Waldorf HS Support Thread January - Page 5

[FaerieRebecca]

Originally Posted by mama_kass

They included an ad for Renewal magazine. Does anyone here get that? I think I'm going to subscribe, but I would like to hear a review. I am also interested in learning about any other Waldorf periodicals out there.

http://www.awsna.org/publicationsren.html

I get Renewal, and I really love it. Great articles, book excerpts, teaching ideas, and since it's geared towards both parents and educators, there's something for everybody.

Today's our busy day. We have German in the morning (already done) at an outside class. The same teacher is also an artist who does homeschool art classes, so both girls are at art this morning whilst I have time for guilt-free internetting I'm picking them up early to go to DC for the ballet--we're seeing American Ballet Theatre's mixed rep program today. With two budding ballerinas, ballets are a must. And here in DC, we have a great educational program through the Kennedy Center where we can go see open rehearsals for $5 a ticket. We're seeing the Bolshoi next month!!

Tomorrow, though, we're back at the school table!

[konamama]

we had a great day - we met with another family at the beach - our families have both been around, aware of each other, etc for the last yearish... my dd will be 4 in april, their oldest will be 4 in july (also a 4 month old girl who my dd loves already), they are both sweet, sensitive, caring, gentle girls with a love ot nature - first time playing together and it was a hit. we have a 10 acre organic farm, they have a 10 acre organic farm. we have a lot of the same goals, ideas, etc and they are open to homeschooling if it organically falls in place for thier family :-)) we (the mamas) talked about it a lot today; of sharing a curriculum (oak meadow or live ed! or waldorf without walls, etc.), creating a co-op homeschooling group (i could teach art, the other mama could teach spanish), taking field trips together, joining in on a group horseback riding class, etc i could go on and on, it was amazing and feels like a real connection that could lead to a lot of positive things for all family members - way cool. good day....
we are going over to their farm on friday for another play date and then our farm next week - cool!

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by konamama

we had a great day - we met with another family at the beach - our families have both been around, aware of each other, etc for the last yearish... my dd will be 4 in april, their oldest will be 4 in july (also a 4 month old girl who my dd loves already), they are both sweet, sensitive, caring, gentle girls with a love ot nature - first time playing together and it was a hit. we have a 10 acre organic farm, they have a 10 acre organic farm. we have a lot of the same goals, ideas, etc and they are open to homeschooling if it organically falls in place for thier family :-)) we (the mamas) talked about it a lot today; of sharing a curriculum (oak meadow or live ed! or waldorf without walls, etc.), creating a co-op homeschooling group (i could teach art, the other mama could teach spanish), taking field trips together, joining in on a group horseback riding class, etc i could go on and on, it was amazing and feels like a real connection that could lead to a lot of positive things for all family members - way cool. good day....
we are going over to their farm on friday for another play date and then our farm next week - cool!

Can I come live on your 10 acre organic farm?

We are doing well ... like all things, we haven't stuck 100% to our rhythm, but I sure feel good having it there as our backbone and for me to fall back upon when needed. Both boys have been very receptive with both circle time and our main story (for our folk tale we are reading The Bojabi Tree ... it really gets their attention; later this week we'll read a story about bear hibernation for our winter nature story). Ds#2, especially, loves circle time, singing, and fingerplays. Man I wish I knew about all this back when ds#1 was still little. Fortunately he has adapted much more quickly than I thought and I think he will thrive.

Dh and I are planning on making the boys a wooden play kitchen and then ordering them some things from For Small Hands. They are very excited and want it done yesterday! Ds#1 (5 1/2) can't wait until his best friends get to come over and play with him in their kitchen.

So, overall I am very happy ... and at peace ... with our choice for hs'ing and my only wish was that I had discovered it sooner.

[amor vincit omnia]

I do Waldorf at home with my kids too.

[mama_kass]

konamama~ That is so wonderful that you have met another family that you click with. I hope your meeting blossoms into a great friendship.

Our days are going very well. I have been very busy reading and planning on my down time. I love to research.

I really love The Golden Beetle Books that I just received a couple of days ago. I have already written plans for blocks. I have heard so many mixed reviews of people either really loving these books or really hating them. The fact that some people really hate them made me shy away. I said before that I don't like to read anthroposophy too much. Well, as always it's just because I can't stand to read Steiner. Whitehead writes a lot about anthroposophy and I love the way he does it.

Thanks Lucie for helping me make the decision to give Spiritual Syllabus a try. So glad I did. Do you know of an email list or message board for those that use these books?

[fluttermama]

Mama Kass..thank you!!!! I had forgotten that Mary had a spanish book...I have two of her others and love it! Are you on the Waldorf Homeschooling list? We discuss the spiritual syllabus books over there sometimes. I don't know of a specific list for it...I only have the kindy Susan Whitehead books and love them! I am hoping the ones for the older grades are just as good...

[frogguruami]

SO What are these Golden Beetle Books of which ya'll speak??? I keep seen references to them and I feel so out of the loop.

[paganmum]

OK I'm frustrated right now! Kind of looking for advice from any other moms. Ds (not too far from being seven) is pretty on the ball with school-ish stuff *when* I can get to doing it with him. Dd# has just hit a *big* developmental spurt and since she is turning 3yo in about a week I would like to start doing rhymes/hand games with her as a schoolish kind of thing. She already basically does art with Ds and Dd1. My problem is with Dd1, currently diagnosed with SID and is in the 8long* process to find out if she is autistic or on spectrum. I have people trying to push me and Dh into sending Dd1 to "school". Knowing her personality, sensitivities and how the school system veiws her after trying to get OT services for her there is no way in you know where that we will even think of sending her since those who don't really know her think that she is a perfectly normal kind since she is such a social chameleon! But, on the other hand she says she wants to do "school stuff" but then when the time comes balks and will literally walk away saying that it is too hard even if it is things that I know she can do and have seen her do on her own. She will say that she wants to do *fill in the blank activity* and unless it involves running around in circles or jumping on the couch it's a no go by the time that I get the stuff together for it.

How would you guys deal with this. I have been trying to be as easy going as I can about it even though it is completely driving me nuts. But as I sit here and try to take things at her pace I'm watching her slide further an further behind, and I know that I shouldn't be judging her against her brother or her NT peers but I know that she is a *very* smart kid. I try to do OT stuff with her to keep her on track but she reffuses it from me and has started reffusing it from Dh. I can't wait until all the testing etc is done since then we'll offically be set up with an OT again (the only time she's really on an even keel and can focus on the things she asks to do). Should I just keep going with the flow until we find out just what is going on and start getting services again? But, if I go that route then I don't know how I am going to handle doing school stuff for Ds and Dd2.

Ack! any advice?

[wonderactivist]

Originally Posted by mama_kass

I find that it is easy for me to do a lot of things together and ping pong between them for things that they need individually. I set the youngest one up with a play scene while the oldest and I work together. While the oldest is working independently, I will put on a puppet show, read a book, or whatever I need to do for the little one.

This sounds so similar to me...and I will consider the evening art. We currently have Boy Scouts one night and Astronomy another, but we could add art one night to bring us up to three, which feels better to me than two.

: Thanks so much for the idea.

We started Rome in Sixth grade this week, and like the Civil War last year it really involved material that my first-grader was not ready to overhear in any way. In the case of Remus and Romulus, I really didn't want him to hear the story of a brother being responsible for another's death...at two separate times! So anyway, I allowed him to play Zoo Tycoon on the computer (just SO Waldorfy!) so that he would be certain not to overhear. Usually he just goes to his room to play, but he walks through or comes in to ask questions, etc.

We did share an opening verse, then a movement game, and finally at the end, we shared some music - I am bringing in music for every block this year and totally am enjoying Xavier Sings with my little one
My first grader and I are doing Winter games/crafts and finishing a few more letters of the alphabet...I never would have bought an alphabet curriculum, but then they sent it to me so that I could post a sample track on the Wonderfest...and then I heard the rest...and instead of mailing it I just kept passing it in the hall and humming a song...and then I just sent them a check instead of returning the curriculum.
The songs interplay with nature and the rest of the curriculum so well that I'm sure we'll get a lot of use out of it.

Best wishes,

Lucie

[wonderactivist]

Originally Posted by paganmum

My problem is with Dd1, currently diagnosed with SID and is in the 8long* process to find out if she is autistic or on spectrum. I have people trying to push me and Dh into sending Dd1 to "school". Knowing her personality, sensitivities and how the school system veiws her after trying to get OT services for her there is no way in you know where that we will even think of sending her since those who don't really know her think that she is a perfectly normal kind since she is such a social chameleon! ...She will say that she wants to do *fill in the blank activity* and unless it involves running around in circles or jumping on the couch it's a no go by the time that I get the stuff together for it.

I wish you the very best with this. I do not have a special needs child so I can't really offer good advice, but I can say that for any child who ran around during hs lesson, I would (and do) make most of the lesson involve running around and other movement. There is a mom with a bipolar child who homeschooled her with Waldorf methods for a while, and she wrote this article about it (plus it links to her site). I love the support team idea she promotes, but of course I haven't been there so you will have to decide if it is helpful to you.

Also I know thet Enki does blend Sensory Integration activities into their curriculum, so you could consider that...but if it does become apparent that she has autism, I would really strengthen that team and reach out to the people and organizations on this AtoZ Home's Cool Autism resources page and especially the Glaser family page of which I've heard great things.

Best wishes on your journey together,

Lucie

PS Frogurraumi - the Golden Beetle Syllabus is a series of teaching guides fromn Australia. They are perfect for some and really not for others as they are not straightforward guides at all, but kinda quirky stories that help you to develop all of your own lessons...and they have a lot of anthro references...but they're magical for some of us and very inexpensive, and their book, "A Steiner Homesachool?" I think every Waldorf homeschooler should own. It is very empowering.

[frogguruami]

Originally Posted by paganmum

She will say that she wants to do *fill in the blank activity* and unless it involves running around in circles or jumping on the couch it's a no go by the time that I get the stuff together for it.

Ack! any advice?

Maybe have a few boxes or bags with all the supplies for several activities all ready to go. That way when he says, "I want to play with clay" you have a box that has all the things needed for that activity already gathered. All you have to do is grab and go. Open the box and off you go. You can do 4 or 5 boxes like that of the fav activities and have them ready to go.

[wonderactivist]

Originally Posted by mama_kass

I really love The Golden Beetle Books that I just received a couple of days ago. I have already written plans for blocks. I have heard so many mixed reviews of people either really loving these books or really hating them. The fact that some people really hate them made me shy away. I said before that I don't like to read anthroposophy too much. Well, as always it's just because I can't stand to read Steiner. Whitehead writes a lot about anthroposophy and I love the way he does it.

Dear MamaKass,

There was a Spiritual Syllabus Yahoo group for a while, but it just never took off. I have such limited time for computer that I find I have to concentrate on just one discussion group, so I don't honestly know if it is still there. His stuff is sometimes discussed on WEHS as well as Waldorf Homeschoolers, along with every other curricula.

I am so glad you love them! It is always such a gamble when recommending them...one mom bought the entire set on my recommendation years ago (I didn't recommend buying the set, just trying them); she hated them, and told me so in a very frank note! I felt really badly.

I think that Alan has such a fun, relaxing view of Waldorf (and for that matter anthroposophy) - he's kinda like an uncle that never grew up and has a sort of wild streak. Sometimes I think Alan is someone you grow into also. A lot of moms just aren't ready in the first couple of years for his connecting everything to the entire universe, and making YOU figure out what on earth he's talking about..but then he fills lessons with such imagination and wonder that it helps me a LOT.

For one thing I think his math and science recommendations are MUCH stronger than any other organized holistic curricula - except Making Math Meaningful which I just bought, but even it is way behind Alan on Geometry.

It is so nice to pop in here and see so much activity...and folks making connections locally - that's so inspiring!

Lucie

[~ATenthMuse~]

Subscribing.

We're just starting out, slowly. Dd is 4. I'm working on a weekly/ daily rhythm for her now.

Loving all the info here and all of the links. Keep them coming!

[mamaMAMAma]

Yes, the S word - socialization...

Wonderful to find this thread. We're doing Enki and just started first grade with dd#1. She is a lot lot happier with first grade than kindergarten (she was in waldorf kinder the year before and doing kinder at home just reminded her of school too much).
DD#1 was telling me this morning who she is going to invite to her 7th birthday (not until September) and she was just spilling out names from school. I have not made any effort keeping in touch with the school friends (though of course its not too late). We belong to a waldorf-inspired coop and she has made a couple of "friends" there. She has plenty of acquaintances, but not any buddies. I'm feeling I need to reach out more but am somehow reluctant to go to our local homeschool parkdays. I have isolated ourselves to waldorf-ish types, I guess for fear that disney/barbie/tv/... would start creeping into our house. Its sad to think for her next birthday instead of trimming down her birthday list to 7 that I would have to scramble to find her more friends. : KWIM? Any been there done thats?

[wonderactivist]

Originally Posted by mamaMAMAma

I'm feeling I need to reach out more but am somehow reluctant to go to our local homeschool parkdays. I have isolated ourselves to waldorf-ish types, I guess for fear that disney/barbie/tv/... would start creeping into our house... Any been there done thats?

Dear Mama,

I do have a 7 yr old and an 11 yr old, plus I have an opinion on the party - it is JUST an opinion someone just shared, but one that has helped me.

As the kids progress in age, I think that the number of kids at their parties should be their age. So really, for a 7 yr old, seven kids would be perfect. That means you just need six total guests.

It's a different philosophy, but part of transition to Waldorf and homeschooling has to do with building meaning into our lives. It is very difficult for children to have meaningful interaction with the 20+ kids that are at most parties (when they just invite their class from school).

When you have a few close friends, it just means more.

Maybe ask her who her 2 or 3 very best friends were at school, and invite them; then suggest a few kids from the HS group or neighborhood to invite...or cousins, or that nice old lady across the street that always speaks to her. My sons have often invited significant adults.

Another option would be to invite over a couple of her old friends to a special birthday play date, and ask to bring a cake to the next Waldorf group.

I opened up to very broad homeschool groups after my eldest passed third grade, but when he was small, we stayed with more like-minded folks, family friends, and neighbors. My younger son is exposed to these more diverse groups and it doesn't seem to harm him...other that a greater interest in computer games...so perhaps do what YOU feel more comfortable with.

Best wishes,

Lucie
still in Rome and Gaul this week for Sixth grade, and the magical alphabet for First

[annettemarie]

So, just checking in with the mamas who sort of "rededicated" themselves to Waldorf ed with the new year--how's it going? It's going WONDERFULLY here. I can't begin to tell you how much more at peace everyone is.

[applecore]

Woo hoo! I just found this thread, and I really need it right now! We had a new year's revelation that unschooling was just making it easy for me to focus on all my other commitments (UU church youth group, LLL Leadership, midwifery studies) and to let the kids fend for themselves. So we decided to structure things a bit more for everyone's sake, and I'm so glad we did!

I'm really new to Waldorf, and in an effort to just get started, we are doing the Oak Meadow online curriculum for Kindergarten. I like that I have some ideas of what to do, but really, $35 a month is pretty steep for what I'm getting. Our budget is really small, but I would love to get some books used that I can wrap my head around so hopefully I can just figure out my own curriculum. Any suggestions on where to find some cheap stuff would be great!

We've been doing circle time faithfully every morning, but right now we just do a few verses and fingerplays, and maybe a song. I'd like to expand on that because the kids LOVE it. My almost 5 y/o won't go to bed with out a nighttime verse now!

[fluttermama]

I would really recommend Melissa Nielsen's new Kindy book...it is really good for bringing a bit of structure and lots of ideas to your home Waldorf Kindergarten. It is at Bob and Nancy's bookshop for a really low price!

[muse]

Hi all. I love reading this thread. I had good intentions to get back into our daily/weekly rhythm but it has all been thrown off by us all getting sick. We're recovering though and after feeling quite desparate about the lack of community/other kids ds's age around us we made an effort to drive a bit to a local waldorf hs group that meets weekly for hikes, stories, play, craft and lunch. It went so well and ds was beaming afterwards. I can tell he felt right at home there.

There were kids from toddlers to teenagers and they all seemed lovely. There really is somethign about waldorf kids that stands out, I am always reminded of that when in groups. When we've socialised with groups of more mainstream kids it's not so much the commercial influence that has been the concern as much as the quality of relationships and play being so different...I don't know how to put my finger on it. These kids were all looking out for one another, appeared very confident, and felt "free", if that makes any sense.

What was interesting was this morning ds went out of his way to take really good care of his little sister; feed her breakfast, get her dressed, etc...I think he was very inspired by the older kids, as oposed to every other big group we've been in where he is scared of older kids.

[MyLittleWonders]

Well our week started out very good; by Thursday I was tired and out of steam ... unfortunately a large amount of Magic School Bus appeared on our TV. : Friday was an all-around bad day as I was up hourly with ds#3 and in a bad mood. (More and But, I realize in the bigger picture that it's the bigger picture that matters, iykwim. So, Monday begins a new week ... I think I might keep our Nature story the same as we only read it once and didn't get much further than that. Ds#1 really liked our Folk Tale for the week, so I'm going to look for it now in print/picture book form, as I think we read it enough times for it to start to sink in with him.

Can some of your share your circle time? We are working on ours ... right now just singing and movement activities. I need to sit down and really work on learning the words and movements as it's very hard to model while holding ds#3 in one arm and my binder (where I keep all our songs, verses, and stories for the week) in my other hand. Does anyone incorporate story-time into the circle?

Also, is anyone working with a foreign language, especially anyone with small/kinder aged children? Sonrisas Spanish School came up on one of my lists; it seems to have Waldorf-inspiration and looks pretty good. I would love to go with Enki foreign language, but it's still not published, and I would love to start now with some singing/movement verses while my boys are so little.

Maya - your group sounds wonderful. I would love to find a hs'ing group around me that is Waldorf/Enki/holistic in nature. Then the side of me that allows my boys to wear Batman and Buzz Lightyear shirts and watch TV takes over and I worry that we won't fit in very well. Then again, I'm much too Waldorf/Enki/holistic for our regular, much less crunchy hs'ing group (which is made up of my girl friends and their children, who are all friends of my children ... it actually is a great group).