End of August

Since I last posted Springy has had another maths lesson with a private tutor.  Sometimes it's hard to be objective when you're are home educating so C and I decided that a series of three lessons over three weeks would be a good idea.  We certainly found a great tutor and Springy has progressed in a positive way.  It also helped that the tutor had a puppy at home.

Today we went out in our little rowing boat which was great fun.  We saw 3 egrets and a very big black-backed gull.  We had to be careful not to get in the way of some of the yachts that were about and their wakes.

I've got several books lined up on Native American buildings for reading (as usual here, one has gone missing in the collage of chaos).  We also have Farmer Boy and Schoolhouse in the Parlour by Rebecca Caudhill as read alouds.

Springy finished her Magic Book so it's time to move onto a new one.  I'm feeling a little more confident and have been reading various educational materials to keep inspired.  We never stop for summer holidays so we're not really about to start a new year as such.  I feel we're still in the Class Two zone for some things developmentally but that also Springy responded well over the summer to many of the Class Three elements that were introduced.

This morning in her maths lesson she was asked about solving a puzzle.  She had to get four people across to an island by a boat.  There were 2 men and 2 women.  The rules were that the boat could only carry up to two women or one man so she had to work out the sequence.

December 2009

St Nicholas is going to be our theme this month because we're doing Class 2 Steiner Waldorf in our approach anyway.

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=437

St Nicholas stories in the Waldorf tradition

Class 2 type year

Well we're not really a class - although I learn just as much as Springy at times.

This year we're going to be focusing on Fables, Animal Friends, Saints/Sages, Nature Stories and so on.

I can really see Springy is fascinated by animals. With our new addition to the household, our lovely dog, I can see how Steiner would have observed the interest in animals. He was really astute with his observations. Springy is totally occupied with animals and wanting to accumulate more pets.

Our doggy is gorgeous - she's lovely temperament and ever so loving and easy to care for (apart from the revolting ticks that I had to remove from her the other day).

So:

Times Tables - keep practising 2x, 1x, 5x, 10x and we need to add in 11x, 3x and 4x
Regular use of arithmetic (Magical Maths books by Letts) and conversations on other mathematical themes
I want to do a recap on Roman numerals which we did cover but I'm not sure how much of this Springy retained.
Learning the spellings of common word clusters e.g. would, should, could and peep, sheep, deep etc
Doing small blocks on the Animal themes above along with Form Drawing to help improve that focus and concentration - simple sentences from the Fable e.g. "The mouse saved the lion" or "Slow and steady wins the race"
Increase the frequency of handwriting use and with practice we hope will come improved writing stamina and appreciation

I'm more aware of doing my research before the fable to ensure that I know enough about the animal concerned. I've always been someone interested in wildlife and animals anyway so that makes it easier. Springy already loves nature so it's not hard to instil that love for the main characters in the fables.

The Merry Month of May

This last month we've done lots of things. We did the Jamboree on the Trail (a walk with the beavers and cubs), visited Ikea as a family for the first time (we love lingonberries), Springy and our puppy took part in a dog show (Springy wants to be a dog groomer and dog trainer when she grows up now), I took my First Aid Appointed Persons course again (just a 1-day one), went to the Mind/Body/Spirit event in London (had an amazing Indian Head Massage) and enjoyed the lovely weather outside. We've been going on lots of walks with our lovely dog.

I'm now planning for the next stage in Springy's education - we're slowly integrating animal stories in as per the indications of Rudolf Steiner. We have 3 new paints which we are going to be working with (not because of developmental reasons but because I never could afford 3 new paints before). I feel that we have achieved a lot (with support from friends who have encouraged me to be positive) in our education this year. We've been working on our times tables and so on but we're past Aries and Taurus and into Gemini now so the Zodiac is whizzing by and I like to work my year from Aries to Pisces.

It's already June and we need some rainy weather to stay inside a bit more and do some more academics. Springy and I have been discussing how to use question marks, exclamation marks and periods (full stops).

We're still doing swimming lessons - we got a new teacher this term and he's been great so far. the last few terms were a writeoff but he has made up for it and Springy is now able to dive underwater to collect objects off the bottom (she's better than me).