Charting and Graphing…a Glimpse

The theme for this year in our little house is organization.  I am desperate for order, simplicity, and organization…in my head, in my kitchen, in the closets and dressers, and in the studio (oh my yes…!).  Yes, organization is on the mind.

Today while schooling together we had some fun learning new ways to organize information.  Hello graphing…you have met your new best friend…Rebecca.  Can I just say that sorting and organizing information into little boxes and neat little rows is super fun for me…and apparently my little one has a little chunk of my brain in that head of hers.  I see a great many charts and graphs in our future.  (Now I will say…knowing what to do with all the information gathered, and just how to analyze it and gather conclusions…well…we leave that to the Dad!!)

We haven’t advanced to graph paper yet…just a simply drawn bar graph teaching beginning concepts.  We graphed the drawers and windows of our home.  The little brother had a blast running throughout the house counting and exclaiming over the numbers with his sister.  Learning…it’s a family thing around here. 

Post it Note Genius

Post-it notes are genius all by themselves. One of the non-technological advances of in office and home-management that I love. They are just plain handy for all those notes and reminders Moms handle everyday. They are the perfect bookmark and note-taking solution for library books. The do, after all, frown on taking the notes directly in the library book…! One of the things I love about this inexpensive little wonder is the magic it brings to little ones. When restless little ones needed an activity…and fast…whether at home, in the car, or waiting somewhere post it notes have pulled through for me many times.

Today though, I wanted to share with you a fantastic reading activity using post-it notes. It came from non-other-than good old mother’s inspiration. Something so very dear that I both treasure and depend on!

Some days the challenges of learning to read seem so great, and being able to read big books on her own seems so very far away in her little mind. For mom, (and teacher), finding ways for her to hear herself “really” read something, and not just practice word families, is a constant challenge. But oh my, have we found a great little reading nugget!

*First let me digress for a moment and share a little bit of my philosophy regarding teaching children to read. In a Waldorf purist point of view reading is not taught until around the second grade of a traditional school. Oral mastery and writing are taught first. In the Montessori philosophy children begin working with letters and sounds at a very young age. My husband and I both come from a “traditional” public school education. So with those three facets coming together, Waldorf, Montessori, and public school baggage(!), we have had to form our own philosophies regarding reading instruction in our home. (This philosophy will likely change with each child, as meeting individual needs is always top-priority.) For our family, and for our daughter we (all) have decided to begin reading instruction. She was fascinated with, and began working with letters quite young, and most definitely has oral mastery! Yikes! (Today I actually heard her use the word “obliged” naturally in a sentence while playing with her 2 year old brother!!!) We work with reading a bit everyday, keeping things very positive and paying close attention to her cues. It’s not critical to me that she is reading by a certain time. If she is struggling than we back off, and each time we get back into it it comes easier. Her brain needs time to process and compute the things she’s learning. So…my little not ended up being not so little…! In general we follow her cues, just like in all things regarding her education, but try to get in a little reading practice each day to keep those “reading muscles” going strong.

One of the things that frustrates her when we are reading together is focusing so much on each word that she doesn’t understand the sentence she just read. The other is feeling like she is not “reading”, but is only “practicing.” I had a burst of inspiration while we were working together and found a reading activity that we all love. On a stack of post it notes I wrote down a series of commands that would bring her to different places in the house.

“Hop to the bed”

Run to the nook”

“Crawl to the rug”

“Skip to the tramp”

“Jump 10 jumps”

“Tip toe to the table”

And so on. One note led her to another, the last being an activity, like “Lets read a book”, “Lets do art”, “Lets bake”, etc.

It’s worked marvelously for several reasons.

1. It keeps her moving around the house.

2. She has to register and comprehend the words she has read as a whole to know what to do.

3. She is reading productively, with an immediate (and positive) reward for what she’s read.

4. Who doesn’t love a good scavenger hunt!

So far this game has not gotten old. In fact the first time we did it, she immediately wanted another one. Oh yes, how I am grateful for mother’ inspiration…and post it notes!!

How to Make a Pumpkin Garland

Our live is very much a dizzying swirl of boxes, tape, houses, new places, and lists.  In the midst of all the craziness that will consume us completely over the next few weeks there has been some still crafting and handwork.  A geometry lesson turned into handwork recently and we made a delightful garland…or as she says…“necklace for the house”.

She drew several circles and ovals for me and we pinned them to two layers of orange felt and cut them out. 

I cut thin strips of black felt and she cut them into squares circles or thinner strips to bend into pumpkin grins. 

She designed the faces and counted out one smile, two eyes, and one nose for each pumpkin. 

We hot glued the features in place forming the most charming and wonky little pumpkin faces you’ve ever seen. 

We stitched the two layers of felt together leaving a small opening at the top.  By the way…I love stitching felt with little ones.  You can use quite a blunt needed and the felt has some stability which makes it easier for little hands to maneuver. 

She painstakingly stuffed each pumpkin the perfect pumpkin plumpness and we finished stitching the hole. 

Our plan was to use twigs as stems but it had been raining all day and everything was wet wet wet…so we broke off small strips of wood from the scrap bin in the workshop because we were impatient to finish!!! 

We strung a the pumpkins on a black ribbon, tying a knot before and after each one to keep the pumpkins from sliding around.

It turns out she had a very particular idea of where this “necklace” should go…and up it went, where it brings joy to every dish washer every day!         

And on a side note…do you see how this project became a lesson in geometry, basic mathematics, art, and handwork…oh I do so love learning side by side with this girl each day!

Pizza Rolls

With the coming of Autumn and the darker evenings we have returned to our beloved “pizza and a movie night” Fridays.  The summer months brought pizza-and-play-outside nights.  Which we also loved!  The Planet Earth movies have been crossing our screen bit by bit, opening up little minds (and big minds!) to the wonders of the earth.  Talk about launching points!!! 

In the kitchen I have jumped back into the infinite goodness that is pizza, with a quite a few more tricks to try.  The first was a raving success!  Pizza rolls!  I made my usual crust and topped it with sauce, a blend of several cheeses, peppers, chives, parsely, basil, and pepperoni and then rolled the dough up like a cinnamon roll log.  I sliced into ~1 1/2” sections and placed them on a greased pizza sheet.  They baked for about the same time as a “normal” pizza ~12-15 minutes.  They were amazing!  Truly!  Definitely something we’ll be making again!  (My sister shared this idea with me…she is the cinnamon roll queen,so I think it might be an original idea…!) 

Clothespin Math

On the (long) trip home from a recent adventure my daughter had a blast teaching herself basic addition using a set of Montessori Color Spools I had made.   It is spontaneous learning and discovery like this that makes learning together so magical.  We capitalized on this period of discovery and have been “doing math” with all sorts of things lately.  Like counting all the cupboard doors on one side of the kitchen and adding them with the ones on the other side.  Or counting all the drawers and adding them to the doors.  Or counting the French doors and adding them to the solid doors.  Or counting the grown up shoes and adding them to the kidling shoes on the shoe mats (as we organize them of course!)  Along with moving around the house as we count we’ve been working with a wide variety of objects as we count and add.  Clothespins for example.  They are smooth and interesting to hold and add a sensory element to our math discoveries.  After we had worked through a page of sums we sorted the collection of clothespins according to their subtle differences, refining our senses and analytical skills.  I wonder if we can bring our clothespins with us as we approach calculus in a hundred years…! 

 

How to Make Paper

Every day, several times a day, my little girl asks for a card to write a letter to someone she loves. We are working together to create her very own supply of cards, envelopes and all the fixings (which I am embarrassed to say really should have been done a long time ago). We are also exploring the history of paper, writing, and printing. Our first adventure with paper making went very well and we have big plans for further explorations. Stay tuned for a few Christmas project ideas made with your very own paper!

Our first paper making experiment was based on a decades old kit put together by Arnold Grummer’s . This kit was used many many times by my mother and little sister and we are so excited to give it another life in another generation. It is a very basic paper “recipe” and uses tin cans as a mold making wonderfully round little papers. Paper making is a very simple process which involves simple materials. Just my kind of thing! Here’s the process we followed. (I did scan Arnold’s directions as quick as I could amidst a steady peppering of questions from little mouths…yikes!..and then mostly went with common sense and bits and pieces I remembered from my own childhood papermaking)

Supplies:

These supplies came with the kit…but I will do my best to suggest alternatives.

Sources for paper making supplies: the Arnold Grummers site is easy to use and well stocked…have fun!

• Support screen (course plastic screen…plastic needle point canvas)
• Paper Making Screen (fine plastic screen…?!)
• Press Bar (piece of wood…any piece of wood ~8” x 8”)
• Water Removal Screen (floppy window screen…window screen scrap)
• Couch Sheets (6” x 6” white blotter sheets…coffee filters pressed very flat)
• Drain Rack (rigid grid…wire cooling rack)
• Two tin cans of equal size.

Blender, Rags, Liquids Measuring Cup, and paper

*********************************************************************

Now lets get started!

Step 1. Tear a 6”x 6” piece of any type of paper into small pieces and put them into a blender with 2 cups of water. Here’s the place to have lots of fun experimenting…try different papers and paper-like fibers. We like to use construction paper…but the skies the limit! Try adding, seeds, petals, herbs, etc.

(This makes one small “tin can paper”…the more you rip up the more paper you can make…just remember to adjust the water you add accordingly.)

Step 2. Put the lid on the onto the blender (!) and run it for 30 seconds. As the blender runs you are recycling the paper back into pulp that you will use to create your own unique paper.

Step 3. Place your (empty) tin can on a level surface, open end up.

Step 4. Place the support screen on top of the can. Place the white papermaking screen on top of the support screen.

Step 5. Cut off both ends of the second tin can. Place it on top of the papermaking screen so the rims of the cans match. (This is super tricky with little hands helping so have rags ready for any spills!)

Step 6. Pour the pulp from the blender into a smaller easier to handle container…like a liquid measuring cup. Pour the pulp into the can at a steady speed. Be careful not to bump the cans while the water drains into the second can.

Step 7. When all the water has drained through lift the top can straight up off the screen.

Yay…that floppy gooey thing is your new sheet of paper! Just a few more steps to get all that extra water out!

This is the step to add anything that you want to be on the surface of your paper…like a pressed flower.

Step 8. Carefully lift the papermaking screen with your new sheet off the can and lay it on a flat, clean surface. Lay the water removal screen over your new sheet.

Step 9. Take a sponge (or several layers of folded dish towel which is what we happened to have on hand!) and press it repeatedly down on the water removal screen to remove water. Wring out the sponge as necessary. Continue until no more water is removed.

Step 10. Carefully lift and peel off the water removal screen.

Step 11. Place a couch sheet over your new sheet. Turn over the sandwich you’ve made with couch sheet – new paper – papermaking screen…leaving the papermaking screen on top. Press the sponge down hard and repeatedly on the papermaking screen removing more water.

Step 12. Carefully lift and peel off the papermaking screen leaving your new paper on the couch sheet. Place a dry couch sheet on top of your new paper and using the press board press down firmly to remove water.

Step 13. Remove the top couch sheet and carefully peel your new sheet from the other couch sheet. Place your new sheet of paper between two dry couch sheets and press again if needed.

Don’t throw you wet couch sheet away. Use them – dry them – re-use them!

Step 20. Take your new paper from between the couch sheets and lay it on a clean flat surface.

Step 21. Final drying: Take a clothes iron and press carefully with the steam off.

There is so much room for exploration and discovery with this process. We have big plans for lots of experiments, projects, and gifts.

Exploring

There has been a lull in the usually busy hum of work in the studio. Trips, food preservation and storage, preparations for school, and life in general have taken me out of that precious little space of mine for a bit. While creating with my own hands brings an indescribable peace and fulfillment I find equal joy basking in the creations and infinite works of another.

As we explore the woods that surround one of our most favorite places to visit (there’s a beloved aunt and uncle and a tractor there…!) I am struck by the immensity and wonder of the world around us. In many ways I do believe that the bits of wilderness on the earth were created with children in mind. What a perfect place for children. So much to see, ask about, explore, listen to, climb on, gather, and breathe in. We are never disappointed when we set out with no definite destination in mind. We always discover something beautiful and amazing to behold. Recently I set out with two out of sorts children, with myself quite out of sorts as well, and we came back three completely different beings. Out among the trees, water, rocks, and plants there is a goodness and wholeness that can ground the most listless and troubled of souls. With sticks in hand and a sense of adventure in little hearts we climbed and balanced and romped our way through the woods and back again…both literally and figuratively.

Here are some of our favorite things to do while exploring.

*Bring a snack and find a perfect place for a picnic.

*Find a comfortable place to sit and be completely silent for a few moments to simply listen. See how many things you can list.

*See how many different varieties of birds you can hear and see.

*Search for signs of animals….holes, nests, tracks, etc.

*Build a fairy house…or two!

*Bring a book and find the perfect place for a story.

*Lay on your back and watch the clouds move through the trees.

*Lay on your belly and see what is going on in the tiny world on the forest floor, or in the stream.

*Bring a sketchbook and sit down to capture a bit of the beauty that surrounds you.

*Collect a variety of leaves from the trees around you to create your own personal field guide to your forest.

*Capture plants or animals on camera to identify and add to your field guide.

*Have a leaf race in a stream.

*Move the rocks on the stream bed around to manipulate the flow of water.

*Sit within arms reach of several trees and plants and reach out around you with your eyes closed to feel all that is around you. Describe what you feel.

Go and explore! The magic that fills the outdoors on the cusp of the change of seasons is marvelous. Don’t miss out.

Montessori vs. Waldorf vs. IB

Recently I shared some of my thoughts and plans for our family’s homeschooling journey. I was very intrigued by how it would be received. I would like to answer one comment in a post as I imagine others may have wondered the same things. Before I begin I would like to interject here that I am not in any way an expert on the Waldorf, Montessori or IB philosophies. I am simply a mother, doing the best I can to learn with my children in the way most suited to them.

Lucy said:

“I'm interested in how you balance such different philosophies of education - for example, the montessori view that little ones should have factual books and not be "confused" with imaginative elements, with the waldorf emphasis on using imagination to share concepts rather than giving a child cold facts. Or the waldorf idea of not "awakening" a child before the age of 7, with the IB mode of lots of questions and enquiry. I always find it so hard to combine that way, because I think if I think this educational philosophy is right than it must mean that the others are wrong or less right, at least for us. Maybe I am just a very black and white thinker! It will be interesting to see how you juggle these different strands.”

I have thought and thought about this very issue so much. Each of these philosophies ring so true to me, and I find so much wisdom in each of their teachings. Yet they are all so very very different. So how to make them all work together? To start, I would have to say that above all else the learning that occurs in our home is guided by careful observation and attention to the interests, stages, developments, and needs of our children. Perhaps you have gotten a feel for the personality of my (almost 5 year old!) daughter through this blog. If not…she is a fantastically brilliant and vibrant girl, she is inquisitive and alive, curious and attentive, imaginative and creative, and love love loves to learn. As we learn together and follow her cues I find that it would truly be impossible to choose just one of these inspired educational philosophies that would suite her best. Likewise it is impossible for me to say which is truly “right”.

The fact is each child is markedly different. And even within each child there are a myriad of different moods, interests, “sides”, and phases that bring out the need for one philosophy over another at a certain time.

In our home, with our children, we see the need for differing philosophies on a daily basis. There is a great deal of emphasis placed on imaginative play and the beautiful stories of our world. These facets of our days are relished and, quite frankly, pivotal. However, on the flip side of this world of the imagination there is a little mind that craves factual information about practically each and every object, person, creature, and plant that crosses her path. As such reference books fill an equal portion of our reading time and library bag. In my experience children love and need non-fiction literature as much as they need fiction. To say that one should be placed at a higher precedence than another would be to tragic. It would be saying to a little mind that is open, ready, and wanting to learn, “no…not now…wait a bit”…with which you run the serious risk of shutting more than one window of opportunity.

In terms of the IB philosophy of enquiry and the Waldorf philosophy of “awakening” a child at 7, I truly think the issue has already been taken out of my hands. This little girl of mine is awake. She’s been awake for years. Awake and asking questions, wanting to figure things out and learn all about the world around her. Waiting for an “awakening” at age seven would be to put her back to sleep, which would be fought, and something precious would be lost in the meantime. Her mind is ready and craving learning. She wants to read, she wants to work with numbers and “do math”. Her mind works a mile a minute processing, inquiring about, and figuring out all that surrounds her.

As we follow her cues we find that to deem one philosophy over another…at the sake of another…would be to squelch something within her, and deny her something that would infinitely aid her development and learning. So at this time…we balance it…following her lead and paying careful attention each day to the sometimes subtle, but ever present signals that direct our path. As alike as they are, I am certain that as more and more of my little man cubs personality comes out, the path that we take learning together will differ from the one taken by his sister. So I think what it all boils down to, is continually, and carefully observing your child to know just what they need, and which philosophy best suits at that moment…and not feeling the least bit sorry about pulling bits and pieces from several philosophies to create a unique learning environment based on your child’s needs.

Homeschool Organization Tools

The order and organization of the earth is nothing short of miraculous.  I strive for organization and order though find myself lacking on many many fronts.  I need a certain amount of planning, organization and order for this funny little brain of mine to function.  But within that framework of basic organization I like to live spontaneously and a bit on the disordered wild side.  You might think this is brought on by the nature of the delightful small children I spend my days with.  But in truth this has been my way for many years.  In college I would painstakingly plan out my semesters and then with the help of my advisor determine the perfect “path” and course load.  But then, oh dear…that fateful day when registration began, and I had successfully registered for each of those carefully chosen classes,  I would become completely swept away in the pure expanse of classes and options and incredible things that there was to learn about that I would pack my course load full to overflowing.  Within my carefully ordered brain there is chaos.  But it works for me.  I do strive to push the ratio more heavily on the order and organization side versus the chaos side…but it’s a moment to moment battle right now!! 

As I approached the beginning of this homeschool journey for our family I knew that our success, and my sanity, would weigh heavily on how well I could stay organized.  Our families homeschool philosophy is made up of bits and pieces of so many wonderful ideas and theories and practices of philosophers, educators, mothers, and so many so much wiser than I.  Today though I’m going to share the documents I created to keep me on track and in some sense of order. 

Because our homeschooling journey is beginning in NY state we won’t have to report on our “goings on” until next year.  It was important to me to establish a good routine right from the start so next year wouldn’t be traumatic in any way in terms of reporting.  I did a lot of research on different organizational methods and created what I think is going to work well for me.  My goal was to have a framework of what I wanted to cover over the year, broken down into months, and weeks.  This framework would exist as a basic organizational structure for the free reign of curiosity, exploration, and discovery.  Do you see it… the organization and chaos existing together.  Only this time I am sincerely hoping it is not chaotic…and rather pure spontaneous learning.  My organizational documents include three elements. 

1.  Monthly by subject. 

2.  Monthly by week. 

3.  Weekly. 

Each of these documents is available for free download.  The link (and a vital note!) is at the bottom of this post. 

Monthly by subject will allow me to plan what I would like to cover each month in each discipline that we will focus on. 

Several of the main facets of our homeschooling, including handwork, seasonal celebrations, and creative play are already such an integral part of the rhythm of our days that I did not feel the need to “plan” for them on the monthly by subject page.  They will however be documented and recorded on other sheets.  The monthly by subject sheet contains our goals for Math, Language Arts, Science/Social Studies, and Art.  Having goals written out for the year gets the plans and ideas out of the swirl in my head and onto paper so that I can be better attuned to the curiosity and self-direction of my darling little learner.  It is very likely that I will end up with several editions of these monthly pages as different subjects are spontaneously and naturally explored, at different times perhaps, than I had originally sketched out. 

My favorite element of the monthly by subject pages are the resource and idea lists.  Here I record different activities, books, field trips, mentors, projects, etc., that will aid our natural exploration and perhaps the introduction of different subjects.  At times I have found that I want to introduce a subject that hasn’t arisen naturally yet, because of the season, time in our lives, etc., and expect that the same will be true going forward.  Choosing certain books, starting certain projects, going certain places undoubtedly sparks questions and wondering, which leads to exploration and discovery, which always results in the most delicious sort of learning imaginable.  This list of resources will be revised and added to throughout the year and will be ready for use whenever the subject arises. 

Monthly by week pages break down our monthly subjects into weekly goals. 

Again, this is a very rough outline but breaks down the ideas into more manageable chunks.  Field trips and projects are documented with greater detail on this page.  This page will also receive a great deal of editing as we progress through the year.  But again…it’s a starting point, and serves the beautiful and critical purpose of getting the information out of the swirl in my brain!!! 

These pages will be vital as we head into the week, to get a general feel for the overall rhythm we will experience.  It will serve as a starting point for our library trips, and a launching point for infinite moments of discovery and learning as we move through our days together.  For example as we explore math concepts together and are focusing on patterns I can turn my mind towards pattern concepts as we bake, clean, spend time outdoors, and play together.  This magnificent world that we live in is the perfect school for children…and above all else learning should occur naturally and seamlessly with the lives we live. 

And finally our weekly pages, covering each subject each day for the week. 

The sole purpose of this page is document what actually happens during the week.  This written document will accompany images and portfolio pieces to make up a wonderful record of our journey together.  I know that I must cater to a certain amount of state regulations (next year!!) in terms of documenting our schooling…but honestly my main goal in preserving a small token of our learning together in hard copy format is for her…and me!  What a precious treasure to look back through someday…and whenever little hearts are in need of “wow…I did that!” therapy. 

Like any organizational scheme revision and adjustments are inevitable.  In fact, a lack of revision would simply show a lack of awareness to the natural ebb and flow of a journey such as this, rather than the creation of a perfect document. 

However imperfect, they are working fantastically for us right now and I am happy to share them with you. 

Each of the documents are available for download (free!) here:

http://www.scribd.com/people/documents/31143628-matt-hannah-robinson

Just note…for some bizarre impossible (for me!) to solve reason the documents look a bit wackadoo when viewed directly on Scribd.  When downloaded they are all set and ready to go. 

 

Homeschooling Montage…Waldorf, Montessori, International Baccalaureate Program

Just as a forewarning…this is a super long post…so grab some ice cream and sit down for a nice long read!

My daughter is now old enough to “look” like she is old enough for school, and she most definitely communicates on a level that indicates she should be in school, so we often (read: nearly each time) meet with the question of where she will be going to school this fall as we are out and about. The responses I get to the same question again and again from the complete strangers that we meet fit neatly into three categories. The question is always the same. “Are you going to school this year?”. The answer from her (if she deems the stranger safe to talk to…she’s funny that way!) is always “Yes, I’m a homeschool girl”, and from me…”Yes, she’s homeschooled and will be starting kindergarten this year.”

The responses though…oh the responses!!! In the first category are the dear little scared souls who don’t know how to respond and utter a simple “Oh”, though their faces are communicating so much more confusion, judgment, and bewilderment than their verbal answer held. The second response is by far the easiest to hear…it’s the “Oh, my sister homeschools her children and they just love it”, or “Good for you, we homeschool as well”, or “Oh…my next door neighbors boss’s wife’s best friends homeschools…that’s great!”, or various other common-ground finding and reaffirming answers out there. The third is the trickiest. It is given by those who homeschool, those who might like to but haven’t taken the plunge, or those who simply like to learn about the many wonderful ways to live and learn. This third response is simply a string of questions…”how will you do it,” “what curriculum will you use”, “how will you socialize her?”, “so what will homeschooling look like for you?” …and so many many more questions.

The very scary thing is that I don’t know all the answers to all these questions that I find myself presented with on a very regular basis. For a long time this “scary thing” was a slightly paralyzing fear. The planning portion of my brain was struggling with the thought of proceeding down a path that I hadn’t completely figured out yet. It took several intense conversation with my (wonderfully handsome) sensible husband to come to the terms with the (wildly obvious to most…) fact that the journey of homeschooling is just that…a journey. That the beauty, wonder, and magic of this journey will be discovered and unveiled as we go. That the organization and logistics and (slightly boring) record keeping aspects can also be developed, refined, and perfected along the way. That a journey means breathing. Odd that we need to be reminded to do something as inherent as breathing.

For us, at this moment, homeschooling will look like many things. Our methods are not for purists. In fact a purist may balk at the framework I have established for our journey. Our homeschooling will look like Waldorf, it will look like Montessori, it will look like the International Baccalaureate Program, it will look like Classic Homeschooling, it will look like Christian Homeschooling…but most importantly, and most of all it will look like us. A combination of many many wonderful and inspired ideas and philosophies. If there was a phrase that defined my approach to homeschooling methods it would be “…if there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” In this way we work to incorporate every good thing regardless of the origin.

Many of you are so far beyond me in comprehension and implementation of these wonderful educational philosophies. Perhaps some of you haven’t heard much of them. For those of the latter group, of which I was a part just two minutes ago (or so it seems!!!), here is a brief explanation of three of the main philosophies that make up our very own personalized Little Robinsons Homeschooling Method.

Waldorf

Most of our day is immersed in the Waldorf philosophies and they will of course play an enormous role in our homeschooling.

Waldorf education is based on the research and works of philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Waldorf ideals for education emphasize an awakened disciplined, creativity, wonder, reverence, and respect for nature and human existence. Waldorf methods have proven to offer a holistic educational model designed to provide the right stimulus at the right time and allow each child’s abilities to fully unfold. The aim of Waldorf schooling is to educate the whole child, head, heart, and hands, to produce individuals who are able, in and of themselves, to impart meaning to their lives.

The curriculum of a Waldorf school, and likewise our own homeschooling will be as broad as time will allow and balances academic subjects with artistic and practical activities. Rich with tied to the earth goodness and the rhythmic seasons and celebrations the magic and wonder that the Waldorf philosophy captures will fill our days and imaginations.

Some Waldorf sites I resource:

Live Education

Waldorf Homeschooling

Christopherus

Earth Schooling

Montessori

Maria Montessori’s inspired works were my first introduction to education beyond public or private religious schooling. Though I am not a Montessori purist, I find great value in her teachings and apply so many of her principles to my parenting and likewise the teaching of my children.

Dr. Maria Montessori’s methods center around her experimental observations of young children given freedom in an environment prepared with materials designed for their self-directed learning activity. It’s aim is to bring about, sustain, and support a child’s natural way of being, having an inner natural guidance for his or her own perfect self-directed development. The role of teacher (sometimes called director, directress, or guide) is to therefore watch over the environment to remove any obstacles that would interfere with this natural development, and to show how to use the various self-teaching materials that are provided in the environment for the children’s free use.

One of the points of Montessori’s teaching that I most align myself with is the concept of independence and self-directed learning facilitated by a prepared environment and subtle guidance rather than “teacher”-directed instruction and presentations.

A few Montessori sites to resource:

Montessori Foundation

Living Montessori Now

Montessori Mom

Beautiful Sun Montessori

International Baccalaureate Program

I stumbled across this program one day and was immediately impressed by the rigor and breadth of the academics. While the freedom, creativity, imagination, and self-discovery of the Waldorf and Montessori methods largely drive my personal educational philosophies I also desire my children to to acquire an extensive and “top of the line” academic education.

The International Baccalaureate Program mission statement:

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment. These programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

The IB program includes a special program for children in the kindergarten to fifth grade years. This Primary Years Program is the framework for the IB curriculum and is driven by concept acquisition and is inquiry based. As most of the air space in our home is filled with “why?” questions all day everyday an inquiry based curriculum seems a perfect pitch. In the traditional PYP students explore mathematics, science and technology, languages, social studies, arts, and personal, social, and physical education. In working out the answers in these areas children build skills such as reading, reasoning, researching, and communicating. The program also promotes positive attitudes and good character emphasizing respect, tolerance, integrity, and confidence, encouraging children to reflect, choose wisely, and act responsibly in the home and community.

So how did we put this all together? Using the PYP program curriculum found here I chose the areas that I wanted to explore over the year. I chose not to use the language program they use at all but will instead use the Montessori reading methods. I sketched out what this curriculum will look like for the year creating a calendar and rough schedule on personalized documents. (I’ll share these tomorrow!) These documents will act as a framework for what I would like to cover for the year. Ah…but within that framework exists the true beauty and magic of self-directed learning, imagination, curiosity, exploration, and discovery. A framework for our months…and freedom within our days.

IB and PYP information for your reading pleasure!:

NYC’s Dwight School

PYP Curriculum Example

It will be a journey. An eclectic mix of the genius of many different philosophers which does not necessarily create a new genius…but rather something unique and just right for us. Which is the just the way homeschooling should be….just right for each little soul in the home.

A New Phase

In one short week these little toes are about to start a brand new adventure…and this mama is beginning a new phase of mama-hood. It’s funny how phases and new adventures sort of sneak up on you undetected, until somehow, sometime, at some moment it hits you smack in the face and the mind-boggling reality of “wow…this is where we are right now” finally hits.

Aside from starting a new homeschool adventure we are starting dance class for the first time. We’ve done a lot of dancing at home together, doing what we can to practice techniques, adjectives (dancing fast, slow, sad, happy, excited, scared, etc.) and steps but mostly freestyling it with lots of Brahms Lullaby and Abba on Pandora. Not at the same time though…(yikes!)…and definitely with lots of costume changes!

With dance lessons comes the new phase of waiting in my life. I have waited for infants to be born (boy did I wait!), I have waited for infants to fall asleep, for toddlers to become toilet trained, waited for self-chopped 3 year old hair to grow back(!), waited for tooth after tooth after tooth to finally break through, waited for those first words to be slowly sounded out and read! … oh do mothers wait!!! This new “waiting” will be waiting for a child while she learns and adventures and experiences … and I sit in the waiting room … or on a chair in the corner! Our lives have been so connected, this first little one of mine. This separation, as slight as it is, is both a strange and exciting phase for us. When I first came head to head with it I was a bit taken back. For a split second that is. Then I began to think of all that could be done with those beautiful moments when I would be confined to a chair while my little beloved dances and grows in the studio. Though my mind danced around between writing, drawing, reading, and stitching, I think I have settled on knitting. Oh the joy of assigning myself a set time to sit and knit on a regular basis. I have big plans for the perfect hoodie for the mancub, and a delightful poncho for the little dancer. Oh boy! I can’t wait!

It is going to be a wonderful new phase. I am filled with butterflies of anticipation and excitement for all that she will learn and do in her classes. And my fingers are itching for a bit of solstice knitting.

Stepping Back

If there is anything at all that can be said of this generation, this era, this time, is that it is fast.  Everything is flying by at top speed in a sort of whirlwind that is oh so hard to avoid…if you want to that is.  Internet is fast.  “Food” can be crazy fast.  Communication and the relay of information is immediate if nothing else.  Children and adults move from one class, store, or lesson to another all day everyday quick as can be.  Gadgets and gizmos line the pockets, ears, and dashboards of even the youngest of souls instilling speed as a baseline for functioning.  The need for immediate results and high speed everything is simply “normal”. 

The speed of this time seems to work against the goals and desires that we have for our family and especially the childhood we envision for our little ones.  Now this isn’t to say that I write off all the advantages of the high-speed technological advances available.  I love high-speed internet, and more especially a laptop with wireless connection, digital cameras that upload pictures quickly, the blogging community, and several other momentarily forgotten things I’m sure.  Using the speed of our time to our advantage we can actually slow down our life to allow for the freedom, naturalness, creative exploration, and tied to the earth goodness.   By slowing down and carefully filtering “speed” I believe that we bring more enrichment and lasting goodness to the lives that seem to be flying by in front of us as it is.  Childhood is so fleeting in nature as it is.  No need to speed it up! 

Though we slow our lives to a pace that is comfortable for all of us we do so enjoy exploring times that moved at an even slower pace.  A short drive into the heart of New York state is the Genesee County Village and Museum.  It is a marvelous (albeit slightly expensive!) place to explore, slow down, learn, savor, and reflect.  We learn so much when we visit, and although we are happy to bring our speedy and flashy big red stroller, we enjoy each moment stepped away from the speed it implies and the calm reflection and wonder in the homes and shops.  The visit highlighted here was one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer.  We were each hot and sticky and wonderfully happy! 

The kidlings were so enthralled with the stories of the past that filled each place we visited.  Their big eyes took in all that was around them and questions never ceased escaping their lips.  They found value and wonder in all they encountered because it was presented as something of value and truly wonderful.  Indeed it was a wonderful day of learning and exploration.  They especially loved the animals (and most especially the magnificent oxen), the printing press, the potter, the rustic cabin, the tinsmith, the animal barn….!  Though I found so much to be emulated and learned from I was especially caught up in (this time) the patterns I saw everywhere.  On the walls, on the floors, on the beds…the patterns and designs were so beautiful to me.  I felt connected to the women and mothers so long past that worked with their hands to improve and beautify their homes for themselves and their families just as I try so hard to do in my own life. 

It was a beautiful day of stepping back, slowing down, and basking in the grace of a simpler time. 

                 

‘Tis a gift to be simple.