In my last post, I described our relaxed, eclectic homeschool approach as a recipe--one that starts with a Charlotte Mason and Waldorf foundation, throws in a a generous helping of unit studies, sprinkles in some classical education, and occasionally gets ignored in favor of periodic unschooling. This recipe also changes often with seasons, interests, and with the phases in our lives. We are far from purists of any of these approaches, choosing rather to take what we love about each and combine them in a way that fits our homeschool rhythm perfectly. Last week, I shared the elements that we love of Charlotte Mason. (You can read that post by clicking here.) This week, I am diving deep into our favorite elements of the Waldorf approach. Let's get started: Natural Materials While we aren't (yet) a family that insists on toys and materials that are exclusively made from natural materials, we are trying to shift strongly in that direction. It's not just about aesthetics, though natural materials certainly are more beautiful than their cheaply-made plastic counterparts. It's not just about durability, though they certainly win in that category as well. And it's not just because most of these materials are