April Enrichment Guide

April Enrichment Book eBook is out! (over 100 pages!)Four Full Weeks of Waldorf Crafting, Verses, Songs, Stories, Recipes, Caregiver Meditations, Adult Inner Work and Seasonal Celebrations, some written by Syrendell.

These beautiful monthly enrichment ebooks follow the rhythm of a weekly theme with the flexibility that teachers, homeschoolers and afterschooling parents need to enrich their children's Waldorf learning experience at home or school.

Week One, April

Spring Animals & Birds, Nurturing

Week Two, April

The Rain, Awakening

Week Three, April

Earth, Remaining Grounded


Week Four, April
Easter, Rebirth

For more details on each week's wonderful activities and a sample of the beautiful songs you will teach your children - visit  Little Acorn Learning.

Spring Handwork eBook!

Our Spring Handwork eBook is now available through Little Acorn Learning!

Little hands will be busy this Spring as they work along side their caregiver on sweet projects in this
Spring Handwork Ebook created just for Little Acorn Learning by Jennifer Tan of Syrendell.

This e-book is filled with verses, instructions on how to make a Spring Nature Table Gnome, Sunny Luminary, Beautiful Easter Spring Star and Needle Felted Baby Chicks. Also includes a list of suggested resources for people interested introducing handwork to their children at home or school.

Feng Shui in the Home

Implementing the basics of Feng Shui in your home can make a difference.  Positive energy flow, de-cluttered space, sacred spots, room color, furniture selection, elemental balance...all of these ideas and more can easily be done to provide an environment for your family that feels safe, peaceful, happy and warm.

Using the "Bagua" is one way to implement Feng Shui.  It is like a map that you can lay down onto the floor plan of your home (or office, homeschooling space, classroom, etc.).  Each area of the Bagua has a special connection to a part of your life.  Taking the time to arrange each area of your home can change the energy flow.

An easy way to learn about the Bagua is through our Bagua Journal, a colorful, easy-to-use eBook written by Rick who is a certified Feng Shui consultant.  It is available in our Etsy Shop for $8.  Rick also enjoys doing in-person and online consultations (email us if interested).  Working with Feng Shui in your home takes just a little bit a time, not a lot of money, and it feels great! 

Here's to a happy, positive, peaceful week in your home....

Grade One Math - The Four Processes

We love how Waldorf introduces all four math processes together in Grade 1.  It just makes more sense, and it takes the fear factor out of multiplication and division.  Introducing stories and characters for each process brings the numbers to life, and the stories help children remember the function of each process.

Here are some pictures of Wilson with his home main lesson books, telling us stories about the characters and asking us for more math problems.

"A farmer digs three holes in the ground and plants two seeds in each hole." Child draws the picture, below, and figures out that 2+2+2=6, or 2x3=6.

Farmer Plus

 

Mr. Minus

Tommy Times

Mr. Divide



Early Spring Nature Table

Spring is coming, Spring is coming
Birdies build your nest.
Weave together, straw and feather
Doing each your best!
Doing each your best.

On some days in March, the sun is out here in Northern California!  Bulbs are blooming and Spring is almost here.  We always look forward to the transition from cold Winter to Sunny Spring.  Creating a new nature table together introduces pretty, pastel colors, flowers, and most of all...hope.

We start off with the kids taking everything down from Winter and cleaning the shelves.  A little Spring cleaning feels great!  Then, the kids go through the baskets of naturally-dyed silks and choose a color that reminds them of Spring.

We gather the first two daffodils that bloomed in our yard.  Our Davis home is still relatively new to us, so we were pleasantly surprised when daffodils popped up in the corner of our garden!

Daddy's hand-carved wood snail loves to make an appearance at some point.  Our little Spring dolls made from wood and naturally dyed wool and felt (from Mama Jude's on Etsy) look like flowers themselves.  Our friend squirrel carries a sign stating, "I love Spring!".  Lucy Leprechaun will make an appearance pretty soon with a clover in her hands. A crocheted fairy ring of felt flowers circle a beautiful handmade beeswax, egg-shaped candle by Jan Schubert of Bee Happy Candles.  I think that we will be reading Jan's book, The Sun Seed later this week! 

Happy Spring....

Rhythm of the Home Spring Edition

Rhythm of the Home Spring edition is out! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhythm of the Home is a quarterly online magazine specializing in natural living, handmade, and seasonal celebration. We unite the Waldorf and Montessori community through inspiring articles and projects.

 

 

 

We have two articles featured in this edition:

 

Wet-on-Wet Watercoloring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Felted Birthday Banner and Crown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhythm of the Home also have an amazing give-away right now on their blog!  Come and enjoy this beautiful magazine, full of inspiration.

March Guide eBook Available!

These beautiful monthly enrichment ebooks follow the rhythm of a weekly theme with the flexibility that teachers, homeschoolers and afterschooling parents need to enrich their children's Waldorf learning experience at home or school. Some of Syrendell's crafts are shared in the March Guide!

Week One, March
Fairies & Dragons, Magic


Week Two, March
The Season of Lent, Sacrifice


Week Three, March
St. Patrick's Day, Luck


Week Four, March
Spring's Return, New Life


Week Five, March
Rainbows, Creating Color


For more details on each week's wonderful activities and a sample of the beautiful songs you will teach your children - visit Little Acorn Learning

Anthroposophy 101 ECourse February 27!

Raw Vegan Condiments

Some easy-to-make dips and sauces for the whole family!  Raw and vegan, keeping the enzymes and nutrients intact.  Great for salads, sandwiches, and more.  We rarely keep track of exact measurements of anything, but in general, we start off blending the nuts or seeds with the veggies slowly, and add more items in as we go.  The Vita-Mix works very well for blending.  Add more oil, vinegar, lemon or water to water down or make more creamy.  Nuts and seeds may be soaked before blending.  A fun project to make with the kids, practicing measuring, harvesting, preparing. Play around with ratios and suprise the whole family!  Excellent books with raw vegan recipes found here.

Sunny Cauliflower Dressing

Cauliflower
Sunflower Seeds
Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
Braggs Liquid Aminos
Braggs Olive Oil
Pepper
Fresh Parsley and Dill (or dried)
Coriander
Garlic
Onions or Green Onions
Water
Fresh Squeezed Lemon or Lime

Red Bell Pepper Dip

Red Bell Pepper

Raw Cashews

Onion

Garlic

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Braggs Liquid Aminos or Nama Shoyu Soy Sauce

Braggs Olive Oil

Pepper

Fresh Parsley

Coriander

Cumin

Dash of Chili Pepper

Water

Fresh Squeezed Lemon

Olive Tapenade

Olives

Walnuts

Onion

Garlic

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Braggs Liquid Aminos or Nama Shoyu Soy Sauce

Braggs Olive Oil

Pepper

Fresh Parsley

Coriander

Cumin

Fresh Squeezed Lemon

Form Drawing

Want to come learn about Form Drawing? Jennifer and Rick will be presenting a visual teleseminar through The Waldorf Connection on Thursday Feb. 17 at 1pm PST/4pm EST.  Free! *There will be a 48-hr free replay

 This will be a Visual Power-Point presentation so that you can "see" examples and learn about Form Drawing.

What will be covered on this call?

*What is form drawing?

*Why is it important (its more than for good hand writing)

*Who needs to learn it?

*When & How do we teach Form Drawing?

*How to incorporate Form Drawing into our lessons

Come watch this workshop on web!  It is suggested that you use the webcast link so you can VIEW this as well as listen.

Here is the link to view workshop on the web: http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventID=17796018

If you prefer to listen over the phone: 801-656-2240 ID: 006647#, or back-up number 704-804-5068 ID: 006647#

Skype: http://instantteleseminar.com/skype and useID: 006647#


We have also set up a *special* for Waldorf Connection participants. Hope to see you on later today!