Wednesday is our drawing day.
Along with our day of rest/holy day - this is probably the simplest day of our rhythm. That is quite intentional. During the school year C and I have our parent/child class on Wednesdays and we also have our weekly play date after school with our dear friends. For us that is quite the full day so the idea of planning a crafting activity, baking in the kitchen or mixing the paint and waiting 20 minutes for the paper to soak for wet on wet watercolor painting just seems exhausting.
The girls grab their drawing/painting boards, their crayon caddy and their paper and sit down to draw. We don't use coloring books or pictures (except on the rare occasion when we are out to eat and the waitress gives them am image to color), I prefer for them to use their imagination. I do not instruct them in any way on what or how to draw (I never have),I let them decide for themselves. On occasion I'll mention that some one's birthday or a holiday may be coming up and they will usually follow my lead and draw a picture for that person/event.
We use the Stockmar
beeswax crayons. I strongly believe in children having nice art supplies to be able to fully bring what they envision to life. These crayons may seem pricey compared to crayola but they are so worth it. The feel of them in your hand and the colors/images they produce are worth it alone.We have had these crayons since K turned one and at the rate they are going I imagine they will last through all our children.K uses the stick version of the crayons while C uses the block version,since she is still young. Of course C grabs K's crayons, too, but I try to encourage her to use the block ones when I can.
There is a great Rudolf Steiner book Colour
about the influence of color on us.
Cat fur, anyone?
For the most part our crayon colors are nature inspired and cheerful. We didn't use black until recently. I discovered that K's kindergarten classroom offered the children black on their drawing day so I decided we would bring it to ours, as well. At first K colored everything black (perhaps making up for lost time?!) but now they barely use it. We still don't really use black for anything else, though.
That is just a personal preference of mine.
Please remember - this is just our family rhythm and what works for us at the moment. This isn't meant to be hard and fast rules on how rhythm should go in every one or any one's homes. I just thought to share it because I receive quite a few e-mails asking about our home rhythm, and I also just wanted it documented for me to remember when they are older and on to another rhythm.
As for last weeks post : I will post pictures of the girls crafting spaces this week or the next. There isn't the best lighting where they are located,and it's a tight squeeze with my 50mm lens so they're bit tricky to photograph.
Thank you, again, for joining me in the rhythm fun! Here is the linky list. If you have a (new or old) link you would like to share about your family rhythm, please enter it below so that we all may see. Then please link back here in your post. I look forward to seeing your inspiration!
Thanks friends!
P.S. Don't forget to enter to win a copy of the adorable union suit pattern here!
P.P.S I hope to share our birthday rhythm coming up in the next couple of weeks as we celebrate K's 6th birthday.
Logging you in...
chan · 709 weeks ago
I am sure you don't intend to offend, which is why I'm seeking your clarification here. I have not read the book from which that quote comes, but I do know there is much controversy about Steiner's racist leanings, so the way this quote sits here on your blog, without context, makes me shudder.
FrontierDreams 111p · 709 weeks ago
When Steiner spoke of the 'color' black he never meant skin color by any means. I never even thought of it that way. I, too, have seen the accusations of Steiner being a rasicts circulate online but they are so far from the truth. Hitler and the Nazis actually had a hit out on Steiner due to his free will thinkings and not viewing the shell of the person (or skin color) but their soul. Please understand it has NOTHING to do with skin color!!!!
I fear others may see this quote the wrong way, so I will remove it from the post to not offend but I'll post it here in the comments so everyone can see what it was.
Thank you for your insight and honesty. I really appreciate it!
FrontierDreams 111p · 709 weeks ago
Black represents the spiritual image of the lifeless."
Rudolf Steiner - Colour
I highly suggest reading this book to see the full picture of Steiner's view on the importance and influence of color (again NOT skin color!)
chan · 709 weeks ago
(We are in the early stages of considering a Waldorf-inspired journey, so feel free to point me toward something I can read myself if the questions I've asked are too broad to be answered in a comment box.)
graham cracker · 709 weeks ago
Pamela · 709 weeks ago
thiscosylife 81p · 709 weeks ago
I'm really interested in reading the book you linked to, I would love to learn more about what Steiner had to say about color.
I really am going to have to get a few of those coloring boards. My girls have absolutely *ruined* my table, which is OK, because kids live here and they're wonderfully artistic little people.. but, still! Also, I have read twice and cannot find where again, nor a source to back it up, that Stockmar beeswax crayons still have petroleum in them. Do you know anything about the ingredients? I can't find them anywhere. I decided until I can find out for sure to use the soy crayons instead.
Anyway, I'm loving your rhythm series!
Melanie · 709 weeks ago
Also, our children have always used black crayons- my son who is 7 absolutely loves animals and likes to draw them precisely, and of course needs black!
I did not misinterpret what you said on black at all- I understand it can be controversial, however. I understand Steiner's view on black as well, but I also believe it depends on the child and his temperment. My children need black! ;) I had to laugh at you saying K "made up for lost time" with her black crayon!
Hugs!
Lindsay · 709 weeks ago
I did have one question as I have heard conflicting information - I thought the use of block crayons was not to be introduced until around grade 1 and to allow younger children to use stick crayons so they can draw the archetypal stick drawings of people, houses, etc... I have a 4.5 year old and an almost 3 year old and have swapped their block crayons (which I thought were meant for littles due to their chunky design) for stick crayons based on some things I have read both online and in print.
Thanks for any information you can provide.
Blessings,
Lindsay
nadjamagdalena 51p · 709 weeks ago
And not being a Waldorf mom myself (although I come from an artistic background, my dad having been an artist), I love the block crayons for little ones...they love to combine the great, big swatches of color with the skinny lines and squiggles...I like to give the kids access to anything they are old enough to handle!
Leslie Elliott · 709 weeks ago
Lisa · 709 weeks ago
Every time I read one of them, I think that we really need to find our own family rhythm again, that we lost somehow, while our girls got older... But what I wanted to tell you is, that we just joined you ;-) Yes, we did some wool acorn necklaces - If you like, you can see some of them on my blog.
Love and hugs from Germany,
Lisa
Brandy · 709 weeks ago
Juise · 709 weeks ago
That said, depictions of the natural world are certainly not the only form art can take, and I have always had the full range of colors available to both my girls. My littlest has all but ignored the less intensely coloured hues, preferring always to use the colours of the rainbow. It was a long time, however, before my oldest was very interested in using anything aside from black, grey, and brown very often. She could contentedly spend an hour industriously painting an entire huge piece of paper black.
Not to dispute your personal feeling, but simple to share mine, while I generally prefer the colourful artworks from my kids, I feel that it is theirs, not mine, and so should be their choice, not my preference. I feel like that is part of not directing a child's art. Most especially at a young age, I really agree with the "process over product" theory, and feel like taking away some of the colours would be.. well.. taking something away. :) I think my oldest's fascination with black was really about the contrast, the boldness, and the impact it made. She still gets super excited about laying down a big, thick black strip of paint. I wouldn't want for her to have missed out on this beloved exploration of hers.
As for block VS stick, I am not really sure I understand the popularity of block crayons, or why anyone would want to encourage their use if a child wanted to use a stick. Please understand, I don't mean this in a disrespectful or judgmental way, I honestly do not get it and I would love to have a response from someone to that question. My children have always had both available to them, and aside from trying out the blocks when we first got them, they have never touched them. Neither would I ever really want to use a block unless I was trying to fill a very large space. I have seen this same preference with their sidewalk chalks. They use up the round, pointed chalks, and do not touch the square, blocky chalks. Drawing can already become a bit frustrating to a child sometimes, when they just can't seem to represent what they see in their mind's eye, I feel like blocks would only make that harder. I totally understand offering both, which is why I do, but I don't understand why you would discourage the use of the form the child showed a preference for?
Grace · 709 weeks ago
Grace · 709 weeks ago
liebchenhut · 708 weeks ago