adventures in life and learning…

Well, previously I had told you all that I would share photos from our trip out to Klondyke, AZ – I still haven’t finished working on those, but I do have some shots from Whitewater Draw, where we were able to see the Sandhill Cranes and take in some gorgeous natural beauty.

It was definitely a lovely adventure. We had hoped to make it to another viewing area a ways down the road but did not get there until dusk, so we missed out on birdwatching there. But, that is okay!

We began our Maths Block here at Desert Starlight, and it has been an interesting, and slow, learning process thus far. Between HL getting seriously sick (it was only a cold, but her fever was ferocious and her cough was terrible) and just a general feeling of ick in the house, we have only done two of the planned lessons since beginning school again. We aren’t even finished with the second lesson. However, our little Math Gnomes have been so well received! They are wonderful friends for my children, who are constantly asking to play with them (they actually re-enact the chapters from The Gnomes Gemstones as we read them for the lessons).

Moon’s handwriting it soring, especially seeing as she hadn’t written much during the first part of the school year and we haven’t focused on the lowercase letters yet. I definitely see the advantage of using the larger paper (our main lesson books are 9×12), especially with writing. Sun has a bit of an issue with following the main lesson page-maps (I sketch the drawing out and place the writing so we have an idea of where things go without having too much blank-page-anxiety). When we reviewed the first lesson, he had an issue with making the connection between his writing and his drawing because it really doesn’t match. We had a talk about following the page-maps when I make them, and hopefully, when we do our page for Lesson 2 about Measuring Time by the Stars, he will follow the directions. *shrugs* If not, we will just have to keep talking about the benefits of using the page-maps.

I am hoping to get back into the swing of things. The holidays always mess me up, especially since it seems like I get on such a good roll and then have to stop. *deep sigh*

I’m interested in what you all are working on in school right now! Leave a comment down below and share with me!

the first day…

TOP: our form drawing lesson books (Sun’s, mine, and Moon’s)
BOTTOM 1: Sun and Moon tracing the forms in the book Creative Form Drawing
BOTTOM 2: Sun and Moon walking the forms in the kitchen
BOTTOM 3: Moon exploring Oneness
BOTTOM 4: Sun’s daily math work with his sister’s counting rods

Today was definitely a Monday. Ugh. I woke up late (not late enough to make HL late to school, or to cause really any issues, but late enough that I didn’t get my self-care in); we had a very, VERY late start to our lessons (like 12PM late); and, to top it all off, the bread we made this afternoon was not what I thought it would be. But, you want to know what? We made it through today, and no one had any real major meltdowns. We had some minor ones, but after some explanation, peace filled the air.

Today has been a day of many lessons, for me mostly. One of the biggest things I learned was that we cannot, absolutely cannot, start late. I need to have the will to set aside some things and get to the lessons. I also learned that we definitely need to make sure we do the date, day Gnome, and do our calendar wheel – which I need to fill in with some of our rhythms! Final morning lesson I learned, for the time before and at the beginning of lessons, is that I really REALLY need at least 30 minutes in the morning to do some much-needed self-care. Some coffee, some nice and gentle classical music, and my cards. I haven’t prayed for days because I have been so stressed out. I saw that in myself today, in the way I put off and put off lessons.

Sun needs his rhythm written down and laid out for him, and he cannot deviate from it. Any deviation seems to cause him anxiety. Somethings less than others, I’ll be the first to admit (he was so set on going home after we had to make an impromptu trip to Target so he could eat his snack and play outside, but we adults decided to take them to the park and it threw him off for a bit before we arrived). But, it was apparent today that anything we might be doing needs to go down on the rhythm for his benefit. I have also been trying to tell him at least 15 minutes before we have to leave that we will be leaving – this has alleviated some of the intensity of his meltdowns, but has not saved him from the anxiety that being rushed and pulled out of the house seems to bring on for him.

Another lesson, learned the hard way, was that I cannot leave him to do his work on his own. It just won’t get done. So, I guided him to the table and we sat down and did the work together. He really needs someone there to bounce ideas off of and to check his work, or he will get horribly distracted (not as bad as he does without his medication, but still bad); and honestly, I prefer having him here at the table, even when my focus is on Moon. We weren’t able to get to the entire lesson today, but that is alright. Have a plan, but be flexible!

Speaking of Moon… She has decided that naps just aren’t for her anymore. And most days, it shows how much growing up she had done over the last few months. And, having Melatonin as part of the nightly rhythm has helped both Sun and Moon tremendously! We switched Sun’s night medication to the morning with his other one, and have started giving both of my Littles Melatonin at night about an hour or two before bedtime. This has made the transition so much easier. Sun even seems to be building a more typical sleep pattern, which is fantastic!

Also speaking of transitions… I have learned just how powerful a verse or a song (or a verse turned into a song) truly is when it comes to drawing the children in and setting the tone for the next activity or lesson or duty. I sang a cleanup verse, and there was no fighting against it when I began cleaning up the living room – they helped right away, and even started singing with me; when the timer went off and it was time to start lessons, a simple verse said on the porch got their attention and they ran inside to begin.

Making bread has been an anxiety-inducing concept since putting my whole heart into Waldorf. First of all, I hate scratchy stuff on my hands, and flour is scratchy like fine-grained sand. It was not the most pleasant experience, that flour. However, I saw just how potent the experience truly is for all ages, and I refuse to forego this tradition any longer. I might have been super unhappy with how it turned out, but all three of the kids (including the resident bread hater) ate their fill of bread and barely touched their spaghetti. Their hands made that bread. Their ears heard the directions, their eyes saw the ingredients, and their hearts poured into each roll they formed. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any photos of the bread-making process or the product, but I hope that in the coming weeks we will have at least a few shots of our newfound tradition.

So, overall I am proud of our day today. We completed Head, Heart, and Hands – Main Lesson, Form Drawing, and Baking bread. We had a relatively peaceful day, even when HL came home (OH! the kids even started straightening up the bedroom, without a fuss!). So many lessons learned from the most simple of interactions with my children.

yuletide and update

Well, with all of the high energy and things happening, I wasn’t quite able to do everything I wanted to for Yule this year. But, we did share a lovely story written by Melisa Nielson over at Waldorf Essentials called The Yule Miracle. The children, mine and HL, were very much interested in the tale – so was I! So much of Melisa’s work is inspiring in so many ways.

We met with the new therapist for both Sun and Moon on Yule as well. It was fitting to meet her because hopefully, she won’t drop us in the middle of getting to know us like it seems we always are. Sun has been having some severe behavioural problems, likely due to the lack of rhythm now that HL is out of school for the winter, and all of us passing around this winter cold. He has been sleeping until Noon, or later, steadily for nearly a week – we are seeing if perhaps his bedtime medication is causing the issues, and so far it seems to be true. I even tried to take him down a dose but it didn’t seem to work. So, for now, we are only giving him his morning medication.

A final new thing to add to our week: Sun and Moon’s biological father, who hasn’t had but one or two moments of contact with them before seeing them on Friday in three years, bought them gifts for Christmas. We spent nearly an hour reconnecting and discussing the possibility of him coming back into their lives, but at this moment there is no solid plan for that because he feels it would not be beneficial for them as he is very unstable in many ways. I understand that, completely, and I made sure that he knew that if he wanted to see them all he had to do was text or call me. He offered that if they ever need anything, all I need to do is ask and he will try to make it happen. It was a lovely experience, much better than I thought it would be. I won’t lie and say it wasn’t nerve-wracking, or that I wasn’t anxious the entire time, but it was a nice first step and the children seemed to enjoy being around him. Baby steps, baby steps.

We have been doing a whole lot of resting this month, but there have been a few things that are noteworthy:

Top Row –
1: Moon and her Vowel pages
2: She was working so hard!
3: Sun working on the MyraMakes packet he received in the mail! (link below)
4: Moon and her brand new glasses!

Middle Row –
1: Building a wooden town.
2: Creating a scene.
3: A friend wanting to play ball.
4: Balancing river rocks for peace.

Bottom Row –
1: A toadstool
2: Laying neatly in a row.
3: Sun created a fidgetspinner out of little round spheres and candle holders.

Sun enjoys the Myra Makes beta subscription I signed up for. I definitely suggest that you look into it!

For now, that is it. Once I have our Maths blocks situated and planned out, I’ll share them with you. Until then, have a wonderful holiday season ❤

goals

I want to apologise ahead of time for not having any recent photos to share with you. We haven’t been doing much work this month, mostly because it is so cold – Winter has officially arrived in the desert, and we spend much of our time indoors cuddled under blankets and playing.

Winter has always been my inner work time – it is a time when I spend most of the days in deep thought, considering how I will make the coming new year a better one. I have finally met one of my personal goals – to quit smoking (though not completely, but I am down to maybe half a cigarette a day) – and I have met one of my homeschooling goals (to stick with it longer than a single month). Sun has a single page to finish and then a title, and he will be finished with his first Main Lesson Book. Moon has just a few more alphabet practice pages to finish and she will be finished! I am so proud of my little Stars for sticking with me through this arduous task of finding a rhythm – and we aren’t done yet!

Rhythm has always been a struggle for me. As a child, I needed some sort of schedule, so my mother posted one she had made in my room – it was written for me to do in order to meet her needs. I don’t like schedules. I like predictability, but not the strictness of having to do things at specific times. The thing with rhythm is that it isn’t a schedule, not in how most people view it. It is more of a flow. I have been spending so much time considering how our days flow, and I have realised that they really do not. They are choppy, at best, and completely disastrous at worst. So, one of my goals before the new years begins is to sit down and more deeply consider our rhythm and how to better make the days flow, instead of consistently damaging our little boat.

Sun and I sat down this morning after I woke him up (I guess there was already a tune to the verse I use for wake up, but I made up my own anyway!), and we discussed what rhythm is and how we can add a bit more flow to our days. We decided on Monday – Baking, Tuesday – Tea, Wednesday – Painting, Thursday – Handwork, and Friday – Nature Walk. There are other things that we need to consider, like going to the Library and the Farmer’s Market (which is always on Thursdays here)  – but I think that these things can be added once we establish a solid flow with the basics. These are all afternoon activities, either when HL comes home from school (on Fridays, specifically, because she has a standing appointment that gives us about an hour for a nature walk), so we will still have our Main Lessons in the morning, Moon first and then Sun after snack.

The end of December is sneaking up on me, and I don’t really feel like I am ready to start again. But I am getting there. I still have so much more to do, or at least it feels like that. My biggest goal is to just keep going, to take it one day at a time, and work on helping my children foster a love for learning. This journey has required so much patience from me, and I am not the most patient person – but, I have been working on that. I think perhaps, were I to apply a single word to 2018 to follow and bring more into my life, it would be patience. It is a daily work, and I have a long way to go until I am where I want to be, for myself and my children.

I have been considering sharing some of our journey on a vlog, but I have yet to even make the first video. Perhaps that will be something I work on in the coming New Year. I cannot wait to share photos of Sun and Moon’s MLBs. I am so proud of both of them for all the work they have done so far. Thank you all so much for being here with us!

november update

Due to some health issues, we have been having a fairly relaxed schooling month. It isn’t to my liking, but I am always so tired and in so much. We have been doing a lot more unschooling than Waldorf work, and that truly saddens me – but, here is an update, in pictures, of what we have been doing.

14 November

word family work

The Hare and the Tortoise

The Hare and the Tortoise

The Hare and the Tortoise

15 November

Moon’s Letter Book – I made this for her to practice her letters in.

Cutting and gluing, making something wonderful

We had cookies for snack!

And of course, there were milk mustaches.

19 November

I stamped the abbreviations for the days on the week on the Gnomes.

I did a thing! I made this nifty nature table!

The Gnomes are quite enjoying their new home on our nature table.

21 November

We made folders to hold all of our previous block work. Moon made donuts.

Sun decided to make a donut cake – I see a pattern here…

I made a drawing of the three of us studying a flower… Because I have high expectations… LOL

Coming up, we will be starting Sun on the Vimala Alphabet (he has already shown better control with it than traditional cursive), finishing Moon’s Alphabet/Language Arts block and Sun’s Animal Stories block, and celebrating the festivals for December in simple ways. I will definitely be posting the different things we are working on starting next week!

I am nervous for the New Year – mostly because we will be adding in wet-on-wet watercolour painting – which I am completely nervous about, because I just received Painting and Drawing in Waldorf Schools (eep! yay!) and I did always love it – and on top of that, we will be working more closely with the recorder and with singing (mostly for Moon, who isn’t quite ready for the recorder). I am still trying to understand our household, and personal, rhythms which makes things a bit more difficult to work in. Especially since Sly had hip replacement surgery and I have hit a wall with my own health concerns. But overall, I am proud of my little Stars. They truly make me happy each day, regardless of the challenges they place before me.

For all those celebrating, I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! We will be taking the rest of the week off, mostly, and will be back to lessons on Monday.

random crafts

My children have wild imaginations and are always wanting to make something, glue something, or cut something. So, to help curb their crafting appetites, I let them use the scraps from the Word Family things I was cutting (and some glue and tape) to make headbands. From there, they wanted to put leaves on their crowns, so I printed some out and let them colour and cut their leaves.

Moon is fantastic with scissors, but for some reason, she is generally fantastic at anything she puts her mind to. She has so much fun cutting and glueing things!

Sun had some issues and, after getting frustrated, he went to his room to have some quiet time. I cut his leaves out and left them for him to glue on – he didn’t end up glueing them, so I asked if he wanted me to finish his crown and, of course, he said yes.

Moon wanted to dress up in the skirt she received for her birthday (it also came with a flower and leaf headband) and it was just too perfect. I had to get photos of her skipping and playing! My little Nature Sprite has such a huge imagination!

This little girl is so perfect. She is so bright and bubbly, yet so sensitive. I will be the first to admit that she challenges me every single day, but there is nothing compared to her smiles and joy.

Sun has been having a difficult time since Sly came home from hospital (she had hip replacement) – we all have been struggling. However, in those moments when there is joy in his heart, he is amazing. Just like his sister, Sun finds new ways to challenge me daily, but I don’t know where I would be without his good and bad days.

They are teaching me to just let some things go – my idea of perfection is being dismantled and has begun the slow process of change. No longer is perfection clean and neat and, well, picture perfect – no, it is bits of paper and dirty fingers and lots and lots of messy hugs and sloppy kisses.

I wouldn’t change my kids for anything, they are perfect in all of their imperfections.

field trip friday

Fridays are for field trips… and other things, but today we went out to the Little Family Farm not too far from our home. In years past, the farm has been a lovely little place with vines and berries and flowers and pumpkins, and a ton of different animals, but this year it was so barren. There were only a few pumpkins in the patch, and the animals were not all too friendly. We still enjoyed ourselves – I firmly believe that every child should be nibbled on by an animal, other than a family pet, in their lifetime. As a toddler, a goose thought my toes were worms!

We had our friends with us today, Sly and HL (who we live with), and another family that are close friends of ours.

 

We were introduced to a blind rooster, and the children all got to pet him.

Feeding the goats and chickens is one of the highlights of the Little Family Farm. They are so friendly and curious (the kids AND the animals)!

My Sun was enamoured with the goats, he wanted to spend a lot of time with them.

Thankfully, there were places to sit and rest and just watch the animals – my Sun fell in love with the porch swing.

My Moon was a bit hesitant of the goats, especially since they were very hyper. She wasn’t sure how to handle everything going on, but she did well with leaving the goats treats on the railing.

Sun loved the giant white turkey and all of the hens! He was so excited to be able to feed them.

There was a single hen removed from the fenced area, and Sun took it upon himself to feed her. It took about fifteen minutes and all of the other children leaving the small area for her to feel comfortable enough to eat from his hand.

There were ducks on the farm too!

And two very vocal donkeys!

This little boy was so curious about Sun! They were drawn to each other, and the little goat kept kissing Sun’s hand.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip to the local family farm, and all of the children learned a valuable lesson: when approaching an animal, never offer your fingers! Offer the palm or back of your hand first, and if the animal responds nicely you may pet it!