Welcome to A Little Garden Flower & Waldorf Essentials

Comic book fan?

As unWaldorfy as it might sound, I know we have many comic book moms and dads out there that struggle about stories for their little ones.  Maybe you will enjoy this entry from Life with Sam

Blessings.

Coming to Waldorf mid-year

I have gotten several emails over the last week from moms that are not planning to send their children back to public school on Monday - they all have the same question..."what if I have missed ________?"  It brought my thoughts back to our radio show series on coming to Waldorf late  - it can seem so overwhelming.  We put together some visuals that will hopefully be helpful in making the transition.  Blessings and Happy New Year!!

Favorite Steiner Quotes

I am cleaning out a binder today and came across a file with some favorite quotes - most of the Steiner and thought I would share - I am trying to FREE myself from more paper!

"Our highest endeavor must be to develop 'free' human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives."  ~ R. Steiner

"There are only three effective educational methods - fear, ambition, and love. We do without the first two."  ~ R. Steiner

"If a child has been able in his play to give up his whole loving being to the world around him, he will be able, in the serious tasks of later life, to devote himself with confidence and power to the service of the world."  ~ R. Steiner

"The healthy social life is found, when in the mirror of each human soul, the whole community finds its reflection, and when in the community, the virtue of each one is living."  ~ R. Steiner

"The mood of the fairy tale, even in a quite superficial sense, is truly the means to prepare human souls, such as they are today, for the experience of what can shine into them from higher, supersensible worlds.  The simple fairy tale, approaching modestly with no pretension of copying everyday reality but leaping grandly over all its laws, provides a preparation in human souls for once more accepting the divine spiritual worlds."  ~R. Steiner, 1911

Other:

"Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible."  ~ St. Francis

Falling in love again...

with our day planner! lol. 

I am no different than many of you.  I can lay forth wonderful plans and somehow they get derailed or we fall a bit behind.  This week between Christmas and New Years I am usually looking at where we are on our plan and then assessing where I would still like to go.  It never fails that *something* has come up that makes me have to move things around - this year it was several *somethings* but because I had a good overall plan in place then the assessment is really just a redistribution of work here and there.  It sorta makes me think about having a dinner party and two people who didn't RSVP just showed up... you were still planning the party so it is just a matter of changing who sits where and how the food gets split up, once that is done then the party can go on.

For a long time I used our day planner to plan out our year in addition to my big folded sheet that I always talk about - then with the growth of our business, I started putting more of our plans on the computer - that was ok but I started feeling boxed in a bit - there is something about the act of writing it down, taking the time to connect with it all - so this last week I pulled up the ebook version of our planner (the only version we offer these days) and I evaluated which things I loved from it and which ones I wanted to change.  I found that there really wasn't much I would change - just things I will add when we work on the new edition. 

I thought I would share with you a bit my planning process from this week, in hopes that it would help you with your assessment.  Remember also to tune into our radio show the 4th since we'll be talking about mid year goals.

1. I sat down with my big chart that I made at the beginning of the school year.  I looked over what we had done and also looked at what I might be able to cut given that we are about 4 weeks behind schedule.  There wasn't much I was willing to cut but after talking to Erik about our summer plans, we found ways to integrate some of the things we want to keep into our summer schedule.

2. I grabbed my trusty friends... Post-it Notes... I know.. paper... but I buy recycled ones and I recycle them so I feel like I am at least being responsible.  Between me and God, lol.

3. I made a Post-it for each child, wrote their name at the top and the lesson blocks we still needed to complete. Simple.

4. I got out a plain piece of lined paper (ok, not plain... Hello Kitty) and I outlined each child, then the month and the lesson block we were going to get through for the month.  January through May. Used my Post-it notes to make sure I covered all the bases.  Laying it out made the whole task seem far easier - lighter - doable. 

5. I printed out only the pages from our planner that I knew I would use and that I needed.  For me it was the undated month and the two undated weekly pages.  I have found that with all the children I am planning for I needed a full lined sheet per child each week so I just slipped some pretty Hello Kitty lined paper behind each of the weekly pages for the planning.  I dated everything, hole punched it and put it in a binder.  I have a thing for Post-it Durable Filing Tabs - once you discover them, they will be your friend for life... you will hide them with your chocolate stash, lol.  I use them a ton for marking lectures, school planning and business planning.  They rock. I know... I am anal.  I am always on the look out in the clearance section at the office supply store for anything that I can use for planning.   The back of the binder also has a folder for each child.  I use this for planning ahead - say I find a pretty painting on someone's blog or a chalk board drawing... piece of handwork, etc. I want to use it but it isn't right for this block - maybe it is two months away, I will print it, put it in that folder and then when I sit to do my monthly/weekly planning I will pull it out.  If it is a painting or something that requires my practice, then I try to start practicing it a week or two before I plan to teach it - this gives me PLENTY of time to feel confident.  I do this practice one or two mornings per week before the kids get up or on Sunday afternoon or anytime I can carve out.  The point is I make the time.  Remember that YOU govern your time... no one else.  You might let someone else govern your time, but that isn't the same.  I also use this (Download Festivalplannerpage) I made and slip it right into the week where it belongs so that I have it all right there.

6. Once I have the binder set up, then I can dig into my list for each child.  I generally keep like subjects together - my three will all be working on a six week block of math - this takes into account festivals, our mid winter vacation, etc.

Now that I have in place all the blocks, repositioned from where they were, I can easily go back to my curriculum to do my weekly planning.  I can grab my math book, look at which lessons we will do each day and write down the page numbers in my planner.  If I need story resources, then I can easily look at what I have in my home verses what I may need to grab from the library.

My notes, for example on my planning page (written out on pretty Hello Kitty paper!) might look a bit like this, it is based on the monthly guide in our grade 3 book, pg 93, remember we are about 4 weeks behind - this is the depth I would go into about two weeks in advance so there are NO surprises! No books or recipes to find, it is all there:

Ellie - March 1st -4th:   1st - **Form drawing (I would then clip the form drawing to the back of this page or make sure it is in her folder at the back of the binder with a sticky on it for the date) **our guide pg. 58 for story - I will have read the story in my planning phase and started to think about a drawing/painting/activity we could do that would coordinate with the first day of the story.  For this story, "The Buffalo and the Field Mouse" we might paint buffalo (since I remembered seeing a buffalo painting in my Flickr file) or we might sculpt mice from beeswax - or time permitting we'll do a painting one day and the sculpting the next.

I go through this much planning for EACH day for EACH child.  This is how planning sets you free.  All I have to do now is go over the next day's lesson quickly the night before, read over the story, go to bed.  In the morning I will get up and meditate, work our business, then head to the school area of our home to prepare the chalk boards for the day.  These days, my 3rd grader gets the regular board since her lessons demand it.  My older boys don't get a much board work unless we are drawing a map together or working on geometry, etc.

I regularly get asked where we fit in handwork and baking, etc.  First, you will have to tailor each rhythm to fit YOU... we live a really busy life with the ages of our children, their activities and our business too, so we fit in handwork and baking where we can, at least once a week for baking and several afternoons or lazy evenings for handwork.  When you make it a priority then you find a way to make time.

The next question usually is... Where do I get the planning time?  I expect it.  Erik gives it freely because he knows how smooth our lives run when we have planned.  He knows that I am calmer, the kids know what direction to take and he feels strength when there is peace and love at home.  His work in the planning is making sure kids are occupied so I can get it done.  This week has been sorta easy since the big boys are still on the mend from the flu... but that leaves us with the VERY smurfy Ellie and Sam... they have taken several trips to the store, to the library, to Grandma's to visit her kitties (she's out of town) - whatever it takes so I get the time. 

In the end, there is NO substitute for planning... there is no such thing as a curriculum that won't require you to do some leg work... if you aren't planning this far in depth then you are missing SO MUCH of the wonder in this method. It is there... hidden in the creases of pages, in the lectures you thought you couldn't understand but BOOM magically now you get it... it is there.  Seek it. Meditate on it.

Is our curriculum complete?

Now and then I see this question about our work on a message board.  I think it is a really hard comparison to make since I don't sell or work with others - so my answer comes from years of doing this on my own, research, pulling together resources, learning on my own - taking the time to learn and prepare, pray, meditate... all of those things.  I also know that you'll not find a more accessible curriculum writer, willing to help moms with questions and families with special needs, willing to discuss what others won't AND... and this is a big AND for many families... the only curriculum writer who has homeschooled from day one, all our children... and fought hard to do so.  I have been where you stand - memorizing stories when I should be sleeping, figuring out how I will fit all the lessons in and who will play with Sam or how I will keep him busy.  It all works.

When it comes to the nuts and bolts of our work...

Our math book... every lesson laid out that you will need for grades one through five.

Our geometry book... every lesson laid out for grades five through seven (includes DVDs)

Every one of our curriculum books comes with a bunch of planning tools for you, including a year-at-a-glance page as well as weekly/daily breakdowns that are very easy to follow and plan with.  All come with companion materials that have pictures, form drawings, maps (where appropriate) and pages of back up material.  Nearly all of our work comes in ebook format too - a very smart way to stretch those homeschooling dollars!

Grade one - comes with every Grimms tale you need to go with our work as well as a ton of back up material.

Grade two - several fables and many saint story backgrounds (I believe you should tailor each story to the child so it will vary and a trip to the library or the internet may be needed)

Grade three - several Native American tales, background for Jewish studies and much more.

Grade four - Norse myth tales, animal studies, mapping ideas and much more.

Grade five - Ancient mythologies and background material, botany, lots of drawings.

Grade six - get ready for Rome, Physics and so many other wonderful topics for this year - again with complete back ground.

Not everyone will love our work - you will have to find the *voice* that touches you.  Should you have to work a bit? YES!  That is part of the fun. Part of your learning comes from the preparation of the lessons.  Do you want to drink in Waldorf? or just sip it here and there?  Do you feel like you don't have the time to learn?  Sure you do!  Make the time, take the time, remember this is such a wonderful, important task... not even a task really... a journey!  Have fun with it.  I have four children, I know how challenging it can be to get it all done... that's why you need a good plan and you need to stick to it.

Enjoy it!!!  Much love and many blessings.

Melisa

The next part of Christmas...

With the main holiday of Christmas day gone, there is often a let down - even if you don't go all out with a mainstream material celebration, there can be a let down that comes after the build up.  We had a very simple holiday, lovely, quiet, simple.  We were all working to recover from the flu!  Between my own recovery and everyone else... well let's just say Erik is my gift from above - everyday! 

I always look forward to the days between Christmas and 3 Kings - they are quieter, lazier, calmer... filled with baking that is less sweet, sewing and crafting, resting.  This year with the sickness, I spent my boxing day disinfecting, lol... but still reflecting. 

Here's a lecture to go with the next few days:
http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/Dates/19111226p01.html

There is some belief - whether one subscribes to it or not is up to them, that there is esoteric meaning behind the 12 Days song - it is likely that somewhere the 12 days song got mixed up with a song/recant call "The New Dial" because they have similarities but they are fun all the same and when you are using them for meditation then you can take each line to deeper meaning.

http://www.byrum.org/misc/christmas/origin.html
http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/english/anewdial.htm

One thing I try to be mindful of to focus on one aspect each day. During my cleaning, I kept trying to pull myself back to day one of the recant.... God/Jesus - the Christ child that we just welcomed.  I came to ponder as a mother how I might feel giving birth in a stable - here I was trying to clean my house and she had no choice but to birth in a place that most modern women would find unacceptable.   As I was able to meditate on the Holy Mother, I thought of all the things that must have filled her mind.  A young woman, in a strange land, with a fresh new born... nursing for the first time, dressing herself after birth... those awkward first hours.  Cleaning was a breeze thinking of her, bringing myself back to my own first days as a mother. 

I fell into bed last night tired, but with a clean house!  Two children well and two children quarantined... I figured the house might stay clean for a day or two!  As I write, it is still clean... amazing!

Today I have been pondering old and new.  My meditations have before taken me to the old and new testament, but not this time. With our Beacons getting ready to work on biography next month, I was examining old and new in a different way.  Old me... new me... the me that is unfolding each day, with each experience, with each blessed connection with Source, my family, my dear friends.  The year that is closing and the new one unfolding.

What will tomorrow bring? I'll let you know.  Many blessings!

Melisa Nielsen

 

Awesome Uncles

In the midst of our home made holiday, Ellie (nearly 9yrs) got something she has been pining over for months.  A sewing machine.  Turns out that her uncle (he's in the film industry) had a sewing machine sitting in his closet for the last few years.  A Janome no less!  I have a high end one and I just wasn't thrilled at the prospect of teaching her on it - she's still a few years away (ala Waldorf handwork indications) but she takes to homemaking and handwork so naturally I didn't want to squash it.  Over the last few weeks we have been hand sewing and strengthening her knitting/purling skills (she'll crochet this year too) - we just never dreamed that mentioning to Grandma that she wanted a sewing machine would get one to our door within two weeks.  Thanks Uncle Robert!

This is the pin cushion she made in anticipation of getting her machine!  She told me that this is the best Christmas ever, lol... such a sweet girl. 

  

Finished project - a knitting bag, completely lined with a pocket for her needles - all I did was man the rotary cutter and help her pin - the rest was all her.  She is already planning the next project.

Store is complete!!

We have the store up and going and I am so excited to show it off.  We are going to be adding to it over the coming months but for now it is stocked and beautiful!  Come and check it out!  How does that song go? "Up from the ashes grow the roses of success!"  Have a blessed rest of the week.

Home Made Christmas part two

Of course after I decided I would chronicle our holiday preparations ala low budget and little time, people in my house started dropping like flies... three incredibly sick people within a week - thankfully we all seem to be pulling through and my guess is we will be well in time for the big day.  The children have been making things for each other, re-gifting things they are no longer using and handwork... the beauty and utility of Waldorf handwork!  I am so blessed to be able to pass these things on to my children.

Everyone wanted to make a gingerbread house... with sick people though I was out of energy to make one from scratch so we resorted to one from a box (there will be NO guilt about throwing this one out when the holiday is over!) the kids had fun - that is what matters.

Stockmar Painting pdf's

I ran across these this morning and thought I would share for anyone wanting to learn more about using the circle paints we sell in our store.

Mixing Colors

Introduction & Techniques

Working Materials

Blessings!!