Math Cards

I've been wanting to make these, and the alphabet version, for a while now. Grimm's sells lovely sets of both, and I've gone back and forth about ordering them. The prices are reasonable, but we're on a tight budget right now, and I literally had everything I needed to make these. I haven't worked much with watercolors, so I wasn't sure how the letters and numbers would turn out, but I decided it would be silly not to at least try.

Fortunately, I'm mostly pleased with the results. I made three sets of numbers, plus the basic math symbols.

I took sheets of our 8x11" watercolor paper (already painted) and used my rotary cutter to cut each one into 12 3x4 inch rectangles.

I found that it was best to use cards without too many different colors (don't worry, I am saving the rest of these lovelies for another project!) and to use a darker color in a similar shade for the number.

They were actually very easy to make. If pressed, I might even admit it that it was kind of fun. Ariana stayed up late and helped me with them. Actually, she made one number, a slightly wonky "6".

And just when I started feeling superior in my watercolor number painting skills, she showed me these:

And these:

And then I totally felt like an artist, because some of the backgrounds she used were mine! But seriously, aren't they great? I can't wait to frame them. They're tiny, so I'm not quite sure how yet, but I'll post pictures once they are done.

I also have these, that we'll be using with the math cards. Here's where I deviate a bit from traditional Waldorf:

These are Montessori inspired bead materials that I have been making for what seems like years now. I changed the colors from the traditional Montessori colors, so they match the colors of our Cuisenaire rods, which we'll use later on.

We have "gems" to use too, of course, but after a certain point, I find that children (and by "children," I mean my one other child, who I homeschooled years ago) still like to use the beads, but are beyond needing to count out every number for every math problem, which can get a little tedious after a while. This is a nice in-between for them.

In Perpetuity

I don't know why I've been doing so many little wooden crafts lately. I think I love that they are quick to get out, set up, and put away. They also don't require a lot of space while you are working on them, and can often be finished within a few hours. I guess I actually do know why! They're perfect for me right now.

I saw a darling little perpetual calendar on Pinterest recently, which linked back to the Mamaroots blog. If you're not familiar with that blog, I suggest you get over there and start reading! Her calendar was a little different than mine, with unfinished wood blocks and a sweet gnome to go with the month: Mamaroots: Weekending and September Beginning.

I decided to paint my month blocks, because I just learned how to use watercolor paint on wood (not that it's difficult--you just paint it on!), so why not make everything rainbow colored?

I got a bunch of these unfinished wooden rectangles from a thrift store, in with some math supplies. I wasn't sure how they'd be useful for math, so I've been using them for crafts instead. These are wider on two sides, so I couldn't fit four months on each block, like I'd originally planned. I think it worked out well with two months per block though. The little card stand the calendar sits on is another thrift store find.

The small number blocks came from a craft store (Hobby Lobby, I think), and they also sell sets of stamps with all of the months and numbers 0-9. Which was perfect. Much better than my original plan of buying two alphabet sets of stamps (uppercase and lowercase), and stamping on each letter individually. I had enough trouble keeping the month stamps straight. I think that the other method would have been a perfectionist's nightmare!

I didn't plan on the cards. I bought these seasonal post cards by Ruth Elsaesser forever ago, when I was homeschooling Ariana (she graduated last year!), and sort of tucked them away and forgot them. I rediscovered them recently, and think they're perfect for this.

Lissie is in charge of changing the numbers each day, the months each month, and the little postcard pictures whenever she is ready for a (seasonally appropriate) change.

Winter Swap: Goodies

I'm so excited about all of the lovely items I received in the swap that I just had to take pictures of everything to share here. It's like I got a box full of all of the things I would love to make if I knew how!

Most of the toys will be going to Maxine. She loves playing with little dolls and gnomes and things. I know she'll adore this fox:

And these little guys are all so cute, aren't they?

This one has a removable hat and beard!

 And look at this happy smile.

 Of course, they'll need somewhere to sit and eat:

And who knows what this might become?

Isn't this little play mat darling? It wraps up, which makes it the perfect size to stash in a purse:

I'm really excited about this "swisher" too. Maxine just asked for one like Lissie's the other day. Lissie's is from Sarah's Silks, and it's nice, but the quality of this handmade one is so much better!

And this crown to wear while she plays with it all:

Won't this angel will look pretty hanging in Maxine's room?

Don't worry, Lissie won't be left out! This pillow is perfect for her. Maybe a nice, warm pillow on her shoulders or forehead will actually help her relax for once.

 And this sweet fairy necklace has "Lissie" written all over it:

I think a few of these will be fun to use with our elf, Christmas. Can't you see him hanging in a window with this star some snowy morning? If we ever get any snow, that is.

And these?

Bowling, perhaps?

I think one morning he might be "sleeping" in this little bed:

And isn't this adorable? Its a little bunting that you can write on with chalk! I wonder what kind of message "Christmas" might leave on here?

We also got two pretty dyed silks; one red, one green.

And last, but not least, I'm keeping these for myself!

I feel like I should be sending thank you notes to everybody who participated, but I can't, because I don't know who anybody is. I hope that if any of you are readers of my blog and see this post, you'll consider yourself thanked. I love everything!

Blessings Book

One of my favorite things about Waldorf education is the use of little poems and verses. It's also one I haven't done especially well with. I'm great at finding them, organizing them, categorizing them, basically everything except actually using them (I know! Story of my life). I think the problem I have, is that I just forget. When I'm in the kitchen baking, I don't have my binder with verses neatly labelled and categorized, I don't have my books with pages thoughtfully marked and folded. I don't have anything to remind me.

I got the idea from a couple of different places. My mother-in-law went through training to become a Love and Logic instructor a few years ago and when she was done, she went through all of the materials with Brad and me. When we were done, she gave us a little ring with laminated papers of different colors and sizes on it, each with a little tip printed on it. And then I saw this post from the Chocolate Eyes blog, and how she used watercolor paintings as covers for her index cards for circle time. I thought that a combination of the two would be a perfect way to put together a little collection of verses to use throughout our day. It's small, it's light, it's convenient to carry around, it's beautiful, and it put a nice dent in our accumulation of watercolor papers!

I included a few centering verses for myself:

Some morning verses:

Mealtime verses:

Verses for work:

For peace:

And for bedtime:

I was going to write the verses directly on the watercolor paper, but it's not the easiest thing to write on, and I wasn't happy with how they were turning out. Instead, I printed the verses and cut them out. I debated whether to make all the papers the same size, but in the end, I decided I liked the idea of each verse being its own size and shape. I think that will help me remember what's what.

Lissie had a lot of fun matching each verse to paper. I just taped the printed paper onto the watercolor paper where I wanted it, then cut around leaving about 1/2 an inch around the edges. Then, we punched holes in the corners and put them all on a ring. The ring makes it easy to add and remove verses if we ever want to change things.

This was so much fun to put together, and I'm so happy with the results that I'm thinking about making another one for seasonal verses. I imagine it won't take me too long to memorize a lot of these and get into the habit of using them, but in the meantime, I'll be happy to have this lovely little reminder with me throughout the day.

Getting Ready

Tomorrow we start school. I think I am ready! Lissie just turned seven and we will be doing a Waldorf based first grade, using Christopherus as our guide. Maxine will be turning three soon, and I will be continuing to do some of the things we did last year from the Christopherus Kindergarten book.

I'm still using the same old binder system that worked so well for us last year. This year, instead of a sheet of lined paper for each month, I upgraded to a printable calendar. I think this will make it easier to jot things down and keep track of dates. It certainly looks prettier too! This allows me to have a section for each month, and in each section, I can put printed stories, poems, and crafts that fit with that month, season, or whatever main lesson block we'll be working on then. It really helps keep me organized, especially when I won't be using something for a few months. I'm definitely an "out of sight, out of mind" person, so knowing I can just flip ahead to any month and find the things I need is huge. I plan on keeping these binders intact, so in a few years when it's Maxine's turn, I'll still have everything together.

I also upgraded the binders with labels, so I don't have to pull down seven identical white binders to find the one I need. I used watercolor paper to make the labels, and I love how they turned out.

I've been looking forward to starting first grade for a while, because it's the first academic year in Waldorf schooling. This year, we'll be making main lesson books (all yellow, because Mercurius only sells them in packs of ten now). I've seen some beautiful examples of main lesson books, and I think Lissie is going to love that part of school.

Another new thing is that Lissie (and I!) will be learning to play the pentatonic flute. I'd hoped to get one last spring to learn on, but with Brad still out of work, I kept putting it off. They're not cheap, and I was debating whether to wait, to skip it, or to start with something less expensive like penny whistles or plastic recorders. My dad felt it was important for her to learn on a real instrument though, and generously offered to buy the two flutes and a curriculum for Lissie's birthday.

The flutes are by Choroi, and I chose to use David Darcy's book Playing and Teaching the Pentatonic Flute and the Pentatonic Recorder. Honestly, there aren't a ton of options out there, and they all seem good, but I've read nothing but rave reviews about this one, and it's what Donna Simmons recommends. I've been going through it, and I think I'll be able to pick it up fairly quickly (maybe my elementary school recorder playing and junior high school flute playing will finally come in handy for something!). Teaching it? We'll see. That could be a whole other story!

Thursday Craft

We haven't officially started school yet. I was waiting for a couple of last minute supplies to arrive this week, so I decided we'd wait until next week.

In the meantime, we've been working on some little crafts to keep busy. I have to say, I wasn't looking forward to showing Lissie the blanket stitch, but she took to it like a champ.

Delphiniums (blue)

The Dormouse and the Doctor

There once was a Dormouse who lived in a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red)
And all the day long he'd a wonderful view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).

A Doctor came hurrying round, and he said:
"Tut-tut, I am sorry to find you in bed.
Just say 'Ninety-nine' while I look at your chest....
Don't you find that chrysanthemums answer the best?"

The Dormouse looked round at the view and replied
(When he'd said "Ninety-Nine") that he'd tried and he'd tried,
And much the most answering things that he knew
Were geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).

The Doctor stood frowning and shaking his head,
And he took up his shiny silk hat as he said:
"What the patient requires is a change," and he went
To see some chrysanthemum people in Kent.

The Dormouse lay there, and he gazed at the view
 Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue),
And he knew there was nothing he wanted instead
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red).

The Doctor came back and, to show what he meant,
He had brought some chrysanthemum cuttings from Kent.
"Now these," he remarked, "give a much better view
Than geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue)."

They took out their spades and they dug up the bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red)
And they planted chrysanthemums (yellow and white).
"And now," said the Doctor, "we'll soon have you right."

The Dormouse looked out, and he said with a sigh:
"I suppose all these people know better than I.
It was silly, perhaps, but I did like the view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).

The Doctor came round and examined his chest,
And ordered him Nourishment, Tonics, and Rest.
"How very effective," he said as he shook
The thermometer, "all these chrysanthemums look!"

The Dormouse turned over to shut out the sight
Of the endless chrysanthemums (yellow and white)
"How lovely," he thought, "to be back in a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red)."

The Doctor said, "Tut! It's another attack!"
And ordered him Milk and Massage-of-the-back,
And Freedom-from-worry and Drives-in-a-car,"
And murmured, "How sweet your chrysanthemums are!"

The Dormouse lay there with his paws to his eyes,
And imagined himself such a pleasant surprise:
"I'll pretend the chrysanthemums turn to a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red)!"

The Doctor next morning was rubbing his hands,
And saying, "There's nobody quite understands
These cases as I do! The cure has begun!
How fresh the chrysanthemums look in the sun!"

The Dormouse lay happy, his eyes were so tight
He could see no chrysanthemums, yellow or white.
And all that he felt at the back of his head
Were delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red).

And that is the reason (Aunt Emily said)
If a Dormouse gets in a chrysanthemum bed,
You will find (so Aunt Emily says) that he lies
Fast asleep on his front with his paws to his eyes.

-A.A. Milne

Books Through the Seasons

I recently framed these pages from the book Chicken Soup With Rice by Maurice Sendak, which got me thinking that it might be fun to follow up my post about spring books with one about books that cover all the seasons. This is one of our favorites (seriously, can you tell I love it? We don't even eat chicken!) for reading at the start of each month. Our original paperback copy was falling apart, so when I found a hardcover in nice condition, I grabbed it. Of course, it has taken me months to get a frame, but I think it turned out well. I love the illustrations, and I thought it would be nice to have each poem on display during its month.

Here are some of our favorite seasonal books that we keep on the bookshelves all the time. Some, like Chicken Soup With Rice and A Time to Keep, we read from at the beginning of each month. Some, like The Barefoot Book of Blessings, A Child's Calendar, and A Child's Garden of Verses, I use as sources for seasonal poems (as well as poems and blessings that fit in with our daily routines). Linnea's Almanac is a fairly recent addition to our library, but is I think it is going to be a great resource. The rest are just good stories that go through the seasons. Maxine is particularly enamored with The Flower Fairies Changing Seasons. I always thought the Flower Fairies books were commercial and gimmicky, but I kept seeing the alphabet book referenced on Waldorf blogs, so I finally checked them out and they're quite lovely (although this one has tabs you pull to change the pictures, so it is a little gimmicky). 

From left to right:

1. Listen, Listen by Phillis Gershator

2. A Child's Calendar by John Updike

3. The Barefoot Book of Blessings by Sabrina Dearborn

4. A Time to Keep by Tasha Tudor

5. Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak

6. The Story of the Root Children by Sibylle Von Olfers

7. A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

8. The Flower Fairies Changing Seasons by Cicely Mary Barker

9. Linnea's Almanac by Cristina Bjork

10. Children of the Forest by Elsa Beskow

11. Stories Around the Year by Thornton Burgess (this one is not pictured, but I wanted to include it because it's one of Max's favorites right now--which probably explains why I couldn't find it. It looks like it might be out of print, but can be found used fairly inexpensively).

Friday Painting

Red + yellow = happy.

Spring Reads

We have far too many books, so it is necessary to rotate them from time to time to keep the girls from getting bored and/or overwhelmed with the selection. Besides, who wants to read The Grinch who Stole Christmas in July, or Peter in Blueberry Land when it's snowing? I feel like some rotating is probably necessary no matter how many books you have.

Our book rotation system goes something like this: we have three big plastic bins we keep in the basement (that's not entirely true. We have a lot more than three--that's just how many we have that are full of books), and whenever the seasons change, we bring out the books for that season and pack away the books from the season before. This still leaves us with too many books in our book room at any time, but the girls largely ignore what's on the bookshelves which makes it easy to rotate within the seasons as well. I have two file holders that I use to display books facing out. I like to display some of their favorite books along with some "new" ones I think they might enjoy. I'd like to find something a little less industrial looking sometime, but these work fine for now.

In addition to all things Wonder Woman (except when those things are Wonder Girl, Wonder Tot, or The Cheetah, of course), here are some of the books Lissie has been enjoying lately. The Starry Bird and Eggs for the Hunting are both technically Easter books, but we got a late start on the second one and are still enjoying it (Easter or not, I say you can never go wrong with Tiptoes Lightly. And even though Maxine is a bit young for these, she has much affection for Jeremy Mouse). Miss Rumphius is one of my all time favorite books, but for some reason, we only have one other book by that author. Raggedy Ann is more age appropriate for Lissie, but almost always read while sitting between two girls, each cuddling her own Raggedy Ann doll (one large and handmade by my grandmother, the other small and mass produced; both equally loved and disheveled).

From left to right:

1. The Starry Bird by Reg Down
2. Eggs for the Hunting by Reg Down
3. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
4. Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire! by Jane O'Connor
5. Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
6. Flower Fairies of the Spring by Cicely Mary Barker
7. The Faerie's Gift by Tanya Robyn Batt
8. Raggedy Ann Stories by Johnny Gruelle
9. The Snail's Spell by Joanne Ryder
10. Listen to the Farm by Mrs. Silas Bowman (this last is very short, and Maxine enjoys having it read to her. By Lissie, who recently started reading all on her own.)

Maxine is currently loving Knock at the Door and Baby Animals by Kay Chorao. The first one is a great resource for simple finger plays (which Lissie really enjoys doing). The Princess in the Forest and The Sun Egg have been in constant rotation since the girls got them for Christmas. Starlight Sailor, Little Fur Family (Ariana's old copy! I can't believe we still have it) and There and Back Again, are all recently discovered favorites. The last one was grabbed from the free bin at a thrift store by one of the girls a while ago. I wasn't at all familiar with it, but it's a cute story about a toy rabbit, and I love the illustrations.

From left to right:

1. Knock at the Door by Kay Choraro
2. The Princess in the Forest by Sibylle Von Olfers
3. A Day in the Forest by Honey Bear Productions
4. There and Back Again by Harold Jones
5. Baby Animals by Kay Choraro
6. The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown
7. The Sun Egg by Elsa Beskow
8. Starlight Sailor by James Mayhew
9. Good-night Owl! by Pat Hutchins
10. Never Say Boo to a Goose! by Jakki Wood
11. Spring by Gerda Muller
12. Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown (not pictured is Goodnight Moon, which we have read almost every night since Maxine was old enough to express an opinion for a particular bedtime story. Runaway Bunny, however, is not nearly as popular around our house.)

Some of these are out of print, but available used for a few dollars on Amazon (or elsewhere, I am sure). The only exception would be A Day in the Forest which is, bizarrely, listed at $384.24 on Amazon. It's a fine book, but hardly worth that! I'd wait and see if it comes down $380 or so.

What about you? Do you rotate books? What are some of your spring favorites?

Forbidden Fruit

There is something so magical about the Waldorf ideal. Open ended toys made from natural materials, rhythms and routines, delayed academics, wholesome foods, and children who are never exposed to electronic entertainment. It's charming, and timeless, and almost nothing like what goes on in our house.

Oh yes, we've got wooden toys, we rotate books and aren't doing much academic work with my 6.5 year old. We eat well, mostly. I did stock up in Annie's gluten free mac and cheese at Target last week though. Did I mention the girls were there with me? Well, not with me, exactly, they were with Brad. In the toy aisle.

I can say we don't do television at all (actually, that's not entirely true; Lissie has watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Twice.), but I must admit to occasionally letting the girls play a game on my phone or on the iPad. But that's okay, right? Because they are always educational. Oops. So much for delayed academics!

And we try, we try so hard to keep licensed characters out of the house. So how is it that my two year old knows the names of every single Disney Princess?

And Dora.

How do we own a Dora coloring book?

But at least she was coloring in it with beeswax block crayons. That must count for something, right?

Beeswax: A Retrospective

I know I have been very lax in school related posting lately, but rest assured, we have been doing school related activities! I think I have mentioned before that a big part of what drew me to the Waldorf teaching style is the art. One thing the girls look forward to very much is our Monday circle time when we do a little beeswax sculpture to go along with the story for that week.

I didn't plan it so each item we've made so far used a different color, but it worked out that way. Maybe because that's just how things happen sometimes, or maybe because that's just how things happen when it's always 9:45 Monday morning and you are standing in the craft room frantically trying to think of a simple clay sculpture to go with that week's story before the girls start fighting over who sits where and you lose the whole peaceful circle time vibe, and you are faced with a box of neat rectangles of clay or a plastic bag full of prior weeks' projects. At any rate, we've cycled through all the colors now, and I thought it would be fun to do a post about the things we've made before I reshape them all so they can be reused.

First were the balls moons, of course. These went along with the story "Harvest Moon Magic" by Suzanne Down.

Then, the week of the autumn equinox, we made pomegranates to go with the story of Demeter and Persephone.  

Then we read "Michaelmas Story of the Star Children" by Corinne Batzell. I printed it out from somewhere, but I can't seem to find it again. It's a great story though, and if you aren't as lazy as me, you could probably spend ten seconds Googling it. We made sprouts to go with the story. They're kind of springish, but the tube shape was a nice change from what we'd been doing.  

Next, we made leaves to go with the story "The Elder Brother" from here.  

I guess we lost a stem from one of our leaves.  I can't find the other picture I took before I threw these in a plastic bag and jumbled them around the craft bin though, so this one will have to do.

For Martinmas, we made flames. They look a lot like the sprouts, actually, except yellow. This was the Monday I forgot to get out the wax, and after the girls sat down, Max kept saying "day, day, day, no day" with a sullen look on her face. I had no idea what she was talking about until Lissie said "Oh, I know, you forgot the clay!" I find it interesting how quickly Maxine adapted to the weekly rhythm.  

Our story that week was "Saint Martin's Light" by Reg Down, who has kindly made a number of his stories available for download on his site. It's a wonderful resource and a great way to sample his work if your local library doesn't carry his books (as ours doesn't) and you are on a budget (like we are). This was actually my first introduction to his stories, but I loved everything I read, so I "liked" Tiptoes Lightly on Facebook and then won a copy of The Cricket and The Shepherd Boy in a giveaway that he did. How cool is that? Reg Down seems like a really nice guy too, which makes me want to buy all of the rest of his books immediately, but alas, that budget! We are building our collection slowly though.  

And for our last project, I thought we'd branch (hah!) out a bit from the tube shape. Lissie and I made trees (Maxine made a tree stump), which went along nicely with the story "Autumn Bear" by Suzanne Down.  

In Feingold related news, I recently learned about a product called Gloves in a Bottle which prevents things from being absorbed into the skin. I can't wait to try it out with Lissie. I am hoping it will allow her to use markers, beeswax crayons and paint again (although she has been doing well with her Artemis watercolors). I haven't decided yet if we'll try the Stockmar modeling beeswax, or stick with Artemis if the "gloves" work. Maybe we'll use a combination of both.  I do like the muted colors and variations in the kind we've been using, but I have a feeling the girls would enjoy the brighter Stockmar colors too.