Turning Seven

We celebrated a huge milestone in August. Turning seven years old, once you understand the anthroposophical view on the seven year cycles, is a major event. In the days leading up to his birthday, I could see the changes taking place. I could actually start pinpointing certain temperament characteristics, as he moved away from the Sanguine carefree child, to slightly more Melancholic. This has been of tremendous help in planning the curriculum, as Melissa Neilson gives a few tips ( As does Steiner, Dorothy Harrer and Eric Fairman among others) on teaching the Melancholic child. This has also been a big learning curve for me, to learn patience and understanding....... and knowing when to just let go.... "it is better to be kind, than it is to be right!".

I timed my language block around his birthday, as in Melissa Neilsons curriculum, the story that carries the child through all the letters of the alphabet, ends with the seventh birthday, when the child receives the "gift from the angels", the vowel sounds. I combined a few ideas, and used the arch angels to present the gifts, which were made from cotton and silk, and drawn on the blackboard, the actual vowels were stars that fell from the heavens.

One of the angels hanging from the ceiling on a pulley system that daddy made.

The letter U in his lesson book.

We all made the sounds aaah, or eeee or ooooh for each consecutive day, and it was a spiritual experience each time. the whole house just radiated warmth and calmness.

The "cave wall" with all the sacred writings. (the paper was dyed with tea bags and burnt around the edges)

On the day he received his gift, we woke very early to prepare his favourite breakfast of flapjacks and honey with fresh orange juice. we draped silks all over the chalk drawings and tables. we lit all the candles and strung streamers across his bedroom door for the veil he must pass through.

he received a golden cross on a chain that were gifts from both his Nanan and Ouma, which he wears with utmost pride.

The story, her Lady's child, was very appropriate, as I was having trouble recently from preventing him from sneaking out every night to peak at the next days chalkboard drawing. I was thrilled that he was eager and excited, but he was spoiling the surprises for himself. So the story taught him honesty,respect and patience, among others that he is still learning the longer he dwells on them.

It was a fabulous milestone to achieve as a family, and really was a group effort. Thank you to everyone who helped make this so memorable!


Waldorf inspired bears cave with crystals. Birthday gift from Nanan.

trying to create a link to ringsurf... not quite sure how... hope this works

Waldorf Inspired Homeschool - Southern Hemisphere
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puppet shows part 1

Our favourite time of day, is story time. I try to get as creative as possible, and we usually use our gnomes and wooden blocks to construct the scene. Give this a try.... it doesn't cost a thing, and is easier than it looks. The children really love it, and end up giving you puppet shows for days afterwards with their own made up stories! Priceless!

The first one is the easiest. Its what I call the "Finger Puppet Show".

Items needed:

1. A cardboard box.

2. An A4 piece of white paper

3. Pencil crayons

4. Paint

5. Box cutter

So, to begin, cut a window in the top of the box as seen in the picture. I don't have measurements, because I don't know the size of your box. But use your common sense, it should be about three times the height of your finger puppets.

Paint your box however you like. The piece of box that you cut out for the window should be black though. I painted mine black with white stars to simulate the night sky. I taped it on the inside of the box with duct tape.

Then, draw a circle on your paper about 30 cm in circumference. Draw another circle inside the first with a circumference of about 15cm. Cut out both circles. Throw away the small one.Cut the large circle exactly in half, and roll it around your finger to form a cone shape. This is the base for your finger puppet. Do as many as you need for your story. The characters for your story, should be the same height as the cones you have made. Draw your characters, colour them in, and wala!

Let the children help with every stage of this, except if they are teething.... thats how our princess lost her head... it got sucked off!

I have a confession to make! I tried to take a short cut with my stockmar paints, to make them stretch further, I mixed them with a little more water than I should have. It seemed excessive to mix them with a 1-1 ratio at the cost. But, alas, today I mixed the ratio's just right and, lo and behold, the colours are bright, and bold and beautiful!

So, we might have to paint a little less, but when we do, our pictures will be masterpieces!

Before

After

I fell into a little slump recently, perhaps it was the world recession and its effect on us personally, or perhaps I have overextended myself with a list a mile long of what I wanted to accomplish on a daily basis. Whatever the cause, the situations are all the same, but my head is in a better place. I spent a lot of time reading from the parenting passageway blog,http://theparentingpassageway.com/, and I tell you, Carrie can get you through anything, help you feel human and make sense of all the craziness. I have forgiven myself, and will continue to do so, as I find even with the best intentions, I still find myself every now and then making an irritable remark or snapping at the children. The difference is, I am managing to stop myself half way through, and change course, or immediatly after the mishap, I can rectify it, by explaining that mommy is human, and is trying her best! I have been blessed with the most understanding and forgiving children, who at times seem to have more insight to life than I.

So, here's to today, a better brighter me!

letter R

R is for rabbit, rhino and rainbow cookies! yum yum, this was a really fun letter week!

The cookie preparation. just a plain sugar cookie recipe, that we cut into circles, then in half, and using a spoon, just scooped out a semi circle. ta da.

The boys ate more than they created, but is was such a fun afternoon activity!

In our wise Sophia journey Joseph carves a rabbit on the door of the hut, so we set forth to attempt the same... only we dont have a hut and a door would be a pretty wild first attempt... so....
We carved some soap blocks with our wood carving set, and manny made a rabbit from our storytime.


we bathed in the soap shavings later! waste not want not!

letter G

Glorious G. Our journey to the wise Sophia continues with a gift from Roak the magic bear. A Grand little Goose with the gift of laying eggs for the family to enjoy!

I made the goose with a little white, yellow and orange felt, and a ball of cotton wool. Roak is one of our precious collection of animal kingdom that I collected many years ago.

the picnic basket and contents are moulded out of clay, As are the goose eggs and the nest.

We have been waiting 5 months for our Waldorf Alphabet book, only to be told now that they are doing another print run. I still have it on backorder, as apparently it is a treasure to own. Nonetheless, that didnt help me with my letters. I pulled out all my creative juices to create A3 pictures, i only want to use animals and flowers in the pictures, so here we are so far. The kids are loving them, and I must admit, they are getting better the more I practice with the block crayons.
We have also moved the classroom to the lounge! We will be moving to a smaller house soon, and it is easier to incorporate the lessons into our daily rhythm with all of us together in the same space. It works wonders for us, and I always have a little giggle when a muggle (non waldorfian) comes to visit. They cant quite make out our choice of adornments but are too polite to ask.

I love it when they do ask, because then I can tell them all the marvelous aspects that waldorf is bringing to our lives.

I am trying to post a button to link up to wee folk art, but am not quite getting it right. So this will have to do!
We are so inspired by this site, our craft projects are dependant on it!lol
here is our gnome family so far, all the directions are on http://weefolkart.com.

the king and queen were my own creation..... we are patiently waiting for the instructions to begin building the gnome home... As you can see, the flower bridge is complete... so cmon, Kimara, the gnomes are breathless with anticipation.... as are we!!