Waldorf Curriculum HOME

Curriculum for
the Preschool Years


March 2006


March project list:

  • birthday present for Natalie:
    March 10
    doll pillow & quilt

  • birthday present for Jenn:
    March 17
    ribbon-embroidered coat hangers

  • Happy New House gift for Becca:
    April 1
    baby gnome

  • birthday present for Betty:
    April 4
    zoo toy bag

  • choose paint colors for new house
  • make felt rug for new playroom


April project list:

  • Easter:
    April 16
    The Easter Craft Book
    living Easter basket
    (gift for Grammy & Papa)
    set of 3 Easter pails
    felt bunnies & hutch set
    knit Easter animals:
    Magic Cabin set for my girls &
    "a knitted hare" each for Joe & Tom
    dye Easter eggs
    Easter egg hunt

  • set up playroom
  • silk marionettes
  • second playstand
  • curtains for playstands


ARCHIVES

2006

Homeschool Blog

Having tried unsucessfully to get Blogger.com to work for me, I suddenly realized that I can easily create journalling pages linked to my site without extra help. This is a very informal page with my personal notes as to how homeschooling is going for my family. Please feel free to email me with comments. Learn more about my preschool curriculum by visiting the links on my homepage.

Other Waldorf-inspired homeschool blogs you may want to check out include:

March 2006

March 31 - oh, sooo cute! Ellen just posted a knitted Easter egg pattern to the handmadeexchange group. I love it! great use of leftover odds and ends of yarn, too -- something that I now think about every time I see a pattern! I think that's called reticular activation. maybe when the zoo toy bag is done, I'll work up some of those to add to our Easter egg hunt. I had wanted to add some stone eggs from A Toy Garden but they ended up being just so expensive. not individually, but I mean to buy enough for the entire crowd of kids to each end up with one. and they are still kind of little (the children, not the eggs) and might just hit somebody with an egg. or drop it and break it. so these knitted eggs would be a cute way to add some variety without spending a lot of extra money. the next newsletter topic is Easter so I guess I'll start drafting all these crafty ideas together and get working on it. I'm bummed because I have all my notes ready to write the Texture unit, and I really wanted to put it out in March but I don't think there's any way I can write the whole thing in one day. I think it'll have to be done mostly tomorrow, with Steve babysitting the kids. yesterday I went to settlement on the old house (what fun walking around with a big check in my pocket, even if only for a short time) :-) and then spent a lot of time in Home Depot getting all the paint chips for the Arts and Crafts color palette, interior and exterior. so yesterday was devoted to the house question. I'd rather be devoting my time to writing! it's hard because all these ideas are spinning around in my head but I can't really leave the kids all on their own all day while I sit down here and squint at the computer. on the other hand, I think tea party will be cancelled because Papa just got out of the hospital yesterday so that does give me some extra time. and sometimes it comes out really quickly, all in a rush, because I've been thinking about it for so long. but I don't know... one day?

* * * * *
well, I can't find most of the books for this unit... I guess I set them aside in a pile and lost the pile. or packed it. grrr. so I've moved on to another project for today. we got a bunch of old children's books from my MIL (some were my husband's from his childhood) so I got a great new stash for my kids to enjoy! the rest of the books are going to his brother but these were the ones I chose for us to keep. check it out:

Picture Books, Fairy Tales & Nursery Rhymes:

Early Readers:

Chapter Books:

Science, History & Other Non-fiction Books:

Riddles & Cartoon Books:

That's a LOT of books! I'm totally excited. There's nothing I love more than new books. And some of these I remember from my childhood, it made me so happy to look through them. Of course, they're going back into boxes right away. But soon I will have a nice library and all these books can stop being squished and crammed into boxes and out on shelves where they can breathe. And that will really be a beautiful sight.

March 30 - here's something interesting I found. I'm looking around at paint colors and decorating styles and Behr paints has put together this awesome website with paint palettes and tips for recreating different periods. for example, apparently the 70's are back in style. who knew? they also have emotional palettes (traditional color therapy), what's hot now 2006, and lots of other ideas, like how to create a color palette from a photograph you love. but the best part is the authentic historical palettes. here are the links to

I picked Arts and Crafts. what fun! the last time I decorated a house I had no budget and no idea what I was doing. hopefully this will be more of a success! I'm also currently planning my birthday party which will be an Easter Egg Hunt theme, April 16th, and I can't wait. Inspired by Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth, I am giving people gifts to celebrate my birthday. I have loads of fun stuff picked out for goodie bags for everybody and we're going to have tons of great food. looks like our settlement date will be April 14 so this will be a fun way for everyone to see the new house. and we'll essentially just be camping there so it will be rustic, to say the least. but with food and family, any event can be fun! and who doesn't love Easter? so anyway, for the house I'm picking the honeybee as my theme. I did a cross-stitch piece called Lake Julia's Bees (from Just Cross-Stitch magazine, April 2005) with a great color palette which I'm using for my inspiration -- taupe, pale gold, iridescent white, linen, black-brown (see a picture, although mine doesn't have the words at the top and the bottom, she added that on her own). I'm thinking tiny hexagonal tile in the bathrooms, the warm smell of beeswax candles, sheer white or linen curtains... the Arts and Crafts period not only has the colors I like but also the emphasis on clean lines and well-made handmade items, not just mass produced. and lots of natural fabrics and wood. I always thought I was crazy for liking the clean lines of modern furniture (like DWR) but also liking rustic handmade things -- but not country! I hate kitchens which are blue and white with a country goose theme! -- and I thought these two things don't go together. so I had sort of resigned myself to an "eclectic" fate and walking the line between interesting and tacky -- now I have a new option. the Arts and Crafts style! now we can throw ourselves into the Frank Lloyd Wright thing. actually I was going to put Froebel's gifts in the Europe unit anyway. I'm just happy to have some clear guidelines to help me achieve the look I want. and I'm also happy because the children's playroom is glass on all four sides so I can escape the lazure question and the worries about how to properly paint it. hurrah! it's right off the kitchen so I can keep an eye on them, surrounded by the garden in the backyard, so pretty. and I actually get not only a playroom for the kids (and a gazebo in the back yard for tea parties) but a living room AND a formal dining room AND a library. and each child gets their own bedroom. and there's a closet for each of us in the master bedroom (I've always had to put my clothes in one of the children's closets, makes getting dressed difficult) and our own bathroom in our bedroom suite too. and the kids have a bathroom of their own. and there's a guest bathroom downstairs. not thrilled about three bathrooms to keep clean, but very happy about the idea of everyone having their own space. and there's no dark dreary basement, the washer and dryer are in one of those large closets on the main level. no attic either. so we won't be tempted to pile up boxes of stuff in storage that we never use. the whole house is out in the open, usable space. Steve is so happy to have a dining room. he's always wanted to do family dinners and now that we will be closer to his work, it's actually a possibility! oh and we're within walking distance (a few blocks) of a 100 acre park. so maybe things will be alright after all!!! :-)

March 28 - I'm not going to tell you I've picked a house because that might jinx it. But for people who are checking in to see what's going on, I have made my list of books & supplies to buy for researching the first grade curriculum. Want to see it? Here goes!

Waldorf Without Walls
Form Drawing for the Homeschooling Parent $16.00
Waldorf Geometry for Homeschoolers Grade 6 $17.00
Waldorf Math Grades 4-8 $4.00
Handwork for Homeschoolers K-4 $17.00

Bob & Nancy's Bookshop
Creative Form Drawing Workbook 1 - Kutzli $30.00
The Write Approach, book 1 $13.95
The Write Approach, book 2 $13.95
A First Book of Knitting for Children & Knitting for Children, A Second Book $53.90

Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship
About Dynamic Drawing £2.50

A Child's Dream Come True
LMNOP Alphabet Wall Cards $29.95
Puck the Gnome $14.00
The Wind Boy $12.00
The House Above the Trees $12.00
Liputto $16.00

Bob & Nancy's Bookshop
The Wise Enchanter $15.00
Eurythmy for the Elementary Grades $10.00
Leaving Room for the Angels $14.00
Come Unto These Yellow Sands $27.95
Allegro: Music for the Eurythmy Curriculum $12.00
The Healing Art of Eurythmy $30.00

AWSNA Bookshop
An English Manual by Dorothy Harrer $12.00
Teaching Language Arts in the Rudolf Steiner School $15.00
Difficult Children: There is No Such Thing $16.50
Educational Tasks and Content of the Steiner Waldorf Curriculum $33.95
Curriculum Chart (large) $14.50

Bob & Nancy's Bookshop
Educating the Will $16.00
Painting in Waldorf Education $17.00
Learning About the World Through Modeling $22.00
The Temperaments and the Arts $14.00

Michaelmas Press
The Waldorf Student Reading List $8.95

Hearthsong
Alphabet Spelling Game $14.95

Anybody see something on here that they have? I'm happy to swap for something in my library you'd like to read and/or purchase it from you (barter or cash). Please email me!

March 24 - been out of it a bit. all this house shopping is taking its toll, physically and emotionally. Steve and I are getting a babysitter all day tomorrow to go house hunting and go out to lunch (thereby making it a date). I'm looking forward to that. looking at houses while keeping the kids from touching things is a juggling act. and who knows, we might end up with the perfect house after all! I've decided on one more organizational strategy for my business. in addition to making notes on my homeschool expenses for each month (I can't believe how quickly Easter is coming up) I want to make a plan for what any donations I get each month will go towards. that way if money comes in I've already planned on how to best use it. and it doesn't get frittered away on small things. so far, I have my website hosting bill, domain registrations, and new product development as business expenses. if I announce my intentions at the beginning of each month, that way if it's something someone feels strongly about supporting they will have the opportunity. I know that people want to help me and they are so kind, and I know that if I just ask they are helpful and supportive. some people can't afford anything and that's fine. I've been there! I saw two checkers at a grocery store laughing at someone who had to put back their item, it was like $1.25, and they were saying, how can you not have $1.25? and I'm thinking, there have been lots of times when I haven't had a dollar in my pocket. I will never forget when I was in college and forgot to budget for laundry detergent, having never had to buy it before, I didn't even think about it, and I went to the store and was counting out my pennies, all the money I had in the world, literally. and I was like 6 cents short. and the woman behind me in line was so mean to me. and I'm thinking, can't you just lend me 6 cents? instead of complaining that I'm taking so long? I had to put it back. it was the most humbling experience. anyway, money isn't that tight right now, thank God. but I do have a business wish list and right now, for April, I'm going to try to save up to make my business a non-profit. I put that on my birthday wish list too. speaking of birthdays, I've got to get back to my knitting. that zoo toy bag isn't going to knit itself! I can't wait to see the look on my mother-in-law's face when I give it to her! my other two March projects are put on hold until we find a house. can't really choose paint colors or make a rug until I see the school room (or know if we have one). then in April all my projects will be Easter-
oriented. and setting up the new play space! I am going to need to find a cheap supply of silk for making puppets. I just can't spend $20 on a play silk and then chop it up. maybe there are some silk sheets or something on eBay. then I can cut it up so part is a play silk and part is fabric for projects. I've been doing that a lot with my old linen and silk dresses. I seem to have a lot of clothes that are ready to move on to a new life. don't fit or fraying at the edges or faded or stained. I'm happy to make toys with them. then I can look at something and see all the fond memories. I made Rebecca's baby gnome out of two old shirts of mine. it makes me smile everytime I see it.

* * * * *
okay, warning! I've discovered that there's a ton of silk on eBay. searching for the perfect piece might become addictive! silk fabric is actually a category in fact. go to Crafts -> Fabric -> Silk. you can also find it under Collectibles and Clothing, Shoes & Accessories. and Antiques! but you might not want your kids playing around with something that delicate and/or valuable. beautiful stuff, though! we get lots of gorgeous Cambodian silk scarves (similar to these) from my aunt who lives in Cambodia. I wouldn't cut those up, of course. they are wonderful for the Nature table, lots of subtle color variations which really reflect the mood of each season.

March 21 - the zone of the week is the Master Bedroom (I skipped all the emails from last week telling me to clean my bathroom) -- and this time I think I'm ready. so yesterday was mission number 1. set your timer for 15 minutes and take out everything which doesn't belong in your bedroom. so I did that today and, in 15 minutes, removed a pile of board games for a houseguest (in December), two boxes of extra bedding, two single bedframes which were being stored there against the wall, a collection of clocks which were not plugged in, an assortment of Christmas presents which got dumped there because that's where we opened the grown-ups presents, a necklace, my basket of clean underwear (this was my crutch against choosing my clothing or taking any time for myself, I had clean undies every day and just wore any old thing, never went into the room where my dresser and clothes closet were, always just grabbed something out of the basket and got dressed out of the clean laundry bins in the living room -- I know this is kindof personal but I'm saying it in case someone reading goes, oh that's me. if I can get my clutter act together, take heart. anyone can do it! just use the daily email system until you learn how to maintance clean on auto-pilot) and a lot of cat hair. I had time to lightly Swiffer the floor. and mediate two arguments between Natalie and Leah. then when my timer went off, I straightened all the pictures on the walls, put the things on the desk in the desk -- all the drawers were empty, go figure -- and opened all the curtains. it's a whole new room. and I felt great putting Natalie down for her nap in such a nice space. there's no reason why she should have to live with my clutter, mental or physical. this flylady thing is the best thing that ever happened to me (besides kids, college, and meeting my husband) (oh, and starting my own business) (but it's way up there in the top 5). makes me a better person, a better wife, and a better mom. less stress means more time for my family and more time for me. so it is related to homeschool & parenting. you just don't know how much your house being mess affects every aspect of your life until you start to do something about it and witness the amazing results. I am here to testify. if you're reading this thinking she is way off the topic of homeschool, I'm not. just try it! and remember, birth to 7 is the stage of imitation. don't you want to be someone worth imitating? tomorrow I will move on to mission #2 which was sent out today. but running one day behind gives me the time to think through the task she assigns, and get over it, and just decide to do it. instead of whining about it. flylady actually has a NO Whining sign as a pdf which you can download and print. I won't do it but some people with older kids say it's very effective. the school plan today is to continue my cooking idea, using up things in the cupboard, so we'll be making Southern Spiced Pecans from the Taste of Home Annual Cookbook 2004. it's also here if you want it. very simple. oh, and their recipe search is excellent. I lost my corn bread recipe -- a wonderful recipe, the best! -- and I was so upset. it has the perfect texture, the perfect taste... at least to my way of thinking. and I was so bummed when I couldn't find the recipe card after one of the moves. the only thing I could remember was that it had yogurt in it (plain -- I made it the first time with vanilla by mistake, yuck!) and I googled it every six months or so with no luck. but here it is. ta da! I typed it in with my fingers crossed since I happened to be on the site finding the link for you guys... and it came up! I can't tell you how happy I am. little things like that really make a difference, you know? I know so many people who are searching for lost recipes... or something that their mother or grandmother made. I think food is what really makes you feel like you're at home. do you know that your sense of taste is supposed to be the last one you lose when you die? taste is such an important thing in life. anyway, now now I really am having a wonderful day. a clean bedroom which is a clutter-free haven and a missing recipe found.

* * * * *
more flylady stuff. I worked on step 2-4 of my control journal. that's writing down your before bed routine, morning routine, afternoon routine and I did a work routine too. I'm trying really hard to limit the amount of time I spend working so that it doesn't expand to take all available time... it fits in its slot. every morning I've been making a quick to do list before I get the kids up, what we're having for the four meals of the day, my handwork project, my errands or correspondence to keep up with, my reading list (for a free minute, if I have one) and the plan for homeschool for that day. I've been also making a note as to what I want to do for work and keeping it simple, just one thing. this has been helping. of course, when I get something in my mind, like making a complete booklist of all the books mentioned in the preschool curriculum I just get so absorbed and I work on it for hours. so maybe the reason I've been able to control the monster is that I haven't actually been writing anything lately. I'm taking a break from the newsletters for the packing & moving time. when I need to write, it really does consume all my time! but, anyway, what I was going to say is that I'm happy with my four routines and then I went to see what my job was for Day Nine and suddenly I was overwhelmed. It was to add a 5 minute room rescue to my routines and I went back and looked at them and I was like, you know what? this is all the new habit I can manage to work on for right now!!! I'll just stay at where I am for a bit and be happy there. don't get bogged down in perfectionism! (I already did the sheets on the computer instead of handwriting them which is a perfectionist no-no). I have enough to work on, for sure. I'm doing kelly's zone mission each day and four new routines (before bed has 5 steps, morning has 9 steps, work has 6 steps, and afternoon has 4). that's plenty. I can move on to the next part of the system when I'm ready. the other sections of the control journal, which I'm not going to do for a while, are the basic weekly plan, the zones and a cleaning plan for each, grocery lists, your address book, and emergency information. but, hey, one thing at a time! I'm working on learning my Daily Routines. and I should be proud of where I am. mission #2 for tomorrow, the master bedroom, is to spend 15 minutes dusting floor to ceiling including walls and all flat surfaces. should be fun! the kids love to dust, they will really enjoy helping with this one. lots of people write to say that they use flylady with their children -- it's especially helpful for kids with ADHD, clear expectations, very consistent, lots of repitition, tasks are broken down into small pieces so as not to be overwhelming, information stored in a central location -- and kids of all ages from 5 year olds to teenagers love that they have clean laundry, a clean room, and a clutter-free life! lots of these kids even have their own control journals with all their routines written down and stored in one place where they can check them daily. plus, as all teachers know, kids work well with timers... and the flylady really takes the timer thing to a whole new level.

March 20 - the first day of Spring! you could really tell, this morning too. it seemed like every farm had a tractor out on it, turning over the soil. it smells like manure everywhere. today is also my dad's birthday and his birthday dinner/party is here tonight. I'm okay with doing a stash and dash, knowing that once I have more time and experience with the new system of keeping my house clean, I'll never have to go through this for another guest again! we were going to make party hats but it looks like that won't happen because N isn't napping -- and she really needs to after dance class -- and I told her she couldn't help get ready for the party until she got some sleep. so, Dad, if you're reading this, don't expect party hats. because I think we won't have time :-) there was some talk on the handmadeexchange group about whether you could knit party hats; this is because Natalie asked me for a yellow one and I said we don't have any yellow paper and she said, we have yellow yarn. can you make me a party hat out of yarn? I think that would be a great use for leftover colors of yarn! some day I'll sit down and work up a knitted party hat pattern and put it on the website. I'm also thinking about using little colors of yarn in a knitted & felted butterfly finger puppet. wouldn't that be cute? I've always wanted to try knitting then felting, but I don't want it to be a long complicated project which I'm completely invested in... then if it doesn't felt properly I'll be crushed. but a butterfly should be simple and fun. I don't understand, though, how you're supposed to wash your colors first so they don't bleed when you felt them in the washing machine... but how do you wash a hank of yarn? in a pillow cover, I guess. still, seems like it would felt, wouldn't it? just from the agitation? or, at the very least, become hopelessly tangled. dunno. I'll have to ask someone how that's done. but I've done enough knitting that I have the odds and ends of colors problem and all the books I've looked at on Amazon which are supposed to give ideas & patterns for little bits of leftover yarns have so-so reviews, saying they are not very creative. sounds like a job for Super-Rhoda! (ha ha) I don't have to make the birthday dinner, my MIL contributed a large pot of beef stew and my mom is bringing the cake & candles and rolls. I just need to provide clean dishes and seating. (that does not sound like a job for Super-Rhoda... but I guess I don't always get to pick my jobs, huh. c'est la vie.) isn't there a maid around here somewhere? HEY! where did the maid go?

March 19 - control journal babystep 2. writing down the before bedtime routine. now if I can only find a piece of paper... she says over and over not to get bogged down in perfectionism so I'm sure I can use any old piece of paper. but I'd like to find one that at least doesn't have dust, dirt, or cat hair on it. how does so much of my stuff end up on the laundry room floor?

* * * * *
I've been struggling with this question of how to do school when you're packing and moving and I think I've finally found a solution. remember how I did "Cook with Me" as the newsletter topic for Natalie's birthday because she loves to cook so much and it just seemed like a nice present? she was watching me lie on the sofa today (hey, it's clean now, may as well enjoy it!) and she was pulling on my arm, begging me to get up and do something with her. I had only been down for a few minutes, so don't think I was being mean to her, she had been playing happily all morning and then she just suddenly got so bored. and I realized, we'll pack the kitchen last, I have lots of odds and ends of foods to use up, we can cook every day as our "can we do something?" I can just set out something on the counter and when she asks, I'll already have a project in mind. yesterday (my kitchen has gotten clean to such an extent that I felt ready to do something more than just an entree -- yippee!) I had her grate the nutmeg for the flylady's FLYing fruit cobbler (this is one of the advantages to giving her a mini grater and a container of whole nutmeg for Christmas, now there is a special job reserved just for her in the kitchen) and she was so happy to be helping and DOING something again. we really enjoyed that cobbler, too. here's the recipe:

"Here is my recipe for FLYing Fruit Cobbler. Tonight I am using a bag of frozen blackberries and blue berries; about 8 cups and I sweetened them with about 1/2 cup of sugar. This recipe is on our website; you will have scroll down past many of our favorite recipes. I put it here for you so you won't have to go looking for it.

FLYing Fruit Cobbler

I really don't have a recipe. I throw it together. LOL I hope this makes sense. Edit as you see fit.

It is a proportional recipe. I use 1 cup as my guide for this. * 1 part self-rising flour * 1/2 part Sugar * Stir together * Add one egg * Grate some fresh nutmeg in the bowl (1/2 teaspoon) * and add enough syrup from the peaches or other fruit to make the batter like pancake batter. Or if you don't have syrup you can use milk.

A big can of sliced peaches (29ounces) in heavy syrup. I drain and use some of the syrup for the batter. You can use milk too. I use one big can for each cup of flour. For the cobbler yesterday I used two cans. I have also used frozen fruit with sugar put on it to make a little syrup.

Melt a stick of butter or a 1/2 of stick (about a 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup) in a 2 quart casserole dish and pour in the batter then dump the peaches or other fruit in it. The butter needs to be hot when you pour this in so the cobbler won't stick.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-34 minutes. or until golden brown on top.

I use a cast iron dutch oven for my cobbler when I make a big one. The scoop in my flour jar is one cup. So I use about 2 cups of Flour to 1 cup of sugar. For every cup of flour I use one egg. This served about 10 people. Serve with ice cream. Yum Yum! ~And have some friends over."

some of the other recipes there looked good, too. I'm trying the Florentine Chicken tonight. like I say, got some things to use up. so, back to the homeschool while packing & moving question, we are keeping the nature table until the very end, daily nature walks, of course storytelling and they have their play things. but we just have not had many activities planned, definitely not what Natalie is used to. packing and cleaning the house is fun but you need some change of pace every once in a while too. the board games and art and handwork supplies are packed up. so the cooking every day should be just the solution! today we will be making M&M Cookies. I hope this makes her happier; I have really felt badly for her. even Steve commented yesterday that the kids were looking bored -- this is not something which is usual for them -- it's weird for all of us. so he roughhoused with them for a long time. then, of course, they were too tired to sleep! tomorrow is my dad's 55th birthday and he and my mom are coming over after dinner for cake. we'll be making party hats to wear, so that can be tomorrow's activity. I haven't packed the wrapping paper, so we can make the hats out of that, and maybe some tassels or pompoms or something. the yarn is still out, too (of course, you don't think I'm going to stop knitting, do you? they could be bulldozing my house down and I'd just be sitting there, knitting).

March 18 - at our study group a few days ago, people were saying that the play silks from A Toy Garden were the best priced. and really good quality! one of the women even said that she wrapped all her children's Christmas presents in silks and they looked just lovely under the tree. I agree that these silks are very fairly priced... cheap enough that you could use them to wrap a gift, especially if you're trying to subtly expose another family to the wonderful world of Waldorf toys :-)

* * * * *
Flylady Day Eight. time to start the control journal. I'm going to do it after all because I printed out some steps she gave to control paper clutter and I thought, by printing this I am contributing to the paper clutter! where am I going to put it so I don't lose it? and I thought, I'll put it in my control journal. that way, I have all my flylady tips in one place. I don't know why I object so much to the word "control journal"; I'm sure it's meant to imply that you have control over your house, not that your journal has control over you. routines are supposed to support and encourage you, not take over your life. because perfectionism is the giant drooling hairy monster of the flylady world (and mine), I know that if I write a really detailed specific routine I'll spend all my time tearing my hair out because I'm not doing it properly! I was in tears last night trying to lay out my clothes for today. she stipulates that you should only keep clothing which you love and which makes you feel good. I have clothing like that but it's not for winter time. and I'm saying to my husband, this isn't supposed to cost anything but here she's telling me to go out and get some new clothes! anyway, control journal how-to is here: Building Your Own Control Journal. just like everything she breaks it down into babysteps. for the control journal there are 19. babystep 1 is to find a three ring binder and some paper. that's it! hey, I can do that. :-)

* * * * *
my to-do list. making lists of things I want to buy with my homeschool money has helped keep me organized -- and to see where I'm going overboard in one direction or another -- so I thought I'd do the same with the list of things I need to do for my business right now. I'll put them in chronological order; then I can just go through and tick them off.
  • convert website to new look -- March
  • write Texture unit (preschool) -- March
  • move to new house & unpack -- April
  • write final preschool newsletter topic -- Easter -- April
  • publish complete booklist for preschool curriculum -- April
  • write Rhythms unit (preschool) -- May
  • write scope & sequence for preschool program and post on site -- May
  • order materials for first grade & custom unit design work for second grade -- June
  • write first unit for Kindergarten program -- Europe -- July
  • complete first grade curriculum package & introduction to first grade -- August
  • complete second grade units -- September
  • write Africa (kindergarten) -- September

March 17 - Do you know what I want right now? A floating bed. check it out; wouldn't that make a great living room sofa! not that we're likely to have a house any time soon. I'm starting to miss school. and I can't wait for the weather to warm up so we can have some more outside time. we were talking at the meeting last night about helping kids work off their energies and frustrations with practical jobs, insteading of letting the tension build until people are throwing their blocks! some of the suggestions were washing dishes, sanding wooden tree blocks (especially a large tree stump, something I can't wait to get when we have a new playroom), sweeping the floor, baking bread (this is a really good one, not only does it get the kid involved the whole body but it's very relaxing and the end product is something you can give to someone else as a gift so it really turns the energy into something positive). soon we can go outside and dig in the garden. Natalie was restless today and I tried to have her sort laundry but that's not enough whole-body movement, it's too in the head, so it completely backfired and made her worse. I'll have to make up a cheat sheet of whole body purposeful movement activities and hang it inside one of the kitchen cabinet doors. whenever my kids start to get loopy, I can run and pick something off the list! like a control journal for parenting. you don't panic or forget what to do because it's all written down. :-) last night's meeting went well but today I posted some more questions and thoughts on the differences between attachment parenting and Waldorf and I guess I might have crossed the line because the list has gotten very tense. I didn't mean to offend anybody, I'm just trying to sort out and learn something new. but I think when you ask questions about why people parent the way they do, it's not an abstract intellectual discussion, because it is so close to home, and people are very invested in what they do. we've all done a lot of reading and learning about different theories and we all spend a lot of time thinking about our kids and what works for them, so there is some potential for hurt there. I'm sad, because the woman I was asking most of the questions of is the first person I've ever met face to face who was familiar with my website and my curriculum. and she said she had printed some of the preschool stuff and loved it. and I was so excited! I hope I didn't burn a bridge there... I would have loved to talk more and get to know her better.

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I just tried setting a timer for 2 minutes. I felt so stupid, turning it just 2 minutes around the dial. what can you get done in 2 minutes? I was half expecting to just stand there paralyzed and watch the thing tick away. but I went into the living room and looked around and thought, well, I can clean off the couch. I cleaned it off before, but some things had started to pile up again. guess what? I had enough time to clean it off, put almost everything away that had been dropped there, fluff the pillows, straighten the coffee table, and put my shoes away. (yes, I don't wear my shoes, I'm not perfect!). I felt great. the only problem is that the new habit for Day Seven is to pick out your clothes for the next day. my clothes are in the baby's bedroom. I just realized this. there's no closet in our room so I have always put my things in with her. no wonder in the morning I just put on the clothes from the day before (with the exception of underwear and socks which, so that I can always get to them, just stay in the basket of clean laundry in the middle of the living room floor)! I don't want to go in and disturb her. so that's gotta change! even if I don't do the new habit for today, I've definitely had a breakthrough. just taking the time to analyze your systems day by day helps you see a lot of things clearly. and I am finding some things that work. like having only one trash can -- anything more than that I can't keep on top of -- and having just two laundry baskets -- the link is to the ones I have which I highly recommend to anybody -- they come in two colors which is perfect. blue for darks, white for (you guessed it) lights, and the whole family, even the kids, knows to sort their laundry when they put it in the bin. I use baskets which are the exact capacity of my washing machine, not too big, which I can easily carry on my hip so I don't fall down the stairs, and which fit under the opening to the dryer so everything goes right into the basket and nothing falls on the floor. I know exactly the state of my laundry at any given time just by looking at those two baskets. the only down side is that I bought more than two initially, not believing it could be so simple, so bins of clean laundry do pile up... I have the kids sort their own laundry and put it away but my things and the household items (cleaning cloths, dish towels) just sit there. gee, maybe that's because they don't have a home. or that their home is hard to get to. so there are some kinks to work out of the system yet. but at least I have good laundry baskets! (available at Target)

March 16 - Thursday is errand day in the flylady system. it's also errand day in my system (it's funny how many of the things I had already established blend perfectly with her set-up, Tuesday is Steve's day to come home early so I can have "me" time and it's Do Something Just For Yourself day in her plan; Thursday is the day my mom is available to babysit for me so I already do all the doctor appts. etc. on that day). today's errands were N dr. appt at 10:45 am (done), mail birthday present to Jenn (done), return dishes to the little cabin (from the birthday party), return library books, and go to the PG Waldorf Study Group meeting tonight at 7:30 pm. I can do my other two little errands on the way to the study group. so it all works out! I'm looking forward to the study group. the topic began as creativ