Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Waldorf Homeschooling - Kindergarten year one (her first day!)

Might that be the longest title yet on this blog of mine? Ha!
I thought it only proper to share a glimpse of C's first day of school, too. I didn't take a lot of pictures but they still give you an idea, at least.

Waldorf homeschooling - first day of kindergarten year one

Waldorf homeschooling - first day of kindergarten year one

Monday was our first official day, and in our weekly kindergarten rhythm that is baking day. Monday has actually always been baking day for us so I thought I would keep that the same. I wanted to ease C into our homeschooling rhythm so we kept the day simple, easy going, and I did my best to focus on keeping my attention on her and out time together (Well, the best I can with a little monkey named Little L on my back!). I think that is the key (for C) to make her truly enjoy our schooling together.

I set up two lambies on the children's side of the kitchen and we began our day with an opening verse (with hand movements):

Good morning dear earth,
Good morning dear sun,
Good morning dear fairies and the flowers every one,
Good morning dear beasts and the birds in the trees,
Good morning to you and good morning to me.


Then I put on my apron and C put on her special school apron (It was an apron we made together in parent/child class last year. She'll only use that one on our school days to keep it special), and we set up to bake. We decided on a loaf of bread. I gathered the ingredients and told C how much we needed of each but I let her make it all on her own. She was thrilled over that, smiling the whole time as she worked.
She even cut up zucchinis for our dinner exclaiming "I am so glad I am homeschooling, Mama! It's lots of fun." I let out a big sigh of relief over that statement.

We sang this song as she made the dough:

Blow wind, blow
And go mill, go
That the miller may grind it
As flour we'll find it
To bring to the baker at dawn
To bring to the baker at dawn

Blow wind, blow
And go mill, go
That the baker may take it
And into bread make it
To bring us a loaf
In the morn
To bring us a loaf in the morn.


Waldorf homeschooling - first day of kindergarten year one

Waldorf homeschooling - first day of kindergarten year one

Waldorf homeschooling - first day of kindergarten year one

Waldorf homeschooling - first day of kindergarten year one

We cleaned up together as the dough was rising and I did a story for her (I plan on doing more elaborate puppet shows in the coming weeks, once I have things planned out a bit better), followed by lunch and a closing verse. By then it was time to go pick up K. I realized I will need to have better time management skills if I am to fit more into our daily rhythm for school. But this was just our first day so I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. Then again, Waldorf kindergartens are modeled after home life so I don't want to overdo it and cram too much into one day.

Waldorf homeschooling - first day of kindergarten year one
picture by K!

K was more excited to hear about C's first day of school than to tell us how her day went. C showed off her bread and K, being the proud big sister that she is, snapped a picture to "remember C's accomplishment".(Yes, we still have our beeswax leaves from last Autumn hanging up...)

Waldorf homeschooling - first day of kindergarten year one

That evening all partook in C's bread for dinner along with some zucchini soup (recipe from either Forks Over Knives - The Cookbook or Forks Over Knives - The How To Companion, I forgot which of the two it was at this moment). I am happy to report we thoroughly enjoyed it which just tickled C with delight.

I think we can do this. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
More to come!

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Comments (23)

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Oh this is so sweet! I'd love to hear about "the children's side of the kitchen", is that just where they work, or is it set up especially for them? I'm so happy for you that it's going well. :) Our first days are going well too...we aren't really doing all that I hope to yet, but like you said, I'm trying to be easy on myself and just add things in slowly. The kids are loving it though, and I'm trying to remind myself that while I want to expose them to things, I don't have to expose them to all of the things all at once.
1 reply · active 654 weeks ago
Their side is all set up for them. It was wasted space in our kitchen b/c there wasn't enough room to put our table there so we made it into the girl's kitchen. It has their table and play kitchen. You can see it here: http://pinterest.com/pin/47076758575318106/ but it has been simplified a whole lot since then,

I look forward to chatting with you more about our homeschooling days <3
Really sweet! And I also think it's wonderful that you are able to embrase all these new steps in the life of your daughters! Enjoy!
1 reply · active 654 weeks ago
Brilliant first day. You can definately do this!
Of course you can! Looks like a very lovely 1st day.... of course you really have 5 years into this already!
1 reply · active 654 weeks ago
Thanks! I don't know why but it just adding the label 'homeschooling' makes it scary for me :P
How wonderful! We started a morning circle time at our house yesterday with our almost four-year-old. I look forward to hearing about your journey as I go along on mine. :-)
1 reply · active 654 weeks ago
How did it go? We have a love for circle time in our home.
You're doing wonderfully! You may think you can. But I *know* you can! (:
1 reply · active 654 weeks ago
*blush* thank you!!!!
The bread looks great! I bet she felt so proud having a hand in making it. My Jesse loves to cook, no surprise there since daddy is a professional chef, and he likes to get up on a chair and cut fruits and veggies with his cringle cutter too. I need to make a decision about a learning tower or something, do you use one? I just don't know if I want to take up the space with it, but with 2 more littles to go after him, I certainly would get a lot of use out of it.
2 replies · active 654 weeks ago
We still use ours and my oldest is 6. Takes up room, but it is so worth it and puts my mind at ease when they are working with the knives knowing they aren't going to fall of the chairs!
You know I have been debating over one of those, too. Both of my girls have fallen out of their chairs a coiple of times by now and that just seems so much safer. Have you seen the plans for building your own? I think I have them up on my pinterest board.
Aw, looks like a wonderful first day! I can smell the bread!

Becca
You can do do this, you just did. That is all there is to it! Simple. Remember, a Waldorf kindergarten is set up to model HOME! Just live life and let her be a part of it. In and out, in and out, you can do this.
We sing those same songs! Congratulations on your first day, enjoy your adventure.
I love your little verses with hand movements. As I am totally challenged in that area, did you make them up yourself or did they come from a book? I would love to do those with my little ones!
1 reply · active 654 weeks ago
Thank you Sandra! The morning verse was from the book Seven Times the Sun (One of my fav sources for verses) and the mill song was from our parent'child class last year but I also saw it in my Enki kindergarten book. HTH!
I am excited to see more of your homeschooling days. My almost 4 year old is my oldest home this year, so we are trying to get some homeschooling in as well. We made bread this week as well, but you are so good about letting them do it themselves. I really need to work on that. Are you using any kind of curriculum, or creating it on your own? You are going to rock homeschooling!
I'm late to the posting board, but hoping you see this! Where did you find your rippled cutter she is using for the apples? We used them in our parent & child class, but no one there ever knew where to get them! Thank you!!
2 replies · active 599 weeks ago
Hi there and welcome!! We found those cutters through Montessori Servives (go figure) here: http://www.montessoriservices.com/practical-life/... HTH!

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