Are you embarking on your Waldorf journey? There are some quintessentials supplies you don’t want to do without, and then there are many supplies that are sure to enrich your lessons, environ…

On Day One of lectures to the first Waldorf teachers, Rudolf Steiner outlines the Waldorf story content for each grade. Here's the list for homeschoolers.

physiology block for grade seven still life by Paul Cezanne This first week of Advent, I began teaching as a guest teacher the physiology block on the digestive system for grade seven at East Bay Waldorf in El Sobrante, CA. While the rhythm of the week included preparations for an Advent assembly, my grade seven students and I had a wonderful week learning about the journey of food through our bodies. Here is a brief recap of our week: Day One I introduced the topic of digestion by bringing samples of food to the classroom - a good place to start! Food is valued by us as humans for several reasons. I cut an apple in half and showed the children the five-pointed core. From it, I created a drawing on the board to show the five "Apple Core Values of Food." At each point of the apple star, I worte: Combustion, Nutrtion, Tradition, Recreation, and Inspiration. Food is important to us because we use it for energy (combustion), for nutrients (nutrition), for culture and family (tradition), for social gatherings (recreation), and to inspire art such as in Cezanne's still life of fruit (inspiration). I said that the balance of these core values of food leads to happy, healthy lives. I also posed an idea for them to think about: in going from origin to table, the less steps in food processing it takes, the healthier the food is. We compared an apple, a potato, a bag of trail mix, and a Lunchable. Just in attempting to read the ingredients on the Lunchable box was enough to convince us that some of those chemicals listed should not be ingested! We figured it took lots and lots of step to bring the Lunchable to the table. In contrast, the apple simply was planted from seed, grown, picked, washed, and eaten! Day Two The second day of the lesson we started with a discussion of how we engage our senses to start the process of digestion even before we take the first bite. Not only is this important physiologically, but it brings the whole human into the realm of the lesson (the core values of food also brings this holistic approach). Then I drew the anatomy of the human as I talked about the path of the food. Day Three On this day, I traced for children the path of the food using a schematic diagram of the digestive tract I drew on the board, and talked about what was happening to the food as it passed through the different parts. As a visual aid, I put some crushed crackers in a sandwich bag to show how the food looks in the mouth, then I added some water and flour to show how it looks as a bolus, then chyme, then took some water out to show undigested matter. Day Four For their main lesson book, I had them copy this table to show the functions of each part and organ. This tabular form helped to recap the lecture from the day before. The colored bars represent the five processes: motility, digestion, secretion, absorption, and elimination. Day Five On the last day, I emphasized some important points. I also brought the material back out of the parts to the larger picture of our place in the world. I commented that I believed how truly amazing it is to know that our bodies have been designed to perfectly break down the foods that are available to us from our earth. We are of this world, made of this world.

Are you embarking on your Waldorf journey? There are some quintessentials supplies you don’t want to do without, and then there are many supplies that are sure to enrich your lessons, environ…

In this lecture to the first Waldorf teachers, Steiner focuses on the twelve senses, grouped into Thinking, Feeling, and Willing.

updated: please go to https://www.facebook.com/knittingwithchildren/?ref=bookmarks to stay abreast of a new website, coming soon, that will give you everything you need to know to teach children to knit, and support you and your children in a developmental, imaginative, gentle way. Patterns and stories included. When teaching children to cast on, I usually tell a story the day or two before about a boy with a ship. Then, I retell the story, adding instruction and supplies. I give each student a rolled ball of white yarn and one knitting needle. There was a boy who found a treasure map one day. The treasure map had a curious inscription: If you would climb Thumb Mountain, then over to Pointer Mountain soar, Scoop up the gold , under vines, back home, then treasure will be yours. This boy, when he read those words, knew exactly where to find thumb mountain. It was an easy journey for him, and he knew it well. He had a ship, and he knew just how to sail it. This is your ship. Put your slip knot on the knitting needle, with pads of fingers touching the shaft. I tell the students to hold their needles 'birds on a wire' so their fingers are a bit looser. Some want to grip the needle in a fist...help them hold their fingers over the needle like so: Now you can sail your ship up, down, and through waves. The boy knew he was getting close because he could see the beach. He then set out to anchor his ship by grabbing the line hanging from it. Then, he split the line so the boat would be steady while he was gone. At this point in the story, the tip of the knitting needle becomes the boy. Now it was time for the ship to rest and for the boy to go to the island to find treasure. He landed on the beach. The knitting needle comes forward and down. The "mountains" stand strong. Now the boy crept up Thumb Mountain, under the vines, all the way to the top, and he never fell off. He remembered the writing: If you would climb Thumb Mountain, then over to Pointer Mountain soar, Scoop up the gold , under vines, back home, then treasure will be yours. From the top of Thumb Mountain, he could see Pointer Mountain. He flew over, because he was a very special boy and could do things like that. You will notice my hand has turned to the side here. The boy is on top of Pointer Mountain. Now he sees the gold and scoops it up, and flies back to the top of Thumb Mountain. The yarn coming from Pointer has been scooped and is on its way to Thumb. Now the boy is on Thumb mountain and is ready to go home. He slides down Thumb Mountain, under the vines with his treasure, and lands on the beach. He is back home on the beach! Now take your whole hand out and pull one of the strings to close the loop. You will have two stitches on the needle now. Congratulations! A continental cast-on. Start the whole process again to cast on the rest of the stitches (there's more gold in those hills!) Eventually, instead of taking out your whole hand, you can simply sweep your thumb across to close the last loop. See knittinghelp.com for a video of the Continental Cast-On.

Check out my set "Most Interesting 100" here! Visit my Waldorfschool/Steinerschool related pinboards here!

Beat vs rhythm lesson plans and worksheets for grade 1. Teach your grade 1 class how to tell the difference between rhythm and beat.

Explore whitt's 824 photos on Flickr!

In Waldorf homeschooling the main academic subjects are presented one at a time in blocks. A main lesson block typically lasts 2 - 4 weeks and the main lesson takes 1 - 2 hours a day. It’s a holistic approach to learning so even though one subject is the focus in main lesson, each day the subject is

Check out my set "Most Interesting 500" here! Visit my Waldorfschool/Steinerschool related pinboards here!

Grade four at the Valley Waldorf City School. Waldorf school in Los Angeles features alternative education inspired by Rudolph Steiner.

First grade is such a sweet, memorable year. It’s the bridge between the kindergarten and elementary years. Like the kindergarten child, the first grader still thrives on days full of play, connection, and rhythm. (For more on supporting these needs, see this post on How to Teach Kindergarten ). Yo

Create your own homeschool curriculum plan for main lessons with this outline of the traditional Waldorf block rotation for homeschoolers.

I am a Waldorf homeschooling mother, just like YOU! This was a block I made up for First Grade (a January block) and thought it may give some of you inspiration for working science in with all the…

form drawing, 2 week block august 24/september 3rd resources: main lessons: Form Drawing for Grades 1-4, Ernst Schuberth & Laura Embry-Stine (i used some of the basic grade one forms and created a 'container story' for this first block) monday, august 24th: main lesson: tell story part 1, explore form Crenelated Running Form *for grade one the forms are simple & used to help the child get ready for writing. our basement is concrete & so perfect for drawing the forms large in sidewalk chalk. we also draw them smaller & trace them with both hands & both feet & we trace them on each other's backs. sometimes we make lacing cards & sew the forms on using yarn. in the past we've also done prints with potatoes, painted the forms, used sticks to mark them out...drawing them in sand on a baking sheet is a good one as well. form drawing story, part #1: once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a king and a queen. the king & queen lived in a grand castle with servants to care for their every need, and noblemen to see to their every hearts desire. and yet, they were not happy, something was missing...a child. then one day the queen was blessed, and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. this child would one day grow up to be queen. the king & queen were so excited about the princess's birth that they decided to throw a magnificent ball to celebrate. they invited the entire kingdom. when everything was ready for the celebration, the king climbed up to the steep steps, to the very tallest tower and looked out between the parapets. he leaned against those great stone walls, watching as the guests arrived in their finest clothes. lesson b: nature study challenge #1Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock & http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/2008/02/green-hour-challenge-1-lets-get-started.html tuesday, august 25th main lesson: recall story, part #1 tell story part #2, explore form Straight Line Symmetry form drawing story, part #2: on the outskirts of the kingdom, in the dark forest, there lived an evil witch who was not at all pleased with the princess's birth. she wanted to be queen! and so, she disguised herself as on of the queen's servants and attended the grand ball. when the queen went to lay her daughter down for bed that night, the witch followed her. she was careful to hide in the shadows so that no one would see her. and once the queen had gone back to join the celebration-- the evil witch snuck into the princess's nursery & stole her away. she took the princess to a cave far, far away from the kingdom-- a cave guarded be a dragon...a cave where no one would ever find her. the king & queen, and everyone else in the kingdom were greatly saddened by this princess's disappearance. they vowed never to stop looking until she was found. the king sent for his three best knights, three brothers. if anyone could find the princess, it would be them. lesson b: handwork, exploring where wool comes from (as as introduction to knitting) read One Little Lamb by Elaine Greenstein *with waldorf everything is taught from the whole to its parts. so, normally you would begin with visiting sheep on a farm or at least at a petting zoo, and then follow it up with washing a fleece. but as i work with loads of wool, the boys have been exposed to this since they were little. i have no raw fleece on hand, and we have neighbors with sheep, so we see them on (almost) daily basis. aydin has been asking to try his hand at needle felting & so we needle felted sheep & a little patch of field for them to graze. wednesday, august, 26th main lesson: recall story, part #2 tell story part #3, explore form (will add photo later) form drawing story, part #3: the three knights were eager to be of service, to find the princess and to bring her home safely. they searched for clues all over the castle and soon realized how things had come to pass. they knew that the evil witch had kidnapped the princess out of jealousy. the king & queen gave the brave knights everything they needed for their quest. it would be a very long and treacherous journey, but the knights were courageous and honorable. they promised to rescue the princess. and with that, their journey began. they headed first towards the black sea. there were caves there guarded by creatures of the deep. lesson b: baking, clover leaf rolls (or joy of cooking, p. 610) thursday, august 27th main lesson: recall story part #3. tell story part #4, explore form (will add photo later) form drawing story, part #4: but there was no sign of the prince or the dark witch. so they rode on, towards the steep cliffs, and the misty mountains. they climbed up to the tallest peaks, searching everywhere along the way. they nearly perished a good many times, losing their footing on the crumbly mountainside. the mountain sides were quite steep and had no paths for the knights to follow aside form those made by the sheep & goats that grazed there. once they were sure that no nook or cranny had been overlooked, they headed towards the valleys in the east. we have been having a lot of rain this week. so after practicing our forms in the basement, we opted for watercolors rainbows to add a splash of colors to our day in lieu of a painting as our final form. lesson b: handwork, more exploration with wool read Pelle's New Suit by Elsa Beskow card fleece with carding combs, try hand at spinning the carded wool into yarn via a drop spindle