > http://www.threesisterstoys.com/parenting/playspace.htm

I have to keep reminding myself to just go slow, do it bit by bit ... it seems to be working wonderfully for us so far, though.

Okay, I went and wrote a book when I promised myself I was just peeking in

[annettemarie]

I really missed this!

So, yesterday was a bust and today has bust potential, as both Nicholas and I are still sick.

But... we had a GREAT day!

We ate breakfast together as a family (I got my lazy pregnant butt out of bed!) and I can't begin to tell you the gratitude my children displayed. It made me a little ashamed. The TV was off and even though Michael was dubious (he kept saying "If you make me late to school with this new schedule of yours, you better walk me in to explain". ) it all worked out beautifully.

We started our day for a walk, and it really gave us the energy to start our day right.

We still need to put in our time with k12 til we're officially withdrawn, but we took it very slowly today. We did a main lesson block of sorts and I could tell Katie Grace liked it so much more than worksheets, worksheets, worksheets.

Oh, and circle time was a hit. Nicholas loved it and it felt so good to be able to give him what the other two had.

We also painted a little today, and told the story The Mitten, and just generally had a very peaceful day.

Sadly, Nicholas was the most upset about the TV. He kept asking if it was time for Bob the Builder yet.

[jessicaSAR]

We don't do any tv, but the girls do watch videos occasionally. But, we never have it on during the day. In fact, we don't even have much of a TV in the living area. It's only about a 13" screen, and just sits on a bookshelf out of the way.

Since this is a media confessional, I'll reveal that their favorite movies are all those Barbie movies - Barbie Swan Lake, Barbie Nutcracker, Magic Pegasus, etc. They are kind of silly, but at least the stories are sincere. One thing that bothers me about most of the kids movies these days is all the sarcastic, ironic humor. That stuff is totally for adults. Now don't get me wrong, I love Shreck, but it is much funnier for me than it is for the kids.

As far as toys go, we have finally managed, after years of slowly decluttering, to get them down to just the favorites. We have a wooden dollhouse, castle, treehouse, barn and kitchen, lots of wooden animals and figures, wood play food, tree blocks and a set of building blocks, playsilks and playstands, lots of folkmanis character puppets, a bunch of mama made small dolls and fairies, mama made waldorf dolls and way too many but all dearly loved stuffed animals. That is pretty much it. We have been consciously purchasing only natural toys for about three years. And, we give the grandparents a very specific list of choices for birthdays and christmas. I have also paired down our book collection to just one shelf of truly wonderful books. Decluttering the books has been such a blessing because I now love all the books, and so I enjoy reading them.

[wonderactivist]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Sadly, Nicholas was the most upset about the TV. He kept asking if it was time for Bob the Builder yet.

This could have been written by me! Though my little guy asks about Curious George & SpongeBob (which Dad loves).

Mimiharshe, thanks for bringing up the TV issue. Our family has had a dubious relationship with TV over the years. I was a total TV addict as a child and knew from the beginning that I didn't want for my kids to watch much. My husband feels like we should strike a balance, but that is very hard - having done both I would say balancing is much harder than cutting it off completely. When you just get rid of the thing they fuss for a couple of days, but then it is out of sight out of mind.

My mother is very against our TV restrictions, always undermining to the point that when we had no TV, she complained that the kids would just walk into her house, hug her, and then she wouldn't see them for hours...but it was kinda her own fault as that was one overused enticement, 'Come to Grammy's and I'll let you watch TV.'

But seriously, after my eldest passed the 9-year change, I felt that some TV was in order. He is not allowed video games and I didn't want him to resent us - he needed to be able to connect with the other kids. We pulled it out and watched a show 3 times a week. Plus, my husband really got "over" the TV restrictions for HIM, so he has it on a couple of hours a day on weekends. Still, I was chagrined when one day he stayed home after lunch to meet the cable guy! (We only received 3 broadcast stations.)

Now the kids each get a show every other day and can watch with Dad on the weekends if it is G-rated. (It usually is.) We usually go out to movies once or twice a month, but occasionally do a video at home instead if there's nothing appropriate at the theater.

The kids each also get computer time every other day (on no-TV days), and I don't mind that as much. My 11 yr old plays a lot of Harry Potter and racing PC games, plus he's into Wikipedia, helping monitor there, and writes minor programs and a website (he loves techno-stuff)...and my little one loves Zoo Tycoon and baseball games. Since little ones have no conception of actual time, I can easily give the little guy 30 minutes and his elder brother an hour.

The balancing is terribly hard to manage, but it works normally for us. Over the holidays, however, it seemed like the Grinch or Frosty or Polar Express was always coming on and DH & I just couldn't turn them down. SO now we're having to bring them down off of all of that extra time...thus yesterday it was, "Mom, can't I watch the Science channel?" and I had to say no, until the show on parallel universes comes on, when I'll be watching with him for school.

Still, when they were small, the house seemed much more peaceful without a TV at all.

Lucie
who thinks confessionals are important because they make this all more do-able to newbies, thanks!

[mama_kass]

Originally Posted by wonderactivist

P.S. MamaKass - We buy our Golden Beetle mostly from Bob & Nancy's Bookshop, though I think it's available from several sources including direct from Australia

Thank you

Besides the Golden Beetle books do you have to buy other books as well? I have found with Donna's books you have so many books to buy. Is this series like that too?

[KnittingKara]

Originally Posted by wonderactivist

Lucie
who thinks confessionals are important because they make this all more do-able to newbies, thanks!

Yes, it does! And, thank you

We have always had a TV but been very strict with it. We are very selective about what she watches and when she watches things. I grew up in a house where the TV was *always* on ... people didn't talk to each other very much, but watched TV. I know my Mom hated that, but my Dad controlled the "dinger" so it was always on

Most of the TV watching, actually, has been done by me late at night these past 6 months or so ... many, many late night HGTV, DIY, and FOODTV sessions while I'm walking around with Bug or nursing him or rocking or ... well, you know the drill So, really, it is probably *me* who has the worst TV habit, but at 3 am, well, it is what it is

A few more random thoughts on rhythm .... I think it has been very helpful for Boo for us to have these rhythms in place as the new baby has come along. She was a only child for almost 5 years and it was a big life change for her when the baby came along ... I think there was/is security for her in the fact that with all the other changes around here she can still count on watercoloring or knitting together or our nature walks, you know? In fact, maybe that is a pretty good thing for mama and daddy, too

[KnittingKara]

Originally Posted by wonderactivist

My mother is very against our TV restrictions, always undermining to the point that when we had no TV, she complained that the kids would just walk into her house, hug her, and then she wouldn't see them for hours...but it was kinda her own fault as that was one overused enticement, 'Come to Grammy's and I'll let you watch TV.'

Hmmmmm .... sounds like some members of our family. We had people just astonished at Thanksgiving because they couldn't believe that Boo didn't have a TV in her room (we didn't even mention the fact that we co-sleep so her room is basically just a place where her clothes and toys are ) You would seriously have thought we were depriving her of food or water or some other basic life need as the gasps went around the room

[KnittingKara]

Originally Posted by jessicaSAR

And, we give the grandparents a very specific list of choices for birthdays and christmas..

We did that this year, too and it was awesome! My MIL, whom I love, is very guided by the Sunday ads and thinks that whatever is in the newspaper ads the kids need, you know? I love that she loves my kids and wants to spoil them, but we often have to reign her in, you know? This year we sat down with her and talked about what we were trying to do and how what the kids were getting from us was something I borrowed from another Waldorf mama on xanga "something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read" and that was IT.

We talked about wanting more natural, open ended play things and not a lot of noise making battery opereated things or items with cartoon characters plastered all over them (no more singing Elmos! LOL) and about not getting the baby started off with a bunch of junky plastic things.

She said she liked having some guidelines from us which was a big relief to me as I was pretty nervous about approaching this topic with her. She gave Boo a pair of shoes (much needed as the girl is growing like a weed), some art supplies, and some clothing for her dolls. She gave Bug a handcrafted wooden train that a patient at her office made (it is wonderful!) and a ring stacker. Now, the ring stacker is plastic, but to my mind is a classic toy and shows me she was paying attention to the whole "no batteries, no noise making, no cartoon characters" part of the toys talk we had, too because I know she was considering that singing Elmo and was wondering if Boo would like a tv/vcr/dvd player combo for her room I was really pleased and her gifts were SO well received that I hope she will continue this. I think it honestly shocked her that Boo was thrilled to get a set of colored pencils and a giant sketch pad "like a real artist"

Sorry about the multi-posts mamas ... I keep forgetting to use the multi-quote feature :

Best Wishes!

[mama_kass]

Originally Posted by mimiharshe

Well, since Jessica brought up the movies, that goes along w/my question. Do all of you do ZERO tv?
January

We have electronics. We are not Waldorf purists and don't desire to be. We have TV, video games, and computer. This comes back to our unschooling flavor. However, our electronics are limited and it is easy to do.

Cover the TV with a play silk. Out of sight, out of mind. If the tv is covered it is resting.

Keep to the rhythm of your day. This is very helpful. Fill the day with lots of imaginative play, puppet shows, baking, painting, out door play, hand knitting, circle time, story reading.

If my youngest asks for TV I will take him over to the toys and create a play scene. Like yesterday, I I used a green play silk for grass. In the grass I placed a horse, chicken, and goat. I used a blue play silk to make a lake and in it I placed a duck. I put a guy on a tractor who came along to feed the animals and away I went to knit. When I'm engaged, he's engaged.

The oldest who is 10 gets one hour of electronics a day, usually.