Tag: Waldorf
Children's Book Review – In The Land of Merfolk & Fairies
I have always been in love with stories that take the reader on a magical adventure. As a kid, I remember loving The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis because I was convinced that the mountains around my childhood home transformed into Narnia after a frosty snow. It’s those kinds of books [...]
Christmas Crafts for Kids – Felt Tree Ornaments
It may be the end of November. But, every mom I run into these days is still in relatively massive denial that Christmas is about a month away. Getting ready for it is going to be a race to the finish this year. Thankfully, there are lots of fun ways to get the kids involved [...]
Books to Recreate Traditions of Food, Handcraft, Celebrations and Stories
There is something so full of comfort, warmth and a sense of those who came before us that comes with celebrating the festivals of the seasons, creating home-spun handcrafts, telling the stories of gnomes, elves and little creatures of magical times gone by. For years, I had my wishbone out, hoping that somehow I would [...]
Springtime Kids Crafts – Gods Eyes
If there is one fond memory of childhood that I regularly look back on and smile about, it is the years of summer camps where we rode horses, canoed on mountain lakes, sung hilarious songs (that I still remember and catch myself humming) and made great crafts. Some of the creative goodness blurs together a [...]
Books Filled with Day Dreams of Fairies, Butterflies and Sprites
I have always wished I could live in a magical world. Yes, magic lives all around us. But, I really, really think there should be a way to move between the world of the fairies, the sprites, the gnomes and even a goblin or two. Thankfully – since C.S. Lewis did not leave his wardrobe [...]
Book Review – You Are Your Child's First Teacher
I will be the first person to admit that I do not subscribe to any one style of parenting mostly because I have a deep and enduring aversion to parenting books. It’s not that they aren’t helpful and they surely provide people with important structure during a time when we all are humbled by how [...]
Waldorf Learning – The Spring Festival Of May Day
Editor’s Note: If you missed out on Robin’s review of some great science and non-fiction easy readers, you can catch it HERE. Now we have Rebecca Watkin on site with a look at the spring festival of May Day. Here she is: May Song Here’s a branch of snowy May, A branch the fairies gave us. [...]
The Gift Of Imagination
Editor’s Note: Happy weekend! This morning Rebecca Watkin is back on site reminding us of the importance of imagination. Enjoy. Here she is: “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world” – Albert Einstein I’ve been thinking about [...]
Kids Crafts – Spring Eggs & Wet Felting
I am having a fling with wool. It’s true, I’m totally smitten. There are so many reasons why wool is the one for me. Wool is soft and so very cozy, makes me feel like I’ve done something good for myself just by being near it. Then, of course, there’s the whole “my child is [...]
Watercolor Painting In the Waldorf Style
Editor’s Note: If you missed Robin’s review of Canadian author Wayson Choy’s fabulous novel All That Matters, you can read it HERE. This afternoon, we have Waldorf educator Rebecca Watkin back on site with a look at the Waldorf method of watercolor painting. Here she is: A Painting Verse The sunlight shines into each day [...]
Taking A Peek Inside A Waldorf Classroom In Action
Editor’s Note: Good morning. Waldorf educator Rebecca Watkin is on site this morning showing us the inner workings of a Waldorf elementary grade classroom. Here she is: The first time I set foot into a Waldorf classroom my breath was taken away by its beauty. I am not sure what I expected, but I was [...]
A Waldorf Kindergarten
Editor’s Note: Happy Saturday! This morning we have Waldorf educator Rebecca Watkin giving us a look inside a Waldorf Kindergarten class. Here she is: When I think of my own Kindergarten year my memory is a bit foggy. To me it is virtually the same as Grade One, but without the desks. There were stations, there [...]
Seeking the Light and the Warmth with Advent
Editor’s Note: Happy Saturday morning! We have Rebecca Watkin on site discussing the Waldorf tradition of Advent - a time of celebrating light. Here she is: Deep Mid-winter drawing near – May Light arise in our Garden here. Advent has always been my favorite celebration. As a child I didn’t know it was Advent I loved, [...]
The Magic of Seasonal Festivals for Children
Editor’s Note: It’s an education imagination Saturday. If you missed it this morning, we reviewed two fantastically fun Halloween books with the Rainy Day Book Club. Check them out HERE. This afternoon we have Rebecca Watkin discussing the Waldorf tradition of seasonal festivals – their significance, beauty and ability to make the imagination of childhood [...]
Choices & Good Books About Homeschooling
Since our daughter was about 18 months old and I started looking into the whole idea of homeschooling, I was pretty much sold on doing the learning at home thing. We are a hands-on bunch to begin with, spending lots of our time looking for bugs in the forest, trying to figure out what bird [...]
The Best of A Crafty 2008
I never really thought of myself as a crafty sort of gal. Seriously, I have long lived with the crafty curse, trying many a Martha-centric project and failing in expensive, ugly sorts of ways. I very much admit that my mom got the short end of the stick when it came to these sorts of [...]
Make Some Forest Fairies
We have always been into the lives of forest fairies around our house. From some of our earliest days of walking the trails, it didn’t take much convincing to make us believers that some forests are truly the land of fairy people. It’s one of those things that we casually weave into stories about the [...]
A Home Museum with Shadow Boxes
Zoology, Botany and Forestry aren’t exactly in the vocabulary of the under-5 set. Yet, every time we hit the beach, the garden or the trail, science is following us around. Each pine cone or shell tucked in a tiny pocket reveals something significant about a place we’ve explored. (Yes, OK, I am total science nerd.) [...]
Family Craft – Waldorf 3-D Butterflies
Our kiddo has never been into doing the girlie girl thing. We instituted the no-pink, no-ruffles rule (applied loosely). She loves bugs and snakes, Roberto Luongo and digging in the tide pools for creatures of all kinds. But, lately, our house has gotten very fairy tale, very pastel, very soft and pretty thanks to the [...]
Family Craft – Waldorf-Inspired Watercolors
The gig is up. Our kiddo is a painting maniac. Seriously, the older she gets the uglier public painting becomes. Just the mere mention of tempera paints and paper sends her into an uncontrollable frenzy during which she paints every inch of her body – and anyone standing within swiping distance, gets a gooey paintbrush [...]
