No Resources

Another factor that has made this past year more daunting is the lack of resources.  This year just gone was so dire on a financial level at various points that there was no way I could have spent money on resources.  We have had to make do with what we had but it's not been easy.  I am learning about Steiner Waldorf as I go along.  Kindergarten I understood really well, perhaps because of my previous knowledge and experience of working with this age group.  First Grade didn't seem too bad either - fairy tales and a child who could already read and write with ease because of their own intuition.  Second Grade seemed incredibly disordered because I had a) a lack of time to read around Waldorf stuff and b) I had no curriculum materials that I could make sense of.  Instead we used non-Waldorf educational materials such as workbooks which Springy didn't always resonate with.  Also, my husband, though well-meaning, allowed Springy to watch pop videos and other media forms which I disagreed with but because I was not there to supervise it went unchecked as part of her "education".

We're now in a position to get some resources so I'm putting together lessons.

It's all a bit of a mess but we had a good morning this morning.  Last night we read a Bonnie Scheckie book on House of Wood which relates to Native American Indians and also shelter building.  Springy did a couple of pages in her Main Lesson book with a picture of things made from wood and also we did a page based on a story from a Live Education Class 2 resource about Grandfather Corn which a friend kindly let me look at.  I want to save up and get both the Live Education and Christopherus materials because I realise I can't do Waldorf on my own.

I'm going to read this http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/klocekchores.pdf because I feel like Springy could do with contributing a bit more to the home.

Home education or school

Also, these past few days have been quite startling.  My husband called the Local education authority up to get Springy into school.  He hasn't understood that my pleas for more  help were not me saying I want to give up on home education.  Rather, because of all the studying and working that has entailed plus having my own business I feel stretched out and don't feel as if I am doing a good job.  That's not the same as really not doing a good job - Springy is lovely, polite for the most part and enjoys home education for the most part.  We've struggled financially which has made getting to home ed meet-ups and so on difficult and we've maybe been hanging about too much with schoolers without a balance of home educators.  That can make you feel like you're on your own in the middle of the ocean and it's easy to lose sight of why you home educated in the first place.

Anyway, he has said that if I can prove that home education is working for Springy then he may not proceed but it's still a huge cloud hanging over (love proverbs) our heads.

Springy doesn't want to go to school.  That said she doesn't know school so how can she make an informed choice but no one pressures children at school into home educating - the pressure we get to put her into school is so great.  Everyone has a view from my mother to the checkout people at the supermarket.  Sometimes it gets too much.

August 2010

Wow - it's been a very hard year.  I spent a lot of that time in college and it was hard going.  However, back to home education. 

Springy saw a maths tutor the other day who said she's not a natural mathematician but meant it nicely.  I've known for a while that Springy often does things really well one day and then seems to have forgotten it all a day or even an hour later.  It can be quite frustrating but I guess that is part of education and learning - it's not a linear path.

I nearly moved forward with class Three stuff  - farming and Old Testament stuff.  In fact we have done a few bits from these areas because we can easily watch arable farming around us and also we've been growing quite a few things as per usual so we have our own "crops".  Springy also made a tipi in the garden using bamboo poles and a sheet and we've done a bit on Native American First Peoples stories.  From the Old Testament we have heard the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood and Joseph and His Coat.  However, I've been aware that maybe we need to do some revisiting of Second Grade/Class Two Steiner Waldorf stuff because last year, although we home educated, we did little in the way of Main Lesson fun.

Bicycling at last

Springy rode her bicycle properly for the first time today - hooray. :) She's been so determined and has had all the pedal bashes on her ankles etc and yet she persevered. We now need to get her bicycle fixed so it has brakes (rather than feet).

Seven

We have been working on the 7 times table with Springy who seems to have memorised it really well so far. We've been discussing the seven days of the week and the seven colours of the rainbow (visible light spectrum). We've been sat outside in the garden reading a book called Schoolhouse in the Woods as well.

 

We also dug up our potato crop from the potato bag.  It wasn't very big but will be enough for one meal with potatoes. 

 

Our current read at night is The Borrowers by Mary Norton.

11th June 2010

  Springy and I went on 2 small bicycle rides today, 2 walks with our lovely dog Lily and we also did some wet felting for a small project we are making. I also did some needle felting and did not jab my fingers once - hooray. :)

Springy had a great day at the Weald and Downland by helping out the gundog display people from Reedland Retrievers.