A year in review for Joyful Mud Puddles

Back in March of 2020 when the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I felt the itch to start blogging again after a long break. God placed it on my heart to do more than just blog occasionally. He wanted me to become a parenting coach so I could offer support to struggling parents.

As time went on the idea grew larger. Not only did I start blogging again, I became a parenting coach, started a podcast, built a growing online community and published a book! Not to mention the many guest appearances on TV, podcasts, magazines, blogs and newspapers.

 

Wow I can't believe the Joyful Mud Puddles Podcast is on episode 33 already! Check out these amazing episodes (first few episodes didn't have blog posts)

1. Welcome to the Joyful Mud Puddles Podcast 
2. Alternative strategies to punishments and rewards 
3. Interview with Brooke Gordon - Health and Strategic Life Coach 
4. Challenges facing peaceful parents 
5. Interview with Erin Fleming Parenting and Unschooling Coach 
6. Self Regulation for the whole family 
7. Interview with Sasha Walsh Adaptive Yoga 
8. Talking about Feelings with your Family 
9. Ideas to help siblings connect 
10. Creating a Language Rich Home with Julie Bogart of Brave Writer 
11. The Heart of Homeschooling - Creating a homeschooling journey for your unique family 
12. Interview with Kristie Burns - Waldorf Education and Earthschooling Curriculum 
13. Interview with Zara Fagen Minimalist Homeschooling 
14. Homeschooling Advice from Lindsey Casselman 
15. Fit and Healthy Families: Interview with Dr. Orlena Kerek 
16. How to get your child to listen 
17. Infant Sleep Development: Interview with Heather Boyd 
18. Speech-Language Pathologist Interview with Rebecca Wong Kai Pun 
19. Understanding Obedience and Cooperation for Christian Parents 
20. Choosing the right Dog for your family: Podcast Interview with Michelle Stern 
21. Simplicity Parenting Interview with Kim John Payne 
22. Top Tips for Handling Overwhelm 
23. How to SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE from drowning in clutter 
24. How to SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE with a predictable rhythm 
25. How to SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE by balancing your schedule 
26. Supporting your teens – Interview with Charlene Clark 
27. Moms Supporting Each Other – Interview with Ashley Davis 
28. Balancing Working and Being a mom – Interview with Lori Ervin 
29. Self Care for Moms – Interview with Jackie Johnson 
30. How to Avoid Holiday Overwhelm and Burnout 
31. Help! My kids don't play with toys
32. Christmas Treasures – A lesson from Mary
33. A year in review

Interview with Kristie Burns of Earthschooling

**This post contains affiliate links. I do get a small ompensation if you sign up for Earthschooling using the link at the bottom*

Are you looking for an educational method that addresses the whole child? 

Our family has been using Waldorf curriculums for years and we really love Earthschooling. I am so excited to have Kristi Burns with us on the podcast sharing all about Waldorf education and Earthschooling.

Listen to the podcast here

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Kristie is the Dean of Students and Director of Curriculum Development at Earthschooling

Dr. Kristie Burns, Mh, ND, Ph.D. has an BA in Anthropology and Linguistics from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She holds a masters and doctorate degree in plant biology and Naturopathy. She was trained as an early childhood Waldorf teacher and as an early-childhood Montessori assistant. Kristie has also attended and taught at numerous Waldorf Education Conferences from 1998 to 2009. Kristie worked as a private tutor from 1989 to 1995 and was an ESL tutor, and photography instructor at the American University in Cairo from 1991-1993.

Kristie taught classes and served as the director at a Waldorf-inpired Enrichment School in an International community for four years and at a Waldorf-inspired Enrichment School in Iowa for an additional six years. Kristie Burns has been creating Waldorf-inspired curriculum with a consulting board of professional Waldorf teachers since 1994. Kristie is also a Certified Wildlife Educator through the ZAA. Earthschooling was the first Waldorf curriculum to be offered online. When Earthschooling first started Kristie was advised against even trying to put Waldorf education online and was told that nobody would be interested in an online version of Waldorf education.

Her three children are now grown. Her eldest daughter is near completion of her Masters in Social Work degree and currently manages www.WaldorfBooks.com while also helping her run Earthschooling with an extended group of contractors and staff. Her youngest daughter writes music and stories and is pursuing a music career in LA after soaking up years of storytelling and music in her mom's Waldorf classes. Her son is an accomplished electrician's apprentice who loves creating and building things with his hands and can build almost anything once given the idea and a few instructions.

What is Earthschooling?

Earthschooling is a secular Waldorf curriculum that offers everything you need including curriculum, videos, support, stories and more. You can read all about that here https://earthschooling.info/thebearthinstitute/what-is-earthschooling/

So what is Waldorf Education?

Now that is a bigger explanation and Kristi does a wonderful job of explaining that in the podcast. But Waldorf is based on the works of Rudolf Steiner who included the head, heart and hands into creating a holistic approach to learning. Topics are introduced at developmentally ready stages in our children's lives according to what is going on for them. I also appreciate that handiwork and the arts are just as important as core subjects.

In the podcast episode we discuss:

• We talk about how Earthschooling started
• How Kristie ensures that Earthschooling is Waldorf
• What is Waldorf Education
• How to teach multiple children
• Advice for new homeschooler 

How can we connect with you?

The best way to connect with us is by visiting www.Earthschooling.com and following us on Instagram @Earthschooling. Once you go to the landing page and read through it the next place I would recommend going to is the main SHOP page which you can get to by clicking on the SHOP tab at the top. Don’t scroll down to any of the categories. Just click SHOP. This will take you to a page with a bunch of icons that are fun to browse through and they give you a good idea of what we have available. We have everything from single lesson blocks to core curriculum, to curriculm packages and now, even a new project called The BEarth Academy, where we have real teachers teaching classes online for students.

If you go to www.EarthschoolingFREE.com you can download three free full items and a lot of samples. There is also a tour through Earthschooling video there as well as samples of the curriculum from each grade.

Connect with Earthschooling

Instagram: @Earthschooling: https://www.instagram.com/earthschooling/

Facebook Page: (for announcements, newsletters, special offers) www.Earthschooling.com: https://www.facebook.com/Earthschool/

Facebook Group: (For questions/connections): Earthschooling Public Discussion: https://www.facebook.com/groups/EarthschoolingPublic/

E-mail: CustomerService@TheBEarthInstitute.com

Have you heard of Math Gnomes?

Think back to when you were younger.  It's okay I'll wait (lol). How did you learn math? Was it boring, abstract, engaging, fun? Do you even remember??

My boys love numbers.  They just picked it up easily on their own.  I can't tell you how or why except that they are naturally curious and for our family math isn't a separate subject in school.  Numbers are just part of our life like letters and reading.  I am very blessed and happy about that!

So the gnomes... I'm getting to that.

A while back TJ mentioned that he missed the stories we used to read (ones from the Waldorf curriculum we have).  We talked about a few other things he'd like to bring back into our rhythm and I asked if I could add in a few things too.  I did ask if he'd be willing to try a bit of structure and school type stuff for a few weeks and then we'd discuss how it's going. He agreed so we did a block of fairy tales.  Basically one day I'd read a story and we'd draw a picture.  The next day he would retell and write a very short summary.  He is very proud of his notebook!

After the fairy tales I planed a math block.  The plan was to review numbers 1-10 and discuss them more, then spend a bit of time on each of the four math processes (plus, minus, multiply and divide).  I also have a workbook that we could use for extra practice.

Mommy's Picture and poem for Plus

So here are where these fun little math gnomes come in.  When you introduce the math processes to children with stories and give them each a personality, the kids can make a special connection and really get engaged.  So basically they are a sweet way to introduce the math processes. Now you could use anything like squirrels or bears too.  I like the little gnomes.

First we used a math number story called The Gnome's Gemstones.  We had read this story about a year before so this time we did two numbers a day.  With each number we discusses different ways to say the number (for example two is double, twice, twins, pair, bi...).  We learned the roman numerals and french too.

Next I had to finally pick a math gnome story to go with. I honestly didn't realize how many versions are out there and all of the stories are great!  I have life time memberships to Waldorf Essentials and Earth Schooling.  But these stories also look good too. I picked the Earth schooling ones now and will get to the Waldorf Essential ones when we get to that point as we are reading through the stories from there in order.

TJ's Picture for plus

I looked on Pintrest to find some poems to go with each gnome and made some changes to them myself.  One day I would tell the story of a math gnome, show my drawing and poem, then the boys drew a picture. The next day we practiced that math process with manipulatives and in a work book.

Back when I used to sell items online I had made a sweet little set of math gnomes, but eventually sold them.  So this time I used game pieces from the game Sorry.  You may be wondering what to do with a math gnome?  Well they are basically just figures in a story if you use toys to act it out.  If you are using counters like gems or stones to help with math problems you can put the math gnome figure out to help remind you.

MJ's picture for Plus

Looking back I'd say the fairy tales were a big hit.  The math started off well and TJ enjoyed the pictures.  He didn't so much enjoy doing math problems in the workbook, so I backed off and didn't push too hard. Both boys prefer doing math in their heads or with counters to help.  Both boys wanted jump in to answer questions.

I wonder what the boys will want to learn about next??

A Joyful Day

Here at Joyful Mud Puddles we are all about finding joy in everyday life.  Yesterday was just an ordinary joy filled day.  One I wanted to remember always.

We made a slight change to our regular rhythm.  The boys had been missing the stories I used to tell, so I added that back in along with a bit more structure to the day just to see how things would go.  I realized (I knew it but needed the reminder) that mommy needs to hold the space to keep things together during the day.

After breakfast the boys played Playmobil together while I cared for baby. Their game came to an end while I was working on some puzzle books (search and find, decoding, brain teasers etc). The boys jumped in and took over with that. While baby was a sleep I did some planing. Then the boys came out for a snack and joined me as I read Sleeping Beauty.  We chatted for a bit and then they started to be loud and wrestle, then fight.  I tried to stop them and give them some choices on what to do... clearly that didn't work, so I got dressed and went outside.  Within five minutes the boys dressed themselves and joined me.

Decorating for Spring

MJ went straight to the back yard to dig trenches in the gravel where the patio used to be.  TJ hunted around for something to do.  He pulled some weeds and inspected his gardens.  We started to rake away he leaves only to discover new shoots poking through.  Oh the squeals of delight as they went from plant to plant looking for signs on life.  I wish I could have had a video of those delightful moments.

We came in to warm up, have lunch and play.  The boys noticed that I had put out or spring decorations so they got to work making our nature table look fabulous.  They even added treasures from their bedrooms. After lunch they played Wii while I took a break.

Boys digging trenches in the rain

Later in the afternoon I got out some blank journals and crayons, then started to draw a picture to remember the story.  Both boys decided to join in and we all discussed our favourite parts.  Tomorrow we will write a summary for our pictures.  TJ was excited about his journal and can't wait to add more about what we are learning.  MJ expanded his drawings from only tractors to illustrating the whole of Sleeping Beauty!

Every time there is a lull in the action my boys tend to bug each other and it often leads to a fight.  Baby JJ and I went outside to explore.  Again the boys hurried to play in the rain again.  They both worked on digging trenches, this time with the hose for a water source.  This was the first time JJ was down on the ground exploring.  He seemed to like the feel of grass.  He enjoyed holding sticks and watching what was going on.  Of course he kept making a bee-line over to where his brothers were.

Baby JJ exploring outside

JJ and I went inside again and saw the boys spraying each other with the hose and filling their boots with water.  I love my fun crazy boys!! Daddy got to hear about all our fun when he got home.

After dinner, we decided to start evening TV time earlier so that we'd have time for a story before bed.  We all missed that special time together.  Bed as usual and thankful prayers for a lovely day together.

 What have you been doing today?  I'd love to hear from you!

Our Week: End of February

This week was simple, beautiful, and lovely.  

I purged a whole lot (I'll do another post on that), the boys constantly surprised me with their curiosity and interests.  

Here is a brief snapshot of our week.

While this may look like the boys just playing with their trucks, I assure you it was so much more. 

 MJ was taking what he had seen on a tractor movie and was incorporating it into his play.  He even turned his tractor into one with tracks using vacuum belts.  He is still very interested in farming.  We ordered some plough attachments for his Playmobil tractor that have been adored and used all week!

TJ experimented with all the remote vehicles he could find in order to pull his dump truck from different situations.  This too lots of engineering, patients and experimenting 

The boys re-discovered their CD players.  They have been enjoying listening to audio stories and music all week.

Although we've had the fire place going all fall/winter it just occurred to me that it would be the perfect spot to let dough rise.  So we made homemade bread and will be doing that a lot more!

We have also been reading a lot about volcanoes all month.  Both boys are fascinated and are learning so much.  MJ made a book about volcanoes, he drew the pictures and told me what to write.  He also made different volcanoes exploring with plasticine.  There is a video of his explanation on our FB page.

This month the boys have played whole lot of Wii and video games (mommy was purging, rearranging furniture and doing office work).  While it used to bother me, I'm learning to let go and realize that for our boys it really is a more seasonal interest as they aren't outside as much. They are also learning to read a little from following the instructions on the screen!  OH and we also discovered the stop motion feature on my ipad camera.  We've made lots of funny videos together.

One day the boys got talking about repeated addition over breakfast (what is 2+2+2+2+2?).  This lead to an introduction to multiplication and the boys wanting to count bigger numbers.  I suggested hat they get out their hundreds charts.  Both boys practiced skip counting and then worked on making their own board games using the chart.  TJ's was quite involved with great rules.  MJ's game was short but sweet.

Next TJ asked for his paper airplane book.  He normally asks me to make the planes but we wanted to give it a go by himself this time.  He gathered all his paper planes to test out and fly around the house.  MJ wanted pretty paper too (luckily I have lots of scrap booking supplies) and he designed his own planes.

Oh how thankful we were that the weather warmed up slightly!!  Our outdoor playgroup was fantastic.  We were outside for more than an hour.  The boys explored, ran up and down a hill, buried each other and had fun.  The whole group got to practice their communication skills, learning what others like and don't like while playing and working out disagreements.  It's been good for all of us (mom's too).

Since we were on a role with getting back outside more I suggested the next day that we go outside (okay so the boys were going crazy and I sort of sent them out, but I was planing to go out anyways).  They were so adorable using their toy trucks to clear the snow.  We also went on a walk into the forest.  They had so much fun!!

My sweet TJ came to me this weekend and asked to do embroidery!!  He had a project in mind.  MJ wanted to try too.  He made me a tractor (at least that what he says it is).  I helped TJ a little but he did an amazing job.  It is a motor boat in water with the sun for Daddy.

After rearranging the playroom and family room the boys were amazed at how big he house looks!!  I did remove a bookcase and chair from one room but mostly the purging, reorganizing and putting a few things into storage made a big different.  The boys re-discovered our antique sewing machine, which had only been moved from one room to the next.  Daddy even unlocked the drawers to show them all the bobbins and such.  MJ wanted to play with snow inside by the fire place.  Of course that was a great idea.

So there was a glimpse of our week.  Next week we are going to be out a bit more.  We also have an ultra sound of the baby (Oh I got to record the heartbeat on my phone during my appointment this wee).  I can't wait to hear about your adventures.  PLEASE do share them with us...

Catching up: End of October

I can hardly believe how fast time is flying by.  We are well into the fall and the time change is behind up.  Here is a look back at the end of October and all the fun things the boys have been doing.

I follow some amazing blogs.  Many of them post about provocations or activities they leave out for their children to discover.  This has been great for the boys to explore in the mornings while I am finishing up my office work.

I had been feeling like we had neglected form drawing. Form drawing is So I set out a beautiful table of coloured pencils, some farm examples, objects to place along the forms etc.  MJ came in, grabbed a blank paper and drew me a car.  Then they moved on to breakfast.  No worries I thought, we'll get back to this later or in a different way.

However, TJ came into the kitchen and asked how his venus fly trap was doing (he had received a little kit last Christmas).  We looked at his little plant but I could tell he wanted more.  We looked at our Usborn plant book and followed the internet links to some amazing videos.  Afterwards I hinted that perhaps we could invent our own carnivorous plant and draw it on the big paper we had out.  MJ made use of what was immediately in front of him.  He was eating breakfast so he asked me to write about a bread snatcher plant.  The form drawings on the table became intestines, tubes and other parts of his plant.  He stapled all this papers together to make me a book about his bread snatchers.  It was so much fun to work along side this creative boy. 

TJ took off to sit by himself (next to the heater, he is like a little cat).  He drew and talked to himself for quite a while.  Every so often we'd get updates on new elements that were being added to the plant.  TJ's plant has nectar that attracts bugs, a slippery tube leading to a venus fly trap, and a waste pit!  There are two tanks to flush out the plant when the waste goes out and fire ants to scare away animals that might get waste dropped on them.  Awesome isn't it!!!  TJ asked me to label his drawing and then write a description on the back.  Next he said he'd like to photo copy the work and mail it to different family members.  TJ wrote a letter to accompany his picture and we made copies.  I too became excited to send off his letters and trust that they were well received.

One day MJ came to me and said he wanted a crocodile vest.  "Sure," I replied, "but what is that?"  MJ explained to me that he wanted to make a crocodile costume vest.  We dug up some old sweaters from my upcycling pile.  MJ was very specific about what he wanted (lots of buttons) and where they should be placed.  We sewed all the buttons on together and he loved how it turned out.  TJ wanted to make a dinosaur costume in the same manner.  He cut out teeth for me to sew on.  I was impressed with his idea to sew gloves to the arms to add claws.  We had so much fun crafting together.  They have worn their costumes to play in, sleep with and for outings.

During the last week of October we went to a homeschool Halloween party.  There was yummy food, pumpkin decoration and a scavenger hunt.  The boys played well and had a lovely time.

I love getting inspiration and ideas from blogs I follow.  One blogger had tried an idea she gathered from someone else.  Here is the link to the original idea  which of course I had to try.  I used a White-Out pen that proved tricky to use.  The results were pretty good.  The boys made some interesting patterns, even I had some fun.  TJ made his name with the rocks while MJ used wooden blocks to do his name.  I'm hoping that the rocks come out often and lead to some new interesting explorations.

Oh my little MJ just loves stories.  We have been working through our math gnome stories with great interest.  The boys jump right in to help with counting and different math processes.  MJ always needs to have a turn telling me a story afterwards.  I love his little adventures.  

We started finding and borrowing different games to play.  MJ explored letter sounds with Up-Words (sort of like scrabble).  

The boys Mid-Week church program had a dress-up night as it was close to Halloween.  This year's theme was cowboys.  Oh man these kids are cute.  We don't go trick-or-treating but the boys didn't care as they went to two parties that week and dressed up lots.  On of our neighbours came by with a treat bag for each of the boys on Halloween.  The boys were so thankful we made cards the next day to show our appreciation.

Right after Halloween Value Village thrift store had all their costumes on 50% off.  I was going to buy one costume each, but the prices were so amazing that we loaded up.  Aren't they so cute!!  TJ wore the bug costume all weekend (inside, outside, bedtime).  I love that their imaginations are so rich and that we have plenty of time to play.

Dice games.  So simple, so many to choose from and so much fun.  We had a number of dice that I pulled out.  I taught the boys how to play war with the dice.  I also printed out some paper dice games.  The boys are getting much faster at counting and adding.  They are so interested in math.  I often catch MJ counting has fingers and asking about numbers.

So now we are all caught up to the end of October.  A big Happy Birthday to Grandma and Grandpa Scott hope your vacation is going well!

I do hope you share what you have been up to as well...

Catching up - mid October

Beware this is a long one.  I'm going to attempt to catch-up on my blog posts.  I've been busy living life and enjoying my awesome kids, but no worries I'm back to fill you in on some of our adventures (the ones my camera caught a record of).

Leaves, leaves and more leaves.  I do love our home next to the forrest.  We have been taking several tarp loads of leaves off the lawn every day for weeks on end.  There are still lots more to go.  I'll admit I'm loosing my enthusiasm but the boys are awesome helpers.  Every so often we stop the work to just play and jump and enjoy the autumn colours!!

 A friend sent me a great link to Playful Learning about a skeleton activity that was perfect for MJ's love of the human body.  I set out a body book, glue, dry pasta and beans.  Immediatly MJ starts to ponder how he would made the heel bone as it is round.  I suggested a bean and he was excited.  The two boys studied the book and got to work on their own pictures.  MJ was in the mood to make a Wall-E skeleton with the funny eyes.  He did help TJ a lot while working on his very detailed project. He added a spinal cord in the spine, ribs, heel bones.  We noticed the kidney beans looked like our kidneys so then they were added along with tubes and a bladder (the extra cheerios).  I am always inspired and encouraged by how much they remember from our reading and discussions.  The two boys got into some great discussions while they were at work.

In the summer we added flowers to our flower/leaf press.  We took them out to press some leaves in the fall.  Since Nanny's birthday was coming up we used our flowers to make pictures.  I started to use the flowers to make objects such as birds, sun and clouds.  TJ was inspired to make trees, flowers, birds and such too.  MJ's card was delightful and unique as well.  We had a great time decorating and baking to celebrate with Nanny, my younger sister and her children.

One day the boys pulled out the Playmobil farm.  They each set up a farm and spent over four hours playing together (I got lots done that day).  I of course drifted in and out of their action.  We pulled out the dry beans for more fun.  MJ got right into it!  TJ used his digger and beans to make swimming pools for his farm animals.  Oh how I love their imaginations.  We are blessed with uninterrupted time to fully delve into their imaginations and small worlds.

While playing farm, TJ rediscovered a map he has.  This led to an adventure to visit a waterfall.  TJ, not satisfied with a play waterfall, was determined to build his own.   He hauled loads of river rocks to make a pile.  After realizing that this was going to be a big job he went to have a talk with daddy.  TJ drew out what he was wanting to do. We offered a few suggestions that seemed to frustrate the little guy more.  Then we talked about making some real water features for our property in the spring and using the winter to research more about what we'd need.  TJ and I went on a date to visit a real local waterfall.  He then noticed that the rock face was solid rather than little rocks.  He was satisfied and very pleased with our outing and moved on from this project for now.

So on to TJ's next big idea... stilts!  I do love that I can say yes often.  I already knew of some online plans but TJ first shared his ideas.  We got to work ourselves, then the next morning daddy helped with some power tools.  The stilts are a lot harder to use than we all thought.  TJ got off to a good start.  He's lost a bit of interest but I think we'll be back to try again soon.  He was able to do about 3-4 steps last week.

I had been wanting to do some more painting so I set up an autumn inspired table.  First we did some leaf rubbings which we painted over with watercolours.  I love how that worked out (the above photos are TJ and mommy's).    

The pumpkins on the table led us to some still life drawings.  MJ traced his pumpkin and started trying to write the word pumpkin on the top.  With a little help from big brother they almost got that figured out!!  TJ is now adding great details in his work.  I loved everything about this time together.

Some other things we are doing is to do some workbook pages, math stories, reading and using games to reinforce what we are learning on our own.  We've been to the YMCA a lot (wow my boys are getting good in the water) and have had some fantastic play dates too.

Homeschooling: Making it your own

This post is mostly for myself as a reminder, although I do hope it brings some encouragement to others.  In light of some discussions I've been in recently I am now beginning to feel more confident in our homeschool style/method.  Do you ever struggle to explain homeschooling to others?  Don't quite fit in to one category?  For me it was a matter of just not getting hung up on labels, or what others were doing.

So here are some tips in no particular order.....

TJ decided he was going to build a waterfall

1. Read all about homeschooling (or not if you don't want to be overwhelmed or swayed). Now the trick is not to get overwhelmed.  If you like what you are doing then go with it.  If someone else's method isn't your thing, then put the book down and walk away.  I liked reading about my options because I felt more free to try new things, knowing there were others out there doing it too.

2. Don't compare your self to others.  Og those beautiful blogs that can totally inspire you, can also make you feel like you are doing it all wrong.  Please do remember that the person writing the blog or posting pictures is only presenting a small snipit of their day (the part they want you to see).  They didn't show the piles of laundry in the corner, or write about the fighting kids.  Your family is different from your neighbour.  Each child is different, so of course our way of homeshooling won't look the same.

3. Just do it. Live your life, start somewhere, try something.  If it works, then great and if not then you will learn from it and move on.  Close that Pintrest app and get doing rather than pinning, researching, reading, and stressing.

4. Believe in yourself.  You know your children best.  Everyone will have their opinion and give it to you.  Try to find some people who understand where you are coming from and fill your cup on occasion.  If you need a listening ear I'm here for you!!

5. Trust your children.  They are the ones learning (of course you'll be so surprised at all the new things you will learn on this adventure).  Follow their cues as to how they learn best, how fast or slowly to go.  If they have a particular interest then find time to work that in.  When children are interested and engaged then they can't help but to learn.  They get so excited and want to do more!  Learning how to learn is much more important that the facts and what they are learning.

6. Nurture yourself.  Take time for you.  What feeds your soul?  You can't give out more if you have nothing left to give.  Maybe there is something you'd like to learn, perhaps you have a hobby.  Maybe you just need a break, or social time.  Please don't feel guilty for taking care of your self.  I've fallen into that trap far too often.  But really then everyone is miserable.  You don't need to be a martyr, or selfish either.  There is a balance that needs to happen. Give yourself grace too.  Be patient as you are learning how to be a parent and teacher at each age and stage of the game.

7. There is a season for everything.  Just as nature has seasons, so to does parenting.  It is awfully hard to take those much needed breaks when your children are younger.  But then they don't need to be sitting in school all day at that age.  So get outside and let them play in the leaves/dirt/sand and just breath for a second.  Maybe right now you are carefully following a boxed curriculum to get started on this journey.  Go ahead and do that without needing to explain yourself.  There is a season for all things and they pass all to quickly.

Want the whole background and story of our journey???

MJ and his clock.  He's really into clock mechanics right now

When I first decided to look into homeschooling TJ was just a baby.  I got all excited and Googled homeschool blogs.  I made lap-books and flashcards for my little guy!  I was all set to do school-at-home.  I was a teacher at a private school after all.  Then I read some books and blogs that broadened my idea of what life at home could be.  I read all about the different teaching styles and educational methods out there (there are a lot by the way).  Some really spoke to me and others did not.  The beauty of homeschooling is that there are so many choices, as each of our children and families are so different from one another. I won't go into all the different styles and methods but I'm sure a quick internet search will fill you in.

My problem is that I'm an all or nothing kind of person.  I love to jump into an adventure wholeheartedly, but do tend to give up easily when things get tough or I get bored.  We are still going strong with homeschooling, however the way in which we do it, has changed over time.  I struggle with this, I sometimes feel like I'm giving up, or letting people down, breaking some unwritten rules or something...

The last few years we have been doing Waldorf preschool/kindegarten.  I have taken stories and ideas from a few different sources and brought them together.  The weekly rhythm we had going worked very well for our home daycare and my boys personality.  We had so much fun (you can read all about it on our old blog Raising Our Family).

This summer I had our Waldorf Grade 1 all planned out.  But a week into the fall it felt so forced.  The boys were doing things reluctantly.   I was stressing that we weren't on track, weren't Waldorf enough, maybe they were missing things the other school kids were doing. It felt like I was stuck in a box, someone else's box.

Daddy's helpers

We ran into some major house renos that needed to be done.  Daddy and I were very busy.  The boys played so well and helped us a lot too.  We spent time doing some small projects that they were interested in.  It was lovely, but in the back of my mind I kept feeling like we were supposed to be doing more.  There are no specific requirements here in Ontario, but I felt like I was being judged or had to keep up with others.

Late in the summer I had heard of project-based homeschooling.  A link showed up in my Facebook feed one day.  I was very intrigued and checked it out.  YES!  This is sort of what we were doing through I didn't have a name for it.   I tried to blend the two in a scheduled way.  Mornings for school, afternoons for projects.  Though this may work for many families, I again felt stuck in a box.

So being me, I gave up.  I decided unschooling might work well.  We'd just live each day, I'd try to lay out some interesting materials and we'd go with it.  The boys were still so engaged with their projects and it was clear that they were learning.  I wish I could have had the support, and brave spirit to stick with that too.  I worried too much that we were missing something important.

I felt stuck in the middle.  Like I wasn't really unschooling, and any time I did want to teach my boys something I was breaking those unspoken rules.  We weren't purely Waldorf either and I felt I was betraying all those friends I had made who were.  In my mind I was like some kind of homeschool hypocrte.  Crazy I know but pretty blogs and Facebook groups will do that to you.  I realize that my own blog posts seem to focus more on the boys projects than anything.  Mostly because I'm too busy to take pictures when I'm teaching.  Also their projects are far more interesting.

Well today it hit me.  I wasn't responsible to any one but my own family.  Our goal is to educate our boys in the best way possible for our family and for the boys as individuals.  It is no ones' business what curriculum/method we choose.  In fact no one really minds or is asking me.  It's all in my head!!

TJ on a special hike with mommy.  MJ had a playdate.

 I will not be placed in a box with a label.  

Want to know what we are doing?  Loving life and learning all the time.

Are you seriously interested in the details? ... My boys are so very curious about the world.  They are interested in many things and bring up topics or projects that they would like to work on.  So we do those.  In doing so they are also learning math, reading, writing, science, problem solving and much more.  I know overall what the Ontario Curriculum is for each grade.  I know what the Waldorf Curriculum is for each grade.  I bring these topics to my boys through different means.  What ever we happen to have available at the time that speaks to us (stories, books, outings, songs, computer, games, workbooks). I am well aware of the ins and outs of different methods, rhythms, and philosophies.   Our days are not overly structured.  I do have in mind some things I'd like us to do each day, but if we become engaged in something else, then I don't worry any more.  We do have a few anchor points each week that we look forward to.  Our learning is a mix of child-led and Teacher-led.

Watercolour painting with fall inspiration

If you'd like some labels I'd offer up Waldorf-inspired child-led whole life learners.  So yea it's much easier to drop the labels.  I have decided to take what I know and have researched and just do it!

Wow it's all so much less stressful that way.

Of course it sounds easy but does take a lot of confidence to do so.  Thanks to everyone who supports our family in this adventure.  Those who don't will have to agree to disagree with us.

You all will be seeing amazingly great things from us...

TJ wanted to make some stilts.  As a family we built some adjustable stilts that he is learning on his own to use.

A few October Adventures

I realized I needed to catch up on posts.  Looking at all we have done makes my heart fill with joy.  I love to remember these precious moments, especially on those not so perfect/bad days.

Early in October we went for a nature walk.  I decided to be brave and get out there to talk to the people in our community.  So we chatted with everyone we met along the way.  The boys watched the poop truck empty the port-a-potty and asked the man questions.  We saw another man taking pictures of snails, we would have missed seeing all the snails if we hadn't taken time to ask what he was doing.  TJ noticed a fossil in the rocks.  We also saw the turtles and snakes enjoying the last few warm days.  Along the way we always discuss things like hibernation, changing seasons etc...

My boys have taken a real interest in Mathematics. I tell them stories from "The Gnomes Gemstones" using our math gnomes.  Later we further our learning by discussing the number of the day, dong some word problems, and looking at all the ways we can make a number.

We are very blessed to be able to get together often with my sister and her children along with my mom.  My niece took a day off school to join us at two local farms.  We bought pumpkins, played in hay, enjoyed yummy treats and had a blast!

When we got home from buying pumpkins my boys immediately wanted to carve their pumpkins.  We don't really celebrate Halloween, but rather enjoy all of fall, harvest, Thanksgiving throughout the month.  The boys first drew their ideas on paper then got carving (mommy had to do the guts).  TJ did his pumpkin all by himself!  MJ was pleased to help me out too.  They had an idea to hammer nails all over to make light holes.

TJ's corn husk dog, our family rules, spelling game

TJ's made some major leaps forward in his learning this year.  The boys spends half a day with my mom and sister each week.  They spend some focused one-on-one time doing language, and math.  TJ is proud to be sounding out words trying to read more.  Daddy found a cool spelling game at the thrift store that is a huge hit! 

Homeschool update weeks 1 & 2

After my post on our first day of school I've had several requests to find out how the rest of the week went.  Let me just first say that our first day of school went incredibly well because I was extremely well prepared and everyone was excited.  Although we were quite productive the rest of the week, not every day is the same.

The rest of week 1 included two wonderful playdates with new friends.  We can't wait to get together again with each family.  The boys also had their yearly doctor's check-up (all is well).  The boys were very engaged in the stories I told.  MJ loves to use the little characters to tell me more stories. Our week ended with a fall fair at the church down the street from us.  On the weekend my boys went to a company picnic with my mom and dad.  And we did some work around the house.

MJ at skate park, making bread, TJ painting, TJ at skate park

Week 2 was very active for the boys.  They had their first swimming lessons at the YMCA and loved it!  They both did very well in their classes.  We haven't baked bread in a long time because the boys were gluten free.  Over the summer we went off course so bread baking was back on this week.  We made 4 loaves of bread and some buns.  The boys were fascinated by the yeast reaction.  This prompted some very interesting concoctions/potions.  Once mommy got a little frustrated with all the food supplies being used up, the boys too their work outside to gather some free nature!  We spent a day with my sister and her two boys (my niece is in SK now).  One day we cared for a little boy that used to be in our daycare.  The boys all had a great day together.  It was wonderful to see them being so caring and helpful.  Later in the week the boys visited a different YMCA for a homeschool gym time.  TJ had a blast and MJ did too although he was a little more reluctant.  TJ's group played dodgeball and some other organized games.  MJ is in the younger group with toys, stories and some games.  I'm hoping to do some office work during that time.  We ended our week with a trip to the skate park.

Angel A's, making bread, potions and concoctions

Don't worry I haven't forgotten about academic things too.  I just wanted to group them together with the photos.

During week 1 TJ focused on form drawing (prewriting activities).  He draw on the chalk board, created patterns with sticks, drew in the dirt and on paper.  In week 2 we focused on reviewing letters A, a, B and b.  Both boys are doing different things with these letters.  MJ is working on recognition, sounds, and attempting to write them.  TJ is working on reading, writing (penmanship), and art.  We tell a story to go with each letter.  They practice writing on the chalk board and on paper.  We turn the letter into a picture to help us remember, then TJ writes in the alphabet book we are making.

In Waldorf we'd be using fairy tales to introduce the letters.  I am doing both Upper and Lower case letters so I've added extra stories and changed a few around.  I have also added bible stories as often as I can.  The stories and pictures I chose:
A - Jesus' birth, picture of an angel
a - Adam and Eve sin, picture of an apple
B - Story I found online about a bee, picture of a bee
b - story about a bunny, picture of a bunny

TJ's new flyer, recycling model plane

TJ worked on his flight project by completing his recycled model plane.  He also decided to start a book to show what he was learning.  This week he wrote about parachutes (I have to take a photo of that).  TJ spent several days playing with his new parachute man.  We also made some new model airplanes, and paper helicopter.  I helped to answer some new questions TJ had about how helicopters hover and fly.  We'll have to add more to his book and notes next week.

MJ's chalk drawing with a heart and urinary system, painting of broccoli going through the intestines, shark skeleton, kidney filter experiment

MJ had me read a lot to him.  He dabbled in art and drawing bringing what he knew about the body into his work.  He also made some fun lego creations too.  I wasn't quite sure how to encourage MJ with his project without taking over.  I went on Pintest and found some possible ideas.  I showed them to MJ and he made his own sin on the idea I found.  MJ used Q-tips as bones to make the skeleton for a shark.  He thought of this because we happen to have a collection of shark teeth.  So I gave him a few for his picture.  Later in the week I demonstrated to the boys how the kidneys worked using a coffee filter, juice and some pepper.  We talked about how that system worked.  The boys spent a long time pouring liquids into the filters until there was water all over the floor.  We also found some great videos on the body and I added an app to my iphone for them to play.

So there you are.  We are having a wonderful time learning, living and playing.  Continually working on a balance of it all and enjoying spending our days together.

What have you been up to??