Friday, June 13, 2014

Let's Talk Biology and Biography eBook - Waldorf Inspired Lessons

We are very excited about our new eBook!  Often, teachers, parents and homeschooling families ask about how to teach children about reproduction.  Rick has been developing this eBook for the past three years, and it is now available for pre-order through our Etsy shop!
The eBook is currently featured in the Global Waldorf Expo at The Waldorf Connection June 13-15, 2014. Click here to register!


Some information about the book....
You might remember when you were a teenager and your parents gave you “the talk.” You sat down on the family room sofa and they started lecturing about birds and bees. You were slightly baffled about the reference to flying garden creatures! Mostly, you were feeling squirmy and awkward. You realized, as they lectured on, that they were equally uncomfortable. 

Fast forward. Somehow, you became the proud parent of a teenager. Well, it is not really somehow. You know how you became a parent. It is the most natural thing we humans do. And yet, you are sitting with your teenager and finding yourself in the same position as your parents a few years before. This time, however, you decide not to use the birds and bees metaphor. This time, you are so ready. You have read Let’s Talk Biology and Biography, an eBook about facing your adolescent child with compassion and courage. 

Let’s Talk Biology and Biography gives a positive and healthy message about human sexuality. It contains a unique and beautiful diagram that connects reproduction with relationship, an illustration that compares male and female reproductive organs, and of the female fertility cycle. With simple descriptions that accompany the illustrations, this eBook can serve you as a parent through “the talk” or, as an educator and homeschooling parent, offer you an introductory set of lessons you can do with your students.

More than ever, in this tech age of casual (mis)information, we owe it to our children to be the ones to offer heartfelt words that affirm the celebration of a healthy sense of self and relationships. 

Beautifully written and illustrated eBook by Waldorf Teacher Rick Tan, MD of Syrendell, based on his own teaching in the middle grades, his medical degree background, and homeschooling his own children. All contents are copyrighted. This eBook is for your own personal use, only. Please contact us if you are interested in utilizing this in a school setting and need permission to reproduce information/artwork.

Monday, June 9, 2014

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!

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