Magnets

We've done experiments the past few days with magnets. It's not exactly part of the waldorf school curriculum at this age and stage but we've got a book called Usborne Science Activities and we also have a science kit with magnets, pins and so on (from Sonlight - who not in a million years did I ever think to buy from because they are Creationist but they list some excellent science resources and we just ignore the creationist stuff and stick to the evolutionary stuff).

I've been impressed so far and it means I don't have to spend all my time looking for bits and pieces around the home. They're all in the one box. Yes, I could have sourced everything myself but sometimes I want my life to be made easier.

We did a magnetic experiment the day before yesterday. Springy had to gather items from round the house, e.g. coins, stones, pencils, and pop them in a bowl and then she used a bar magnet to check whether they stuck or not. We charted this up. She really enjoyed this.

Today we did another experiment this morning with magnets (learning - and home education - doesn't stop, not even for weekends!) and had a pin on zero of a ruler and then moved our magnets nearer and nearer. We found that our ring magnet has the strongest magnetic pull and charted this up in Springy's book again.

On Thursday our family had a good afternoon at the beach. It was very hot but we all had sun hats on and Springy had a swimming t-shirt. C and Springy went swimming in the sea whilst I sat on my chair, like Roy Scheider's character, watching for shark fins...just in case. Last night it rained and it is cooler and windier today so it's not going to be a washing day. The next morning Springy got up late because it was so hot at night that she couldn't sleep.

Re: Saxon maths

I found a Saxon maths test thing so Springy and I played a game to do one of the pages together. It was the Primary 1A test:

http://www.sonlight.com/singapore.html

We got out our Maths Gnomes and also our little tumblestones (rose quartz etc) as counters/manipulatives since I dislike worksheets alone at this age and stage. Each question involved telling a little tale - so the ones for addition had Penny Plus gnome going around picking up all the stones, one by one, and Springy worked out the answer. Most of the time I went from the whole to the parts e.g. 3 + 4 = 7 so I would say 7 is 3 plus 4 and then we'd put 7 stones together and arrange the grouping into 3 and 4.

We did the same for any questions with subtraction e.g. 7 - 3 = 4Minnie Minus (the baby blue gnome) was given some stones by her mummy, Penny Plus, and then, because her hands are so small, she dropped a few. So again, we started with the whole (7 stones), made the transfer to baby Minnie and she dropped 4 of the stones. Anyway Springy enjoyed it all. I always say we're going to play maths, rather than use the term "work" as this puts her off.

We received the new Sonlight catalogue a few weeks back and it's been an interesting read. It's a bit offputting to see it as a "Christian" curriculum provider, since we're not but then again I have some good friends who are Christian (even if I think they are a bit loopy for believing in supernatural deities etc - wink) and it's really rather good stuff. I still haven't made any purchases from them but reckon we may well do some of the stuff later on as they have a very broad range of products which can be utilised regardless of belief system. That said, there are some strange (to my way of thinking anyway) books on non-evolutionary science (which to me is a paradox) and lots of testaments from those on missionary work in other countries but I guess to each their own.

Steiner Waldorf and Holistic Curriculum

Here is a useful list of curriculum resources:

A Little Garden Flower (Melisa Nielsen)

Christopherus (Donna Simmons)

David Darcy

Enki Education (Beth Sutton)

Golden Beetle (Alan and Susan Whitehead)

Live Education (Bruce Bischof and Rainbow ...)

Nature Kiddos (Jodi Carnes)

Seasons of Joy (Annette Frontz)

Waldorf Curriculum (Rhoda ...)

Waldorf Home Educators (Marsha Johnson, Shining Star, Oregon)

Waldorf Without Walls (Barbara Dewey)

There are a couple more but I need to dig them out.