Homeschooling Classes - Woodworking, Music, Art, Handwork

We are very excited about our upcoming homeschooling classes in Davis, CA! Winter term begins January 26, 2016. Registration is available online at www.wholisticlearningresources.net. 

We also travel and teach workshops for homeschooling groups, parents and teachers! Contact us for more information on scheduling workshops near you.

Homeschool Classes Offered in Davis!

Announcement from Wholistic Learning Resources

WLR is coming to Davis!

WLR is pleased to announce our new classes in Davis, California!

The new classes will be taught by two outstanding teachers and Waldorf enthusiasts: Rick & Jennifer Tan. Please join me in welcoming the Tans to Wholistic Learning Resources!

I met the Tans a number of years ago and Jennifer was actually one of the teachers at WLR  during our first semester of classes in 2010. Soon after, however, the Tans relocated to Davis. I am excited to be working with them again at our new location at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis.

The new classes include Nature Notebook Journaling, Art, Handwork and Music. The Tans are talented, experienced teachers who bring a wealth of knowledge, joy and beauty to everything they do. In addition, they are experienced homeschoolers themselves and are flexible in their approach to education.

Classes will be held on Tuesdays, beginning September 15 and will run for 10 weeks. View the schedule for more details.

How To Homeschool Webinar

We are very excited to share an incredible FREE training webinar. This is perfect for those who are ready to start homeschooling, but they either don’t know where to start or don't have the time.

Sign up by clicking here to participate in "3 Simple Ways to Make Waldorf Work with Less Time & Less Stress"

This webinar comes with supporting worksheets & checklists and has been created by Donna Ashton at The Waldorf Connection.  It’s delivered entirely over audio and/or webinar and only takes an hour.

The course will help you figure out the steps to setting up your homeschool,
how to save tons of time and make this a lot easier on yourself than you thought possible.

And reveal tips on real-life situations like:
How can I manage with more than one child?
When do I find time for myself?
How do I deal with electronics & media?
How can I engage my child with interesting lessons?
Can I get my spouse/family on board with Waldorf?
What do I need to get start homeschooling today?
How do I stay motivated and inspired?

Ancient History - Grade 5 Waldorf Homeschooling

We have been delving into the Ancient History blocks this year for homeschooling.  Grade 5 is rich with stories, mythology, geography, food and festivals from ancient cultures. We love reading stories from Earthschooling, Story of the World and other wonderful books.

Wilson is creating a main lesson book featuring the deities from each part of the world that he studies. He chooses two gods/goddesses, learns about them, and adds a simple poem to his drawings. Here are some samples from Egypt, Babylonia, and India.

Homeschooling Again...Joy!

Ancient Humans - Watercoloring Stonehenge

Geometry - Pentagons and pentagrams

We have decided to homeschool at least one more year with our son Wilson.  He is currently considered a 5th grader, so we are joyfully jumping into all things ancient, while continuing to deepen our understanding of botany that we started at the end of last year. We are using Earthschooling, Teaching Textbooks (math), Story of the World, and an eclectic mix of books, field trips, and our own projects. Some highlights from our first couple of weeks.

Botany - Growing seeds indoors and then transplanting into the Fall garden

Botany - Identifying plants during a hike to Boiling Spring Lake in Drakesbad within the Lassen Volcanic National Park

PE - Tap dancing with siblings and Mommy

Art - Watercoloring a scene from our camping trip to Lake Almanor

Botany - Crayon drawing the stages of plants

Our End-of-Year Homeschooling Photo Album

One of our favorite things to do at the end of each homeschooling year, is to go back and find photos of our trips, projects and samples of work. We upload the photos into Shutterfly and create a keepsake album. 

 The album is such a special gift for us to keep as a family, and we enjoy sharing it with friends and relatives. It also serves as a nice reminder of what we accomplished during the year...always more than we remember! 

Summer is a great time to analyze and evaluation the previous homeschooling year in order to better prepare for the coming year, and the photo album may be used as an evaluative tool. 

More than anything, we really just love flipping through the pages and saying, "Oh yeah...remember that?" and launching into discussions about what we learned together as a family.  Click below to take a peek at our album from 2013-2014!

Click here to view this photo book larger

The new way to make a photo album: photo books by Shutterfly.

Global Waldorf Expo June 13-15!

The Waldorf Homeschool Expo Conference is going to be more fun and more educational
than any single Waldorf book or tutorial And, better yet, it’s ONLINE and FREE from June 13 – June 15, 2014!  Rick Tan of Syrendell, Kristie Burns of Earthschooling, Robyn Wolfe of Waldorfish, Rainbow Rosenbloom of Live Ed, and more!

Donna Ashton, host of  The Waldorf Homeschool Expo and creator of  The Waldorf Connection,
created this educational and entertaining event because homeschooling can be overwhelming.
That’s why we are gathering together for the most awesome weekend of the year!

It’s a chance to participate in a Waldorf Homeschooling event from the comfort of your
home and still be part of a global community. At The Waldorf Homeschool Expo we’ll gather
together to learn from Waldorf teachers, experts and veteran homeschoolers because - we’re all in this together. Register for FREE now by clicking on the photo logo above.

WHY ATTEND?
Being a homeschooling mom can be tough and sometimes you need some fresh ideas & inspiration.
The Waldorf Homeschool Expo contains 15+ online classes to make teaching more enjoyable.
Workshops are on hot topics incredibly important, like:
- How to “live Waldorf” and thrive (even if you are the weird one on the block)
- Time saving ways to use a homeschool planner
- Why taking care of yourself improves communication with your family and
makes you a better teacher.

Better yet, if you register today, you’ll have access to the following FREE GIFTS
as soon as your registration has been completed!
- FREE Tutorial 1: Block Crayon Drawing Tutorial
- FREE Tutorial 2: Handwork Outside the Box Ebook
- FREE Tutorial 3: Waldorf Rhythm & Stages Video/Pdf
- FREE Tutorial 4: Creating Rites of Passage for your Child

Come listen ONLINE and be inspired from June 13 – June 15, 2014! Register for FREE by clicking on the photo logo above. See you at The Waldorf Homeschool Expo from June 13- June 15!

Explore Your World this Spring! - Guest Blog Post at The Waldorf Connection

We are please to announce that our guest blog post is up at The Waldorf Connection!  Please take a peek and leave a comment. 

Organizing our Homeschooling

Staying organized as a homeschooling family is important. At times, it can feel like learning is taking over every space of the home! Here are some of the ways that we stay organized during the homeschool year.

We hung magnetic ropes on a wall to showcase recent artwork. It is easy and inexpensive. We rotate artwork and then store them away. Eventually, some watercolors get cut into cards, gift tags, notebook covers and book markers.

We dedicate one open bookcase for current books, projects, supplies and reference material. We found some magazine holders at a thrift shop and added chalkboard stickers on the sides. Handwork is kept in a basket that may be carried anywhere. A large basket with commonly used art and other supplies is on the floor.

We dedicate a space for a nature table...mantle, bar, top of bookcase or other spot.

A table space is clean and available for written work and artwork during the day, and is cleaned up before dinner each afternoon. 

We found an antique caddy for all of our writing and drawing supplies. Reused food jars and cylindrical gift boxes hold pens and paint brushes.

Sometimes, organizing feels like it takes as much time as planning! Daily, we organize and clean the table space. Weekly, we organize the bookcase. Seasonally, we rotate the nature table, artwork and reorganize the magazine holders in the bookcase. Curricula and supplies that are not being used will be stored in a bin in the garage, sold, gifted or recycled.

Grade 4 Nordic Blocks

One of the more unique and fascinating part of Waldorf curricula is the study of Nordic tales in grade 4. This is presented often through the teaching of Norse mythology, stories about Vikings, information about Scandinavia and Finland, and the Finnish Kalevala. We chose to cover this block during the coldest and darkest time of the year at home, enjoying reading Thorkill of Iceland, D'Aulaires Norse Myths and the Kalavela while naalbinding yarn and sipping hot chocolate....

Main Lesson Book page on Norse God Balder.

Symbols from ancient Finland.

Wet-on-dry watercolor of heroes fighting at Asgard in Norse Mythology.

Lucetting a gift for big brother for Christmas.

Designing and carving Thor's hammer, "Mjolnir" out of clay.

Yggdrasil = The nine worlds in Norse Mythology

Making a raw vegan "Odin's Yule Log"

Creating rune stones out of clay

Baking vegan Santa Lucia buns

A handwork basket filled with Scandinavian tools: nostepinne, lucet, double-lucet, naalbinding needle

Oil crayon drawn, then wet-on-dry watercolor painted Vainamoinen playing the kantele from the Kalevala

Wet-on-dry watercolor of a Viking ship

  

Return to Homeschooling

     Wet on dry Viking ship painting

What an adventure--we are homeschooling again! Our family fully supports and embraces a variety of educational opportunities for our children, including public school, private Waldorf school and homeschooling.  This year, we have decided to jump back into the homeschooling realm with Wilson. What a pleasure it is for us to have Wilson at home, growing up with his little sister Linden, actively involved in the home, and enjoying the exciting 4th grade curriculum.

Ceramic Celtic letter tile

We have not been blogging as much lately.  Thanks for being patient with us!  The past two years have been fabulous...a new baby, a new home, and our wedding business has grown three-fold.  So thankful, and so blessed.  

Fractions - Castle story math

Our Syrendell time has been focused on workshops, consulting, private lessons, custom orders for our Etsy shop, our newsletter, and keeping in touch via social media: Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, Flickr and Instagram.  Now, we promise to start blogging more again! Please follow us through social media and sign up for our quarterly newsletter.

Form drawing

Enjoy some samples of Wilson's homeschooling adventures this year!

Trip to Lake Solano to observe river otters, geese, peacocks and squirrels and to sketch trees

             Spanish and German months of the year 

Trip to Baldo walnut farm in Rumsey, CA - squeezing our own pomegranate juice

        Violin lesson and learning how to play musical saws at Baldo Farm

Trip to the Maidu Museum and exploring Native American petroglyphs and grinding rocks in Roseville, CA

Autumn nature table

     Wet on dry watercolor of sea turtles

                   Visit to Cache Creek Lavender Farm in Rumsey, CA

Clay runes

              Hike in Stebbins Cold Creek Canyon outside of Winters, CA

 Scandinavian lucetting

       Wet on dry watercolor of a horse

        Homeschool ceramics class at the Davis Art Center

        Needlefelting a Thanksgiving cornucopia with the whole family

Ceramics

       Trip to Sutter's Fort in Sacramento, CA

     Interacting with baby animals at Impossible Acres Farm in Davis

Momix performance at the Mondavi Art Center at the University of California, Davis

Learning about energy and recycling at the Utility Exploration Center in Roseville, CA

  Weaving a Native American-style pine needle basket

   Perimeter of shapes

    Painting and folding a lantern for Martinmas

            Crayon drawing of Miwok Native Americans

Sketching and watercoloring the state of California

Sea animals - Crocheted an octobpus finger puppet and created a play

German retelling of Hansel and Gretel

Fractions tree

Entomology - Metamorphosis of a caterpillar in German

Marine Animals - Trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Ornithology - Kiwi bird

Trip to the San Luis Obispo Mission

Tap dancing

Trip to the Sacramento Capitol building

Major scales on the piano

Compass Rose

Geocaching and Letterboxing around Davis

Wet on dry watercolor of a jellyfish