Christian meets Montessori meets Waldorf

The way we have been homeschooling isn't really working for us anymore. There were things lacking, and too much emphasis in other areas. I was just stressed trying to juggle it all. I was stressed by how materialistic and consumerist Montessori was making me feel, needing this much stuff was doing my head in. I want a simple life and a simple house.

Then I went and visited a lovely friend aka best bud aka claimed sister. We had some small chats, and her beautiful children inspired me to explore new areas of education. I came home with a zeal to research, learn and try something new.

Then the real task began, what is Waldorf Steiner education. How can I implement this into our homeschool. As I read more the big question ended up being, can I as a Christian use this material? Is it ok to pick bits out and ignore the bits that don't sit right for me. Can I ignore them when Steiner himself writes verses like this:

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 Deep in the ground of the human soul,
Of victory assured.
The Spirit-Sun is living.
All through the winter of the inner life
The faithful heart divines it.
That is just one of many examples and the only one I could re-find.

After many hours reading and praying, I don't see the harm for my family to be Waldorf inspired in our education. What I use as resources for that I am still researching (ETA I have just purchased the Earthschooling Curriculum and it looks awesome). I am excited to use art more as a learning tool.  I look forward to learning new techniques and how to really use art, music and nature. This is not something that comes naturally to me so I do need some resources to help.

Now I still love a lot of the Montessori approaches, and we will continue to be Montessori inspired. But I cannot do the full monty. We will continue to use nomenclature cards for areas of study, I will use a lot of the math resources, I love the beads, and many of the other math manipulatives. I am sure the are other things I will find over time to use. But the pressure to have it all is removed.

Looking to the Christian component of our studies. It was fairly non existent. It has been on my heart to include more. As I read and researched I looked for ways to make our house and our learning more Godly. We are going to begin our week with a bible reading and the creation of their own illustrated Bibles. Each day will start singing and thanking our Lord.

I will also be incorporating elements of the Brave Writer program, where ages 5-8 are the Jot it Down period. This meaning besides the short verses of copywork I am the childrens scribe. It gives them a chance to develop their languages skills first rather than dumbing down their thoughts to meet their writing skills. They learn how to spell and write, through reading back over their own words, and through copywork. Writing comes later when they are more ready.

The current conclusion is a brand new daily and weekly rhythm.

Monday:

• Bible Reading and verse singing
• Memory Verse copywork into their brand new bible study art folio books
• Illustration of this story/verse next to the copywork,
• Yoga
• Monty Math
• Cultural Study
• Cooking
• Quiet reading.

Tuesday - Thursday

• Memory verse singing and dancing
• Reading of a Fable/ Poem/Rhyme/Story
• Copywork of a segment of this and illustrate (complete over the 3 days), Mr 5 will incorporate alphabet art and Miss 3 just free drawing (maybe some light elements of form drawing)
• Gross Motor excercise
• Maths
• Cultural Study/Science/Geography/Unit Study
• Handcraft
• Quiet reading

Anytime

• Music (I am currently researching buying a glockenspiel instead of the handbells Montessori suggests, or the flute that I am seeing in Waldorf works).
• Self interest research, which I will scribe his findings into the new "What I've learnt" book (or titled something along those lines, any ideas please leave a comment I am a little stumped)

I plan to bring this blog back to life as I share this new journey of ours with links to the resources we use and pictures of the new fun times we will have. Finally feeling inspired again. Feeling free and lighter.

Tomorrow we start. Excited and nervous.

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The wheels fell off....

....and we crashed into a wall smashing our utter existence into tiny pieces.

OK that might be a touch exaggerated. But the reality is, the way we educated stopped working overnight. It felt like our whole being fell apart. Nothing was working, nothing. Every day was a battle with everything.

So what did I do. Well I panicked I yelled and screamed. I tried to quietly whisper. I presented work each day. I made him sit and not get up till his work was done. I withheld lunch till work was complete. I did everything I could think of to enforce my authority over him. I tried to be a teacher rather than his mother.

What did this achieve. The broken pieces of our education being thrown at me. It resulted in meltdowns, horrible attitudes and broken relationships.

So then I simply did nothing. I just let be what was. We lived our life, we visited the library, we got work done in the yard. I just tried to make sure there were things to do. I made sure I spent time with them. We started reading. Lots and lots of reading. Read alouds and quiet reading. We read fiction and non fiction.

Where did this all lead. It lead to repaired relationships. To a new found excitement to learn. To a remarkable improvement in reading. To fun, smiles, happiness and a hugely more stable family life.

I am still forging my way through this new jungle. Having nothing planned each day is not working. There seems to be a need for some structured activities and some suggested learning. But the kids and I together will pave our new path, one brick at a time together choosing what ones to use. This is OUR journey not MY journey.

Skip Jumping

Since we got back from Tassie, it has been non stop busy. It is just nuts. We have OT sessions 2 or 3 times a week, plus 2 hourly sessions at home with therapressure brushing, motor planning exercises, core muscle strength building and fine motor strength work. I am exhausted. Very little schooling is happening and I am slowly becoming ok with that. If he was at school I would have to keep at home for this time to get these therapies done anyway. So I shall be at peace with the little we do.

But the challenging thing is, I am needing to be much more creative with how we do our learning. Mr I is being sent nuts by this therapy, it is almost like he has had a stroke and someone is slipping him drugs. He has regressed several years in a lot areas, it is painful. But I am told very common with this therapy and all will return to normal in a few weeks. I pray it is sooner rather than later.

So for now we need to be much more active, using our whole bodies for EVERYTHING. This mumma is tired. So today we did some skip count jumping. The kids loved it, this mumma regrets not getting dressed and putting a bra on first.

Lots of jumping and lots of counting was had.

I hope to get back into the blogging soon, but I barely have time to drink a cuppa at the moment.

Artventure review

Artventure is an online art tutorial hub for kids. I hesitated before buying this. Art with my kids tends to end like this, and this was only the beginning of the mess:

I vowed to never ever do art with them again. Well at least nothing that involved any mess making chances. They were limited to coloured pencils and on extremely rare occassions crayons and textas.

Although Texta's normally end like this:

So now that you can see my hesitation. I can tell you how much I LOVE artventure and LOVE watercolour paints.

The lessons are simple and very well explained. The kids love following them and then placing their own mark on their artwork. I love that you can search by difficulty, grade and subject, although I cannot seem to work out how to filter all 3 at once.

They are asking every day to do another lesson.

I think the tutorial is keeping them engaged so their little creative sensory seeking minds don't begin to wander into areas they shouldn't. Clean up was a simple tip out the bowls of water and a quick wipe of the table.

I am so pleased I took out this subscription.  I wish she told us where to buy cheap paper and paint. And it would be nice to use a few different mediums (but never ever glitter).

If you like me hate art, and have no fantastic skills at it. Artventure is a fantastic way to introduce your kids to creating amazing art works.

Below are two created by Mr I, this last week.

New Shelves = new learning

Finally bought some shelves and made some space for them. Firstly the shelves suck. I will be selling them off cheap as soon as I find something better. But they will do for now. The two little ones loved their first morning of Montessori.

Today we had 5 trays for them to pick from:

• Pom Poms, with tweezers and muffin tin. They didn't need instruction they just naturally sorted them by colour.
• Padlocks and egg rings. I linked a bunch of egg rings together with padlocks and let them have fun finding the right key to release the rings. Then they paddlocked them all together again.
• Math tray, this had a hint of waldorf to it, with our little addition gnomes.
• Stereognostic bag. Not a complete bag and completely DIY. ie I grabbed some of the kids wooden blocks to use.
• Pink series beginning sound cards. This tray was just for Mr 4.

This kids seemed to really love having all these things to do. Now to keep it going and interesting enough.

The week that just wasn't

This mumma was feeling over worked, over stretched, over tired and just plain stressed. Miss A is teething, Miss I is turning into a threenager, Mr I and Mr N are just all over the shop with the weather changing weather sending their sensory processing disorder into major disorder.

So I thought stuff this, lets just play and read and only do 'school' when they ask. We didn't do much and I don't care. I decided right I will read and crochet. The book is death boring and I completely cocked up my beanie. Completely miscalculated how much space dreads need. I thought I was going to have a beanie to show you all at the end of this week. We didn't school but it's ok I made this awesome beanie and I feel better about myself, I feel good that I have accomplished something for me and spent time on an interest of my own.

No instead I have this to show for my week....

 

I was almost going to have to write that my week ended as it started. Me feeling completely overwhelmed by life. But we went off on an excursion yesterday and it gave us all a chance to reconnect, giggle and chill out a bit. I ran away this morning to shop along (exciting things like bread and padlocks). So we are all feeling much better and hopefully next week is a good one.

Homeschooling vs Shaving legs

Yes you may have to choose one or the other. Ok maybe not, but I seem to have to. Between programming, preparing, schooling, cleaning, cooking and rarely getting to shower alone, well .....

Yes I have hairy legs, I still wear shorts and I can tell you why.....

1. It makes me look scary like a mumma bear so no one will be stupid enough to question my life choices. Like seriously who gets between a mumma bear and her cub right?
2. I will make the baby bears porridge just right, and their beds and chairs will be just right. Hairy legs = happy kids and no complaining (or maybe that is only if Goldilocks visits..hmmm)
3. It should eventually help me growl deeper and scarier so maybe the kids will pick up their crap off the floor. Yes I predict hairy legs = a cleaner house.
4.  It saves money on razors so I can buy more chocolate.
5. It will keep my legs warm in winter.
6. The rare occasions I do get to shower alone, I get to stand there and pretend I am under a waterfall on a deserted island all by myself.
7. If I am suppose to wear my tiger stripes with pride and each one shows how awesome I am. Seriously how awesome am I with all these hundreds of little hairy marks all over my legs.

I am a totally rocking awesome scary hairy mumma bear, hear me growl.

Keeping it real

This is my learning space today. I think the picture says it all. A creative free learning week is in order, I have no motivation to fix that mess. Learning will happen without this room. And no I cannot blame the kids, that mess is mostly me.

DIY $6 whiteboard

Yes you heard me right an almost floor to ceiling white board for $6. I cannot claim credit for the idea, someone else gave it to me. But it is so brilliant I am sharing with you.

I have been dreaming of a beautifully big whiteboard for the learning room. But with only mudbrick walls in the room I couldn't hang one and with no spare floor space no where for a freestanding one. I have been staring at my lovely white wardrobe doors wondering how to use them. The outer door is perfect for blue tacking things up since mudbrick is no good for this either, so I didn't want to waste this valuable space.

Then someone brilliant suggested rolls of whiteboard contact, great idea. They are $6.95 a roll for 100x45cm piece. But I managed to get 3 rolls of contact for $6. I imagine the specialised whiteboard stuff works better. But this gives me less joins and costs a lot less. The joins do really suck, I wish I had none. But at least I only have 2 and only one really gets in the way.

In my researching I discovered people suggesting a good prime for a whiteboard is a thin rub over with an oil. They were suggesting baby oil, we have non so sunflower had to do. And it really does seem to help with cleaner rub off. I cannot wait to use it.

Step 1. CLEAN the door, don't be a silly like me glance over it and think yep she's clean. I can guarantee you it is NOT clean, the contact makes every little mark stand out.

Step 2. I started at the edge. Hang the top bit, made sure the rest was going to hang straight along the edge. (this pic is of roll 2 going up)

Step 3. Slowly pull the contact paper away while rubbing side to side with a ruler.

Step 4. Repeat until the door is covered.

Step 5. Rub over with an oil. Just a very thin rub over.

Step 6. Enjoy :)

Montessori has arrived in our house

We have been rather Montessori inspired for a while. But now we have some of the REAL stuff. I don't even know what some of it is. There is going to be a lot of learning on my part so we can take full advantage of these resources. But I am excited and cannot wait to get stuck into some of these materials. We were so excited we spilled the box all over the floor for a quick look before starting dinner. It was like Christmas opening all the boxes.

In our box we have:

• Knobbed Cylinders
• Pink Tower
• Brown Stair
• Colour Box
• Constructive Triangles
• Uppercase Sandpaper Letters (all blue)
• Mystery Bag
• Binomial cube
• Number Rods
• Spindle Box
• Numbers and Counters
• Hundred Board
• Introduction to Decimal System
• Bead Stair
• Stamp Game
• Addition Strip Board
• Subtraction Strip Board
• Multiplication Board
• Division Board
• Fraction Skittles

Are there still things on my wish list ..... oh yeah. Most of that I won't ever bother getting, I just don't have the space. But what I really want to add is:

• a set of 3D shapes
• Number cards to 9000
• tens and teens board (I have aspirations to make these)
• Metal insets (considering making these out of wood too)
• Pythagoras board (I will probably make this too)
• bead set

Setting up and keeping it real.

I have a new system. I tidy up, find tomorrows work and lay it out after the kids have gone to bed each night. It means if I have accidentally forgotten something. Or don't have a resource I need I can print it off, or have time to improvise. It is working well and it gets the room tidy. Yep I am keeping it real here, this is my level of tidy. Miss I has discovered scissors and my floor is covered in paper confetti. I am not going to stop her it is a skill she needs to master. But I have also run out of vacuum bags. So my tidy room with broken blind, keeping it real. There is a shoe rack in the back corner. This serves well as a place to keep built Lego ready for the afternoon learning room to Lego room make over.

This is Miss I's work for tomorrow. She is 2. We only do formal work for an hour or so each morning. This activity, plus her crayons and scissors will keep her well occupied while we work.

Master N's work for tomorrow. He is 4.

And I forgot a photo of Master I's works. He will be doing some Grammar, spelling, maths, Science and PDHPE tomorrow.

Getting my Montessori on

We are not Montessori, I don't think I would ever have the discipline and structure to be fully Montessori. Nor do I have the funds to create the full classroom. But I love a lot of their principals and styles. So where I can I try and incorporate Montessori style into our learning. I did this before I even knew what Montessori was, it is just naturally how my brain works I guess.

And so over the last few days I turned my laminated money making board into a wooden one. I love it and so do the kids. They just spend about an hour playing with it. Making different amounts of money, adding their money, reading money. Even Master N who is 4 was really getting into it.

I bought a $6 piece of MDF from bunnings and a $4 piece of trim and got creating.

First I measured up. But I totally underestimated the amount of length you loose when cutting. I almost burst into tears when I tried to fit it altogether and it was never going to work. But I just shaved all the other pieces down, so that everything fit with the size the 5c ones ended up being. Total pain in the rear, but I got there. So here is my tip, it might be easier to measure, cut, measure, cut each piece rather than measuring it all and cutting.

I was working on the plan of each 5c being 2cm (so that a 5c coin just fits), 10c = 4cm etc. The board needed to measure 44cm (you need the extra 4cm to fit the make $1 piece) plus two times the width of trim used. I used a 9mm trim. Mine ended up being shorter due to my cutting issues.

Painted all my strips the colours I wanted, The back of the white pieces are painted with chalkboard paint. Once I have time to prime them with chalk, the kids can make their amount, write it in chalk then flip over and check their answer.

Master N taking his turn. And yes I decided I couldn't be bothered printing, laminating and cutting out coins to use. I decided my time was worth $5 of coins. Although I didn't have enough and I had to buy Master I's 5c pieces at the cost of 50c each. He drives a hard bargain that boy, it ended up costing me an extra $5 to buy his coins LOL.

God's design Science Curriculum

I love these books, I am excited by these books. I cannot wait to teach my kids science from a biblical perspective, it just makes so much sense. As we look at the world around us we see God, to study science without Him seems odd and strange. We will look at things this year like why did God give fish fins, instead of why do fish have fins. I am in love with this program and the illustrations or gorgeous.

When I first got these books, I fell in love and then I panicked about how on earth I was going to ram them into the NSW curriculum acceptably so that I would cover all required areas. Over time it will cover everything, just not within the timeline NSW BOS wants. And so my plan is to briefly look at the areas lacking knowing we will study them more indepth later.

First on our agenda is God's design for Life the world of animals

This covered for Stage 1 outcomes:

Skills: Working Scientifically

ST1‑4WS investigates questions and predictions by collecting and recording data, sharing and reflecting on their experiences and comparing what they and others know

 

Skills: Working Technologically

ST1‑5WT uses a structured design process, everyday tools, materials, equipment and techniques to produce solutions that respond to identified needs and wants

Knowledge and Understanding: Living World	ST1‑10LW describes external features, changes in and growth of living things
	ST1‑11LW describes ways that different places in the environment provide for the needs of living things

Next we will cover Our Weather and Water

This helps cover these Stage 1 outcomes:

Skills: Working Scientifically	ST1‑4WS investigates questions and predictions by collecting and recording data, sharing and reflecting on their experiences and comparing what they and others know
Skills: Working Technologically	ST1‑5WT uses a structured design process, everyday tools, materials, equipment and techniques to produce solutions that respond to identified needs and wants

Knowledge and Understanding: Earth and Space	ST1‑8ES describes some observable changes that occur in the sky and landscape
	ST1‑9ES identifies ways that people use science in their daily lives to care for the environment and the Earth’s resources

We will end the year with The world of Plants

This covers these Stage 1 outcomes:

Skills: Working Scientifically

ST1‑4WS investigates questions and predictions by collecting and recording data, sharing and reflecting on their experiences and comparing what they and others know

Knowledge and Understanding: Earth and Space

ST1‑8ES describes some observable changes that occur in the sky and landscape

Knowledge and Understanding: Living World	ST1‑10LW describes external features, changes in and growth of living things
	ST1‑11LW describes ways that different places in the environment provide for the needs of living things

Next year I plan to look at