Thursday, July 26, 2007

Summer math



Sunburst announced a math problem at breakfast this morning. She needed to know what one year divided by 7 was. She started counting it out with her Organic Rice Crispies and she discovered many things, but not the answer to her query.

It turns out what she really wanted to know was when her newest little friend, Bart, would be turning one. In horse years.

Another fine unschooling moment.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Big Summer Plans

While my internet connection was out over the last two weeks, I seemed to have some extra time on my hands. Funny business, this internet stuff. BUT it did give me a chance to work on that internal list of goals I had for the summer. That would be THIS summer. The one that is suddenly halfway behind us. Already.

I took that internal list and externalized it. Nothing like the added pressure of exposure to kick yourself into high-gear. And this is no petty list, mind you. I think I'll need to clone myself several times over to get to everything in any sort of reasonable time frame.





1. Three years ago I proclaimed that I wanted to learn to play the bagpipes. Granted, it was at my father's funeral and I was openly grieving, but really, I meant it. So I grieved for a while, and then I got pregnant, had my third baby, and moved... and I never quite got around to it. It's high time, don't you think?

Einstein actually proclaimed his desire to learn this at the same time as me, and now he has business cards and the whole get-up. Now, I don't really expect to get to that level of playing... I mean, I'm no Einstein. But he bought me a pretty wood chanter a year or so ago, and I aim to make good use of it.




2. The Adamas Shawl. I will conquer you! I know it has been almost a whole year, and to my credit you ARE my first lace knitting piece... One row a day, and I should have you finished off by the end of August. (Note to self: Lace knitting + Busy Toddler = Bad idea.)





3. I've been reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, et. al. Mixed reactions about the book itself, but it has done one thing... it made me realize that I've got to do more than this. This being my piddly little makeshift garden. In my driveway, no less, because that's where the sun is, folks. Now, I do pretty well with the containers I have here... but reading Kingsolver's book has made me pine for gardens gone by. For what I used to have and do and be before our move to the Midwest.

This is the garden space I gave up when we moved here:



Einstein and I put this in ourselves with horse panel, pine needles, and a load of soil we had dumped onto our driveway. Four long and lovely rows of vegetables with a companion herb and flower plot. And a huge fig tree. Oh, how we used to eat!

Pining away for the past is NEVER a good thing. But I can do more than my measly little driveway plot. Surely I can fit a few more containers in there somewhere before I run out of room to back out my car. And I'm going to build a couple of cold frames to plug on top of these large containers when the weather cools down. There's nothing like fresh garden greens when the ground is still covered in snow. Oh, and maybe build a small greenhouse for the backyard. When the leaves fall off we'll get our sunshine back.





4. Quilting. I haven't sewn a quilt in years, but the girls have been asking for a new bedspread and we have all these lovely embroidered squares that have no home. Sunburst and I picked up some thrift curtains and sheets that we will recycle into a slap-together quilt. Even Moonshine has been embroidering some squares for it (see the princess above.) So this is a group project. Go us!

Even Einstein has gotten bit by the quilting bug... I gave him a little lesson on the sewing machine and after buying a load of fabric (enough for three quilts!) at the fabric store he went to town cutting and piecing and ironing like a madman. He's actually doing an outstanding job of it... but we'll talk about that later.




5. We have a "Peeler" in our midst. He has been spotted and redirected and scolded, but his need to peel is unrelenting. The Peeler must be stopped.

I have a lot of sanding and painting to do throughout the house... not the most exciting job, but there you have it.



6. Plan third grade. Visit relatives in California. Have house guests. Host a barbecue. Clean my office. Oh, and blog! Ha.

Got any big plans to finish out your summer? Time's a wastin'.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Grade Three Resources

** Updated September 2012 **


Waldorf Grade Three Resources

Essential Grade 3 (options for Old Testament, gardening/farming, Native American, measurement)
And There Was Light - Streit (Grade 3)*
Journey to the Promised Land - Streit (Grade 3)*
We Will Build a Temple - Streit (Grade 3 or 4)*

Teaching Practical Activities - Wilkinson (Grade 3)
Hütten von Kindern selbst gebaut - Espinassous (Grade 3 +)*
Wir bauen jetzt ein Haus - Wolk-Gerche (Grade 3 +)*
People at Work: The Builder - Ladybird book (English housebuilding/bricks) - (Grade 3)*
My Side of the Mountain - George (Grade 3+)*
On the Far Side of the Mountain - George (Grade 3+)

Soul Development Through Handwriting - Crebbin (Grades 3 or 4)
Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing - Silbert (Grade 3)

In the Three Sister's Garden - Dennee (Grade 3)
Native American Gardening: Stories, Projects and Recipes for Families - Caduto/Bruchac (Grade 3)*
Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories, Activities for Children - Caduto/Bruchac (Grade 3)
Indian Why Stories (Grade 2 or Grade 3)
Farmer Boy - Ingalls
Waldorf 3rd Grade Farming Block- Heirloom Seasons (Grade 3)**

Poems and Rhymes/Grammar
A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme (Grades 1-8)*
Waldorf Book of Poetry (Grades 1-8)
An English Manual - Harrer (Grades 2-8)*
Mad Libs (Grades 3+)*

Mathematics
Making Math Meaningful - York (Grades 1-5)*
Math Lessons for Elementary Grades (Grades 1-5)*
The Man Who Counted - Tahan (Grades 3 +)
Childcraft: Mathemagic (measurement section) - (Grade 3)*

Music
Waldorf Teacher's Companion to the Pentatonic Flute (Grade 2 +)
Folksongs for the Pentatonic Flute - Miles (Grade 3 +)
One for the Golden Sun: pentatonic songs (Grades 2 +)
Clump-a-Dump- and Snickle-Snack (Grades 2 +)
Music Through the Grades - Barnes (Grades 1-8)
Sing A Song of Seasons - Naturally You Can Sing
Beginning recorder books

Art Resources
Painting and Drawing in Waldorf Schools - Wildgruber (Grades 1-8)*
Elements of Grade 3 (main lesson book images) - Millenial Child / Eugene Schwartz (Grade 3)***
Form Drawing Grades 1-4 - Embery-Stine and Schuberth (Grades 1-4)*
Form Drawing - Niederhauser and Frohlich (Grades 1-5)
Inspiring Your Child's Education - David Darcy (Grades 1- 5)*
Creative Pathways - Auer (Grades 1-8)*
Will-Developed Intelligence - Mitchell (Grades 1-12)* 

German
Teach Me German
Fun with German - Cooper
Rosetta Stone
Assorted picture books

Spanish
Teach Me Spanish
Fun with Spanish - Cooper
Cante, Cante, Elefante - Naturally You Can Sing
Rosetta Stone
Assorted picture books

Steiner
Rhythms of Learning: Selected Lectures by Rudolf Steiner - Trostli (Grades K-12)*

Curriculum Guides
Millenial Child - Eugene Schwartz*
Path of Discovery - Fairman
Waldorf Without Walls - Barbara Dewey
Christopherus Publications (First Grade Syllabus; Curr. Overview)

*All of these resources have been very useful to me at one time or another, but these are my personal favorites. 


**Sometimes other homeschool blogs are the best resources.  Renee at Heirloom Seasons blog has captured this block in the most beautiful way I've seen yet.

***I cannot recommend this resource highly enough, especially for the housebuilding block.


Our Lessons and Resources
You can sift through my Grade 3 posts HERE.
For the older Gr. 3 posts, it gives you an option of clicking "older posts" at the bottom of the page.
Or if you're looking for something specific, please see the labels on my sidebar or use the search function at the top of the page.



Other places on the web
Chalkboard Drawing (images)
Waldorf Library (free e-books)
Waldorf Teacher's Gallery (images)
Waldorf Ideen Pool (images)
Baldwin Project / Main Lesson (free e-books)
Rudolf Steiner Audio
Rudolf Steiner Archive
Naturally You Can Sing (songbooks)
Waldorf Curriculum Chart (Grades 1-8)


My Favorite Unschooling Books

Learning All the Time - Holt
Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery - Albert
Free at Last: The Sudbury Valley School - Greenberg



Monday, July 02, 2007

Sad week

We have recently suffered a great loss at our house... a deep and regretfully painful loss. I hate to be the bearer of ill tidings, but I thought you all should know.

The other day our wireless internet went out. In the middle of an email the connection died, and when I checked the "tower thingy" it was red. I messed with the plug and suddenly there was a great vibration of color, one final and glorious hurrah, and then bam. It was gone. Just like that.

It's a very sad week, and Einstein and I are working on picking up the pieces and moving forward again. We'll be conducting our own autopsy to see if we can discover the cause of death before ordering up a replacement. Until then, you will find me sitting in the driveway with a dilapidated laptop trying to access my email through my extremely kind neighbors' wireless service.

Since I am still paying my own monthly service fee, this is guilt-free mooching at it's best. Now if only I could get the connection to hold for more than a few minutes at a time, we'd be in business.

Think good thoughts.
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