tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16944746998026176862012-01-31T08:52:36.725-05:00Rhodanoreply@blogger.comBlogger8551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-72390938654684724172012-01-31T08:52:00.000-05:002012-01-31T08:52:36.731-05:00

We are going to make a Chicken Mummy from a Cornish game hen as part of Ancient Egypt. We've already done our Papyrus Kit (not too complicated) and so it's time to move on to Mummies! Some thoughts: Ancient Egypt is 932 in the Dewey Decimal system. Resources are easy to find. Charles Kovacs' book only has one Ancient Egyptian myth. But it does a nice job of explaining Egyptian culture and

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-56823322197799380962012-01-23T11:29:00.001-05:002012-01-23T12:06:38.934-05:00

They tweeted it before they updated their website with a press release! It was driving me crazy, all morning, waiting for the announcement from Dallas. Here's the press release. Here's the webcast if you want to watch it "live". You can in fact sign up to see the webcast live but we were too late. If you are a Twitter person you can follow them at @ALAyma. 2012 Newbery winner Dead End in

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-88639103180206748782012-01-19T12:43:00.000-05:002012-01-19T12:43:34.605-05:00

We ended up spending this entire week on Ancient Persia instead of pushing forward into Ancient Babylon. The kids absolutely LOVE Ancient Mythologies: India, Persia, Babylon, Egypt by Charles Kovacs. We are using a red MLB since I use red for Cultural lessons (History/Geography). After the story of Zarathustra I shared another legend which is better geared towards younger kids (1st/2nd grade)

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-59857930301637658992012-01-04T13:48:00.000-05:002012-01-04T13:48:03.019-05:00

Link to share: http://clasheen.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/felt-flower-tutorial-at-last/ So much fun! We are trying this on Thursday. I looked in the Winter book for inspiration and found that they suggested the wool process for this time of year.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-5072954014875343682011-12-21T11:11:00.000-05:002011-12-21T11:11:12.026-05:00

We are spending the first two weeks of January on Ancient India. The second week will focus mainly on Buddhism and then I realized: that following Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King Day! So on Friday, January 13 we will talk about Dr. King and tie it in. He was also a person of peace. There is a gorgeous picture book of his most famous speech: Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-66779794384102690732011-12-21T10:43:00.001-05:002011-12-21T10:57:09.099-05:00

I am currently writing and planning my Ancient Mythologies unit using Charles Kovacs' excellent book. I was searching online for children's books on Buddhism, to follow one of the legends from India, and found this great Listmania! List on Buddhism for Kids. I would also like to add these titles by Thich Nhat Hanh: The teacher next door had her students all make meditation beads

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-67639273951241736052011-12-04T09:28:00.000-05:002011-12-04T09:28:20.136-05:00

For one of my classes we had to watch this TED lecture by Ken Robinson: Bring on the Learning Revolution. I thought it was magnificent and would recommend this short video to everyone. Although not specifically about Waldorf education, many of the quotes are strikingly relevant: "Education, in a way, dislocates many people from their talents." "Human resources, like natural resources, are

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-14221145034638103312011-11-25T13:25:00.000-05:002011-11-25T13:25:50.070-05:00

Yay! I taught Leah how to purl. She ended up using some leftover pink yarn to make a scarf for her doll, Jane (a recent birthday present -- my girls have all asked for dolls this year -- yes, you never outgrow them). I always think of Pippi in the South Seaswhen I purl. The two needles coming toward each other (instead of "side by side like brothers") I think of as the sharks attacking. When

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-39611992090939518702011-11-25T12:36:00.000-05:002011-11-25T12:36:53.039-05:00

My daughter Leah is in 2nd grade and wants to learn the purl stitch. In order to give her practice, I have been looking for simple patterns which use the purl stitch only. Then I realized -- duh! -- that if you purl every row you STILL have garter stitch. This means that I can show her the following simple knitting patterns in The Children's Year: Seasonal Crafts and Clothes: Spring

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-39208449270607548582011-11-24T13:31:00.000-05:002011-11-24T13:31:32.739-05:00

As a project for one of my grad classes I am doing a makeover of Eric Fairman's 8th grade Food and Nutrition unit (the assessment portion). When it's complete I will add it to the website. I am working on having more available for older grades. Here's a great link to a food log that is simple enough for young kids. Food Journal I especially like that it gives you a place to check off each

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-11681364501448935162011-11-23T13:30:00.002-05:002011-11-23T13:45:25.144-05:00

Natalie recently sewed herself some Elf Slippers for a school project (shown here in progress): She used some wonderful plant dyed wool felt that we got years ago at one of Rahima's conferences, and put little jingle bells on the toes. We sewed non-slip shelf liner material to the bottom of them so that she wouldn't fall down walking on the wood floors. The slippers are so cute and now

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-66533024377382760912011-11-23T13:22:00.000-05:002011-11-23T13:22:39.400-05:00

Okay, so Thanksgiving is a nice time to sit down and make the plan for the homemade gifts this year. We usually spread it out because the process can take some time (last year the girls sewed a bunch of sachets). This year things look pretty simple: cat toys for the cats, dog treats for the dogs, and for our human gift recipients: Crystal Snowflake ornaments The teacher next door made this

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-39954190990931901492011-11-22T19:58:00.002-05:002011-11-24T15:12:02.692-05:00

Beginning Ancient Civ; looking for recipes. Here are some links: http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/MESO/life_a.pdf - "Ancient Recipes" lesson plan http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq3.html - informational article Fresh Figs with Goat Cheese and Peppered Honey - modern recipe So happy that Dorothy Harrer's book Chapters from Ancient History is back in print! Perfect for the 5th grade

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-44112049131585844652011-10-30T10:20:00.002-04:002011-10-30T10:33:26.946-04:00

Well... Halloween is usually the time that I introduce algebra a little bit. I tell the students that one number in our number sentence is wearing his Halloween costume (usually I draw a little ghostie). What we have to figure out is, what is the ghostie number? For example: 3 + 7 = ghost + 2 This requires a clarification of what "=" actually means (an important prerequisite for algebra

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-45428466788872445822011-10-29T15:33:00.000-04:002011-10-29T15:33:43.693-04:00

My daughter is doing her book report this weekend and she needed help figuring out what the "problem" was in her chapter book: Dancing Shoes. I thought back to a workshop I had gone to about reading strategies, and told her about SWBS statements. That's Somebody Wanted But So. It worked! It's a really nifty way to help students identify the problem in a book. Just fill in the blanks:

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-72156468013774970432011-10-28T15:42:00.000-04:002011-10-28T15:42:37.154-04:00

Our recipe for a Gluten free, Dairy free, Soy free Pumpkin Pudding turned out great. It was a huge success (7/8 children ate it and everyone who ate it came back for seconds) and super easy in the classroom. A whisk and a can opener and some measuring spoons are all you need. Each child can add an ingredient and whisk to his or her little heart's content and you don't have to worry about over

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-19958247770878224142011-10-27T13:13:00.002-04:002011-10-27T13:15:26.222-04:00

We have been doing some forms from Form Drawing by Hans Niederhauser and Margaret Frohlich. These have turned out to be too complicated for my students (I teach a combined 1st and 2nd grade) so I am moving to anther resource. But since I found a picture book that was a perfect match for one of the forms (figure 3 on page 3), I just had to share it! And I promise that you will enjoy reading this

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-46338849314416892822011-10-24T13:39:00.003-04:002011-10-24T13:42:58.479-04:00

It is gnome time again! We read "Sylvia's Turnip-Lantern" from The Seven-Year-Old Wonder Book. Now I am setting that book aside until the winter months, when we will do the next group of chapters. At the Sunbridge bookstore this weekend, I got The Little Gnome Tenderroot by Jakob Streit, which we will read next. We have finished our felt tapestries and are ready to move to a slightly

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-44049167157148176932011-10-16T12:49:00.001-04:002011-10-16T12:52:51.265-04:00

Okay, everything is fixed. Thank God for Google. I had to go to a cached version of my homepage (luckily the spider hadn't crawled through to take a new picture yet), copy that code and then erase all of Google's comments on it -- like "This is a cached version of this page," and then upload it and make it live. All is fixed. Now, I really need to come up with the correct software so that I

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-19415286789089056172011-10-16T09:54:00.001-04:002011-10-16T09:54:53.433-04:00

I have been trying to figure out how to edit my website from a Mac since I switched to a Mac in August. I have had no luck!!! So I just made a mistake and goofed the front page... bear with me while I figure this thing out. I miss Crimson Editor and SmartFTP. :-(

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-50635808361048600622011-10-15T15:06:00.002-04:002011-10-15T15:08:46.270-04:00

Now, if there was only a Waldorf beeswax modeling curriculum! (There's Arthur Auer's book, of course, but he only gives a few indications for grade 1. There's a lovely book on clay modeling but now that I have a second student in my classroom with a broken arm, we definitely can't go anywhere near water. So that will have to wait. Live Education gives only the barest of instructions on

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-16168244633759161412011-10-15T14:55:00.001-04:002011-10-15T14:56:17.868-04:00

This is the first year I have religiously had wet-on-wet watercolor painting each week (it's not required that you do this -- one of the presenters at the homeschool workshop I went to over the summer said that she likes to use REALLY expensive paper so they just do one watercolor painting each mlb and then they usually contact paper it onto the front of the main lesson book to be the cover).

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-89672640999192139382011-10-15T14:34:00.001-04:002011-10-15T14:36:05.774-04:00

One of the things that I love about Waldorf is that, even though I've been trying to do it for many years, there's always something more to learn! And it is always so exciting for me when something "clicks" and I can figure out how to fit it into my routine. This week's example is String Games. I went to a workshop at the Washington Waldorf School where there was a woman teaching string games

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-18999618263143233822011-10-11T20:19:00.001-04:002011-10-11T20:20:14.640-04:00

I was talking with the kindergarten teacher today about positive ways to support students (more of a "catch them being good" approach) and she told me that she has introduced The Wonderful Necklace in her classroom. When you observe a fellow classmate doing Wonderful Work you silently slip the necklace over their head. That student is then to observe other students and pass the necklace along

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-64560986724263072422011-10-11T19:45:00.001-04:002011-10-11T20:11:29.088-04:00

After reviewing each part of the plant, and looking at foods that we eat which ARE that part of the plant, I've tried to pick recipes to help us get more hands-on exposure. Bulbs: onion, garlic We made the Butternut Squash Soup from The Waldorf Book of Soups. Roots: carrot, ginger We made Gingered Carrots with Cumin and Basil (divine). Stems: leek, celery We are making Chilled Celery Soup.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-74885741186591145432011-10-09T17:23:00.002-04:002011-10-09T17:23:25.579-04:00

I've just started my graduate studies and I was reading about some fellowship opportunities and thinking to myself, where would I like to travel if I was going to study about sharing Waldorf education abroad? So I began looking for information on Waldorf initiatives worldwide and found this incredibly inspirational website which I wanted to share with everyone. The list of projects going on is

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-39754442060585348172011-10-02T11:27:00.001-04:002011-10-02T11:28:23.550-04:00

This year I have a student in my class with a broken arm. So, knitting is out and so is anything that requires getting wet (like felting). For the first few months, handwork has to be super-simple. That's great, actually, because I like to start the year with sewing and this just means that we will sew for the first two months before we move on to other things. I like the Simple Felt

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-24268512539242739702011-09-26T20:59:00.001-04:002011-09-27T07:00:10.526-04:00

I am so excited that it is Autumn! Our circle time poem this week is "Merry Autumn" by May Morgan, from Let Us Form a Ring: An Acorn Hill Anthology. We are very lucky that Acorn Hill is right near us, in Silver Spring MD, and I have been to a parenting discussion that was led by Nancy Foster! Anyway, it was the "acorn growing into a tree" wet on wet watercolor painting today (from Kelly

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-69174494385030401842011-09-25T18:18:00.000-04:002011-09-25T18:18:55.243-04:00

Today we had a great family day. I made pancakes for breakfast, plus extra pancakes for breakfast tomorrow. We left them on the cooling racks while we were gone. Nearly drove the dog crazy. I took the children to the Irvine Nature Center. We had a marvelous time. First we visited the indoor exhibits. Then we played on the playground for about 20 minutes but they were about to close it for

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-291098300395754932011-09-24T15:10:00.002-04:002011-09-24T15:11:44.119-04:00

Today was a lovely day for gardening. The Autumnal Equinox was yesterday; it is the perfect time to plant garlic. We did all the bulbs we had on hand: daffodils in the daylily bed and garlic in the herb garden. Garlic also grows really well with roses, by the way. Garlic is super-easy for the home gardener and organic garlic bulbs can be found at the grocery store. Here are some great

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-68779044750136000972011-09-23T15:08:00.001-04:002011-09-23T15:09:36.610-04:00

I recently found out that the state of Maryland has a book award which is student-chosen. Children all over the state read the books and vote on their favorite, one vote per child. Unlike the Newbery or Caldecott awards, this is a book chosen by the children who have read it. I love that idea! We will be doing the Picture Books. Here are all the 2011-2012 nominees. Now I have to find them

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-11245858073988236432011-09-23T12:54:00.001-04:002011-09-23T12:55:52.339-04:00

At my Agriculture workshop this summer we had an excellent lesson presented to us on the components of productive soil. I loved that the presenter did it just as he would with the children, so we got to participate and understand how to do it with kids. As adults, we understand the idea of percentages, so I had to find some way to make that concept accessible to my students. First I thought of

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-70136039194461591442011-09-22T21:25:00.002-04:002011-09-22T21:28:47.765-04:00

I used to have a page dedicated to this topic but I took it down. However, I've had some questions about how I did S.S. in a "Waldorf-y way", so I thought I would write up some brief notes. When we did the story of Adam and Eve we held a fundraiser (used book sale, organic lemonade, hand dipped candles which we made) and adopted a gorilla through the Dian Fossey foundation. The idea being that

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-11623641595849938542011-09-20T11:27:00.000-04:002011-09-20T11:27:25.324-04:00

Our first (first year) beeswax modeling was acorns with real acorn caps. I let the children take them home for their own Nature tables. Usually, however, the beeswax stays at school to be used over and over again. This week we are making the ball shape with our beeswax. Arthur Auer, in his book about the modeling curriculum, gives indications for each grade level. He suggests doing the frog,

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-7123691780586172272011-09-19T13:40:00.003-04:002011-09-19T13:43:37.228-04:00

I think it is lovely to start the year with Greek Mythology... so many things are a good tie-in to the autumn. We planted daffodil bulbs when we did the story of Narcissus. Yesterday pomegranates were in the grocery store so we were able to cut one open and eat some of the seeds when we did the story of Demeter and Persephone. Last week one of our stories was Prometheus and Pandora. Pandoraby

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-79250748914967077142011-09-19T13:04:00.000-04:002011-09-19T13:04:49.443-04:00

The U.N. International Day of Peace is on Wednesday and to prepare for it I have been looking for some resources. We already do yoga in the mornings as part of the Music & Movement portion of Circle Time, but here is a great online resource with yoga videos if you are feeling apprehensive. It is an online yoga studio called HarmonyWell.com. They also have a daily classroom meditation for

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-34367062137611856262011-09-18T11:29:00.000-04:002011-09-18T11:29:24.600-04:00

I was at the Irvine Nature Center for a Nature Explore Workshop this weekend when I saw a simple, pretty way to identify flowers and shrubs in a garden bed. They simply took a large smooth rock and wrote on it with a sharpie! I'm sure you have to redo the writing after a while but it was subtle and so simple. They wrote in italics the Latin name above and in smaller block capital letters the

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-5786738190702042952011-09-16T16:41:00.001-04:002011-09-16T16:53:03.525-04:00

A nice connection (to read aloud, all or part) when you are studying teeth in the 4th grade Man and Animal block is The Chisel-Tooth Tribe by Wilfred S. Bronson. This charming book goes into great detail (more than you would want for younger grades) about Rodents and is told in a very engaging way.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-23269395217906477132011-09-15T15:40:00.001-04:002011-09-15T15:41:24.114-04:00

Thornton Burgess wrote more than just the individual animal books, see also The Burgess Bird Book for Children The Burgess Animal Book for Children The Burgess Book of Nature Lore: Adventures of Tommy, Sue and Sammy with their friends of meadow, pool, and forest

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-89955225378782679682011-09-15T15:34:00.000-04:002011-09-15T15:34:16.593-04:00

Our school is using a new Waldorf-inspired Spanish curriculum this year that is really lovely and joyful and light, with an emphasis on the spoken language and including circle time and art in each lesson. It is called Sonrisas Spanish School.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-84528562501289568812011-09-10T11:05:00.000-04:002011-09-10T11:05:36.567-04:00

Some more details on the rhythms of storytelling... When I went to Barbara Dewey's homeschool training this summer, our presenter (grades 5/6) was saying that they have a homeschool coop that they participate in each Friday, so that takes a day out of their rhythm. So she does this: Monday - story, draw picture for MLB Tuesday - retelling of story and composition, tell the next story Wednesday

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-5296727948520836902011-09-09T16:04:00.000-04:002011-09-09T16:04:59.893-04:00

Although I prefer a three day rhythm, we are doing a two day rhythm this year because I need to be able to allow time for the Montessori individual work. So this is our school year plan: Monday storytelling/Tuesday composition in MLB Wednesday is Cooking Day Thursday storytelling/Friday composition in MLB Recess at 10:45 am. Heart at 11:30 am - Monday wet on wet watercolor painting Tuesday

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-11212138508255092212011-09-09T15:57:00.001-04:002011-09-09T15:58:04.281-04:00

I haven't had Internet in almost two weeks! Finally blogging from work (the first day of school was postponed by three days), here is what we've been doing: FD lessons 1, 2, 3 a b c from Form Drawing Grades 1 through 4 "Who's Under the Blanket" and "Water Bird" games from Games Children Play Watercolor painting single colors (verses from Eric Fairman's POD volume 1: grade 1) and then color

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-17479707606752273092011-08-27T11:26:00.001-04:002011-08-27T11:26:46.214-04:00

Today I bought red wigglers. Our school year starts on Monday. We are doing the first great lesson (required for Montessori), sewing felt beanbags to use with our morning circle time, beginning form drawing and watercolor painting, making applesauce with the crab apples that grow locally, and starting a new topic for Hands which is Gardening. I am hoping to have a Gardening lesson every

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-49956112662786115092011-08-09T14:14:00.000-04:002011-08-09T14:14:31.423-04:00

My Yahoo Group hit 900 people today! I am back from vacation (snorkeling, sailing, swimming, canoeing, fishing, and visiting the beautiful Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, New York) and made a small change to the pricing structure on the website. Instead of $30.00 every six months, I've changed the subscription fee to $45.00 for the school year. It does NOT auto-renew. I've also added

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-11440185239711724342011-07-26T13:24:00.000-04:002011-07-26T13:24:48.382-04:00

Sunday we celebrated Pajama Day, where we wore our jammies all day and just stayed home. The girls read books and played games including Bingo, Blink, and Boggle. I did a ton of cooking -- homemade yogurt, homemade bread, roasted chicken -- and washed and folded all the laundry. It was the most relaxing day I've had in a long time. I want to share the Easy Multigrain Sandwich Bread, which I

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-70264428039740612832011-07-24T16:35:00.002-04:002011-07-24T17:17:44.961-04:00

One of the things that I've become interested in lately is Edible Landscaping (both personally at home and as a way to increase what we are able to grow at school). I'm pretty overwhelmed, though, by all the books that are now available about this topic. Here's the list I've gathered. Next I will start looking at the library for those that I can find and I will post

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-89798797508866502222011-07-24T15:29:00.002-04:002011-07-24T15:33:43.945-04:00

My project for the Maryland "Agriculture in the Classroom" workshop that I attended this June is a PowerPoint presentation (required) used to kick off a unit on Grains. For Waldorf, this would be part of a 3rd Grade Farming block. My concept is to introduce the grains of the world and how they were first cultivated by early peoples, then ask the students to research each grain. We will look at

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-24173305181135747912011-07-23T09:49:00.001-04:002011-07-23T09:50:10.881-04:00

The October/November 2009 issue of Edutopia featured an article called "The Waldorf Way." So I went online to their website, hoping to link to the article (which was excellent) and found even more to share, including videos. Article: Waldorf-Inspired Public Schools Are on the Rise Waldorf-inspired public schools are on the rise as parents seek relief from the high-stakes testing culture.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-15745511940274085912011-07-21T13:54:00.002-04:002011-07-21T13:56:31.968-04:00

Links to lesson plans created by attendees of Crossing Borders/Breaking Boundaries ("A Series of Multidisciplinary Summer Institutes for Arts Educators"). This program was part of the Center for Renaissance & Baroque Studies, of the College of Arts & Humanities at the University of Maryland. These lessons are appropriate for Middle and High School students. topic for 2000: Africa & Its

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-68006835372031701882011-07-21T12:41:00.001-04:002011-07-21T12:41:51.060-04:00

My big summer project is to clean out my basement and organize it all (having moved six times in seven years). Also, to go backpacking as much as possible. :-) Last week I did the Northville-Placid trail from Piseco to Wakeley Dam and next week I'm going to do Wakeley Dam to Lake Placid if all goes well. Anyway, I plan on posting the notes that I find written on little scraps of paper as I go

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-38842164833697963422011-07-21T09:15:00.000-04:002011-07-21T09:15:27.166-04:00

Today I lead the fish printing activity at our local community center. I have six different kinds of rubber fish, six foam brushes, calligraphy ink in six small jars, and inexpensive lightweight paper from "grocery store" sketchpads. Newsprint is best but we had this other paper on hand so I'm using it up. I practiced this on my kitchen floor and found that it spatters so I am placing each

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-19952182219572589552011-06-18T17:17:00.000-04:002011-06-18T17:17:53.980-04:00

The Internet is a wonderful tool for changing the world... or for changing how you live. Even little things are doable, like deciding to move away from large chain stores and beginning to focus on buying from small vendors who craft their items by hand. I first am in the market for some handmade soaps. Etsy to the rescue! Ultimate Organic Soap -- Nicole Lara Lajeunesse Bøe in Norway.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-34325562214034449032011-06-12T20:16:00.001-04:002011-06-12T20:25:19.543-04:00

So many fabulous things happening this summer! Here's a link to "Encounters with Imagination: A festival of arts and education" held at the Rudolf Steiner Centre Ontario from July 11-22, 2011. They are also offering "Healing Education and Remedial Training" for teachers, therapists, and homeschoolers, a summer intensive course from July 25-29, 2011.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-29098862789220307002011-06-12T08:23:00.000-04:002011-06-12T08:23:00.633-04:00

I'm so excited... today at last I am buying rubber fish for fish printing! This has been a dream of mine for several years. "Cast from real fish, these rubber replicas are life size, ranging from 6" (starfish) to 12" long (trout), and are flat on one side." You can buy them in sets (4 piece fish set, 9 piece fish set) or mix-and-match to create your own perfect combination. I'm getting a set

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-2810318926368709552011-06-09T17:35:00.000-04:002011-06-09T17:35:59.589-04:00

Here's an amazing resource: Molecular Origami by Robert Hanson

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-20189229125423555192011-05-30T14:14:00.000-04:002011-05-30T14:14:15.754-04:00

Barbara Dewey is once again offering her fabulously approachable team of homeschooler training staff... her conferences are held at her farm, Taproot Farm, in Ohio. Accommodations are comfy, meals are family style, there are singalongs at the lake in the evenings, and everyone has a good time. If you want an intimate setting instead of a hotel room, these are the conferences for you. I've

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-29851039508918562372011-05-30T13:54:00.000-04:002011-05-30T13:54:48.031-04:00

Here's this summer's conference schedule for Eugene Schwartz. He was the keynote speaker at the Bringing Waldorf Home conference the year before last and I met him. We also were part of a round table panel together on special challenges for homeschoolers. He's a great resource! Kimberton, PA Grade One Conference: June 15 - June 17, 2011 Grade Two Conference: June 22 - June 24, 2011 Grade

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-38865754105362293702011-05-30T13:46:00.000-04:002011-05-30T13:46:45.384-04:00

If you are learning about Waldorf, I highly recommend signing up for the excellent weekly newsletter at Waldorf Today. Type your email address under the tree on the right-hand side, where it says join the mailing address, and hit Go! They have a wonderful gallery of images of student work from around the world. It's also a good spot to find Waldorf-related vendors, if you're in the mood to

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-75415284246224600442011-05-17T17:30:00.000-04:002011-05-17T17:30:55.408-04:00

We continue with Health... here is a great website if you want to do the classic fat/sugar presentation for fast food items. Ask students to list their favorites and then use a kitchen scale, Crisco, and sugar cubes to demonstrate the (sometimes shocking) mass in grams of fat and sugar contained in those items. I was completely bowled over to find that a McDonald's chocolate milkshake has 33

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-2449466902589607042011-05-03T08:55:00.000-04:002011-05-03T08:55:14.337-04:00

Investigating Your Sense of Sight (pdf)

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-18184450570032224732011-04-29T14:38:00.002-04:002011-04-29T14:38:47.909-04:00

We are in an interesting situation where I am looking for Native American Legends for the Tropical Forest biome (tying Waldorf 2nd grade in with the Montessori curric); that would be Hawaii. If anyone else does Hawaii when they do legends or as part of their folktales block, here is a great link: Hawaiian Folk Tales, A Collection of Native Legends, text from 1907 book, available on the internet

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-26768637299761516912011-04-26T18:37:00.001-04:002011-04-26T18:40:35.700-04:00

Here is a great packet of lesson plans that is much more detailed than the standard "Do an apple, potato, and onion all taste the same when you hold your nose closed?" "Test Your Taste" teacher guide "Test Your Taste" student guide

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-4715946818997587222011-04-21T15:44:00.002-04:002011-04-21T15:48:53.523-04:00

For my birthday, my boyfriend took me camping and exploring in West Virginia. Here was our trip: Sunday leave Maryland, drive to Spruce Knob WV (4863 feet [1482 m] and the highest point in the state), decide not to sleep there because it's incredibly windy and cold and a thunderstorm seems to be brewing camp for the night at Spruce Knob Lake Campground Monday check out Seneca Shadows

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-43292947176596226342011-04-16T18:11:00.001-04:002011-04-16T18:11:42.845-04:00

Salvador Dali and Surrealism Tactile Diagram (download in pdf form) and accompanying verbal description of the painting.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-72973877548790372362011-04-16T17:34:00.006-04:002011-04-16T17:45:13.188-04:00

An amazing series! Art Beyond Sight: Art History through Touch and Sound Poking around through their website, I found an interesting page with links to several famous artists (Van Gogh, Degas, Cassatt, Monet, Rembrandt) and their various vision problems. Click directly on each artist's painting at the bottom of the screen to see a larger version of it and then, as you move your cursor, the

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-9330774784285953302011-04-16T17:23:00.000-04:002011-04-16T17:23:44.981-04:00

I have Montessori nomenclature for smelling (the nose), tasting (the tongue), hearing (the ear), and seeing (the eye) but nothing for feeling (the skin)... so I am looking for resources. The Five Senses will kick off our final Science unit of the year: Health. Art Beyond Sight: A Resource Guide to Art, Creativity, and Visual Impairment A Picture Book of Louis Braille Braille Magnetic

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-57110319592476612482011-04-09T19:28:00.000-04:002011-04-09T19:28:18.002-04:00

She found the book! It was Deep Down Undergroundby Olivier Dunrea. If she hadn't been able to find it we had a backup plan for a story to introduce Soil: A Log's Lifeby Wendy Pfeffer.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-2333808608931083112011-04-09T09:38:00.000-04:002011-04-09T09:38:06.139-04:00

As our cumulative project for Botany is designing and planting a butterfly garden for the school... I have found a great butterfly book for those living in the U.S. east of the great plains. Fantastic resource! Butterflies East of the Great Plains: An Illustrated Natural Historyby Paul A. Opler and George O. Krizek. Out of print... often imitated, never duplicated... detailed descriptions of

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-29665373957423996962011-03-27T13:24:00.000-04:002011-03-27T13:24:11.975-04:00

(A hodge-podge today.) Two quick notes that I want to jot down for myself. The first is for our Botany unit. One of the topics we are covering this week is Roots: type and function. I want to introduce it with a wonderful book of poetry that I first found on the shelf at the local library as part of Black History Month. I saved it for this unit. Roots and Blues: A Celebrationby Arnold Adoff

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-82031138842046148312011-03-20T21:04:00.005-04:002011-03-20T21:13:10.958-04:00

What a great weekend! Saturday we had brunch in the morning with my family and then my boyfriend and I took the girls rock climbing at Carderock, along the C&O Canal. Sunday was a program at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. I'd never been to this museum before and I was very pleased. It was quite lovely. We had a tremendous docent, too. Did you know that sarcophagus literally means "

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-71062782744259149912011-03-15T21:12:00.000-04:002011-03-15T21:12:29.764-04:00

A wonderful book on plant identification: Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-22679337410744948882011-03-14T19:33:00.001-04:002011-03-14T19:35:38.727-04:00

First and foremost, if you want to teach Botany using the Waldorf method of storytelling, Keepers of Life: Discovering Plants through Native American Stories and Earth Activities for Childrenby Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac is an ESSENTIAL resource. This book weaves in Native American legends to introduce the concepts in the unit, beginning with Biomes. Algae, Fungi and Lichens, Mosses

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-91566771830084682122011-03-14T19:01:00.000-04:002011-03-14T19:01:04.916-04:00

We are beginning our Botany block -- this would be a grade 5 block in Waldorf -- and so I am going to be posting helpful resources. We began it with a science experiment and so the first thing we needed was a template to record the steps of our experiment and what occurred. Here are a variety of science experiment templates: Investigation Planning for Class 1 (pdf) Investigation Planning for

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-16081693986844511122011-03-06T11:20:00.001-05:002011-03-06T11:20:43.316-05:00

Here are the directions for the Probability exercises that we did. Probability I When you toss a coin, how many possible outcomes are there? How many outcomes can there be at one time? In other words, can I toss a coin and get both heads and tails? We say that the probability that something will happen is the number of ways to get that outcome out of the total number of outcomes. For a coin

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-89998777211858783532011-03-06T11:05:00.000-05:002011-03-06T11:05:40.576-05:00

If you play a strategy game often enough, you start to see the best way to win. Sometimes it is best to go first, other times it is best to go second. Here are the directions for the toothpick games that we played. Toothpick Game I Play this game and find the winning strategy: Take seven toothpicks and put them on the table between you and your partner. When it is your turn, you must take ONE,

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-46943609096807111652011-03-06T10:58:00.000-05:002011-03-06T10:58:02.482-05:00

My school had a mathematician visit this week and develop a parent-child seminar on math concepts. These are hands on activities for parents and children to do together. They're wonderful and I'm glad to share them! Here are some of the activities that we did at the Elementary level: The first was an exercise that demonstrated the importance of how district lines are drawn in voting. This

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-85083953936291383722011-02-27T19:52:00.003-05:002011-02-27T19:57:36.736-05:00

The snowdrops popping up reminded me that, after our garden composition stories and before diving into Botany per se, we should make flower fairies! We can read the poetry of Cicely Mary Barkerand take nature walks to discover the flowers on the school grounds that are currently in bloom. Cicely Mary Barker was such an amazing naturalist, and the personality of each flower clearly shows in both

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-11005531279905448082011-02-25T20:02:00.002-05:002011-02-25T20:22:06.160-05:00

We are just finishing up Picasso's Blue Period (which I introduced by reading Picasso and Minou) and a teacher friend of mine recommended the "Picasso's Got the Blues" art activity from an old issue of School Arts magazine. I was just blown away -- I had never seen or heard of this magazine before. I loved it! A must have for teachers... parents... all educators interested in bringing art to

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-25719994264326214832011-02-21T19:07:00.001-05:002011-02-21T19:15:59.175-05:00

We continued playing The Alphabet Game for the rest of our holiday weekend. Yesterday was "H." Leah suggested "housework" and Rebecca suggested "helper" so we combined the two and unpacked and organized part of the basement. This housework job was a lot of fun! The children spent the whole morning squealing, Oh, I didn't know I still had this! Leah was covered in stickers, Becca was

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-8309865892602749752011-02-19T16:18:00.000-05:002011-02-19T16:18:37.249-05:00

We are lucky enough to have a four day weekend, due to our school President's Day holiday: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. I don't have a lot of money for activities right now, but I want the girls to feel like we are filling the weekend with special family time. So I borrowed an idea from Sesame Street and we are celebrating a letter each day. I choose the letter and plan activities that

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-36188074933109286382011-02-17T21:46:00.000-05:002011-02-17T21:46:43.124-05:00

Picasso is our Great Artist for the month of February. I was lucky to find two wonderful books to use to introduce him. The first one I read to my students was Pablo Picassoby Ibi Lepscky. It is such a shame that this marvelous book has gone out of print! It talks about Picasso as a child, kindergarten age, and how his mother doesn't understand him and he drives all the servants crazy...

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-77397832992544184602011-02-16T17:53:00.002-05:002011-02-16T18:08:35.606-05:00

We are finishing up a long focus on Math and heading into March's Botany (Farming & Gardening). I'd like to transition in with two weeks on Composition. I'm thinking of having the children write little creative stories that take place in the garden. Now, of course, I need to start brainstorming the stories I will read to serve as examples. Suggestions?

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-8090311349600617932011-02-16T17:29:00.000-05:002011-02-16T17:29:24.429-05:00

Looking for Art & Math connections? You Can Count on Monstersby Richard Evan Schwartz Here's a fabulous book on factoring and prime numbers! I can't wait to get my class drawing the monsters. This resource is amazing. I've never noticed this before, but it really shows up when you draw them, how lonely the prime numbers are. Remarkable.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-46264395178446794242011-02-16T17:20:00.001-05:002011-02-16T17:24:12.951-05:00

Yes, this is a Montessori post. Sometimes I need to make notes on great supplies or resources, and they might be helpful to other homeschooling philosophies as well. There is no question that, HANDS-DOWN, Montessori has the best Math materials ever invented. One of the greatest lessons is Multiplication on the Checkerboard. For this work, I've been wishing for a set of Bead Bar Stamps. And I

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-14216173452802651552011-02-15T15:50:00.000-05:002011-02-15T15:50:02.048-05:00

The Music teacher is teaching Jazz as a part of Black History Month (Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, etc.) She's using picture books such as The Upper Elementary teacher showed her students an amazing documentary called The Children's Marchwhich I highly recommend for older students. Looking at the most recent Newbery honor books, this year's One Crazy Summerand

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-7060117575190576762011-02-14T21:05:00.000-05:002011-02-14T21:05:11.322-05:00

I have been super busy and haven't posted lately, but I wanted to quickly write to recommend a new math book (new to me). It's called The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures This fabulous book would work well as a read-aloud story with a hands-on math lesson at the end of each chapter. I recommend it for grades 3 and up. I especially love that it is translated from

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-66385566056797279092011-01-27T20:02:00.000-05:002011-01-27T20:02:15.312-05:00

Here is how I introduced Volume. We began with a work station on Monday morning: a variety of containers set out on a mat, all with the milliliter measurements on the side covered over with masking tape. These were containers such as vanilla extract, facial lotion, vinegar, cooking oil, and so on. The students were asked to order them according to how much liquid each container could hold.

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-15854000872520854062011-01-24T21:46:00.003-05:002011-01-24T21:48:26.907-05:00

Some quick links to worksheets for volume. I'm sorry that I don't have time to write up our volume/capacity lesson from this morning right now... but I will as soon as I can. It was awesome! I never would have expected my students to spontaneously get out rulers and start arguing among each other -- using mathematical language and reasoning of course -- but since they did I am online looking

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-51431639682359955802011-01-23T20:26:00.004-05:002011-01-23T20:37:39.991-05:00

This year I decided that I was going to focus a good amount of attention on the metric system. When I taught 4th grade in the public school, we did a week or so on the metric system of measurements, which never did anyone any good. Learning a new system of measurement can only be done with a little bit of practice each day, spread over many days. For example, we switched the thermometer in my

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-81988611967976158812011-01-23T17:49:00.003-05:002011-01-23T19:10:33.428-05:00

We have begun the "Grocery Buddy" process in our house. Each week, in rotation, a child is responsible for looking through the grocery store circular, choosing items that are on a good sale, and making up a menu for the breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. They cut out the sales from the paper and tape them onto the back of the menu. Then when I go shopping, my Grocery Buddy tells me which items

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-91434934631159676922011-01-22T19:23:00.001-05:002011-01-22T19:29:48.600-05:00

Today we belatedly celebrated Rebecca's 6th birthday. On the "for-real" day of her birthday I took her out to lunch and gave her one gift (a pair of ice skates from L.L. Bean) and my mother gave her another gift that evening (Skating Shoesby Noel Streatfeild). Today my boyfriend gave Rebecca his portion of the coordinated gift -- we took all the girls skating at Bowie Ice Arena. It's nearby

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-89104220875034893872011-01-21T14:17:00.001-05:002011-01-21T14:18:47.910-05:00

I was soooo excited last night when I went online to see when the 2011 Newbery and Caldecott winners were announced and found that it had already happened! That happy event occurred last week, in fact. I am buying the Newbery winner and honor books right now. 2011 Winner: Moon Over Manifestby Clare Vanderpool 2011 Honor Books: Turtle in Paradiseby Jennifer L. Holm Heart of a Samuraiby

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-77695334988559564042011-01-18T18:21:00.003-05:002011-01-19T07:29:08.609-05:00

So, I went skiing last weekend (Gore Mtn. in the Adirondacks) and the weekend before (Canaan Valley in W.Va.) and now I am back into curriculum writing and life in general. I just preordered the Waldorf Book of Poetry, collected and compiled by David Kennedy, with introduction by Eugene Schwartz. So excited to receive this volume! If you want to also be one of the first to receive this new

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-35696179024800444302011-01-03T19:41:00.002-05:002011-01-03T19:42:40.883-05:00

Calligraphy is part of our curriculum, and I'm tying it in with the Fourth Great Lesson (how written language came to be). Here are some links to alphabets and resources online: calligraphy lesson - Uncial alphabet Italic lowercase Italic capitals Chancery alphabet Gothic alphabet Gothic lowercase alphabet for left hand Carolingian alphabet, page 1 Carolingian alphabet, page 2 Insular

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-67710447618565638392011-01-02T20:27:00.006-05:002011-01-10T11:50:52.967-05:00

Our January artist is Paul Klee. Looking online, here are some good links to art projects: "Oil Pastel Klee Portrait", inspired by Head of a Man The Adventures of Bear (blog): Paul Klee Part 1, inspired by The Tree House (prints, sponge painting, geometric shapes) Paul Klee Part 2, inspired by Cat and Bird (rubbed chalk pastels) Paul Klee Part 3, inspired by ?, button tree (blown ink and

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-90448543069825845322011-01-02T16:51:00.002-05:002011-01-02T16:54:05.558-05:00

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas! I went and spent a week with my grandparents who live in Southern Illinois. They were worried about my driving all that way by myself so they insisted that I fly, which I did. Surprisingly, tickets purchased on Christmas Eve were quite cheap. However, all the parking at the airport was already taken. I guess you never win 100% of the time. I had to park

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-70368701430675949122010-12-24T13:44:00.000-05:002010-12-24T13:44:42.401-05:00

This is an exciting year for us! My friends, with whom the children and I usually spend Christmas Eve, have to be away on some emergency family business. At first the girls were disappointed -- especially because they have a 15 foot high tree with a train that runs around it -- but I explained that this was an opportunity for us to develop our own Christmas Eve traditions and they can be

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-75492267908409630912010-12-23T15:54:00.001-05:002010-12-23T15:56:19.030-05:00

Our final gift project is the "Gingerbread Man" knitted project from Knitted Toys: 25 Fresh and Fabulous Designsby Zoe Mellor. You can have a child age first grade or older knit and then felt the flat piece of fabric in the washing machine. It will still turn out to be felt whether its been knitted as garter or stockinette. I used a variegated wool yarn in browns and whites. Make sure the

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1694474699802617686.post-69997164579624054882010-12-23T10:50:00.001-05:002010-12-23T10:50:34.329-05:00

Today I learned a valuable lesson. My 1st and 2nd grade daughters really want to be independent in as many ways as possible (they each proudly made their dog treat recipe almost without help) and today we encountered the gift wrapping portion of the holiday prep season. They've watched me wrap things many times -- I wrapped all the sachets while they punched and wrote their gift taps -- so they

Rhodanoreply@blogger.com1