How to evaluate main lesson books

My first "issue" of the Waldorf-Ideen-Pool e-newsletter arrived today. Among the contents was a link to an easy method for main lesson book evaluation, or Epochenheft-Beurteilungen.

The author uses smiley faces to rate students on these factors:

• How well the notebook was taken care of (Heftpflege)
• handwriting (Schrift)
• page borders (Ränder)
• illustrations (Bilder)
• completeness (Vollständigkeit)
• Descriptions (Beschreibungen)

So far, we haven't provided our children with any formal evaluations. Still, it's nice to know in which areas this classroom teacher evaluated her students' work.

To buy, or not to buy a Buch - maybe we can help you

We are fortunate to have a branch of our public library system nearby.  Between all of our family members, we go there several times each week.  Many, many titles have come in and out of our house.

There's just one thing... the books are all in English!  When I was a child, the library system included some German books, too, but that's no longer a language it supports.  That means our selection of German-language books is limited to those we have at home.  That's why I'm all the happier to know of Alphabet Garten, an online bookstore for German books, videos, and DVDs for kids... on this side of the Atlantic!  And, it's a mama-owned home-based business!

When the opportunity came to review books for Alphabet Garten, I submitted an application.  The result was that... a box of books arrived on the front porch for me!

Sarah, Alphabet Garten's owner, added some thoughtful touches, including this colorful Buchwurm bookmark.  The bookmark wishes Viel Spass beim Lesen!  Thanks, we did have a lot of Spass, so much so that T asked me to reread one of the books to him right away.

My first review has been posted, and there are a few others in the pipeline.  Viel Spass beim Lesen!

A few quick notes on Grade 3

I'm cleaning up and out, and moving many of those little scraps of paper on which are precious notes - you know, the ones that you really don't want to lose, but which are on their best way to recycling-bin-land because they are on backs of envelopes, on draft paper, etc...

Here are some of the Grade 3 books we used this year:

Housebuilding
Igloo, by Yasmine A. Cordoba

Native Americans
The Desert is Theirs, by Byrd Baylor
More than Moccasins, by Laurie Carlson

Farming/Gardening
Native American Gardening, by Michael Caduto and Joseph Bruchac
Beatrice's Goat, by Page McBrier - highly recommend!

Now recycling the scrap... on purpose, not by accident! :-)

Happy Earth Day

For a gentler way to mark Earth Day, consider "Earth Day: 12 Spiritual Practices to Honor the Earth".

Hmm... maybe this could be the underpinnings for an Earth block?... 
 

Thinking about how to avoid disposables while you're out and about...

No, Earth Day typically isn't a gift-giving occasion, at least not in our household.  But this year, I think I'll be making an exception...

We're pretty good about packing lunches in reusable containers.  What we don't seem to be so good about is being prepared for those eventualities while away from home: having that utensil, napkin, or cup for times when we're not expecting to need one.

Or, there's the case we had this afternoon, while attending a program for the boys: the children had a break during which a snack was served.  The food didn't need plates or napkins.  But, the juice was doled out in plastic cups.  T had a drink, and then gave me his cup to hold, as there was still some juice left in it. (Thanks! Good thing I didn't need the use of both hands at the time!) He came back, finished, and we parents cleaned up the snack fixin's.  I put the cup into the trash.  A half hour later, T announced that he was thirsty.  Had I only saved the cup!

So, I'm thinking that Earth Day will bring us some sort of out-and-about kit.  The ingredients I'm considering are:

• Utensil wrap - I've discovered these nice utensil sets from To-Go Ware.   The thing is that we already have plenty of forks, knives, and spoons.  Granted, they are metal, and not lighter-weight bamboo.  But, buying more when we already have enough seems, well, not green.  I have plenty of fabric, too.  All I need to do is whip up a wrap for said utensils.  Right, that takes time, of which I do not have plenty, but that's another blog post - LOL.
• Cloth napkin - T and I have sewn up some of these, and I know he'd be happy to oblige in making more.  First, I thought that the utensil wrap could do double-duty as a napkin, but that idea falls apart when you consider what to do if the napkin truly gets used to do some wiping.  Exactly!  You'd have a problem.  So, a separate napkin it is!
• Cup or bottle - We used to take sippy cups on the road.  (Yes, the plastic ones.  That was in the days before I was on my use-less-plastic track.  It was also before the boys decided that sippy cups are for babies.  Which they are no longer.)  Maybe something along the lines of Sigg or Kleen Kanteen?  For some purposes, a simple cup would do also.  Hmm... More research is needed.
  

National Museum of the American Indian's collection now online

5,000 items from the National Museum of the American Indian are now online!  Try the NMAI's new Collections Search feature to search by Peoples/Cultures, Artists/Individuals, Places, Object Specifics, or Advanced Search.  This should be a great resource for Grade 3 students and others.

Treat your table to your good china

The Washington Post's Home section is encouraging folks to break out the formal china on a more regular basis, and then to share photos of the occasion.

Here's the direct link to the Fancy China page.

And, you know, why not?  There's no point in letting the settling dust on the plates enjoy them more than the plates' owners!

Hmm... Tuesday Tea Time presents itself as the perfect excuse opportunity to dress a fancier table...

Easy, healthy Valentine's Day snack for kids (and grownups, too)

Today was our day to supply snacks for S's class.   But, what to send along?  Muffins came to mind as "single-serve" goodies for a group of elementary-school-aged children.  Still, wasn't there anything else?  I scoured my resources, found nothing I wanted to make, and then... contemplated the ingredients we had on hand in the first place...

Since it was a week before Valentine's Day, I thought it might be nice to incorporate a heart-shape theme somehow...  And then...

Inspiration!

I retrieved my heart-shaped cookie cutter, got my ingredients ready, and then set to work with my cutting board to mass-produce heart-shaped "sandwiches" of sorts.

Ingredients:
flour tortillas (up the health factor with whole-wheat tortillas)
ham
cheese
patience

I put one heart of ham, and one heart of cheese between two tortilla hearts.  The results: a whole lotta love on each plate - LOL!

I sent along three plates full of these sandwiches.  S reported that there were merely 4 hearts left at the end, and that these were snatched up when their availability was announced.

All in all, a success!

I hate to throw away food items, but...

I thought we were fairly safe from the peanut product recalls, since we don't didn't have any of the problem brands/items in the house. 

Surprise!

When rummaging in the cabinet for something else, what did my eyes spy but a box of offending crackers!  And, when we then investigated further, we had one recalled granola bar left in its box.  The other 5 had already gone down the hatch, pre-recall.  Guess those were safe.

I hate to throw away food items, but in this case, it's better to be safe than sorry.  Nope, I didn't even compost them.  They went out into the can...

If you haven't already done a once-over of your pantry, now's the time!

Curriculum overviews

• Hawthorne Valley School
• Grades, Handwork, Drawing, Modeling and Woodworking, Physical Education, and Projects
  

Goals for Third Grade

Back in September, I asked S what he'd like to include among his goals for his Grade 3 year.  As we spoke, I jotted down his items on a scrap of paper... which I've managed to hang on to all this time. 

Before that paper gets lost, or prematurely recycled, here are his goals!

• learn how to cook
• learn cursive writing
• improve his handwriting
• improve his spelling

That sounded like a good plan to me, especially since we have some convenient overlap in things we'd like to achieve. :-)

Gearing up for Martinmas/Martinstag

The Martinmas/Martinstag feast has sort of snuck up on me this year... in years past, we'd already have been retelling Martin's story at bedtime, and singing songs.

Still, the season is upon me. Now that we've set our clocks back, it's dark when I walk home from the bus stop... and pass a few street lights... that lead me to think of lanterns... and have me humming (if not singing outright!) "Laterne, Laterne" as I head down the hill with a lighter step.

Just in time for our preparations, Sarah at the Alphabet Garten has put together a comprehensive Martinstag unit study for German speakers and learners. Vielen Dank, Sarah! Wir freuen uns schon auf die Nikolaustag Ausgabe. :-)

Jack Petrash has a radio show

Jack Petrash now hosts a monthly radio show! It's called "On Parenting", and airs on WPFW Radio on the third Monday of the month, from 7 to 8 p.m. EST.

From a newspaper article about the show:

Petrash said his show is designed to help guide parents through the different stages of a child's life, from toddlerhood to the teenage years...To also include children themselves, a story is told at the end of each show by WPFW's in-house narrator Kalonji Olusegun, a man... hailed as a "captivating storyteller."

You can "tune in" by listening live through the WPFW website, or through the station's program archive.

A year of handwork through the grades

Thank you to Ithaca Waldorf Handworks & more and Teaching Handwork for sharing their lists of the handwork they plan to do with each of the grades they teach this year!

"No time for school"

This video, called "No time for school" and sent to one of my homeschool email lists today, provides a wonderfully positive perspective on homeschooling. Enjoy!

When having the wrong key taught me more about playing

This morning, I was scheduled to chat with children at a local preschool about worm composting. I left the house on time, commuted to my office, picked up the books I needed there, and headed off (still on time!) to the final leg of my trip. I was borrowing a car, and had picked up the key two days ago, so that I'd have it ready to use. Only...

When I got to the car, and inserted the key into the lock, nothing happened. So, I tried another door, and then yet a third one, just to be sure. No dice. Wrong key. I called the school to say that I'd be a little late, and then walked back to my office at top speed. I confirmed that I'd been given the key for another vehicle, swapped keys for the correct one, and dashed back.

Given the luxury of being in the car all by myself, I tuned the radio to NPR. About halfway to my destination, the story on how "Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills" aired. Spending hours playing... making up their own rules... improvising... Didn't *that* sound familiar?! I have two experienced little practioners! The more I heard, the more my ears perked up. What validation to Waldorf-inspired homeschooling, and to the many hours my guys have whiled away in the yard and in the house, spinning endless tales for themselves!

About the presentation... yes, I did make it there, and and we had a delightful time talking about worms, observing them, and putting together a worm bin for the school. But, had that original key been the correct one, I'd have been out of the car and in a classroom when that piece on play came over the radio waves!

Thanks-giving is not limited to the 4th Thursday in November

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, from Spirituality & Practice, offer a 22-day practice in gratitude: 22 Ways to Practice Thanks-giving

It looks simple, but effective - perfect for someone more interested in thinking about thanks and gratefulness than in putting a turkey on the table next Thursday, not that I'd mention any names...

Those saint stories really do hit the spot with second graders!

With Martinmas coming up, we went into high gear on reading about St. Martin.

We read through this particular set of stories last year. But this time around, S has been particularly taken with the "take home message" that being a Christian means serving others as Christ - and Martin - did.

This morning, we went past our local Starbucks to see whether they had any coffee grounds available for pickup. I had promised S that, if they did, he could have the entire bag for his own compost pile.

Well, there were grounds to be had! T cheerfully took the bag, and insisted that he would carry it to the car. Problem! *S* wanted to carry the bag... Such differences of opinion are not uncommon. Only this time, it wasn't the "normal" situation of both brothers wanting to do the same thing at the same time. S was upset because *he* wanted to be the one doing the serving; he didn't want to *be* served!

Hours later, I'm still amazed.

*The* resource for Martinmas preparations / Martinstag Vorbereitung (in German)

Candles are part of our bedtime rhythm

At night, I light a candle, and then read the boys their stories. When we're finished, they blow out the candle, alternating turns: S. gets the odd-numbered days, and T. gets the even-numbered ones.

While S. was working on his Grade 2 candle, I worked on decorating a new Bedtime Candle for us to use.

Let the games begin! - how we started our Grade 2 homeschooling year

Last year, I had a clear starting date in mind for our school year. As it turned out in retrospect, I didn't communicate this clearly to S., and so he didn't have that "hook" on which to hang his "first day of school" for the year. (Read: opportunity for improvement!)

We discussed what a good starting date would be... One consideration was to start on a new moon... That gave us August 12 or September 11... August seemed a little early, but mid-September seemed a little late, especially since his fall classes would have started during the prior two weeks...

We settled on August 12, conveniently a Sunday. The plan is to begin Grade 2 gently, starting with some form drawing and catch-up on art projects we've been thinking about but not yet executed. Then, we'll move on to a block of fables/nature stories.

To mark the occasion, S. agreed that we needed a special Grade 2 candle. On Saturday, he and I went out to the backyard, armed with our supplies. He crafted; I assisted as needed.


On Sunday evening, we had a special dinner to go with the special candle. Among the ingredients was a wild rice mixture I'd purchased for use at whatever occasion warranted it. We lit the candle for dessert, which was ice cream and the last of our self-picked blueberries. Mmmmm.....