poetry tea time - a rich history

Poetry (or any read aloud) tea time is a wonderful thing in our home. It is a chance for me to let the kids have some treats in a straight forward way, a chance for me to use some pretty, "special" dishes, and a time for good writing to come alive. For these reasons, I am so lucky to have the inspiration of Poetry Teatime from the Brave Writer community, and as of yesterday, there is now a website, just for honoring the pairing of tea and poetry! (See below!)

Yesterday, we enjoyed sweet little Easter cupcakes my mom decorated with "grass and eggs" and tea in Nana's china cups, which I inherited.

Poetry for the day came from Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's Science Verse, from Tomi dePaola's Book of Poems (we love love love him), and my beloved old copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. This copy belonged to my great aunt. See the inscription in the front? Besides being treasured for that reason, over the years, her mother wrote in other poems and tucked in newspaper clippings and other poems. The additions tell me a little about my mom's grandmother, there is a poem written out by my grandfather from grade school, and the clippings share a bit of history beyond my family.

So special!

Make your own poetry teatime magic!

Easter 2016

Although we are secular, we do celebrate a mix of religious holiday in gentle ways, perhaps more as part of our seasonal rhythm and sometimes as part of our curriculum.

This year, we enjoyed the ten day audio story about Easter from the Martin & Sylvia collection from Sparkle Stories. We love Sparkle Stories and I find I often learn something, whether it is new knowledge or a parenting tip!

Wrapped into the ten days including and leading up to Easter, the kids dyed eggs (with natural dyes) with my parents, but not at home. This is the first time we haven't dyed eggs together since they were old enough, but they were satisfied with what they did with Nonno and Grandma and it left us more time for other projects.

We made hot cross buns for the fist time ever. Ours are gluten free and are a modified version of the recipe found in Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts, my heavily used go-to cook book for gluten free versions of gluten filled classics. All of us loved them, which doesn't always happen with baked goods.

We also had fun making stained glass window eggs, using the directions posted at Nova Naturals.

The kids insisted that hubby and I leave out Easter baskets, as well, so I did and they were filled with goodies to share. The pattern blocks, Wreck This Journals, and the story cubes were hands-down hits. Woo hoo!

 

After a nice morning together, we joined family for a delicious, beautiful lunch at my parents' home. It was a gorgeous day and the egg hunt was good fun, with everyone involved by the end. We wound up with a mini concert, completely organized, as a secret, by Lala Bug and Little Brown Mouse. She was on the piano, he was on the ukulele. 

 

All in all a beautiful week, day, and entry into spring.

planning

By the time winter break is over, in the Waldorf world, the words "planning for next year" start buzzing around. I tune out the buzz for a bit longer. I find that I cannot give my attention and all to right now, if I am planning for next year. By April, I open my mind to thinking about what I might need to start considering, resources, and what our calendar might look like.

My planning has changed a lot since I began homeschooling. One of the best pieces of advice that someone gave me when I began homeschooling was, if I did nothing else, just write down, at the end of each day, everything we did that day. That has been so helpful for my confidence! Even on the days that we never get to what I want to accomplish, we have usually done something worthwhile. Beyond that advice, though, when I began homeschooling, there was advice everywhere (that I could not seem to tune out) to plan, plan, plan. I got completely overwhelmed. I spent hours on planning that was wasted when life didn't actually unfold the way I planned!

So now, here is how I plan...

We homeschool through a charter school, which we love. Not all charters are the same. Ours offers a small amount of money per student per year, to be spent with specific vendors. The money is the reason a lot of homeschoolers use charters. We do appreciate the money (we used it for soccer and dance this year), but we use a charter because ours has an amazing community, with fabulous staff, a wonderful resource center, and weekly classes or activities. The kids have both said if they can only do one thing, they would drop everything except the charter. I share this, because I am certain that our being part of a charter affects how I plan.

While I am generally a pen and paper girl, I now plan using Evernote. (I use the free version.) I like that I can organize everything in one place, in separate notes/pages, that I can re-use appropriate portions the following year without re-writing, that it is portable (all on my smart phone, which is key for me), and then I can print out what I need and want in hand. I also use my Outlook calendar for our planning. I can color code that if desired, and again, I print it out.

I compile all my materials in a binder, although I admit, I am actually not that great at checking my binder daily. I have a section for our rhythm (calendar, plans, and materials specific to me the teacher) and a section for each child, which may have hard copies of whatever materials I want to use for/with each child in a particular block or school year.

My homeschool approach has shifted and may likely shift again, as I have begun reading and exploring other educational philosophies. We are a Waldorf -inspired family, which doesn't mean we follow every aspect of Waldorf. We live a certain lifestyle and interpret what resonates, using Steiner's view of child development as our base. I have begun using some Brave Writer ideas and, without realizing it I have also been using some Charlotte Mason concepts, because, you know what? There is so much overlap! I am always learning, so I am certain it will affect my planning this year. (We are secular and just adapt what resonates.)

Up to this point, I have always planned by thinking about each of my children and starting with some notes about what each of them needs and is interested in. Something like a 6-month inventory. I then use a Waldorf outline of subjects that are covered in each of the grades I am teaching. I start my planning by making a list of blocks for each grade. Sometimes I have to cut down the list to be realistic for us. I also have, at hand, a list of what each of my kids would cover in their respective grades if they were in traditional school. We school through a charter, and while there is flexibility, I want to be aware of what is typically expected.

Once I have those things available, I create an overview calendar for the year, all 12 months on one page, which shows me each month and any relevant dates within each month. I add any dates important to that particular school year, such festivals we might want to celebrate.

I then start to drop my blocks into each month, putting similar blocks (for each child) together. So, for example, in 2nd and 5th grades, Indian Fables (2nd) and Ancient India (5th) were studied at the same time, to line up with Diwali in November. I do not need to hold hard and fast to this during the school year, but it helps guide me.

The next thing I did during the past 2 years was to have a 12 month calendar (again, just simple and on one page) for each child. Within each month, I listed the 5 core subjects my kids have to complete work samples for (math, language arts, writing, social studies, and science). Next to each of those subjects, I put down what I think I might cover for that month, drawing from my Waldorf and Common Core checklists. Again, I don't have to stick to this, but it gives me ideas.
Honestly, this is probably the part of my planning I look at the most through the year.

Lastly, I start exploring resources. For each child and subject, I list the resources I want to use and if possible, the page numbers on which I found materials I want to cover. Resources are another change I made this year. Less is more and I don't always go straight for the Waldorf "approved" resources anymore. I realized part way through this year, that I was feeling stuck, stifled, and uninspired because of my resources. When I let go a little bit, things improved for all of us. I no longer use a curriculum, and instead, use parts, pieces, and ideas from a variety of curriculum providers and other sources. The library has been wonderful and I do still keep my kids' developmental stages (from a Waldorf perspective) and temperaments in mind.

When it comes to daily planning, I sit down, often at the end of the week, to plan the week ahead. I make a small chart for each kid, with the days of the week in one column, a column which says "planned" and another "completed." I fill in our activities, then flesh out with my thoughts on what I would like us to cover. At the end of the day, I make a note of what was completed.

As my kids get older, I can't combine everything like I used to, but I certainly have overlapped, and in some cases, I do combine because we cover something I never intended to. (This year, we studied Africa because we unexpectedly had family travel there.) It is working well, though, because my kids have less of a need to be working on the same thing at the same time as they once did.

I hope I explained clearly how I plan, because it really is quite simple (or, at least, much simpler than how I thought I should plan when I began homeschooling)! This gives me some structure, guidance, flexibility, and allows me to be thoughtful about what we are doing, but it no longer leaves me feeling as though I have failed my plan.

Here's the cheat sheet for my yearly planning:

1. I use Evernote and Outlook for ease and portability, and print so I can have my hands on paper.
2. I consider my kids and their needs and I refer to a Waldorf guide and traditional guide for what is typically covered in the grades I am teaching.
3. On a 12 month calendar, I mark relevant celebrations, festivals, holidays, and other events. I also note which blocks I think might fit in each month, for each child.
4.  For each child, on a 12 month calendar, I note possible lessons in each of 5 subject areas (math, language arts, writing, social studies, and science) for each month.
5. Explore and note down possible resources for each block.

I usually re-evaluate at winter break and spring break. Weekly, I look over my plan and consider what we have covered and what I would like to cover next and create a very simple plan for the week.

How do you plan?

Other posts I have written about our homeschooling that tie in with this are here:
Homeschool Changes
A Day in the Life of Our Homeschool
Saving a Day Gone Wonky
Our Educational Journey

366: 70-80 ~ right now...

March 10 - 20, 2016

 A rainy weekend meant a forest walk, exploration, and play!

 Lesson time in progress

 This boy and ukulele lessons!

 Special time with my boy! Digging up our decomposed granite. Oy. I have fought this for 5 years. I just gave up. It is so fun!

 Love special time sewing with my girl! (See that boy playing ukulele in a box in the background. Love!)

 Then he wanted in on the action when special time was over.

 On the other side of the small dining room, the red legged table, which replaced the little kiddo table a couple years ago, was full of wooden bead painting creativity.

 Late winter/early spring nature table. (That cabinet holds homeschool materials on one side and dining room linens and such on the other side. It is supposed to be a shop work bench, but it was too nice when it was gifted to hubby.)

I just needed to capture some of right now. I have noticed, lately, what is not happening anymore. Daily forts have been replaced by daily corn scooping bulldozers, for example. Sometimes, it isn't until it is long gone that I notice there has been change.

 Finishing up Africa and writing our names in hieroglyphics.

 Above and below, crocheting hand knit and crocheted squares together for a blanket as part of one of their 4-H projects.

Irish Soda Bread (gluten free!)

This post first appeared on my original blog, Which Name?, on March 15, 2011

 

I love Irish Soda Bread. (Love it!)  I was faced with wanting it and not being able to eat the wheat. So I looked to my now favorite gluten-free baking book for a recipe, and found one.

I tried it, altering a few ingredient to make it closer to my mom's recipe, and it is delicious. Truly, you almost can't tell the difference.

Gluten free Irish Soda Bread
(from Gluten Free Baking Classics, by Annalise Roberts)
(I have made my own notes on changes throughout. C = cup, t = teaspoon, T = tablespoon)

1 and 3/4 C gluten free brown rice flour mix (or any gluten free flour blend)
2 T granulated sugar
2 T buttermilk powder (Nicola's note: I skip this and the water, below. Instead, use 3/4 buttermilk or a substitution of 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice with milk added to make 3/4 cup sour milk. Fresh buttermilk is best, though.)
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda (Nicola's note: You can add a little more. It is soda bread, after all.)
3/4 t xanthan gum
1/4 t salt
1/2 C raisins
1 T caraway seeds (Nicola's note: I skip the caraway seeds and add chopped apricots, so the raisins and apricots added total 3/4 cup.)
3/4 C water (Nicola's note: skip this if you added buttermilk as I noted above.)
3 T canola oil
1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Position rack in center of the oven. Lightly grease and 8-inch round cake pan with cooking spray and dust with rice flour.
2. Combine flour, sugar, buttermilk powder (if you use this), baking soda, xantham gum, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix in raisins and caraway seeds (or apricots if you use them) until well coated.
3. Combine water (or buttermilk), oil, and egg in a small bowl and whisk until well blended.
4. Add water mixture to flour mixture all at once and mix until well blended. Use a rubber spatula to shape dough into a ball and with well floured hands (rice flour!), dump ball into the center of the pan.
5. Use well floured hands (rice flour!), shape ball into a 6 inch round mound, so there is a 1/2 to 1 inch space between the mound and the side of the pan and so that the center is slightly higher than the rim of the pan.
6. Use a sharp knife to cut a deep X in the dough.
7. Bake bread in the center of the preheated oven for 40 -40 minutes. (Nicola's note: mine, with the changes, took closer to 50 minutes.) Bread should be a dark golden brown and a knife through the center should come out clean. Cool on a wire rack and do not slice until cool.

Enjoy!

poetry tea time!

We have long woven tea, food, and good reads together, but never in a formal way until I found Brave Writer and learned that Poetry Teatime is a "thing!" Brave Writer is launching a new site, just for Poetry Teatime.

Join the fun for goodies and information!

 

What does it look like in our home? We are low-keyed and we sometimes read poetry (last week, my son read for the first time and my daughter read poetry she had written!) and sometimes we read other books.

This morning, it looked like this. This morning's read aloud books were:

Enormous Smallness, a Story of E.E. Cummings, by Matthew Burgess

Growing Patterns - Fibonacci Numbers in Nature, by Sarah C. Campbell

Saint Patrick, by Ann Tompert

a chapter from Destinations in Science: Pizzeria (Forms of Matter) - a science book from Addison-Wesley.

We had gluten free Irish soda bread, pears, and jelly beans (because the kids had just finished packing Easter baskets for homeless families, as part of a 4-H project). Our tea choices vary. Little Brown Mouse chose "Vera's Tea" this morning (a personal blend that came from a ranger at a state park near-ish to us) and Lala Bug and I had Tension Tamer from Celestial Seasonings.

And what better to do with tea than write some poetry? The kids were invited to do so by kids in a poetry class through their homeschool charter.

homeschool changes

I had been stressed out and unable to achieve a comfortable rhythm and relaxed homeschool environment for awhile. I felt unable to bring our lessons to life and I needed some enchantment. Some reading and homeschool talks (links below) were the next step in motivation and inspiration I needed to make some changes.

My interpretation of Waldorf-inspired for our family has shifted yet again. In fact, in the last three months, I have made small tweaks to my approach in our homeschool that had my daughter call out "Yes! Definitely!" when she overheard me tell my mom that I had been making some changes in our schooling and that I thought the kids were enjoying their learning more. Pay day!

This girl. She asked for special time with me, which she used to make a recycled milk carton car garage for her little brother, who has been playing trucks everyday during morning read aloud. (My heart overflows.)

The changes I have made were:

1) I got real and honest about what was an wasn't working for me and for each of my kids.

I realized what parts of our homeschool rhythm weren't working for each of us, even though I thought those activities were all good on their own. (I knew I needed to drop some things from our schedule.) I got real about my kids' needs and my own limit setting and gentle connection, so we stopped avoiding and started gently addressing challenging areas. I got real about the parts of Waldorf that weren't working for me and stopped feeling bad about it. Less is more.

2) I let go (emotionally and physically).

I let go of some of the Waldorf approaches and I accepted some totally non-Waldorf materials, and I suddenly don't feel guilty at all about it. My girl, who loves the Waldorf approach, wasn't loving science or my lovely Waldorf materials for science. I am now using a science series where each topic is its own book and is taught through a story in a unique setting. (Waldorf-ish) The series has a coordinating activity book and she loves it.* I also let go of the feeling that I was supposed to have the kids following my every lead, at a certain time every morning. The only thing I changed for our morning was accepting that they were going to play/read when they got up. That made all the difference. Somehow, accepting has meant they can now hear me when I say it is time to get ready and dressed. I also let go of the notion that my eldest "should" be more independent with her lessons. She is getting there slowly, but clearly needs the connection that lessons together bring. Basically, I (mostly) stopped stressing so much over everything!  (I have loved Jean Miller's recent posts about Rudolf Steiner's approach in Waldorf schools versus homeschool. The first Waldorf teachers were trained for all of 2 weeks and had no previous teaching experience. That just about sums me up! I have also loved Julie Bogart's talks about letting go of the need to stick to one ideology. Both so freeing!)

3) I got playful. 
I am smiling more, laughing more, and am more joyful. (Humor is my word for the year!) Specifically with lessons, I have gotten more playful with math, more projects for science, and I am allowing for play and movement while I read aloud. I am more relaxed with what I interpret as homeschooling, I am far more accepting of alternative materials for our lessons, and as a result, the kids are more enthusiastic, engaged, and communicative about what is being asked of them.

Those three combined have helped continue to build up my self-confidence. 


What approaches are you taking in your homeschool and how are you feeling about it?


*Edited to add: The science series we are using is called Destinations in Science, from Addison-Wesley. I would include a link, but it is old and no longer published. I got ours from our charter resource center. Each grade has a set of 5-6 thin paperback books, each of which brings a concept through a story. Ecosystems, for example, is written as though the student is hiking the Appalachian Trail.