1st Grade - Letters A, E, I, O & Numbers 1, 2

We are thoroughly enjoying experiencing 1st grade homelearning as a family this year! Wilson is our sweet 1st grader.

We get asked frequently, "So, what do you with Wilson when you homeschool?". Here is a breakdown of the basics that we've been doing the first two weeks of school, using the Earthschooling curriculum as a guide. Letters are introduced in a 3-day rhythm. We are reviewing one number per week.

Week 1
Day 1
Circle Time: Sing "Angels Watching Over Me" ("A"), lyre
Letter A: A Story, LMNOP Card Verse/Movement
Number 1: 5 Senses (taste one apple, see one leaf, feel and guess one item in the box, hear one bird, smell one essential oil)

Day 2
Letter A: Singing, "A"corn Watercolor with Verse, Project (mixing and baking Squash Bread)
Number 1: Math Gnomes (each gnome has 1, practice add/subt/mult/div with gems)
Form Drawing (All form drawing comes from the Write Approach book)

Gymnastics Class

Day 3
Letter A: Writing (air, chalkboard, window crayons, colored pencils in MLB), Search for items that have "A" in them
Letter E: E Story, LMNOP Card Verse/Movement

Number 1: Scooping pearls with a shell, one at a time while felted mermaid watches

Day 4
Letter E: Singing/lyre "Farmer in the Dell" ("E"), Tr"ee" Watercolor with Verse, Dream Tea Project (lemon balm leaves and strawberries)
Number 1: Writing (chalkboard, MLB), Singing "The Ants Go Marching 1 by 1"
Form Drawing

Day 5
Circle Time: Sing/lyre "Good Morning Dear Earth" ("A, E, I, O")
Letter E: Writing, Search for items that have "E" in them, Draw faces on hard-boiled "E"ggs and do egg hunts.
Number: Nature Counting wood blocks, one at a time
Foreign Language: Numbers in Spanish


Week 2
Fairy Tale of the Week: Briar Rose (Mommy tells story and acts it out. Throughout the week, Wilson retells story. Older children write a "persuasive essay" in their MLB's regarding the tale.)

Day 1
Circle Time: Sing/Lyre "Good Morning Dear Earth", Bean bag counting, Circle Time Song, Meditation
Letter I: I Story, LMNOP Card Verse/Movement
Number 2: 5 Senses
Piano

Day 2
Letter I: Singing/lyre "Michael Row Your Boat" ("I"), "I"cicle Watercolor with Verse, Project (mixing and baking Indian corn bread)
Number 2: Math Gnomes (2 jewels each, practice add/subt/mult/div)
Form Drawing
Handwork: Spinning Yarn

Gymnastics Class

Day 3
Letter I: Writing, Search for items that have "I" in them
Letter O: O Story, LMNOP Card Verse/Movement

Number 2: Play kitchen (cutting wood food into "2" pieces and serving "2" plates of food)
Music: Piano

Day 4
Letter O: Singing, "O"range Watercolor with Verse, Project (cut and sew a Frog bean bag)
Number 2: Writing (chalk, window crayons, colored pencils), Singing "The Ants Go Marching 2 by 2"
Form Drawing
Handwork: Spinning Yarn

Day 5
Circle Time: Sing/lyre "Michael Row Your Boat" ("I, O"), count by 2's throwing bean bags
Letter O: Writing, Search for items that have "O" in them in the garden
Foreign Language: Counting in Spanish

Count on Nature

At Syrendell, we are surrounded by the artistry of nature. The bounty of the garden vegetables glisten in the sun like jewels, the beauty of flowers smile like ballerinas on a stage, and even the humble ivy twist about like Celtic knots in the shade of trees. With the branches of felled trees, among abandoned heaps of clippings, in a quiet corner of the yard, one may think the artistry of nature had run its course. But no!

Revived by Syrendell, the tree branch is awakened and revitalized as homelearning counting and imagination blocks!



Daddy cut the branches, sanded their edges and rough parts of the bark, and some sets he finished with beeswax, others without (he seems to prefer to leave them unfinished to see the natural patina of the wood). In sets of twelve, with diameters averaging one and a half inches, with lengths between one inch to about three inches, they make excellent counting blocks, just the perfect number to learn basic operations. Mommy dyed a circle-shaped muslin fabric with onion skins, Joey sewed the edges, and Ricky and Wilson did a simple single crochet as a tie, and voila! A handy pouch to carry the wood blocks in. And with some imagination, both the fabric and the tie can serve so many other uses.

Nature continues to inspire us, feed us, protect us. We honor it by sustaining its vital force through the appreciation of all it can offer us and teach us.

Snails in the Garden

The garden is alive - a micro-biome of vegetation, organisms, and elements such as minerals, water, and sun. When we are involved, tending to the seasonal harvest, we become connected to the spirit of the earth.



Naturally, we find an assortment of creatures also enjoying the garden. Amidst the broad leaves of squash, we spotted a congregation of Syrendell snails!



It's Snooks (orange), Sport (red), Slim (blue), Sprig (green), and Sweets (purple), taking in a beautiful day. We should learn a thing or two from snails, to slow down a bit and savor life.





Happy gardening, friends!

Our New Home - Syrendell

Syrendell has moved....just across town (still in Fair Oaks), to a fairy cottage by a creek. We are surrounded by grandiose trees, a bio-dynamic garden, wild berries and spiraling vines. Our magical home is in the midst of natural beauty...so much to inspire us as we learn, create and grow together a family this year.


We are still close to relatives, the kids' activities, and conveniences. The best of both worlds! Our neighbors are kind people who all have an affiliation with anthroposophy and/or Waldorf education. Sacramento Waldorf School, a park and bike path are around the corner. Steiner College is two blocks away. The American River is a few streets away. Time to start biking and rafting!

Our home is smaller than our past houses, and yet it feels just right. Funny how we think that as the family grows, we need more space! Well, we've had a large new home with a pool and big yard in the past and we loved it, but...this place is different. We are enjoying the closeness of each other, the simplicity of having fewer square feet to clean, and time to focus on homelearning, gardening and art.

Spiral Path in the Front Yard

Already, we are playing our instruments more, singing, and crafting! Good energy abounds.

Syrendell Sprites Crafted in our New Home

Our home has a large deck in the front and back which extends our living and learning areas. We've transformed the bookcase and dining room table Daddy made into a homelearning center, aka, the "Dell". Our new Dell has doors that lead out to the back porch, reminding us of the importance of spending time out of doors each day.

So....we haven't been blog posting or commenting as often this past week because of the move. Our Etsy orders have been a bit delayed. We should be back up to speed, soon. Although, it is awfully tempting to just sit on the deck and breathe in the jasmine...take a nap...dream....

Summer Poem

For our official last week of homelearning this year, we filled our circle time with thoughts of summer! We read poems, sang songs, and talked about what summer means to us. We each shared some of our favorite projects, trips and topics that we learned about this past year. Above is a poem that we created together about summer!

Meal Verse

We prepare and eat at least one lunch that relates to each social studies block (pictures above feature: Jewish charoset from the Diaspora, Medieval peasant/servant meal served in a castle, Moorish feast, Medieval European monk's meal). We love to eat together as a family! During lunch, we start with a meal verse.

Ricky, Joey and Wilson have been entrenched in botany adventures this year, so they made up a poem about a seed becoming a tree, then growing fruit that we will eat. With all of the recent rain, we've been talking a lot about rainbows and colors...also included in the poem!

The poem became a song, and then we added gentle movements to it. At some point, we'll get a video clip of it here on our blog.

Syrendell Meal Verse - From the Earth

From the Earth a seed is born

Sun and rain, in the morn

Grows a tall and happy tree

Lots of shade for you and me

Rainbow-colored sweet fruits grow

Pick them when they're ripe and low

Smell and taste their sugar sweet

Thank you, Earth, for this treat

Lemonade Award!

What a nice surprise! Thank you to Linda at http://www.naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/ for nominating our blog for a lemonade award. How wonderful!

Lemonade Award

Here's how it works. Let someone know they have inspired you:

1.Put the logo on your blog or post
2.Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great Gratitude and/or Attitude.
3.Be sure to list and link your nominees within your post.
4.Let them know they have received this award by leaving a comment on their blog.
5.Nominate your favorites and link to your post.

It is our privilege to pass on some lemonade! These blogs inspire us every day to be creative with our amazing family. Thank you!

1. Kristie at http://waldorfschoolonline.blogspot.com/
2. Lisa at http://5orangepotatoes.blogspot.com/
3. Melisa at http://waldorfjourney.typepad.com/a_journey_through_waldorf/
4. The "Hen" at http://ahenandtwochicks.blogspot.com/
5. Marina at http://asmalltribe.blogspot.com/
6. Wood Sprite Mama at http://woodspritehollow.blogspot.com/
7. Artemis Moon http://myartemismoon.wordpress.com/
8. Suzanne at http://downinthemeadow.blogspot.com/
9. Carrie at http://theparentingpassageway.com/
10. One Golden Sun at http://goldensunfamily.blogspot.com/