Silent Saturday.

Measuring how much rain we had... 3 cups!

Friday's Nature Table.

Welcome back to Friday's Nature Table. This is a weekly forum for us to share the nature inspired things we have done... our nature ideas, crafts, activities, inspirations and photos. Nature's beauty is all around... her magic is everywhere!

I encourage everyone to participate... just add your link in the form below and your post will become the next on the list for all to enjoy. The more wonderful ideas we can share about how to love our beautiful earth, the happier we will be.

Enjoy! and thank you for sharing today...

Discovering Waldorf - 'Rhythm in the Home'.

I have the honor of introducing Nicole, from Frontier Dreams, today. When I asked Nicole to write a post for Discovering Waldorf, the first thing that came to my mind was how her life reflects the gentle rhythm of her home. She really seems to have worked out a clam flow to her family's day. Knowing the rhythm of their day, and what to expect next, is wonderfully soothing for a child. Thank you, Nicole, for introducing us to this lovely concept...

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Rhythm in the Home

There are numerous aspects to a Waldorf way of life that are appealing to me, but the one that I hold closest to my heart, is rhythm.

Rhythm is the daily, weekly and yearly recurring activities in our lives. There is something so magical about such a simple concept. Children thrive on familiarity and consistency. It is a sense of security for them, they feel safe and reassured to always know what comes next, to have a predictable day, a rhythm they can count on. My children remind me of this every single day.

Is rhythm just a fancy word for schedule. NO. While they have similarities, rhythm is more about a gentle flow, a knowing of what comes next, whereas a schedule is more rigid and by the clock. I sometimes have to remind myself that rhythm is not cut and dry. It is not some regimen that needs to be followed strictly, "to a T." That will just drive me crazy and destroy the peacefulness that rhythm is supposed to bring about. For example, it is not important for us to have lunch at noon exactly every single day but for us to have lunch after we have read our mealtime blessing and before some quiet play time. This way my children always know what is coming next and knowing what to expect makes them feel relaxed, safe and happy.

Rhythm already surrounds us all. The flow of the universe. The beating of our hearts...but nowadays it takes a conscious effort to bring it into our home lives. As Rahima Baldwin Dancy (Midwife and Waldorf early childhood educator) put it, "Doing things rhythmically simplifies life." I couldn't agree more. Our family rhythm has saved us on more than one occasion.

I am often asked how I introduced rhythms into our lives. I started with simple verses and songs throughout the day to lead us from one thing to another. When we wake up and my children are still half in the dream state, we say our morning verse. This helps to gently wake them up and prepare them for getting out of bed to make breakfast. It is not an abrupt transition but rather, a gentle flow. Once I felt this new rhythm was comfortably established I was able to start adding more daily activities into our rhythm... an activity for each day of the week, and so on. I took it slowly but surely, just one step at a time, to not overwhelm myself or the rest of my family. When things started to move more fluidly and really came together easily, is when I knew I had a good rhythm that worked for our family.

Of course our rhythms have been sculpted and changed over the years with the arrival of our youngest daughter and our oldest becoming more grounded in this world, but that's the beauty of rhythm. It's fluid enough that changes can be gently added. We recently had a major change in rhythm by taking a ten-day drive cross-country to move from Virginia to Oregon. Just the thought of my husband and I, our two daughters, two dogs and three cats all in the same van every day for ten days in a row made my head spin. Thankfully rhythm rescued us. Our days were long, fun and a bit exhausting, but our nights, oh, our nights were perfect. We followed our nightly rhythm, just as if we were back in our home, and everything returned to normal no matter how out of our element we were.

While every family's rhythm will be different, I thought I'd share an overview of ours. This is just a brief glimpse into our lives and is not a list of our rhythm in it's entirety.

Daily rhythms include:

waking verse

mealtimes

activities of the day (i.e. if it's Monday then we bake)

cleaning

quiet time

laundry

tending to our animals

outside time

bedtime

Weekly rhythms include :

Monday is baking day

Tuesday is painting day

Wednesday is handwork day

Thursday is drawing day

Friday is crafting day

Saturday is gardening day (when it is not gardening season we go for nature walks or hiking on this day)

Sunday is resting day (a day just spent at home as a family)

Monthly rhythms include:

hand-washing our woolens (2 times a month)

beeswaxing our wooden bowls (the last Sunday of the month)

errands & grocery shopping (1 - 2 times a month)

Yearly and seasonal rhythms include:

birthdays

holidays

planting our garden

travel

If you are interested in incorporating more rhythm into your home, a wonderful resource is You Are Your Child's First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin Dancy. I still thumb through that book quite often. Another great resource is Beyond The Rainbow Bridge by Barbara J. Patterson. For verses and songs that help with the daily transitions of one thing to another, I have found "Seven Times the Sun" by Shea Darian, and "This is the way we wash-a-day" by Mary Thienes-Schunemann to be my 'go to' resources. I have also found other Waldorf families to be extremely helpful, supportive and resourceful when I hit snags in our rhythm or just simply need others to relate to.

Warmly,

Nicole

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Thank you Nicole, for this wonderful wisdom. I have a feeling that our home might be a calmer place for all from now on, if I can keep the naughty clock from always sneaking in.

Please visit Nicole's blog, Frontier Dreams. It is a gorgeous place to spend some time, the kind of place you want to curl up in, with a warm quilt, hot coco and a cat purring on your lap. I always come away from reading her words with a feeling of peace in my heart.

Blessings and magic to you today, Nicole... thank you for sharing your rhythms with us today.

Lastly, I'd like to share a little poem found on Nicole's blog...

Cooking and cleaning can wait till tomorrow,
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.
So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I'm nursing my baby and babies don't keep.

-Unknown

Make Knitting Needles!

Pop on over the the Natural Kids Blog to see a tutorial on making your own knitting needles with your child... we will be making our own for sure.

Blessings and magic.

Make Playdough Hearts.

Valentine crafts are going on at full swing here... I have a little girl who LOVES hearts. Today we made Valentine hearts with playdough. If you haven't made home-made playdough yet, give it a try as it's wonderful stuff... so much better than the store-bought version.

Here is our recipe for home-made playdough.

K rolled the playdough into little balls and then made hearts from them.

We lined all the hearts up and they looked so sweet that a few little creatures just had to have a play.

With a skewer, we gave each heart a hole for hanging...

And then we put the playdough hearts in the oven to harden. We left them in the oven for about 1 hour at a low temperature of about 250 F. If they still feel a little squishy after an hour, leave them for longer.

After they had cooled, we found our RED and PINK paint to paint them with.

Mr T joined in here as he loves to paint.

He likes to add all available colors and his hearts became an, um, 'lovely' reddy pink. And the boy made the customary mess with paint on the table, floor, wall, his hands and even his nose. His sister found this very funny indeed!

We left our hearts to dry.
And then threaded twine through the holes we had made. Don't they look pretty?
They are hanging on our Armoire... doesn't that mean love?

Blessings and magic.

Free.

We were so inspired by Beth's Discovering Waldorf post, "I am a Child of Nature" that we wrapped the kids up warmly in their jackets and headed off to the beach. A Good Man and I delighted in how freely Mr T explored the beach. My 'old self' would have balked at the sand and warned him, anxiously, that it would 'get in his eyes', 'his hair', 'his clothes'. Not this time, I'm proud to say... I smiled happily and encouraged him instead.

And thought how much I love this boy as I watched him gaze out over the ocean.

And walk closer to the sea for a better look...

And feel his bare toes squish in the cold, wet surf...

And pick up handfuls of sand...

And toss them, excitedly, into the ocean, with all of his being...

And jump for joy when his sand hit the waves...

And run, nervously, away from the frothy water...

And climb the sand dune...

And make a slide in the sand...

And slide down with whoops of joy...

And even take a few tumbles, undeterred...

And then, spent, lie down on the sand to watch the sun set...
Oh, I love this boy who loves to be free.

Blessings and magic.

Puzzled Winner...

Congratulations to Ivy from Into the Wind!! Lucky you... Mr Random Generator chose your number... yay!

Ivy chose the tree puzzle...

I don't have to tell you that I'm VERY envious!

Thank you to all of you who entered our Giveaway... I wish you could all win, really I do! Don't be too sad because Puzzled is having a HUGE sale right now! Pop on over to pick out your favorite puzzle.

We will be having another Giveaway next week so be sure to keep an eye out for it.

Thank you to Jeannette of Puzzled for a fabulous Giveaway!

Blessings and magic.

Last Day of Puzzled Giveaway.

Today's the last day of our Puzzled Giveaway. I will announce the winner this evening... enter here if you haven't already.

Blessings and magic.

Silent Saturday.

Reading in bed on a cold rainy day.

Friday's Nature Table.

Welcome back to Friday's Nature Table. This is a weekly forum for us to share the nature inspired things we have done... our nature ideas, crafts, activities, inspirations and photos. Nature's beauty is all around... her magic is everywhere!

I encourage everyone to participate... just add your link in the form below and your post will become the next on the list for all to enjoy. The more wonderful ideas we can share about how to love our beautiful earth, the happier we will be.

Enjoy! and thank you for sharing today...

Discovering Waldorf - 'I am a Child of Nature'.

I am delighted to present the first in our series, 'Discovering Waldorf'. Waldorf philosophies and ideas have brought so much magic and meaning to our family. I am not a Waldorf expert or a Waldorf purist. I am learning more about Waldorf every day. We follow the Waldorf philosophies that work for us and welcome it's beauty into our hearts. We have simplified our lives, declutered our inner spaces, so that we can see life more clearly, live it more fully and love it with all that we are. I am honored to share the wisdom and knowledge of other Waldorf families and hope you enjoy a little glimpse into Waldorf at work.

The wonderful Beth is our first Guest Blogger on 'Discovering Waldorf'. She explores a concept that is both close to my heart and fundamental to Waldorf philosophies... a child's need for connectedness to the natural world and his yearning to explore it freely. As you read the words, also read the photos and note the expressions on the faces of the children.

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I am a Child of Nature.

We don't need scientists and psychologists and environmentalists to tell us why it is important for children to spend time in nature. The children tell us everything we need to know.

The first times I went into nature, you carried me on your back.

You showed me what I can eat in the woods.

Now I make wild food.

I cook it in my sea cauldron and

on my campfires.

I clear the way through the tall grasses with my stick.

I learn to make toys out of things we find.

I can build a shelter.

When I play in the woods I add layers to my bravery

and to my confidence.

I am small but I am strong. I can carry a fallen tree.

I can climb.

I can jump from up high.

I can throw heavy rocks.

Your interest in nature is contagious.

I learn by touching, so

I love it when you let me play with sand, water, dirt, rocks, sticks and grass.

Sometimes I play with quiet absorption.

Sometimes I am boisterous and rowdy, and I get all my yells out.

When I come back I am tired and merry. I have been where I belong.

I am a child of nature. Nature is a part of me, and I am a part of it.

Take me to the woods today, Mama and Daddy. Be amazed at what I am, and what I can do.

Copyright Beth Curtin 2010

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I know Beth as a mamma, an artist, a doll maker, a writer, a story teller, a friend and a lover of life. Her enchanting blog is called Acorn Pies and is daily inspiration for me. Her creativity and imagination, quite wonderfully, fills me with awe. She will enchant you too.

Please also pop over to Beth's Etsy Shop, Primroses, where you will see her child-inspired art and delightful Waldorf dolls.

Blessings and magic, Beth. Thank you for sharing 'I am a Child of Nature'.

And, if you haven't already, be sure to enter the Fantastic Puzzled Giveaway for your chance to win an heirloom customized wooden puzzle for your child. The Giveaway is open until Sunday 24th January 10.