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.

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

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

  

Birthday Rings

We have always wanted a birthday ring that we could also use on our nature table for festival celebrations, including Advent.  One of our local Waldorf dads handcrafts these beautiful rings and sells them in his Etsy shop.  We asked for one unfinished so that we could paint it ourselves!

The wood is sycamore which is already so beautiful on its own.  We tested out how it would look on our kitchen table and in our nature table area.

Wilson and Mommy decided to paint rainbow colors using our Stockmar watercolors.  Then, we polished them with natural beeswax polish. 

Now, the birthday ring is ready!  It's so beautiful, we have it out in the kitchen right now.  When the new baby is born around October, we will use it to celebrate the birth with a candle.

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.

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)

Happy Autumn!

Happy Autumn!

We are taking our time celebrating Autumn this year. Something little each day.

Star Lanterns from our old watercolor paintings.

Sandbox for Letters/Numbers, Finding Treasures, Meditation (see www.thewaldorfway.blogspot.com for more info. on making the sandbox)

Needlefelting Dwarves Mining and Wet-felting Cave (instructions and more pics to come!)


Reading Autumn Poems and Singing Autumn Songs

Making Cornhusk Dolls

Cutting, Needlefelting, and Sewing Autumn King & Queen Crowns

Baking Vegan Harvest Herb Bread and Carrot Cake

Exploring the Magical Five Seeds in Apples

Felting Acorn People Finger Puppets

What are you doing to celebrate Autumn?