Older Kindergarten Week #3 Wednesday

Today we met a friend at Karkeek park. It is so beautiful there. We could hear the Hawks calling. For a while instead of watching the children, I watched a chipmunk feast on snowberries. It was so sweet. I love chipmunks.

We met in the early afternoon, and as we didn't need to homeschool this morning in order to meet our 3 day a week goal, I let the kids free play all morning. Big Mistake! I should have stuck to the rhythm and had a morning walk, circle and story just like usual. I paid for it with squabbles and melt-downs. Brother even said "We didn't have circle yet today,:" which is a huge clue to me! Blah! Now I know and I won't be so lazy again.

After we came home from Karkeek, the kids had quiet time while I spent too long on the phone. I did manage to squeeze in our project/activity of woodworking. We are making our second crafts board. I marked the saw lines off with pencil and Brother sawed one of the lines, we have three more to go.

And then dinner was haphazard and ran late. Darn phone!

But at least I am still on the path to meeting my weekly goals!

Older Kindergarten Week #3 Tuesday

We completed our regular homeschooling in the morning. In the afternoon we went to the local Park Day for the third week in a row. The kids seem to play by different rules than we do, so there was a lot of reporting going on by Brother. He accidentally poked a kid "in the eye" with a stick when he was trying to down the slide and the other was coming up. Everyone was fine, but it makes me nervous. It's because of the "bag of poop" I am still carrying around from a different group I was in this summer. I am doing really well at holding boundaries with the person who seems want to add their "poop" to my already full enough bag. Probably this is something I want to meditate on! Meanwhile, Brother left the park much more gracefully this week than last week. Which means he was feeling more comfortable and less stretched.

Tuesday is beeswax day, and I am finally getting that started up. I have some warming kinks to work out, especially since we are heading into the colder season! But, he was really interested in the project and the sensory stuff, how does it feel, how do you work with it, etc. This is also an improvement!

And our other major improvement was in leave taking from babysitting. He left without causing a running around ruckus! One of the reasons is because I am not allowing him to play with the trains anymore. That seems so harsh, but it was really tipping him over. He was melting down the entire time he was trying to play with them, so I called it. For the last two weeks he has found other things to focus on and his quality of play is really increasing again. He is also done irritating the little girl to get a reaction out of her and they are starting to play together well again. Phew!

Older Kindergarten Week #3 Monday

Michaelmas week! As a secular family, celebrating Michaelmas is kind of a touchy thing. It can be a very religious holiday. For us it is not religious, but it is spiritual. My story is about St George. I googled St George and the dragon, found a few different stories and went with the one that really felt right to me. I have been reading a lot about the meaning behind fairy tales as well. After much meditation, I did decide to kill the dragon even though Brother is only 6 years old. The King did send emissaries asking the dragon to leave and he said No. Also, I chose a story where St George had to overcome being tired, scared, burned, and temporarily blinded by the smoke. Fighting dragons is hard work!

In the past Fairy Tales have been really difficult for Brother. He took them literally and was totally frightened. So, I backed off and was only telling Folk Tales. However, I had noticed him becoming entranced during Folk Tales, so with great hope I told the more advanced St George story. We went to a different spot in the house, I closed the curtains, lit a candle, sang a different opening song and then hoped for the best. He was fine. He didn't get upset or anything and he was in the trance like state. He is maturing!

I am still separating Baby from Brother's story, so I spent a lot of time on the picture books with Baby before I left him to play and read to Brother. It went great, Baby isn't interested in being a part of it.

Another change is in circle. I am essentially doing two circles now, one for Brother followed by one for Baby. Obviously both are pretty short, but we do take an exercise walk before circle, so short is fine. I do cover all of the movements.

Today we baked muffins using some of the over grown yellow squash from my Mom's garden. Yummy!

Weekend in Bellingham

We had a great weekend in Bellingham! We went to Hovander Farm in Ferndale, WA. Here is the link: http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/parks/hovander/hovander.jsp. The kids really enjoyed the big red barn as we have been reading that book for Baby's story. Brother was very interested in the plows. We had read the Enki story "Fill Up The House" two weeks ago, in which one of the brother's failed to win the house from his father when he brought home a plow, and obviously plows were on Brother's mind.

We also saw some a fabulous Daliah garden. The daliah's were so tall that they towered over the boys creating covered paths for the kids to "sneak" through.



Baby is being especially hilarious right now. Bear in mind his isn't even two and a half years old yet. Somewhere in the past week this TV and computer free kid has heard "I'm going to beat you up." And he even knows the "punching" type motion. We were at two parks last week, one if which was pretty rowdy. Our strategy at this age is simply redirection (and trying not to laugh). Meanwhile, there were 2 pretty big turkeys and some big geese in a pen. They were pretty aggressive, with the turkeys puffing up and the geese posturing and honking. These guys are the same size that he is and it was pretty scary for him. After hiding behind me in fear he stepped forward and pulled up his fists and elbows in position and started walking towards the birds. It was pretty funny. Of course I redirected him, but it was still funny!





Right before we left town we took some over grown squash up to the goats and turkeys who live behind my parents. It was so fun feeding the animals. They came running as soon as they saw us, even the turkeys!

Padilla Bay

We are finally getting up to Bellingham for a weekend! We left early on Friday so that we could stop off at the Padilla Bay Nature Reserve on the way. Here's the link http://www.padillabay.gov/. It is a short enough walk that I can hope Baby will walk by himself but if he doesn't I can carry him. He did decide to walk most of the way!

While the leaves at our house are barely even turning color, some of the trees in Padilla Bay had already completely dropped their leaves. So, it felt like Autumn. The boys could kick the leaves around while walking through them.
For extra credit in science ;) Baby explored both deer poop, complete with full plumb pits and coyote poop. I did not take pictures of the poop, sorry. Baby also experimented with eating Rose Hips, which he did not enjoy. He did enjoy the herd of cows in the field next door. Shortly after we passed by the entire herd started lowing. It was unexpectedly loud for a mostly city girl like myself. The children were delighted! We have been reading the "Big Red Barn" for a week now in celebration of the Harvest.
We also found a tree containing a honey bee hive. It was still awake and we could hear the buzzing. Wow! I want to try and stop by next time we go up as well. I wonder if the bees will still be buzzing as it gets closer to winter.

So sweet!

older Kindergarten Week #2 Thursday

              Leaf Presses

As of today we have finished our week's homeschooling tasks. We are struggling with circle big time! I try so hard, but I can't seem to meet him. I started doing a focused meditation on the issue tonight. Next week's circle and subjects are completely different, so maybe it will be a better fit.

Meanwhile, he loves story, and floats in and out of willingly doing his chores and resisting his chores.

We babysat today and I saw great strides in Brother's maturity. We had issues with leave taking gracefully, which he really did well today, and with experimenting with relationships (teasing). Not the type of teasing where you call people names, but the type where you do things to annoy another person causing them to squeal or scream. This is totally unacceptable to me, so we had been talking about feelings and the golden rule. I changed our transitions in a couple ways and made sure I was more physically present to hold boundaries and to help with impulse control. Meanwhile, he just stopped doing it. He told me it was because he was older now and done with that. I reinforced the changes by noticing and telling him that I appreciated it. No "good jobs" or "blanket praise" but just direct, specific, and honest communication.

Brother was completely uninterested in his art project today at the time I had set aside for it. So, I let it go but left it set up. When we got home from babysitting it was waiting for us. Once I got him started he loved it. He immediately became absorbed in the process. "Look Mom, the leaves are coming through when I color on them," he said with awe. He was so excited that he took control and chose his own leaves for the next three pieces of paper only to be interrupted by his father coming in for dinner. Last year he did this project, but didn't really see what was happening. I feel so blessed to be homeschooling and to witness his discoveries and his growing.

older Kindergarten Week #2 Wednesday

Today we celebrated the Harvest at the Washington Park Arboretum http://depts.washington.edu/wpa/index.htm We like to visit around each equinox so that we can see the changes in the seasons. We enjoyed a lunch of Harvest Soup - that the kids didn't eat, gluten free muffins and various seasonal fruits. For desert my friend made a wonderful, gluten free pear custard. Yum!



The kids loved running around in the trees and rolling down hills. When we came home the boys were not ready for anything other than free play at home, so I left them alone to dig in the digging spot!

older Kindergarten Week #2 Tuesday

The Luminata was beautiful. Our camera doesn't work in this type of lighting, so I downloaded some pictures from a local web site.



It so happens that the picture taker took a picture of our good friends. This is the same type of lantern that we made. They were so fun for the kids to carry. Baby walked about 3/4 of a mile dragging his lantern along on the ground. He was so excited! Brother and Daddy were way up ahead of us. Baby was so slow that we were at the very end! He was amazingly cute.

Older Kindergarten Week #2 Monday

The week has started off well. We are celebrating the Autumnal Equinox, so we are reading the Enki story The Buried Treasure. I chose it because it is still a Folk Talk and we haven't started Fairy Tales yet and the story shows the whole process of farming (tilling, planting, tending, harvesting) and ends with a harvest festival! We are also reading Duchess Autumn, the Enki nature tale for the equinox. The circle is still focusing on squirrels because I am trying to keep the oldest at least a little involved and he loves squirrels.

For the preschooler, I am reading the book The Wild Child, The Big Red Barn, and Autumn. He can sit in for Brother's reading too if he wants.

For our project we cooked granola and harvest soup. I dropped the cleaning; it was essentially taking all day. I either need to lower my standard or do more of it on a daily basis!

Today was Brother's second swimming lesson. He did not get in the water again, but at least he sat on the side of the pool with his feet in the water for the whole lesson. It doesn't sound like he is planning on getting into the water any time soon. He thinks it is over his head, although I know for sure it is not. The water level is only 3 feet, and he is taller than that. We have 3 weeks off for pool maintenance. I told him that I thought he would probably grow during that time, so hopefully if I talk about him growing, and I measure his height a few days before swim class maybe he'll try to get in. I'll pull my husband on board. I think it will be more powerful coming from him.

Tomorrow is the Luminata, a local equinox celebration. People meet at Greenlake Park at 7pm for singing and merrymaking. After dark we walk part way around the lake with our lanterns. We started our lanterns on Friday and will finish them up tomorrow just in time to take to the festival. This is our third year, and I really love it. I'll bring pictures!

Older Kindergarten Week #1 Friday

Since we had already homeschooled 3 days this week, we met friends over at Kelsey Creek Farm in Bellevue Washington for a nice walk and visit with the animals. The piano tuner came in the afternoon. That was very exciting for the kids. By the time he left it was dinner time. It's amazing how fast the day goes!

Older Kindergarten Week #1 Thursday

We were supposed to have plans at the park today, but the family has some vomiting going on, so we did not meet up. Brother was pretty disappointed, but he didn't actually come out and say so. Instead he melted down all morning. He seemed fine when I told him we couldn't go. Hmm, I didn't actually put 2 and 2 together until now. Poor kid bottled it all up. It would have been much better had I addressed it. In the past, I have not told him when we have plans because I don't want him to be disappointed when the plans fall through. With one of his best friends plans are often cancelled because the oldest son has a compromised immune system. However, with Brother's newfound sense of needing to be in control - and thus going over the plans for the day the night before, and then the morning of, I can't get away with hiding things like that any more. We will both have to learn new coping skills!

So, he melted down all morning until I pretty much said "We are taking our walk now and then we are having circle!" and I put us all outside crying. Once our feet were moving on our walk everything calmed down and he was very happy! He participated in circle, then made his own circle and I forced us all to play outside. This really showed me the healing qualities of rhythm.

Brother also worked on his tooth fairy pillow today and his needlepoint art project. We have not started on our Autumnal equinox lanterns yet, because our new Stokke highchair arrived. We put it together and then dinner ran late. I really love the highchair. It allows Baby to participate fully at the table without him having to stand on a chair. We gave up the "real" highchair ages ago because he felt so separated having to eat on his own tray. I am saving up to buy a chair for Brother as well. Next year when we start first grade I want him to be sitting ergonomically correct when we teach him to write. The sooner we have the chair the better. I have $75.00 so far! I thought I could buy one chair and just adjust it for each kid, but it doesn't work that way. Darn it!

Sunday was supposed to be our Waldorf inspired Autumn festival. As of 2 weeks ago it was happening, so I wrote it on my calendar. On Tuesday I realized that I was over-stretched and couldn't handle having our piano tuned, going to Bellingham and going to the Harvest Festival. After much thought, I cancelled our trip to Bellingham only to be told today that the Harvest Festival is not occurring. I am not a very happy camper. I am not... I am not... I am not....

Ok, venting over and moving on. Brother is 6 and in older Kindergarten. He is needing more contraction. The Enki curriculum suggests adding some keywords for these older kids. So after the third time of telling the story, he can chose one word that he would like me to write down on a note card for him. I gave him a Wells Fargo check book box (he likes the stage coach) to put them in. He really didn't seem that jazzed at the time, and he was not receptive the first couple time I mentioned it to him, but now he has been carrying that box around all day! Obviously it meant a lot to him. Husband has been told to read the word to him in entirety, (concept of whole to parts).

Older Kindergarten Week #1 Wednesday

It's Wandering Wednesday. I forgot my camera, but we went to Franklin Falls at Snoqualmie Pass. We played in the spray at the base of the waterfall, lifted and carried heavy rocks and climbed over rocks to get from one side of the river to the other.

This morning I showed Brother the poster of the day's activities again. We read it together. After breakfast he just unloaded the dishwasher all by himself! I didn't remind him or anything. It was amazing. I don't expect to see it again for a long time, but it was really interesting. I read that the Older Kindergartener wants meaningful work, but it was amazing to actually see it in action.

At park day yesterday, we left early because he and some other children told me that they would stay in this one area (that I could not see them in) and play. I had a suspicion that something was going on, and when I went to find him, they had left the area. He complained that we did not agree on the exact lines of the boundary. So today, when he went to the other side of the river, I showed him the exact boundary he could play in and he agreed. Even though I was across the river from him, He stayed in the agreed upon area with no problems. It just feels like he is maturing and becoming more responsible.

Tonight I made Thursday's poster and we went over our plans for the day. We talked about it, and he is feeling more heard and cared for since we have started this practice.

craft board

I have finally completed one of our craft boards. The kids helped me along the way. It is finished with a home made beeswax polish. It took me a really long time because it is my first woodworking project! i guess we'll see how the beeswax finish stands up to wet-on-wet!

Older Kindergarten week 1 Tuesday

Today was an interesting day. I can see Brother maturing. It is a pretty uncomfortable process for him, poor kid. He feels like "everything is changing, Nothing is the same." I know it is internal changes, but if I can find a way to make the days easier for him I will. So , I posed the idea of a daily schedule listed on the wall. He is pre-reading, so it has to be pictorial, but he is showing an increased interest in words, so I am also writing out the words. I had him start looking through magazines for pictures of pertinent activities for him to cut out today. Hopefully he will feel more comfortable, he seems happy.

We were able to complete all of our regular homeschooling today, for the kids anyway. Circle was a little rough. As it is Autumn, my circle was based on squirrels and Brother wants to be a duck right now. Oops. We went to the local homeschool park day and then Baby missed nap, so although I laid down with him for a while, and we all had "quiet time" I didn't get to meditate.

Park Day went really well except that Brother accidentally ran into another kid. He was sent down on the zip line at the same time a boy ran right in front of the path. There was nothing he could do, but it was sure an intense and traumatic event. It didn't help that the first time we went to park day, the injured kid was crying "I'm never going to play with him, etc." when it was more his fault than anything. Oh well, Brother seemed to bounce back and enjoy more play.

Older Kindergarten Week #1

Well, this is the first full week of homeschooling for us with our full weekly rhythm. The last couple weeks were catch as catch can to slowly get us up and running.

Circle:

20 minute walk then, Opening verse, Green Orchard, Kooka burra (in the apple tree), Trees in the wind, Mouse Fingerplay, closing verse.

This is the same circle I used last week with great success. Today I tried to embellish with transitions regarding squirrels and lost Brother. He did watch from the chair though, instead of causing problems. That is a huge improvement from last year! I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe I'll change the Kooka burra into a squirrel and add a squirrel poem.

Story:

I read "The Runaway Bunny" to baby and brother, leaving a farm and woodland scene out for Baby to play with while I read Brother's story. Unfortunately, Brother wanted to stay and play too. He did come while I read "Fill Up The House", which is another Dumbling folk tale from my Enki Folk and Fairy Tales book. Brother did stay and listen, but as soon as I was done reading, he was up and in playing with the toys.

For handwork, Brother continued sewing his tooth fairy pillow. He hates to sew, so we are working on a little bit at a time. I have to set the sewing goal for him as he resists. I am hoping that he will eventually start to love it.

This quarter's enrichment is swimming lessons. There were so many kids in the pool and the water was up to his neck. It was very overwhelming for him and he ended up crying for me to get him out and saying "Cancel it! Cancel it!" So, I pulled him out and he came and sat by me until the last 5 minutes. At that point he was able to sit by the side of the pool with his feet dangling into the water. I figure that since he was so upset, the fact that he was eventually willing to put his feet in and sit there was fabulous. I am hoping that by the end of the quarter he will at least be comfortable enough to get back in the pool. We shall see!

Monday is cleaning and baking day. I didn't get all of the cleaning done, nor the baking. I'll finish cleaning tonight and make granola. Hopefully on Wednesday we can bake muffins. Today we also had a piano delivered! Yeah!

Sunday

Today we did a lot more home maintenance getting ready for the rainy season. Brother and Baby played together pretty well today.

My Planning/Inner work:

No meditation
planned the story for Monday and the circle. Checked for changes for the next week and thought about circle transitions.
planned the weeks menu and did the big grocery shopping trip.
Tidied up the house so that we start off the week right.

Going to bed too late though, I'll be starting off tired tomorrow. I'll plan on grabbing a nap with Baby at quiet time.

Deck almost done

Phew! The deck is almost done. We have been in the house for over 1 year now and have not been able to enjoy it. I stood up on it for a few minutes tonight and just relaxed.

Today we had a birthday party. I was a little nervous, but I meditated before we went to stay calm and focused. Other than some painful relationship growing pains, everything went fine. I held boundaries, and my son turned a game that he didn't like (and the parents don't like) into something more appropriate. I was pretty proud of him.

We may, I repeat may, go to the local park day. I may wait until October when we have had more time to relax into our school year rhythm.

The Green Machine

Poor Brother had an unpleasant growing experience this weekend while we were going through all of the leaking roof stress. Brother and Baby race around the backyard and down the driveway on their little tikes wheeled toys. They love it! Poor Brother was riding on one Saturday and it started scraping the ground. Clearly he had grown too big! He was filled with sorrow. This is a game they play together. This is a way that they can relate to each other despite the 3 and 3/4 years age difference! It was so sad. And it was especially poignant for me as the oldest of 4 children. I remember when my brothers and the neighbors got their Big Wheels when I was already too big to ride myself.

So, we went shopping on Craigslist and against all odds found one! There is a lady who is not far away who posted that she was looking for a bunch of them for a drag race. She was willing to pay more than they had asked for the one they were selling. After I saw the WTB ad, I figured there was no way we'd find one. And with the roof blow up, there was no way we were going to drop $120 on one. We didn't know if we were going to be replacing or restoring a bunch of metal roof ASAP, there was no way we could buy a Green Machine right then.

On Tuesday the seller contacted me, so after my eye appointment, we dropped homeschooling and drove the 20 miles to pick up the Green Machine. It is perfect. He can reach the pedals with 2 phone books behind him, and he loves maneuvering it in tight spaces to get out to the driveway. And both boys are happy ripping around the backyard and down the driveway again. They have drawn rode directions and parking spots with sidewalk chalk. All in all it turns very creative quickly. Being 6, brother wants to be the Big Boss in Charge, which is totally annoying, but also totally age appropriate.

I am not the best at pictures and will get some soon.

Tiger Mountain

Today we spent most of our day hiking at Tiger Mountain with our Wednesday Hiking Friends. It was a lovely day. Brother petted slugs and watched them squish up, waded in a little pond, and made friends with a duck I wouldn't let him feed. Mean Mommy! Being 6, he wanted to run ahead or hide behind us. Often I couldn't see him, which made me a little nervous. I want to honor his need of independence, but at the same time, there was a bear and a cougar caught in Seattle this year. It just reminds me that wild animals do exist and the do live in the forest at Tiger Mountain, especially if they can survive in the parks of Seattle. WOW! At the same time, they do tend to be shy, and it is very low risk. So, deep breaths MaMa.

After we got home, I needed to make my grocery list and take us to the store. That is what soured part of the day. If I had my list before we left and we stopped on the way home, then it would have been no big deal. But, coming home and then leaving again tipped the kids over. So, my goal next week is to get that all finished the night before. If I am really on my game, I'll have snack done Tuesday night as well. But, baby steps.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Ok, I love the rain. Living in Seattle, I'd better love the rain. But, after last year's roof leaking, black mold sickness - big rains make us worried. I guess we should really see them as a gift though; a way to test the mettle of our new roof! Anyway, when we went to the master bedroom on Saturday afternoon water was pouring out of the light fixture above the bed. Further investigation found black mold on the carpet pad. So Husband cleaned it up and threw parts away until the black mold was all gone again. Meanwhile, we had a big pan with water dripping into it when we were hit with another deluge. After all of the water intrusion issues in the old house from the bottom up, we never expected to have them in the new house, from the top down!

We survived the weekend, with much stress, and the roofers came over on Tuesday, found their mistake, and hopefully fixed it. Unfortunately, with two automaton parents walking around in the "I'm freaking out, but I'm not going to blow" mode, both kids were pretty stressed out too. We tried to keep it as normal as possible, but there is no way they didn't feel the tension. Plus, instead of having family time Daddy was working, coping, cleaning mold, and setting out water pans.

Shoreline Public School First Class Day

was yesterday. Hee Hee! We didn't even know, except that Brother saw a school bus drive through the neighborhood. I thought it was a practice run.

Oh, the bliss of ignorance! Ok, now I'm not so blissed out. I just realized what a momentous occasion it is. Brother turned 6 on August 30th, so we were going to hold him out of school last year anyway. That means that this is the first year we would truly consider sending him to Kindergarten. And now we have missed the possibility of the first day of school. It's like the point of no return. We Really Are Homeschoolers!

Started the new year

Well, I planned on starting the homeschooling year around the equinox, but since Brother is midway through the 6/7 year transition it just felt right to start now. We had an absolutely crazy 2 weeks containing 5 birthday parties (3 at our house) and the prep involved, a fair and a camping trip. Obviously rhythm was lacking and he was out of balance, either over expanded or over contracted - I'm not sure which. Phew - the poor kid was just screaming for some rhythm and the Kindergarten rhythm works best for us, so we just started up again today.

We mainly reinstated the larger pieces of the rhythm and I will fill in the detail later. Next year when Brother is in first, it is really important to me that the baby not be exposed to the first grade fairy tales. So, I am setting up the environment for that this year. I am reading a story book to Baby (who is only a little over 2) in the rec room and setting up a little scene with the tree blocks, animals and silks. Today it was "Home For a Bunny" which is a Spring book. Oh well, then I am reading a Folk tale to Brother in the living room. If (when) Baby follows and if he interrupts, then I am redirecting him back to his toys. I am holding the expectation in my mind that he will not be following us out any more by the Spring.

Today Brother's Folk Tale was ThickHead from our Enki Folk Tales. He has been so inflexible lately. I know that that is a characteristic of this age, but if I could just temper it a little bit. Clearly having a 2.25 year old Brother getting in his way and disrupting his plans is frustrating, but he does need to be a little flexible. Baby shouldn't always have to follow his rules. I have been reading about the meaning of Fairy Tales and the Dummling character embodies flexibility, so I am hoping that if I give him a few different stories with that character it may help him to relax a bit.

Another way I thought I could deal with the frustration upsets is by pulling him away from the play for a bit and engaging him in meaningful work. So, I put the granola ingredients out for us to make homemade granola and just figured that we would float in and out of the activity as needed. The morning went so well though, that I didn't have to pull him over to the project. Oops! I started pounding nuts anyway and Baby became interested. Before I knew it, they were both dying to help make granola, so we did that together and all was well.

Another really neat thing we did today was clean off the back porch. It was so dirty with stains. I took water and gave the kids brooms and brushes and we swept it off. It looks so much nicer! And we had a lot of fun doing a meaningful task together.

September Poem

By all lovely token
September days are here
With Summers best of weather
And Autumn's best of cheer.

Helen Hunt-Jackson
September