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It is so exciting to venture on the journey with your children, in your own home, or with close friends, of providing your own home education! Many families choose home education for different reasons, and some would like to follow a Waldorf Style Approach! How do parents educate themselves in this wonderful approach without having to attend a three year teacher training or paying for expensive yearly guides?
FRIDAYS AT SHINING STAR SCHOOL FOR HOME SCHOOL ENRICHMENT
9 am to 3 PM, Fridays ONLY, grades 1-3 children only, no K children please
$350 per month for Ten Week Terms, Fall, Winter and Spring (3 terms)
Mrs. Jennifer Davis, Lead Teacher
Includes Main Lesson, Art, Painting, Drawing, Crafts, Handwork, Foriegn Language, Games, Singing, Musical Instruments (flutes), and much more! Recess, Lunch, Play time, Drama, natural cooking and fun! History, Literature, Story, Form Drawing, Poetry & Recitation. This fun and engaging day will be spent with friends in classroom and outdoor activities and taught by Mrs. Jen Davis and other Waldorf teachers.
Children can apply for Fall 2008 for our Friday Program by requesting an application at ShiningStarSchool@yahoo.com
Sibling discount, 25 % as needed. Children bring snack and lunch for the day. Supplies are available for purchase and include Stockmar Crayons, Lyra Pencils, Main Lesson Books, and Stockmar Paints. Flutes are available as well for $60 Pentatonic, $70 Diatonic.
Class size Limited, please sign up early!
JOIN OUR NEW HOMESCHOOL MESSAGE BOARD
To follow up, then, I offered an October Saturday up-date course which was quite fun and educational and a time to share how things were going at home with those families. We enjoyed some fall craft projects with the children in the afternoon and that was quite nice.
Waldorf does not have to by mysterious but it does need a special understanding of how to bring it in the home. It is not a 'recipe' education or a 'method' education as much as it is about finding the unique resources within yourself and your unique gifts to bring out the wisdom to help your child unfold, naturally.
It is about being smart enough to preserve childhood and not press adult issues or concepts on young, growing minds. It is also about being kind and respectful of this young soul that has come to you for help in finding their way into their destiny again.
Having said that, there are indeed tricks to this trade, and I am happy to share them in the June Workshop, the October Workshop, and via our small One Day One Room Schoolhouse for home school students that meets once a week.
Here is a guideline to get your imagination fired up!
GRADES BASIC CURRICULUM--ONE TO FIVE
One: Grimm's Fairy Stories, Nature Stories, Copying Simple Poems and Songs, Blessings, and introduction of alphabet, Quality and Quantity of Numbers, Block and Stick Crayon Drawing, Wet on wet water color painting with 3 colors, Knitting, Foreign Languages (2) and Games
Two: Legends, Fables, and Tales of Holy People (Saints and other holy figures), Nature Stories, Multiplication Tables Work, Spelling, Reading, Concept of Adding and Subtracting in sentences, More Drawing and Coloring, Watercolor with 4 colors (2 blues), Knitting II, Foreign Languages (2), and Games
Three: The Old Testament As History (try Pearl S. Buck, The Bible), Farming, Practical Arts of Weaving, Spinning, Cheese and Butter Culture, Book reports, Reading, Spelling, Writing, Gardening, and more in this realm including fiber arts, Simple Multiplication and Division, Measurement, Time, and Money, Block and Stick Crayon Work, Wet on wet Watercolor with six colors, Crocheting, Foreign Language (2), and Games, Practical Building projects to create something useful, House Building Miniature Project
Four: Norse Myths and Kalevala Myth, Runes, Introduction to Ink Pens, Composition, SImple Letter Writing, Grammar and the 9 parts of Speech, Graphing, Simple hand drawn Plutonic Solids, Freehand geometry, complex multiplication and division, reading aloud with fluency, Dictation and Recitation, Fractions and decimals, Fine Watercolor painting with six or seven colors, Freehand drawing of forms and Celtic knots, Woolen Cross Stitch in Symmetry Exercise, Foreign Language with Writing (2), Games, State History and often Native American Studies, Animal Report (Intro Zoology), Local Geography and Map Drawing and Painting
Five: Ancient History Including India, China, Babylonia, Persia, and Egypt. Active v Passive Voice, Writing, Botany, Decimals and Complex Processes, Beginning Greek, 2 Foreign Languages with Writing and Conversation, Study of North America by region, State Repots, Geometric Form Drawing with Precision, Pencil Drawing, Pastels, Painting, Drawing, Fancy Lettering, Knitting on 4 needles (socks, hats), Olympic Games Participation, Dictation, Recitation, Odes, Book Reports, and more.
MIDDLE SCHOOL GUIDLINES GRADE SIX SEVEN & EIGHT
Grade VI Curriculum
Sixth grade is the gateway to pre-adolescence and idealism. The curriculum serves to ground the students, to inspire them to venture out toward the unknown, and to offer an introduction to their quest in life. This year is both an ending and a beginning.
Main Lessons
History: Rome: Founding of Rome through the monarchy, republic, and empire. Famous and infamous individuals: Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, and Caesar Augustus. The life of Jesus. The decline of Rome and the Barbarian Migrations. Studies include maps, recitations in Latin, biographical portraits, debates. Emphasis on causal thinking. Medieval society: the cloister,
the castle and city. Arthurian legends. Monasticism and the rise of the church. Creation of Feudalism. The Crusades. Biographies may include Mohammed and Islam, Charlemagne, and William the Conqueror.
Literature: Tales of chivalry. Tom Sawyer. Poetry, ballads, scenes from medieval history.
English and Grammar: Speech work. Compositions and stories. Fine art of discussion and debate. Dictation. Conditional mood. Grammar review. Emphasis on sentence, paragraph and essay structures. Review eight parts of speech. Book reports. Class play.
Geography: Geography of Central America and South America. World Geography: the earth’s configuration and contrasts, landforms and oceans. Studies include individual reports, composition and creative writing and maps.
Science: Physics: demonstrations and experiments, with an emphasis on observation, investigating sound, light, heat, magnetism, static electricity. Geology: minerals and crystals of the Earth and their individual qualities; earthquakes and volcanoes. Astronomy: moon phases, solstice, eclipses, and equinox. Botany: introduction to horticulture.
Mathematics: Business Math: percentage, money, mathematical sentences, interest, profit and loss, ratio, proportion, exchange, estimation, equations.
Drawing, Painting, and Modeling: Geometric drawings and string designs. Emphasis on draftsmanship, exactness, and artistic composition of Euclidean forms. Bas-relief in Roman style. Painting: landscapes, color contrasts.
Grade VII Curriculum
Through the exploration of an unknown world, the seventh grade curriculum challenges the thought processes of the young adolescent, leading them to discovery, understanding and discernment. They learn, as the Explorers did, that going one’s own way means leaving behind the familiar territory of security and stability.
Main Lessons
History: Late Middle Ages: rise of cities, nationhood, rivalry between church and state. Biographies might include Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Francis of Assisi, Dante. Renaissance to 1700: a rising merchant class lays the foundation for these studies. Studies may include choosing a Renaissance “master” to study and copy. The Age of Discovery/Exploration from 1400. Historical themes are exemplified in many biographies: Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, Columbus, Magellan.
Literature: Arthurian Legends, historical novels, biography. Humorous stories. Tales of adventure and discovery. Poetry and ballads. Scenes from the Renaissance. Stories about tribal life.
English and Grammar: Review all grammar. Develop a plasticity of the language based on the theme of Wish, Wonder and Surprise. Note-taking, original writing and summaries, longer essays, and comparisons. Spelling. Research papers. Class play.
Geography: Geography of Africa and Europe. World geography: tides, map reading, weather, geographical terminology, leading into astronomy. Studies may include interviewing a native, along with other research, to write a report on a country or sharing sample dishes for a buffet meal.
Science: Chemistry: combustion, chemical transformation, acids, bases, salts, lime cycle. Physiology: the nine systems, nutrition, and first aid. Physics: light, magnetism, static and current electricity, mechanics. Astronomy: study of the star motions and the celestial globe. Comparison of Ptolemaic and Copernican systems.
Mathematics: Algebra. Graphing. Perimeters, areas, exponents, and roots. Formulae. More complicated problem solving, mental computation, estimation and situation problems. Basic geometric theorems and a brief introduction to projective geometry.
Drawing, Painting, and Modeling: Exact geometrical drawing, two-dimensional, to theorem of Pythagoras. Areas of squares, triangles. Perspective drawing. Wet and dry painting, transparent colors. Modeling the human hand and foot in clay.
Grade VIII Curriculum
A Waldorf eighth grade experiences a gradual but significant shift from the presentation of a subject solely from the teacher to the class, to the mutual consideration of a subject by teacher and class together. A sense of community develops, in which speaking becomes more thoughtful, listening
more attentive. The result is a greater sense of self. The students expand their sense of place in the world. More importantly, they leave with compelling questions that will continue to fuel their love of learning in the years ahead.
Main Lessons
History: 1700 to the present. Revolutions: the French, the Industrial, and the American. Napoleon. Industrial Revolution: rise of the factory system, city life and child labor; early attempts at social reform. American history: colonization to Twentieth Century. Debates over differing points of view held by the British and the colonists. Studies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Moral questions of extreme wealth and extreme poverty. Conversations about a world of technology, free trade, war and peace. Studies include the lives of Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, and Robert E. Lee, as well as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
Literature: Shakespeare. Poetry – epic and dramatic. Haiku poetry. Stories about different peoples of the world, their folklore, and poetry. Novels including The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Master Puppeteer, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
English and Grammar: Review all grammar and syntax, including subordinate and independent clauses. Businesslike and practical writing. Spelling and vocabulary. Original compositions take the form of newspaper articles and editorials. Writing skits or short plays. Class play – Shakespeare, musical, etc. Emphasis on note taking and journaling. Oral presentations using weekly news reporting.
Geography: Geography of Asia, Australia, and Antarctica. World Geography: contrasts. Consideration of maps and how they influence our perception of the world. Studies may include philosophies of Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Shintoism.
Science: Chemistry: proteins, fats, carbohydrates. Reagents for testing. Physiology: bones and muscles, body chemistry. Physics: sound, heat, current electricity, hydraulics, aerodynamics, meteorology.
Mathematics: Practical mathematics. Percent. Signed numbers. Equations. Mensuration. Number bases. Set concepts. Computers and the binary system.
Drawing, Painting and Modeling: Exact geometric drawing, three-dimensional works. Theorems, volumes of solids, laws of loci. Solid geometry. Black and white drawing with charcoal. Bamboo, ink brush, and landscape painting. Calligraphy. The human head and human bones in clay.
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