Welcome to A Little Garden Flower & Waldorf Essentials

Coming to Waldorf Late

The past two radio shows focused on coming to Waldorf during the grade school years.  I want to address some of the key points that we feel are important when you are new to Waldorf homeschooling.  Most people only think of the beeswax crayons, nice pencils and paint - these are great, but what do you do with them?  It all starts with good planning and understanding the curriculum, otherwise the materials are just things - they aren't the heart and soul of Waldorf.  Below are some sets for each of the grades (you can find full descriptions in our store), purchasing these bundled sets directly from our blog will save you some money as they are discounted from the full price.  Be sure to visit our radio station to listen to both shows on the topic.

Our daughter showing some grade 1 work

Grade 1 (age 6-7):  While you want to make sure you have a good grasp of the grade one basics, be sure you also do your background work.  I recommend studying Steiner himself where possible.  I also recommend this bundle below that includes: A Journey... audio series (in download mp3 format), Coloring with Block Crayons DVD set, Form Drawing DVDs, Waldorf Homeschool Planning DVDs, e-book versions of our Grade 1 curriculum and our Grades 1-5 math book.  $125

Our daughter with her grade two Saint Patrick drawing.

Grade 2 (age 7-8):  In many ways, grade two is an extension of grade one.  Some children are reading well and some are still coming along.  When you come to Waldorf at this stage, you will need many of the foundations that we recommend for grade one, the exception being that you will want our grade two curriculum instead. This bundle includes everything above substituting with grade two. $120

Math wheel

Grade 3 (age 8-9):  Consider not working on the regular Waldorf festivals this year but rather celebrate Jewish festivals and ease into your year.  Remember to keep any history to an age-appropriate level.  You can skip the fairy tales and the fables at this point unless you want to use them as extra stories.   This bundle includes: A Journey...downloads, e-book copies of our Grade 3 curriculum and Math book, Block Crayon DVDs, Planning DVDs, and Form Drawing DVDs. $122

Grade four lesson from Norse myth, past, present & future.

Grade 4 (age 9-10):  If you begin with Waldorf this year, you will want to be certain you fully understand the man/animal main lesson as this will give you a foundation of what is to come in the upper elementary grades.  You may also consider some drawing classes or our block crayon DVD.  For this year's bundle we recommend: e-books of our Grade 4 curriculum and our Math book, A Journey downloads, Planning DVDs, and Form Drawing DVDs.  $90

Grade 5 Geometry drawing

Grade 5 (age 10-11):  You should consider doing the 4th grade man/animal lesson block before the botany block.  Be sure not to skip form drawing and geometry.  The fifth grade bundle includes: Grade 5 curriculum and Math both e-books, A Journey downloads, Planning DVDs, Form Drawing DVDs, and Geometry e-book & DVDs. $120

Example of grade 6 map drawing

Grade 6 (age 11-12):  This year will start off great if you have a good understanding of the history covered in grade five through ancient cultures.  Take the time to understand the time periods and the geography.  Spend time covering zoology and botany.  The bundle for this grade includes: Grade 6 curriculum e-book, A Journey downloads, Planning DVDs, Form Drawing DVDs, and Geometry DVDs. $97

**Although I didn't bundle our Block Crayon DVD for the upper elementary grades, it can be a great tool for you as a resource on learning how to make beautiful chalk board drawings - the processes are very similar.  Also, while I did not mention it in each grade, handwork is an important part of Waldorf education.  We have many handwork supplies in our shop.

From grade seven through high school, Waldorf can be a bit trickier to integrate.  My best suggestion is to go through the base history curriculum to be sure your child has a good understanding of the work and how we got to where we are as a society.  Be sure to cover the sciences in depth. 

Remember that Waldorf is about allowing the child to develop through age-appropriate material and activities.  Stand back and watch them blossom - do not be in a hurry.  Be sure to take the time to plan and understand the material for yourself.  You can do it!  Welcome to Waldorf!

Blessings.

Melisa Nielsen

Hold back? Move ahead?

I recently had a chat with a mom new to Waldorf.  She has older children and was worried about the placement of her daughter in grade six.  She was worried about the fact that she wasn't up to speed with her math or writing, and questioned if her daughter should go back to grade five or even four to get the entire curriculum.

This is a good question and one that I get often.  I assured her that Waldorf education is so different than anything else whether in the homeschool or public school arena.  With Waldorf, you can keep a child at grade level developmentally and work independently on their other skills.  The method of presenting subjects and the sequence of presenting them is directly in line with the development of the each child's being.  A child of 12 years could be studying Rome (grade six) and understanding the concepts and stories while working to strengthen their writing and math skills of previous years.  It is as much a journey for them as it is for us.  We must remember that educating a child in this method is an art, and that as a parent-teacher we are refining and as we refine ourselves the children will come along.  Sometimes we notice that there might be an imbalance in skills so along comes the next main lesson block and a perfect opportunity to strengthen them.  Teaching in lesson blocks allows us to spend concentrated time to grow each area and then let it sleep for a while to work on something else.

There have been many times when I began to get frustrated with the level that one of my children was working at only to meditate and decide that it should go to sleep for a while.  Every time we have encouraged this "sleeping" it has paid off.  They always come back with renewed strength to dig back in. 

After about grade four, it is appropriate to do daily math practice (outside of a math main lesson) via 5-10 math problems per day - not new material, just problems that keep their skills active.

There is no substitution for prayer, meditation and planning when it comes to homeschooling with Waldorf or any method.  Take the time, you will be glad you did.

Many blessings.

Melisa & Erik Nielsen
www.alittlegardenflower.com

Busy Shop Gnomes

While we have been busy getting settled into the new school year, the little gnomes have been tinkering in our shop.  Take a peek at the goodies they have added:

Homeschool Planning Webinar - Join Melisa for nearly four hours of instruction as she details how to plan for and teach grades one through six of the Waldorf homeschool curriculum.  Some important topics covered are working with multiple children, how to present a lesson on the board, and how to put her curriculum into action.  Whether you are new to Waldorf or a veteran homeschooler, there are sure to be tips and tricks to help make teaching easier.  The set comes packaged in a sturdy case, and will make an excellent addition to your resource library.  Three DVD's for just $15.  Grab your copy today!

HomeMusicMaking Products - We're happy to offer a full selection of products from music teacher, Jodie Mesler.  With the traditional tin penny whistle, you can recreate the music on her CD or use it for soothing background music or take up her beginner's music curriculum.  The curriculum is geared towards the grade one parent and child, but can be used by anyone just learning to play an instrument.  Jodie's products are a cost-effective and simple solution to music instruction.

 

We'll keep you posted on the gnomes' work at A Little Garden Flower.  Until next time, blessings on your journey.

 

Melisa & Erik Nielsen

Ebook Sampler

A note to our loyal friends and customers:

Our bestselling E-book Curriculum Sampler will be discontinued this Wednesday, and I want to take this opportunity to let you know.  If you have been thinking about purchasing multiple grades or using our curriculum throughout your homeschooling years, don't delay.  This is your last chance to grab this deal!

The e-book sampler and downloads shouldn't even be called a sampler.  It includes full versions of nearly all of our books to-date plus our homeschool planner and some of our audio downloads.  This is an excellent opportunity increase your knowledge of Waldorf while being prepared for future grades.  Each curriculum contains complete monthly and weekly lesson plans, as well as, supporting information, stories, background on Anthroposophy and festivals, and articles by homeschooling parents.  The day planner has weekly at-a-glance sections, festival and seasonal information, other items to deepen your journey.  Before the Journey and the kindergarten book are not a curriculum but an inspiration for living in a healthy rhythm with your growing preschool and kindergartner.  The audio series covers topics of interest for parents such as relationships, child development, parenting, and homeschooling.  The e-books are in pdf format, and the audio downloads are in mp3 format.

You'll get all of this with your E-Book Curriculum Sampler:
My Journey Day Planner
Before the Journey
A Journey... Kindergarten
A Journey... Grade 1
A Journey... Grade 2
A Journey... Grade 3
A Journey... Grade 4
A Journey... Grade 5 
A Journey... Grade 6
A Journey... Math for Grades 1 through 5
A Journey Audio Series

Don't miss out on this amazing chance to have a full Waldorf homeschool library through grade six for a fraction of the cost of buying the items separately!  Be sure to watch our store for the addition of new curriculum, school and art products in the coming months.  We have many exciting things in store for you!

Visit our store for more details.  The cost for the above is $175.

*This product will be available in our store through Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 12:00 am MST.  Please save all files to your computer or a CD upon receipt as they will only be accessible for a short time.  E-books are not to be resold in any form and are only intended for use by the original purchaser.  Unless you are an overseas shopper, please do not print e-books in their entirety as they are meant to be an environmentally-friendly way to purchase and enjoy our products.  While we support the reselling and recycling of our printed products, reselling e-books violates our policies and copyrights.

A Journey through Waldorf Geometry

There are few things that really strike fear into the hearts of some moms like the thought of geometry.  Geometry was not like this for many of us in school... I remember *getting it* but hating it!  And I didn't get everything, only bits and pieces and Pythagoras was certainly not my favorite dude. So when I decided I was going to write a geometry resource, I knew I had to overcome my own bias before I could get into it and bring it to others.  I did a lot of reading... a lot of praying... more praying... more reading... then I finally picked up the compass and just got busy.  To my surprise, it was easy!  Ok maybe not easy but enjoyable!  Better than the dentist.  Better even than pasta... not better than pie.

The set comes with: FULLY laid out geometry lessons for grades 5-7.  12 lessons for each year for a total of 36.  These are laid out in in ebook format with full color pictures for nearly every lesson, over 40 pictures total.  There are also two DVDs that walk you through all major constructions. The presale goes through the end of August and is $25.  After that the regular price is $35.

Below you will find a sample lesson from our book (grade 5, lesson 12) and also a segment from our DVD. (be sure to click on the pictures below so you can see a full view!)  Enjoy!  Get excited - hurry up - go get a compass! get some paper... go on.. do the lesson below and see how easy it is.  Just do it.

Lesson 12

This is by far the hardest lesson you will do in grade five geometry – we saved the best for last!  Really though, it looks hard but isn’t once you get going.   Today you will construct a flower within a dodecagon.  What is a dodecagon?  It is a 12-sided shape with 12 angles.  A regular dodecagon has 12 equal sides, this is where our focus will be today.

 

While twelve sides seems overwhelming at first, it can be done easily by using the instruction for constructing the hexagon.  Being certain that your arcs for your hexagon go both through the center and through the original circle, you will create extra points.  Before joining all over your points, count them, there should be 12.  See this lesson on our DVD.  From each of these extra points, create another arc until you have constructed 12 total.  Now it might look like a mess! Refer to our finished picture  and start coloring in the center, erasing the lines that are not needed.  Soon your shape will emerge.

Back to School Sale!

It's that time... you see school supplies and backpacks in every store... well we don't have backpacks but we do have a sale!  AND a new book too!

First the sale:
10% off our store from now until July 31st.  The coupon code is school2009. 

Now the book:
We just finished our geometry book and we think you will love it!  This project has been so much fun!  Here's the description from our store:
A Journey through Waldorf Geometry is a simple addition to your math program for grades 5, 6 and 7. With 12 or more lessons for each block plus suggestions for additional activities, you will have everything you need to confidently present geometry lessons to your fifth through seventh grader. The detailed instructions with accompanying illustrations will help even the most math-phobic parent implement the lessons.

This set includes a CD and two DVDs. The ebook is on the CD and individual pages can be printed if needed. The DVDs contains video demonstrations for you of all of the base constructions both on the chalkboard and on paper. In addition, each lesson in the book has step-by-step photos. Some of the constructions you will learn are hexagons, octagons, equiangular spirals, nested octagons, and many more.

Never fear - geometry made simple is here!

Other great things are happening too!  We hired more staff - we are really so excited about this.  We know it will decrease shipping times and get things into your hands faster than ever!  We have hired Tammy, Manager of Operations to over see our Idaho warehouse and get things whipped into shape!  We also have Betsie joining us as our Director of Marketing.  Both ladies are wonderful Waldorf mamas who have both older kids and younger ones, they know Waldorf and they are committed to helping us grow so we can continue to bring you great resources for your journey. 

Now go!  Shop... and then enjoy your summer some more! *wink* 
Blessings!

Our Ebook Sampler

Hi all!  I was trying to think of what to spotlight today in our market.  I have spent time meditating on the needs of our customers (both present and future) – one thing that keeps coming to mind is cost.  I get several emails a week from families we work with appreciating that we have a lower cost ebook option for our curriculum.  Many people don’t realize that our ebooks are just like our hard copy books only they are electronic so while saving on printing costs they are also very eco friendly.

 

The wheels of change are starting to move but I am still hearing tales of lay offs, foreclosures and hour reductions.  We want to make sure that you never have to make a choice between curriculum and eating!  And I also don’t ever want families to have to make choices between buying new supplies or not because they have to spend a lot on curriculum.  We aim to make our product very complete with day by day schedules through the grades and plenty of support for both the new Waldorf parent and the seasoned one as well.

 

We have some great options for families that are teaching several grades – our best option is our Ebook Sampler.  The Sampleris chock full of great tools for your journey including: ebook copies of all our books – “Before the Journey” through “A Journey… Grade 6,”  “A Journey through Waldorf Math,”  also a link to our day planner (great to get started on your planning!) – the bonus with the sampler is that you also get a link to our audio series, you can load them to your MP3 player or burn them to a disc, either way you can maximize your study time as a busy mom.  This sampler is well priced at $175 – now that is cheaper than many companies charge for just one year!  Remember you always have free access to support through our egroup, main lesson blog, our You Tube channel and our radio show as well.

Bronze Bow Grade Six

"The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare is often read during grade six for those using the Waldorf method.  A few months back, I had a wonderful mom email me some questions that she worked on as a discussion for her son while he was reading the book and with her permission, I post some of those questions here, along with some other discussion questions we found along the way.  By now you might be freaking out just a bit "wait!!! questions? as in...test?" Well sorta!  By this age you should be able to have a pretty good conversation about what your child thought about different works they have read - conversations that are a bit deeper than they are when you are working on a saints block with your second grader or even a Norse myth block with your fourth grader.  The conversations you will start having with your child at twelve, really give you insight into who they are becoming, how they view the world and what they think about different works of literature - and while you are not doing a comparative analysis of works just yet, you can really get their view of what happened to the characters in the book.  For my oldest son, this book became the first time I think he really understood what it meant to go to war for religion's sake - really beginning to watch him form opinions about people and situations.

I hope these questions are helpful to you.  Blessings!

1. Why does Daniel not know from the start that Rosh is devious?
2. Were any of Daniel's crimes justifiable? Why? or why not?
3. Discuss the character strengths of the main players in the book.
4. For what are the Jewish people waiting?
5. Why does Rabbi Hezron defend the Roman occupiers?
6. Why do the village boys beat up Nathan?
7. Why is the Good Samaritan parable important?
8. What does Jesus ask Daniel to do before he can follow him?
9. How does Simon define faith?

Fellow physics families!

For anyone working through grade 6 physics, you may find this fun. 

We had a lot of fun with this as we reviewed some things from our physics of sound block.  Thank you Grandma!!

May 18th Radio Show

For those following our radio shows, our show from last week is up.

http://waldorfjourney.typepad.com/the_gnomes_home/2009/05/may-18th-show.html

We are skipping Memorial Day (May 25th) but will be back with a June full of Handwork!  We decided to review the book "Handwork Indications" by Rudolf Steiner the link goes to an ebook version of the book.  Each week we will discuss a portion of the book and also talk directly about handwork for the grades and ideas for handwork at home.  I have long found that working on handwork projects in a home environment can be much different than they would be in school - our children have much more time to dedicate to projects since they often get to them daily rather than a few times a week.  We'll talk about how you can work on handwork without feeling guilt for what you don't know.  I will also work to have a new pattern each week to share!  I hope you will join us!

Also, don't forget we are still working the last 30 minutes of each show on the book "Rhythms of Learning" - we have been working through a chapter each week and I welcome any thoughts or notes you might want to add.

The show airs weekly (generally) on Mondays at 6am mountain time.  The next show is June 1st.  Instructions for catching the show can be found here.