Just popping in to pass this information along. I love this planner. I have used it every day for the past 2 years, and I have just started filling it in for next year. You can read more about how I use it here and here. It is a deal at the regular price of $20 – for $12 it’s a steal. Two things you need to know: #1 this is an affiliate link and #2 the coupon code is JUNESALE. Check out all the details here. Sale ends Saturday, June 22.
Sunset from the back porch
Our school year is officially over. We take about 8 weeks for summer vacation and begin again around the middle of August. Beginnings and endings are important to note. They bring an awareness to what has come before and to what lies ahead. I wanted to take a moment to pause and acknowledge that we have done our best. There were some truly wonderful and transformative moments during our lessons this year. Then there were entire days that were absolutely abysmal. There were some blocks I wish I could have extended and then extended again. There were others I wish I could do over. And then there were a few things I’m glad I get to simply check off the list. The combination of this doesn’t make for a tidy package, and I think sometimes there is a tendency to prolong something in an effort to make everything square. I am familiar with this impulse, because honestly, there is always something else that could be done and then . . . maybe . . . everything would be right. Lately, however, I have come to see the value of a somewhat contrived, but definitive, ending. And at a certain point, I simply say to myself and to the boys, “We have done enough. The year is over.”
Summer is a big out-breath; one long exhalation. For me, this season is a time of reflection, rejuvenation and replenishment. By officially ending our year, I give myself an energetic permission slip to let go and move on and start fresh. I try really hard to not let anything related to the specific blocks we did last year linger in the corners of my mind. Of course there are concepts that will carry over and areas of weakness that became apparent during the last few months of school. I mentally note these and try to work them into my plans for next year. One thing I know for sure is that the boys have learned a lot this year. But no matter how much they learned, I have learned even more. This is what invigorates and inspires my planning over the summer.
I wanted to close with a translated quotation from Rudolf Steiner. Jean Miller read it to Andrea and I at the end of our planning session a couple of weeks ago. It was a powerful moment and one that crystallizes what I love and admire most about Jean. She has an unbelievable ability to see our work as homeschooling parents as ambitious and vital and holy, yet simple and elemental and daily. Through her voice, she was able to transcend the slight awkwardness of the actual words and impart the bigger vision of Steiner’s intention. I have returned to and reflected on these words in the weeks since Jean read them to us. If I can cling to those moments that reveal a radiant child in front of me, I am able to transcend the artificiality of all beginnings and endings and find rest in an infinite divine presence. There is comfort in this place. I just have to remember it’s there.
Create for yourself a new, indomitable perception of faithfulness. What is usually called faithfulness passes so quickly. Let this be your faithfulness:
You will experience moments – fleeting moments – with the other person [your child]. The human being will appear to you then as if filled, irradiated with a spirit archetype.
And then there may be – indeed, will be – other moments, long periods of time when human beings are darkened. But you will learn to say to yourself at such times: “The Spirit makes me strong. I remember the archetype. I saw it once. No illusion, no deception shall rob me of it.”
Always struggle for the image that you saw. This struggle is faithfulness. Striving thus for faithfulness, we shall be close to one another, as if endowed with the protective power of angels. –Rudolf Steiner
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Click the image to read the prayer with which I began our school year.
*** Apologies to all who subscribe to my blog via email. I hope no one thought the weekend began on Wednesday of this week! This is what happens when early morning blogging follows half-priced wine night. Consider it a cautionary tale. ***
Inspiration for today taken from habit.
A picture, a few words, a little mystery, that somehow form a visual journal of my previous week.
I’m trying to find that sweet middle ground and finding it’s not easy.
I looked for him and realized I hadn’t done that in a long time.
If I say it enough, maybe it will happen.
Words by Deborah Markus.
Is re-blogging similar to re-gifting? Just wondering, as I am okay with both. We are testing this week, and I remembered this story/post from last year. I needed to hear these words again, and thought maybe someone else might too. We have had a wonderful year, but I am looking forward to formally closing it out and moving on: to summer, to planning for next year and to whatever lies ahead. I’m excited about chronicling some of it in this space and sharing it with you. Hope you have a fantastic day! xoxo, Sheila
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We completed our state-mandated testing a couple of weeks ago. North Carolina is a very easy state in which to homeschool. Basically, you need to keep attendance records and administer a standardized test every year (all rules and regs for NC can be found here). The results are not reported to any state or local office, and merely need to be kept on file at home.
Vincent loves taking the test and he tests very well. That choleric fire comes out and he rises to the challenge. Me? I will admit to a twinge of nervousness. After opening the envelope and thumbing through the test booklet, the chatter in my head goes something like this: “Oh, we haven’t done that.” “We’re not doing that until next year.” “That’s a fourth grade concept?” I let myself have about five minutes of this useless, ridiculous, unfounded anxiety. The scores don’t even go anywhere!
I will save my verbose rant about “teaching to the test”, and merely say I think when we reduce education to a correct answer on a generic test, we are shooting ourselves in the foot. Education is bigger than punctuation, isolated vocabulary, and poorly written word problems. Are the mechanics of grammar, the love of words and the concepts of mathematics important? Absolutely. However the measurement of them in isolation is flawed at best. At least this is what I tell myself after my five-minute panic.
We have made the choice to homeschool our children. Our decision is not reactionary in any way. It is not a rejection of something, but rather an embrace of something else. Even though the number of families choosing to homeschool is growing, we are clearly in the minority of those with school-aged children. As Waldorf-inspired homeschoolers, we are a minority within a minority. This is where we have chosen to be, and I would not change our decision for anything.
On our second and final day of testing, Jude chose a book of poetry for me to read during storytime, which included the following stanza from “Rose Pogonias” by Robert Frost:
After storytime, both boys went out to play. Vincent was trying to catch butterflies in a field of clover. Not an hour later, my neighbor came to mow that field. We waved to him and watched him from the back porch. The English major in me couldn’t resist getting the book and reading that stanza again. No explications or explanations. Just the words. The perfect words to name that sweet sadness. Natasha Trethewey, our new poet laureate here in the US, says that poetry finds a way to “speak the unspeakable.” I couldn’t agree more.
On our final day of testing, I was taught a lesson that I seem to have to learn and relearn – again and again. What we do and how we spend our days matters. This is the education we have chosen and that we want for our boys: something that fosters thought, encourages connection and speaks truth. Ultimately what we teach and what we learn should reflect, engender and celebrate all that is. On that day, education looked like a tractor in a field. It smelled like freshly cut clover. It sounded like poetry written before I was born. Above all, it felt like home.
This whole block was like a fairy tale. Everything we did seemed enchanted. And the best part? I didn’t plan any of it. It all just kinda happened. I knew I was onto something magical when I showed Jude the cover of The Wise Enchanter by Shelley Davidow. He had been asking me what we were going to do for his last block, and I told him we were going to read a story about the alphabet. When he saw the book, he looked at me with these big eyes and said, “It’s the prince. He grew up to be a wise enchanter.” I didn’t exactly know what he was talking about at first. Then I realized he was remembering the story I told him during his first letters block. It was a faux fairy tale about a prince and a wise woman who go on a journey. I had not realized how deeply the story and the characters had been for him. Quick to recognize a gift when I see one however, I said, “Yes, of course it is. We are going to see what happens now that the prince has become a wise enchanter.”
Jude loved this story from start to finish. It is about 4 children, all of whom are around 7 years old, who embark on a quest to rescue all 26 letters of the alphabet and therefore language itself. At the end of every chapter there is an illustration of each letter in picture form. After finishing a chapter, Jude and I would trace the letter with our finger. He was very solemn and ritualistic about this, and I just held that space for him. We took about 3 weeks to read it and created our own “magic book” similar to the one described in the story. I think The Wise Enchanter by Shelley Davidow would be perfect to read during the end of grade 1 or during the beginning of grade 2. It is a solid story full of adventure and magic, with a definite – but not overbearing – Waldorf influence.
And now for the giveaway! If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Wise Enchanter, leave a comment below telling me the best book you read this year. It can be either an adult book or one for a child – or both! I’ll announce the winner on Friday, June 14. Good luck!! And the winner is Amy! Over at Amy Learning to Love! I loved reading all the book suggestions and have added a bunch of them to our summer reading list. Thanks to everyone who left a comment.
Resource:
Projects:
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Click the image below if you would like to see all the blocks we have done for grade 1 this year.
Inspiration for today taken from habit.
A picture, a few words, a little mystery, that somehow form a visual journal of my previous week.
Her words made everything wider and deeper and more solid and sure.
* Jean and Alison have started a new blog called “Reading Steiner“. If you have ever wanted to know what Steiner actually said to those individuals who started the first Waldorf school back in 1919, this is a great opportunity. And if you sign up for Jean’s mailing list, she will send you an article entitled, “What did Steiner Say?”
* In last month’s Links and Thinks, I told you I was taking this e-course. Because of it, I am now on flickr. Feel free to drop by and see what develops over there.
* If you need a manifesto for raising children, read this. (Thanks Rachel!)
* Here is a great pillowcase tutorial. Easy, yet fancy.
* This is an amazing concept about music and identity and God and life. Take a minute and read it. (Thanks Annette!)
* Hoping to make these recipes soon: green soup, popcorn (Made this. Wow! It’s good! Too good.)
* Because I have piles upon piles of photos waiting to be put into albums, Tom has started making us yearly books. (We also get a copy for both sets of grandparents – best Christmas gift ever and worth every penny!)
* When I saw this on Kelly Rae’s site, I got to thinking I’m going to do it for my blog too.
* Remember friendship bracelets? I think they would make a great handwork project this summer.
* These would be great for a fairy garden.
* If you are local to WNC, Diana Wortham Theatre just published their school shows for next year. Looks like a spectacular line up.
* Alisha and I were talking about our love of hankies when she was here. This is a great tutorial for making your own.
Vincent, 11 1/2, rising 6th grader: Vincent has a bit to finish on his timeline, take his (state-mandated) end of the year test, and review the year’s work before bundling it all up for the attic. I hope to frame a couple of paintings we did this year, however, I don’t have much confidence in this. I am terrible at displaying art of any kind, but it is something I always want to do. Maybe it will happen. The rest of June will be spent working on his physical fitness requirements for Boy Scouts and basically being outside and playing all the ding-dong day. Vincent is signed up for his first ever sleep-away camp. This feels like a new stage of independence and I hope we can all navigate these times with grace. Hmmm . . . I may need to stock up on extra candles for that week.
Jude, almost 8, rising 2nd grader: Jude has been finished with school for a couple of weeks, but he also needs to take his (state-mandated) end of the year test this month too. Jude is on a waiting list for his first ever day camp – we’ll see if he gets in or not. Jude was resistant to the idea back in the spring and then, of course, warmed to it when most camps were full. If it doesn’t happen this year, we’ll register early next year. Both boys will continue penny whistle lessons this summer with the lovely Miss Beth. This feels good to keep a rhythm of going to town one day during the week. We can meet Tom for ice cream, go to the “big” library or just run some errands. Jude has been embracing summer with lots of ball play (actually, this knows no season) and spending lots of time in the tree house.
Sheila: I am actually spending today planning for next year with Andrea and Jean. Picture us here - only with lots of Waldorf books and gluten-free snacks! (If you ever want to vacation in Asheville, NC this is a great house to rent. It belongs to two friends of mine who generously loaned it to us for the day.) Expect to hear more about our planning session in future posts. The rest of June will be spent refining my plans for 6th and 2nd grade, and also cleaning out my bookshelves and the school room. Instead of looking for more resources for next year, I want to make a thorough inventory of what I already have and see where I can plug these things into our blocks for next year. Painting the school room is also on my agenda for sometime this summer – hopefully it’s on Tom’s too, as he is the painter in the family. (Got that Tom? Paint the school room! LOL)
Inspiration for today taken from habit.
A picture, a few words, a little mystery, that somehow form a visual journal of my previous week.
I’ll say it again. This is hard. And something I want to explore.
Yippee!!
Starting with Greek mythology, moving into Greek history and ending with Alexander is really a stroke of brilliance on the part of the Waldorf curriculum. Vincent was absolutely enchanted by the myths of the Greek gods and heroes, but he kept wanting to know where the line of reality was drawn. Was the Trojan war real? Did the Argo really sail? How could the gods have fought with real men? I just let these questions linger and (once again!) found it fascinating how well the curriculum corresponds with child development. He didn’t ask these questions when we did any of the other mythologies – and there was plenty of opportunity: Norse, Indian, Babylonian, Persian, Egyptian. Just Greek . . . that Steiner . . . he knew a thing or two.
I’m so glad we waited until the very end of grade 5 to do this block for a couple of reasons. Ending the block (and the year) with the figure of Alexander the Great allowed us to review all the other cultures we studied this year. Vincent was very familiar with the geography, and was able to visualize the places Alexander conquered. He also had a sense of the Persians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians and the Indians as people before they were taken over by Alexander’s army. Donna Simmons stresses this concept when teaching history and I agree it is essential to have a sense of what came before the conquerors/explorers.
The other reason I am happy we waited until the end of the year is because Vincent and I are both tired of doing school. LOL. If we did Greece earlier in the year, I think we could have just gone on and on: more myths, more heroes, more history, more pita bread, more stuffed grape leaves . . . until we both ended up in a Dionysian stupor! We never watched the BBC movie, In the Footsteps of Alexander. The weather was just too beautiful to be inside watching TV. If we get a string of super hot or rainy days this summer, we may watch it then. If not, that’s okay. We have done enough. We are currently reading A Little History of the World by EH Gombrich and completing our timeline. Both activities are engaging and providing an excellent historical account of civilization up through Greece.
Resources:
Projects:
Zeus
Hera
Hephaestus’ volcanic forge
Athena (Story of Arachne) (This was done by drawing the spider and the web with crayon and then painting over it.)
I registered for Barbara Dewey’s Waldorf Homeschool Teacher Training this past weekend. It is held at Taproot Farm in Ohio, and I consider it my annual retreat. This will be my third year in attendance, and I love the sense of community I have found there. Jean, Alison, Siobhan, Kelley and of course, Andrea all made last year special. I’ll be bringing a certain cake I have blogged about before, and I would love to share a piece with you. And if cake isn’t your thing, don’t worry, Alison and Andrea will have wine!! Won’t you join us?
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My Dearest Alisha,
There is a secret I have kept from you for almost a year now. I think about it from time to time and my emotions range from slightly embarrassed to completely remorseful. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything then, but like most regrets this one has both haunted me and taught me a lesson or two. It was really a small thing, something I might not have even given a second thought at a different point in my life. But for some reason this regret has stayed with me. It has changed me. You were the first subscriber to my blog, so I thought it somehow fitting to confess to you here:
I had an entire chocolate cake, in my car, the whole time we were at Taproot.
Yes, a whole homemade chocolate cake. And I didn’t tell you or share it or eat any of it myself. Even when you were ranting about the fact that there wasn’t a cookie to be found on the whole 100 acres! (I actually think you were starting to twitch at that point from lack of sugar.) I knew that cake was in my car, but I didn’t say anything. I kept quiet by telling myself different things: “It’s probably stale.” “Vincent made it. It’s a new recipe. It might not even be good.” “It probably got crushed during the trip and is just a mess of crumbs.” But you know what? It wasn’t any of those things. Can I tell you? It was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten – moist, sweet, and oh-so-chocolatey.
In an effort to keep myself awake on the drive home from Ohio to North Carolina, I busted into that cake somewhere in West Virginia. Regret washed over me as soon as I took that first bite. I knew I had missed a chance. I still can’t put my finger on what exactly I think I missed. I felt like we connected almost instantly – as they say, we laughed, we cried . . . and yet, when I picture us sharing that cake, giggling like girls, it is a memory that could have been and because of my reticence never was.
You know some of the story of the months after Taproot: my friend’s cancer diagnosis, another friend’s sudden death. In my mind those events are intertwined with the uncut cake. Missed opportunity, holding back, fear, regret. Yes, it is all of those things mixed together, but if I am being completely honest, it’s also about letting myself be vulnerable. It’s about being known. It’s about being seen. The dark days of December 2011 led me to the light of a new year with one resolution: share the cake. The manifestations of stepping into this place of voluntary vulnerability have been both simple and profound: Writing more. Reading more. Crying more. Laughing more. Sharing so, so much more: flowers, words, time, books and yes, cake. These days, I try to share a lot of cake.
Thank you, my friend, for being who you are and helping me become more of who I want to be. And, the next time we see each other, I promise I’ll share the cake.
***
PS Alisha and her family came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. We finally did share that cake and picked up our friendship right where we left off. I’ll tell you, Taproot is a special place. Cake just makes it a little bit sweeter.
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Click the images below to read more about Taproot.
Tom took the boys to a baseball game tonite and I’m home having a glass of wine and doing some organizing – wild Saturday night here at the farmhouse!! It was a little too quiet, so I put on Alison Manzer’s interview from the recent Waldorf Global Expo. I know Alison personally, and love her view of Waldorf homeschooling as something freeing, approachable and expansive. As I wind down another school year, and begin to think about the next, I am so thankful for her insights and enthusiasm as to what is truly possible when we homeschool with Waldorf inspired methods. She is like a breath of fresh air. If you find yourself with some free time, listen to Alison’s interview, aptly titled “Adapting Waldorf to You”. Donna Ashton has generously offered the Expo replays for free again this weekend. You can find them here. And if you listen, I’d love to know what you thought.
Inspiration for today taken from habit.
A picture, a few words, a little mystery, that somehow form a visual journal of my previous week.
I’ve never had a friend like her.
* Our CSA just started up again. It feels like all is right with the world.
* I purchased another cow from my neighbor, which means lots of burgers on the grill. I’m slightly addicted to mixing ketchup with chipotle powder and using more than is polite. It’s great on french fries too.
* Instead of hunting for the little index card that has my Saturday night pizza recipe every Saturday afternoon, I taped it to the inside of my cabinet door with washi tape.
* The Easter Bunny gave me two cheese making books – this one and this one. Any tips? I’ll be starting with raw cow’s milk, as there are 7 milk cows between 2 of my neighbors. That’s a lot of milk!
* Due to all that milk, I have a variety of jars containing mysterious white liquids in my refrigerator. I know exactly what is in each one, but it drives Tom nuts. In order to appease him somewhat, I have taken to flipping the mason jar lids to the underside to designate buttermilk. (The white side shows rather than the gold.)
* Actually I have quite a reputation for not labeling anything in the kitchen - don’t even try to guess what is in my freezer or spice drawer! However, the one thing I have labeled very clearly are my identical jars of white flour. I used staz-on ink to stamp “all purpose” and “bread” on the corresponding lids.
* We had out-of-town guests last weekend, and I had a variety of items I wanted to remember to serve at each meal. I used my mother-in-law’s trick of taping a list to the outside of the cabinet door. It worked like a charm! I do this on holidays and birthdays too.
* My mom’s method for heating up leftover pizza is the best. Preheat the broiler and put the slices of pizza cheese side down on a cookie sheet. Heat the bottoms thoroughly. (I set the timer for about 2 minutes, because I always forget I have something in the broiler.) Flip the slices over, and heat until cheese is bubbly. Tastes like you just made it.
* If you bake bread a lot, designate a powdered sugar shaker for flour. (Feel free to label it if you must. I don’t ; )) This ensures you don’t use too much flour when you’re kneading and shaping.
* I went to visit a friend who had been in the hospital recently. I wanted to bring her a meal, but didn’t have time to make one beforehand. Instead, I took the ingredients with me and prepared dinner while we chatted.
* Looking forward to making these two recipes soon: coconut pound cake and Nutella swirl pound cake.
* Anyone have a good recipe for crackers? How about one that uses a sourdough starter?
What’s been cookin’ at your house? Do tell!
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Click to see other editions of What’s Cookin’?.
Unfortunately I think this may be the image some people have when the subject of cooking with children arises. I promise you, this is not what it looks like at my house – well, most days anyway. Below, you will find some tips on how I got started cooking with my boys.
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Give them plenty of time and space. Before cooking a meal with my boys, I try to be realistic about how much time we will need. In the beginning, I would double the amount I thought we needed, and only cooked on days when we had no other commitments. Once I knew we wouldn’t be rushed, I gave them each their own work zone. My kitchen is a galley and I have 2 good-sized countertops separated by the stove. I put Vincent on one side and Jude on the other. The goal is to give them enough room, so they don’t get hurt.
Teach knife safety. One hand on the handle and one hand flat on top of the knife. As long as the top hand stays flat, the risk of cutting off a digit is practically nil. My kids use their knives everyday, and we have never had a kitchen accident (knocking on wood, while throwing salt over my shoulder). I find giving them big knives (like the French chef shown above) is better than smaller paring knives. If your children have no experience with knives, I would prep the ingredients slightly. For instance, slice a carrot in half lengthwise after they have peeled it. It is much easier for them to cut the carrot into semi-circles when it doesn’t roll. Same thing with a potato. (Ironically, I cut myself yesterday. I wasn’t watching what I was doing, because I was worried Vincent was going to get hurt with the microplane.)
Put them in charge of an entire meal. We started “Soup Tuesday” a few years ago. Instead of a traditional main lesson, the boys were responsible for cooking dinner which consisted of soup and bread. They would chop vegetables, brown meat and add stock. They would mix up the bread dough and knead it by hand. The soup would simmer throughout the day, and we would bake the bread right before dinner. This was such a good investment of time and energy, because now they both know what goes into putting a meal on the table.
Don’t worry about the mess. I had a rule when the boys were babies, if they played with something longer than it took to clean up, I considered it a win-win. I have the same rule in the kitchen. When they cook, they are responsible for putting away the ingredients and clearing the counter. I don’t mind loading the dishwasher and washing the dishes. However, Vincent does have an affinity for kitchen gadgets, and when he uses SIX separate utensils to make scrambled eggs, well, he does his own dishes.
Always, always have the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies on hand. Whether you are vegan, gluten-free, paleo, dairy-free or raw, find a recipe that fits your lifestyle and always, always have the ingredients available. (This is actually one of my top 10 rules for homeschooling. You can read the other nine here.) For Jude, this is a delicious chocolate chip cookie with cinnamon. He has probably made this recipe 50 times, and every batch makes him proud.
Have ingredients ready to go. Friday is our baking day. So that means after I make the coffee at 6 am, I take a pound of butter out of the refrigerator to soften. This is a great way to start the day, and honestly, there is nothing worse than wanting to make something and waiting for butter to soften. It’s like waiting for water to boil or having them ask “Are we there yet?”! If they don’t need the butter, it goes back in the fridge – no harm done.
Have a couple of kid-friendly cookbooks. I find most cookbooks geared toward children to be patronizing (“Let’s make a peanut butter sandwich, boys and girls!”), full of crappy ingredients (Sugary cereal, marshmallows and instant drink mixes are pretty standard fare.) or just plain weird (Gummy worms in pre-made pudding packs. This is a recipe?) The library is a great place to try out new cookbooks for free.
Get them their own gear. Personally I think all you really need is a good chef’s knife, a large cutting board, a vegetable peeler and an apron for each child. Having said that, we do like having our stand-mixer (and the accompanying grain grinder attachment), stoneware loaf pans and pizza pans, a large bread board, more bowls, cookie sheets and cooling racks than necessary and a really nice stove with a convection oven.
Let them develop their own style. I am not a very precise cook. I rarely use a recipe and when I do, I take the directions as mere suggestions. I comprise a meal by looking in the refrigerator and the cabinets and seeing what I can come up with. This is a very satisfying way for me to be creative. Vincent, on the other hand, likes nothing better than to troll through cooking magazines and cookbooks, find a recipe, make a list of the ingredients, see what we need to buy, go shopping and then make the recipe. In the beginning this drove me nuts. (Some days it still does!) However, I have realized that our different personalities manifest as different cooking styles – and this is okay. (Repeat. This is okay. Repeat.)
Above all, have fun. We ate some interesting meals in the beginning. This was compounded by the fact that both boys were interested in pioneer cooking at the time, thanks to Laura Ingalls and the Little House series. (Think no leavening and lots of lard.) However, we did make some good memories and fondly recall making fried salt pork and rye and injun bread – both were disgusting, but are still great for a laugh. I am under no illusion that either of my boys will grow up to become famous chefs, however, I do feel good about knowing they will never go hungry.
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Read about Pizza Night and Sunday Gravy by clicking the images below.
