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.

Waldorf Watercolor Calendar

Based on requests from loyal customers, we are now offering Rick's wet-on-wet watercolor art in a beautiful wall-size calendar! 

Twelve of his original paintings are within the calendar, one for each month of the year.  We have a couple available in the Etsy shop, and can order more upon request.  Beautiful for homes, offices, and classrooms.

Click here to order.

Waldorf Postcards

Waldorf postcards are a beautiful addition to nature tables, seasonal spots, and homeschooling displays.  They also are wonderful gifts and can be used as actual postcards!

We are now featuring Rick's wet-on-wet watercolor paintings on postcards.  The front side is in color, and the back side is in black and white.  The first postcard available in our Etsy shop is "Fairy Tale" and taking orders for "Creation". Coming soon, "Four Seasons"!

Watercoloring DVD Available

Our wet-on-wet watercoloring video is now available in DVD format!  Click here to order.  A wonderful resource for learning how to teach children ages 3-12 this artistic technique. 

Waldorf Watercolor Ages 3-12 Video

In this 30-minute video, Waldorf teacher Dr. Rick Tan takes you on a journey through a watercolor painting. You can choose to stop at any point in the journey according to the age of your child. This video will teach you techniques you can use with your children ages 3-12.

Rick's style is informative and engaging. Every minute of this video contains a gem of knowledge, wisdom and beauty.

You will learn:

* What tools you need for wet-on-wet watercolor* How you can save money on these tools

* How to mix paints for different effects

* How to "lift color"
* How to give a lesson for preschoolers

* How to give a lesson for KG children

* How to give a lesson for G1, G2 and G3

* How to make a watercolor lesson more complex for older children.

* How to create a story to go with the lesson

* Brush techniques & stroke styles

* Painting techniques including color intensity tips

* Tips for how long lessons should be and more!

Click Here to see the first part for free (entire video available for purchase at the BEarth Institute or free to lifetime members of Earthschooling)

What To Do With All Of Those Watercolor Paintings!

If you are anything like us, you have piles of watercolor paintings and other beautiful artwork from your children somewhere in the house.  It is hard to throw away art, so we let it pile up in boxes, cupboards and filing cabinets.  We use them as backgrounds in our bookshelves and hang them on the walls. 

This year, we decided to use our watercolor paintings for other projects.  Here are some of the projects that we have done.


Gift tags and cards for birthdays, thank you and holidays

Star lanterns

Vases for holding pencils, knitting needles, egg tree branches and more (glue onto a oatmeal can)

Cards with embroidery

Backgrounds/matting for picture frames

Rune Cards

We would love to hear your ideas!

Watercolor Number Chart - Math & Foreign Language

Watercolor Number Chart

To make a number chart:


1.  Obtain a piece of watercolor paper, a ruler and a white crayon.

2.  Decide how many numbers you want on your chart.  The chart shown here features "12".

3.  Draw lines with the white crayon and ruler.  Draw the numbers in the spaces.

4.  Prepare a space for your child with watercolors, brushes, rags, and a jar of water. 

5.  Allow the child to select colors and paint all over the paper.  When the number appear, watch the delight in your child's eyes!

6.  Allow to dry and put between heavy books, if needed.  The chart should be ready to use the following day.

Ideas for using the chart:

1.  Learning the names of numbers.  Use shells, gems, stones, pearls or bean bags (depending on how large the numbers are!) to play games.

2.  Learning the names of numbers in foreign languages.  Put a stone on a number and ask the child to tell it to you in the foreign language.  Or, say it in the foreign language and the child will place the stone on the correct number. 


3.  Use pieces of paper to cover up numbers to show divisible groups, or pieces of yarn to put in-between groups of numbers.  In this example, you could divide the paper into 3's, 4's, 6's.

Other ideas?  Feel free to leave a comment! Thank you to Suzanne from the amazing blog, down in the meadow for the inspiration (she also has a lovely Etsy shop)!

Waldorf Blogs

Here is a wonderful blog by a Waldorf teacher: http://www.waldorfreviews.com/  Please check out her blog!

Also, see Rick's blog for a post on watercoloring and using salt (snow effect), as well as his physiology lessons that he has been teaching at a Waldorf school:  www.thewaldorfway.blogspot.com.

Fibonacci, Knitting, Watercolor, Catapults....

Homelearning snippets from this week at Syrendell...

Phyllotaxis: Fibonacci numbers, Golden ratio, measuring/counting petals leaves seeds, spirals

Finding a Molted Praying Mantis Skin


The Letter "B": Watercoloring a Butterfly with Daddy

Making a Catapult

Making a Fairy & Gnome Home


Spinning Yarn & Knitting

The Waldorf Way

My husband is finishing up his second week at Steiner College. He is in the teaching program that will be 5-weeks each summer for 4 summers.

I am very proud of him for going "back to school" after already having a doctoral degree. He is really enjoying the challenges, creativity and inspiration that are presented in daily lessons about philosophy, anthroposophy, curriculum, arts, eurhythmy, singing and more.

He started a blog to synthesize what he is learning: www.thewaldorfway.blogspot.com. We invite everyone to come read it, leave comments and follow the blog. I am learning so much from reading his blog each day!

Here are pictures of some of the watercoloring that he has been doing in painting class, as well as pictures of us on the gorgeous, magical campus when we go and visit Daddy during lunch (and visit the college bookstore, too, of course!). Watching Rick being inspired daily by the college is making me think about attending the handwork program in the future....Hmmm....