Learning all the time

Oh it has been so long since I've posted.  Life is just too busy for me to figure out my photo uploading issue.  I'll most likely start a new blog in the fall and start over fresh...

This post is more for myself and anyone else with young children who sometimes feel they should be 'doing' more with their kids.  You may not agree and that is okay.

So today I had the feeling that I just wasn't doing enough with my boys.  You see my boys are 3 and 5. We are a Waldorf inspired homeschooling family.  I also have a home daycare.  On a given day there are anywhere between 2-5 other children joining us. So today was one of my slower days with just 2 babies and my boys.  I guess the "quiet" got me thinking, worrying...

I decided to write down all the things we did and learned today.  It is not well organized but here you go:

Nature study: watching worms and moving them safetly off the path in the forrest.
Playing in mud, learning about the suction power of a good mud puddle. Enjoying a beautiful rainy walk.  Observing and wondering who was eating our rhubarb leaves.  Checking on our vegetable gardens.

Science:
observing puddles, how a moving bicycle wheel can make the water move and spray

Physical Education: Walking, rope swing, bicycles, trampoline, running, carrying loads. These were the more active activities.  We also played in the sand box, drive the ride-on tractor all over the place, played with fine motor toys at the Early Years Centre.

Math: Counting along with songs, TJ counted all the eggs and discovered how many were left after he made his snack, made up more math problems with the eggs. MJ tried counting numbers on the clock.  At the Early Years Centre the boys sorted all the coloured bears into bowls, TJ also completed several pattern cards using coloured bugs on his own.

Child care: how to play safetly with babies, learned about separation anxiety and how to help a baby deal with that, comfort them.

Faith: awesome prayers and thanksgiving today

Art: The boys sat for ages and made collages completely on their own,  playdough, painting

Language: read lots of stories, made up oral stories, retelling of events in TV show, singing

Mechanics: learned about sawmills (Might Machines) and retold lots of details, 'helped; daddy fix his motercycle.

Home economics: boys loaded and sorted laundry, TJ thought up to sweep the kitchen on his own to keep down the mess, TJ washed windows outside with the car snow brush.  They helped to pick out food at the grocery store.  TJ decided what to make for his snack and completely made his own scrambled eggs.  He also helped prepare dinner too.

Imaginative play: TJ spent his entire time at the Early Years Centre dressed as a giant caterpillar!  The boys played tractors and trains.  Their dog toys dressed up in rain coats to play outside.  Their special bed friends came along and 'talked' all day with us.

Social skills: greeting daycare parents, navigating the day with children of various ages, communicating well with volunteers at the Early Years Centre, sharing, problem solving, resolving conflicts and apologizing.

Oh I'm sure there was so much more going on today that I didn't pick up on.  Every day I am amazed and overwhelmed by something my children are doing.  I am so blessed to spend my time with them and their friends.  We have a lot of fun together and they have helped me to grow personally so much.  We are also very blessed to live in our natural location too.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring...

Fall Harvest Party

This past weekend we had a Fall Harvest Party.  In our wonderful stories (see resources below) Super Sam and his friends had a fall harvest party so we decided to have one too.  All month long the children followed along with Super Sam's adventures and also created their own invitations, snacks, decorations and games. On Saturday morning cousin E and one of our daycare girls came to celebrate in the fun.  Unfortunately not everyone was able to attend, but we still had a great time.

Welcome to the party

Fall Nature Table

Yummy treats

Bowling Squash

Pumpkin bean bag toss

Decorating coffee filters as jack-o-lanterns

Circle Time

Fall decorations

Dressing Up

Fall sensory bins

We are using Waldorf Essentials kindergarten curriculum that comes with their Thinking Feeling Willing program.  I can't say enough about how amazing Melissa is.  The children lessons are adorable and all the kids love Super Sam.  The mom lessons have taught me so much about Waldorf I feel much more prepared to homeschool now.  Of course the support from Melissa is invaluable and always so helpful. I do encourage anyone new to Waldorf or needing some help to check out this program.

I am really excited about the rest of the fall and into the winter.  We will continue to use the Waldorf Essentials and also have included some wonderful themes from Seasons of Joy Winter.

Check out the giveaway at Seasons of Joy this week and join their link-up!!

I'll be linking up throughout the week:

Waldorf Wednesday at Seasons of Joy
Happy Family Times
Natural Suburbia
It's Play Time

Week 4: Fighting Dragons

This week has been so much fun!  My knights learned to protect and help others, along with fighting monsters and dragons!

On Monday my niece joined us along with our daycare children.  We had a great time during circle time as TJ thought we should all dress up.  As my fairies danced about and sang we learned of a dragon in Super Sam's forrest. We then decided to be knights with capes and go fight the dragon in the playroom.  We put out his fires with play silks, which then turned into a river.  Some animals and toys needed rescuing so the children built bridges to help them cross.  Next we used the blocks to build castles for the dragon and some fairies.  I gave them some prompts to get their imaginations going and we had a lot of fun.  Sorry no photos as many of the daycare children in in the shots.  In the afternoon hockey was the name of the game.  MJ and E (my niece) were so cute playing together.

Hockey with cousin E, Our September nature table

Tuesday we went to Frootogo a local apple orchard.  We went there to meet friends and cousin E again. Playing on all the toys is always fun, along with feeding the animals.  All the kids were a big help with picking the apples.  We've already eaten most of our (no apple sauce this week).  In the afternoon we made swords.  MJ was scared of some monsters while pretending to have a nap, so fearless TJ came to the rescue and we fought imaginary monsters in every room of the house. (So cute and so much fun!)

Frootogo and fighting monsters

On Wednesday we baked gingerbread cookies.  Our dragon helped use his fire for good and baked the cookies for us.  TJ actually got our little plastic dragon and had him blow on each batch of cookies before I put them in the oven.  I wasn't too sure how to keep the little ones busy while we baked today so I got out some red kidney beans that we are never going to get around to eating.  Oh my the mess and fun.  It kept them all busy and happy.  I have come a long way with accepting and handling mess!  We used some healthier decorating toppings as it's all I had on hand.  I love that we made some Super Sam's, dragons, a turtle and fall cookies along with some other fun shapes.

Playing with beans and making gingerbread cookies

Wednesday afternoon the children made shields to go with their swords.  We played knights outside this time and had a great day. The kids were interacting more with each other.

Decorating cookies and making shields

On Thursday we went to run an errand near the park by my mom's house. TJ went off to explore the forrest while I played in the playground with the others.  It was chilly that day.  MJ also rode on his little motorized toy for the first time.  He is usually terrified of these things but when daddy put in a very small slow battery, he finally decided to get on.

Exploring the forrest, riding toys and blow kisses!

Thusday afternoon is our sensory day.  I tried putting different coloured paint in plastic bags for the kids to mush and mix.  I think I put in too much and the bags weren't very good quality.  We also experimented with cookie cutters and our hands.

No-mess paint in bags (make sure the bags don't rip)

Friday was another busy day.  Early in the morning I started taking the papers of old cheep crayons.  Both boys woke early too.  TJ was an amazing help and chopped most of the crayons up.  He is getting good with a knife.

Chopping crayons and visiting farm

Once all our friends joined us we went to visit a farm belonging to one of our daycare children's grand parents.  Of course he had a wonderful time with grandma.  We loved looking at the pumpkins and visiting the animals.  Inside the store we had a treat and Auntie Bonnie and I bought lots of veggies.  We'll be going back there soon.

Visiting animals at the farm

Later Friday afternoon each child got to make their own crayons but filling up a mini muffin try with different colours of crayon bits.  We put them in the oven at 350 for about 15min or until they just melt (I left ours in a bit long each time). When they were cool to touch I put them in the freezer for a while.  The crayons worked okay.  The top half is just wax and the colour is only at the bottom.  The kids had fun trying them out.

Using the new crayon we made

Next week is a new month. Wow 4 weeks of 'school' already! I am trying out an idea of new circle songs this month. We are also going to be getting ready for a harvest party at the end of the month.  Hope you'll join us for more updates.

I'll be linking up during the week:

Happy Family Times 
Waldorf Wednesdays
MOB Society

Week 3: fall is in the air

This week you could tell by the weather that fall was coming.  The temperature dropped and the leaves have started to fall. We did some fun fall activities!

The boys were getting along well with our daycare children.  They have now started to interact more on their own and started to play together.  I was am also learning a lot too.  My biggest realization was a need to slow down.  In helping TJ realize that he needed to slow down a couple of times this week, I realized I was rushing through activities too!  We also all noticed that the tone in the house was angry.  Words, hands and feet have been flying and hurtful.  We will be concentrating on turning things around next week.

Monday was nature day.  We went for a wonderful walk lead by our fearless leader TJ.  We also talked about about how the animals are getting ready for the winter too. We donated much of our fall decorations to begin enjoying the splendour from nature around us.

Tuesday is handicraft day so we made leaf crowns just like the Gnome King in our story. It rained a lot so the boys and I made an obstacle course to keep them buys while I made lunch.  We also had a play/real picnic for snack time. Later in the day they went outside to take advantage of the puddles and mud!

Wednesday is our baking day and I took on a lot today.  I decided to make real bread (without the bread machine) and chocolate zucchini bread too. The kids had a lot of fun helping in the kitchen.  I do believe I put in way to much yeast (the bowl of dough overflowed everywhere as it was rising).  After adding all the flour I could find we did end up with some yummy buns. In the afternoon I brought out our file folder games for the kids to play with during quiet time.

Thursday is sensory day.  We made a big pot of spaghetti to play with.  Several of the younger kids just ate it which was also fun.  TJ had been asking for a while to make a snack for the birds.  We set out a bowl of treats and strung them on some string.  One of our decorations was eaten quickly by a squirrel and the other has been slowly worked on by some ants.

Friday is usually crayon day this month.  Today my sister and her children came to join us.  After playing and circle time we made coffee filter leaves.  This is such a simple activity.  Colour with washable markers on a coffee filter.  Spray with water and let it dry.  We cut out shapes first to make it easier.  Once dry we hung them on a large paper tree we attached to the playroom windows. In the afternoon we took a trip to the garden plot and playground!

Next week we meet a dragon and become knights! (I have some prep work to get to)

I will be linking this post mid week:

We are linked up to Waldorf Wednesdays over at Seasons of Joy
We are also linked to Happy Family Times over at Happy Whimsical Hearts

Week 2 Kindergarten updates

This week we have been getting into a better rhythm.  The boys are settling in better with having the daycare at our house.  Having new children in the home is an adjustment but I'm proud of my boys, they are learning to share, very welcoming and helpful.

Monday our focus was nature.  We went for a walk to the nature park down the street, on a beautiful sunny day.  We saw lots of turtles and snails.  After looking around the boardwalk we followed the city lawn mower around!

 Tuesday our focus was handiworks.  We made kites to go along with our story.  TJ made several kites so he could have back-ups.  The boys spent a wonderful afternoon running around (TJ even attached one to his bike!)

 Wednesday we took everyone from our daycare to a local apple farm.  The kids played with their toys,  visited the animals and then picked lots of apples.  Super Sam joined up for the fun! Wednesday is usually our baking day.  Today we made bell pepper / spinach muffins.  Everyone but TJ liked them.

Cool apple candle to celebrate an apple picking day

Thursday is our sensory day. Since we had a smaller group we decided to make mud in the boys garden.  They had a fun time with our littlest daycare friend making mud soup.  Later TJ also decided to dig his own garden plots at the house. That evening while visiting out real garden plot we harvested a whole basket of tomatoes! MJ got really into picking things and brought me our pumpkin.  we were hoping to keep it growing until next month.  TJ already has a long list of things we can make with it.

Friday morning TJ found a toad.  He asked me to keep it or get him a real pet.  We made Toady a little home and let him go by lunch (especially because it was raining for the afternoon).  During colouring we pretended that our crayons were following the path of a leaf on the paper.  Then we made paper planes and helicopters.

Toady in top right corner

marching band fun!

 We are using the same songs and poems each day for circle time.  I love that the boys are learning the songs and sing while playing.  Both boys love Super Sam and TJ is helping out a lot with the story.

Looking forward to more fun next week!

Linked up to Seasons of Joy Waldorf Wednesday

First Day of School

Yesterday was a very first day of school! Okay so it may have been a 'holiday' but there was not stopping my excitement.

TJ's first day of 'school'

MJ's first day of 'school'

First off the teacher in me wanted to wake up to a fresh, clean, organized house with all our activities falling into place according to my plan... but instead I was met to a pile of cloth diapers to fold, dishes, sick kids, and a tone of veggies to deal with before they went bad.

I quickly got to work on what was facing me as the boys didn't seem to mind.  As I was working away Jon reminded me that since we are homeschooling I don't need to worry about sticking to the plan, just go with the flow of the day.  Besides it is a holiday!

Deep breath and start again...

We had ice cream for breakfast (after our healthy stuff) I had offered pancakes but this was way better.  Then TJ gave every fruit and vegetable in the house a bath while I cut up a mountain of tomatoes and got them boiling for the pasta sauce.  Next we went to go pick up a dresser for the boys. By the time we got home it was already lunch.

 In my original plan we were going to do circle time in the morning but today was a bit backwards.  We had lunch and set out on a walk.

MJ and Sam ready for our walk

I introduced the boys to "Super Sam" our gnome.  TJ was so excited he wanted to show Sam our garden plot.  As we walked I told them the story about Sam and his friends.

Super Sam our gnome

We showed Sam all our veggies and took him to the playground.  On the way home we did all our circle time songs and had a wonderful talk about harvest and why all the fruits and veggies are ready at different times.

 

When we arrived home we all worked together to finish the pasta sauce, (froze some and ate some with dinner).  MJ fell asleep for a while and TJ helped Daddy with fixing the van.  I took some quiet time for myself and was so very thankful for this amazing first day.  We had a wonderful family time and the boys are loving Sam. 

MJ hugging Sam all the way home

I am reminded again as to why we are homeschooling because the boys are so young and it is an amazing time to enjoy the magic of childhood. This precious time and the rhythm we have is also working well with our home daycare.

Resources

I found some amazing knitting patterns on Ravelry website.  

I first did a search for Gnomes and then looked for free ones to find this one that I used for Super Sam.  I have also made a few animals from this pattern

And found some really cute pumpkin, acorn and tree knitting patterns for free on Ravelry too.

We are using the Thinking Feeling Willing program from Waldorf Essentials for myself and the boys/daycare.  I have also taken a lot of our songs and a few activities from Seasons of Joy Autumn.

Our Family Rhythm (Part 1)

What is rhythm?  According to Wikipedia (okay not the best source)


Rhythm (from Greek ῥυθμός—rhythmos, "any regular recurring motion, symmetry"^[1]) may be generally defined as a "movementmarked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions."^[2] This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or frequencyof anything from microseconds to millions of years.

For our family and many others rhythm is the regular pattern of our life.  Rhythm is different from a schedule in that you are not tied to the clock.  You know what you'd like your day, week, year to look and feel like.  It is more of a natural flow to your day rather than checking to make sure that you are on schedule.  Today I am going to share our daily rhythm, and in another post (as this will get too long) I'll share some important lessons I have been learning about creating and keeping our rhythm.

I have been struggling for a long time now with having some consistency to our days.  Our situation has changed several times over the years and my adjustments to it have been okay, but there isn't a sense of peace.  While researching different forms of homeschooling for our children I came across Waldorf education.  What I read really resonated with me and I realized it was more of a lifestyle than a specific curriculum. I'll be posting more on that all later too.

I can't tell you how excited I am to have joined the Thinking Feeling, Willing (TFW) program from A little Garden Flower: Waldorf Essentials. Over the next year I'll be sharing with you some of what I am learning, what the kids are up to and the projects we make. The first Mom lesson is about rhythm.  TFW was a great help because there is practical help along with some great articles addressing different areas of concern many other moms have encountered.

I am taking the time to slowly digest what I am learning and putting it into practice.  I look forward to starting some of the children's lessons with TJ and the daycare children once I get some time to read through it.  There are also sections for handiwork too, as you know I love that side of things.

I started by writing down what our current week looks like.  I realized how much we were out and what gaps we had during the day.  Slowly I worked on what I wanted our week, and each day to look and feel like. Here is our current rhythm that is starting to work for us:

Wake (Usually between 5-5:30am)

Bible

Mommy time (Emails, shower)

Breakfast        (TV time)

Daily chores   (Play or help)

Circle Time

Snack

Activity of the day / Outside

Lunch

Chores / Free Play

Quiet Time      (Nap for MJ)

Office work

Timmy Time

Diner prep

Outside/Free play

Dinner

Free play or activity

Activity of the Day

Monday – Handiworks

Tuesday – extra cleaning or outings

Wednesday – painting/crafts

Thursday – Baking

Friday – Sensory/Water

Saturday – Gardening/Nature

Sunday – Church/rest

For more about the program check out the links above.  If you are interested in finding out more about rhythm here are some other good posts or do a google search.  Stay tuned for some lessons I'm learning about keeping the rhythm!

Ordering of days - Waldorf Essentials
Rythm: Part One - Parenting Passageway
Creating Family Rhythm - Imperfect Homemaking
Beginners Guide to Creating Family Rhythm - Natural Parents Network

For more on Waldorf or if you want to know what I'm up to with the kids check out the sites below.  I will be posting about our homeschooling decision later once we are sure that is more of a reality for us.

Waldorf Early Years Orientation

What is Waldorf Education?

Considering Waldorf Homeschooling for Kindergarten?

Waldorf Curriculum Overview