Friday, June 29, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Mushrooms After Rain
For anyone who either lives in Southwest Florida or has been following the weather news, you may know that it had been raining here - a lot. As in Tropical Storm Debby has meant days of rain and more rain. For Seneca, this meant go outside and get soaked! I assure you we are in a safe area and the times when she was playing outside, there were no high gusts of wind. The gusts of wind did occur during these days, but not at the specific moments when she was outside.
Yesterday the raining here had stopped and we could see its effects on our neighbor's lawn - mushrooms! Seneca has recently been quite enthralled by mushrooms after learning that gnomes live in mushrooms. So, for her, a great kingdom had just sprouted! She went and got one rather large mushroom with a very round and smooth top, not like the typical mushroom we often think of.
We spent some time exploring this mushroom of hers. She compared the different textures on it. Then, she held it up and said, "It's the sun!" We also figured out that it could be a wheel, a gnome's home, or a table. She then washed her hands thoroughly after so much mushroom touching.
From there, I decided to tell her the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Now, I had pretty much remembered the story, but I was really second guessing myself on my memory of it. I decided I had better look it up on the internet. Fortunately, I found a site which re-told the Norwegian folktale. It was a good thing because I had forgotten the nuances like the "trip-trap, trip-trap" each goat makes as he crosses the bridge. I re-told her the story before bedtime as well.
Yesterday the raining here had stopped and we could see its effects on our neighbor's lawn - mushrooms! Seneca has recently been quite enthralled by mushrooms after learning that gnomes live in mushrooms. So, for her, a great kingdom had just sprouted! She went and got one rather large mushroom with a very round and smooth top, not like the typical mushroom we often think of.
We spent some time exploring this mushroom of hers. She compared the different textures on it. Then, she held it up and said, "It's the sun!" We also figured out that it could be a wheel, a gnome's home, or a table. She then washed her hands thoroughly after so much mushroom touching.
From there, I decided to tell her the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Now, I had pretty much remembered the story, but I was really second guessing myself on my memory of it. I decided I had better look it up on the internet. Fortunately, I found a site which re-told the Norwegian folktale. It was a good thing because I had forgotten the nuances like the "trip-trap, trip-trap" each goat makes as he crosses the bridge. I re-told her the story before bedtime as well.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
June 16, 2012
June 16, 2012
Seneca and I listened to The Grimms' The Sleeping Beauty on storynory. It is a free resource of audio books. After that I read three books to her. We read Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski, I Know A Rhino by Charles Fuge, and The Carot Seed by Ruth Krauss.
We did form drawing after reading time. Seneca walked a straight line. I drew a straight line on Seneca's back. Seneca found a crayon and a pencil and held them up as straight lines. She practiced drawing the straight line form on scrap paper. She then put her first entry into her Main Lesson Form Drawing book.
Seneca painted with home made paint from flour, corn syrup, water and green food coloring.
Then, it was outdoor playtime with friends.
We re-read The Carrot Seed at night just before dinner and ate pot roast with beef, potatoes, onions and lots of carrots.
Seneca and I listened to The Grimms' The Sleeping Beauty on storynory. It is a free resource of audio books. After that I read three books to her. We read Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski, I Know A Rhino by Charles Fuge, and The Carot Seed by Ruth Krauss.
We did form drawing after reading time. Seneca walked a straight line. I drew a straight line on Seneca's back. Seneca found a crayon and a pencil and held them up as straight lines. She practiced drawing the straight line form on scrap paper. She then put her first entry into her Main Lesson Form Drawing book.
Seneca painted with home made paint from flour, corn syrup, water and green food coloring.
Then, it was outdoor playtime with friends.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Homeschool debate in my head
Today, Seneca chose out three books for me to read to her. They were The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, Fox in Socks by Dr. Suess, and Corduroy by Don Freeman.
I read an article today that said that a child's intelligence was more greatly affected by having the same stories read over and over again. This helps strengthen their memories. That is not to say that they don't learn from a library book which is read and then exchanged, but that the type of learning from repetition is different.
In the meantime, I have to learn some more fairy tales to recite to her. She enjoys hearing the ones she knows, but she is eager to hear some new ones. I have a collection of fairy tales, but now I need to really get some new stories down in mind before I can bring them to her. Before learning about Waldorf education, I had never considered the role of story telling in regards to language acquistion. However, as is pointed out in Waldorf articles, the child must really depend so greatly on their own imagination to fill in the images when I story is told rather than read. This helps develop listening as well as visualization skills. In our world of ipads, iphones, and instant images, we have lost so much of the basic skills of simple foundational learning.
Right now, I am really on the fence as to whether I should homeschool Seneca or just send her to public school in the Fall. She will be entering kindergarten this Fall. On the one hand, my oldest daughter did great at public school kindergarten and at learning to read. I think Seneca could benefit from being in a class and having lessons presented. She is a very social child.
On the other hand, I worry about not being able to meet her needs emotionally. She has older siblings who will be in an advanced program at their school and I'm in school as well. Not only do I want to be there for Seneca, I also want to be there for my other children as well.
I read an article today that said that a child's intelligence was more greatly affected by having the same stories read over and over again. This helps strengthen their memories. That is not to say that they don't learn from a library book which is read and then exchanged, but that the type of learning from repetition is different.
In the meantime, I have to learn some more fairy tales to recite to her. She enjoys hearing the ones she knows, but she is eager to hear some new ones. I have a collection of fairy tales, but now I need to really get some new stories down in mind before I can bring them to her. Before learning about Waldorf education, I had never considered the role of story telling in regards to language acquistion. However, as is pointed out in Waldorf articles, the child must really depend so greatly on their own imagination to fill in the images when I story is told rather than read. This helps develop listening as well as visualization skills. In our world of ipads, iphones, and instant images, we have lost so much of the basic skills of simple foundational learning.
Right now, I am really on the fence as to whether I should homeschool Seneca or just send her to public school in the Fall. She will be entering kindergarten this Fall. On the one hand, my oldest daughter did great at public school kindergarten and at learning to read. I think Seneca could benefit from being in a class and having lessons presented. She is a very social child.
On the other hand, I worry about not being able to meet her needs emotionally. She has older siblings who will be in an advanced program at their school and I'm in school as well. Not only do I want to be there for Seneca, I also want to be there for my other children as well.
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