Even though we take December off regular schooling, we do use this time to assess our goals and make plans for the next few months. Today we baked some cookies and chatted about the last few months and what we wanted to see going into the new year. Here are some of the things we … Continue reading More of This. Less of That.
52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 8 (This is part of a weekly serial started on Michaelmas 2023. To see the other entries, please see the post linked HERE and scroll down to the bottom for individual links) Every single thing children learn during the course of their schooling should in the end be presented so broadly that … Continue reading Threads of Human Life
“We should teach in a way that leaves them with a yearning to be curious and inquisitive at every opportunity about what is going on around them, so that they use this curiosity and thirst for knowledge to add to whatever they already know.” Rudolf SteinerPractical Advice To Teachers Do you teach too much? One … Continue reading Less is More
Hello everyone! Back in spring of this year (2023) a group of homeschooling moms and I joined together on Instagram to bring together a weekly focus on homeschooling the middle and teen years, an area of homeschooling that is not well documented online, via blogs or social media. I've decided to bring those posts here … Continue reading A Fear of Being Weird
"If each human being is to become his own educator, we must pre-suppose that the necessary impulses are within him" ~ Rudolf Steiner, Self Education in the Light of Spiritual Science We rarely question nature and whether it knows what it's doing as it grows. We accept that it will adapt to its surroundings and … Continue reading One Hat Only
This school year I will have two children in highschool! Planning for my eldest's first two highschool years has actually revolved around this coming year, as I purposely held back some grade nine and ten science and grades nine and ten math for this moment. Science and math are so much more fun together, and … Continue reading Planning Through the Year
Spring is around the corner and the impulse to dust off and refresh is bubbling over. When we think of spring cleaning we most often think of our immediate living spaces. Our home and gardens, the sheds and garages. Sorting out, sprucing up and passing along things that no longer serve us. It is so … Continue reading Dusting off the Cobwebs
I think if there were to be a mascot for grade one handwork, it would be the humble knitted square. Quick to create and endlessly versatile, that first blessed square to come off those knitting needles is an accomplishment indeed! It is the first big step into the new world of building purposeful skills for … Continue reading The Humble Square
As homeschooling parents, we often get caught up in the curriculum. The lessons. What we teach, when we teach it, the methods we use, the materials we will need. We often forget about the most important component of the lesson. Us. We are one of the most important aspects of the homeschooling journey. Depending on … Continue reading Seeing the Forest
The changing of seasons is subtle. Birds flying south, leaves slowly changing, mushrooms growing, squirrels scurrying, Michalemas daisies blooming, that first hint of crisp morning air, pumpkin patches bursting. A recent post about "calendar time" and preschoolers by Kristen Peterson from Play Based Learning had me chuckling. The post highlighted the struggles teachers have in … Continue reading Feeling the Passing of Time
