This week in our child-led homeschool…
For the last few months, Jack has wanted to explore patterns, shapes and numbers. This week (and last week), it seems he has pieced all the pieces together to read. Now he wants to read. He wants to make words, label drawings and write books.
It’s just flowing so quickly now; everything seems to be clicking. And to think it was only a few months ago that I was saying he had no interest in reading and writing at all.
These little lessons teach us so much; follow the child, trust that they will get there when they are ready.
Language
- Recognise that different types of punctuation, including full stops, question marks and exclamation marks, signal sentences that make statements, ask questions, express emotion or give commands (ACELA1449)
- Understand concepts about print and screen, including how different types of texts are organised using page numbering, tables of content, headings and titles, navigation buttons, bars and links (ACELA1450)
- Know that regular one-syllable words are made up of letters and common letter clusters that correspond to the sounds heard, and how to use visual memory to write high-frequency words (ACELA1778)
Materials:
Thrifted Bananagrams Tiles | Coloured Spielgaben Pieces | Alphabet Cards
Jack recreating ‘The 13 Storey Treehouse‘
Sarah matching letters.
Jack working on his version of ‘The 52 Storey Treehouse’ – He mentioned to me that he wanted to write a letter to Andy Griffiths thanking him for writing the Treehouse books 🙂 His first fan letter. We’ll do that next week.
Sarah practising writing letters with water over chalk
Jack practising some sight words
A Trip to the Farm
The absolute highlight this week was a trip to a real working merino sheep farm with our homeschool group. We had been preparing Jack for what to expect for about the last week – barking dogs, running sheep, noisy machines – to make sure he felt as comfortable as possible. And didn’t they just LOVE it! Such an incredible experience. 
Kitchen Garden
The seasons are changing; we can feel it. The leaves on the grapevines have started to turn and the summer crops are coming to their end. The sunflowers though have bloomed and looking stunning.
This week in the kitchen garden we pulled out the rest of the cucumbers, a whole heap of beetroot, and of course, many more tomatoes. We planted red onions and pakchoy. I’m also hoping to get some garlic in soon.
I share a lot of photos from our garden on Instagram, if you’d like to join me over there.
Waldorf Playgroup
This week the kids got to spend a beautiful morning outdoors; splashing in ponds, climbing trees, collecting acorns and foraging pears. And not to forget, the beautiful story. Do you guys know where I could find some Waldorf stories? Jack and Sarah are so taken by them and I would really like to start incorporating a little storytelling into our days.
What did learning look like at your place this week?
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A snapshot of our week, our everyday story
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Reg Down has written some beautiful Waldorf books that my daughter loves. I highly recommend them! These are also incredibly sweet: http://www.amazon.com/Tell-Me-Story-Childhood-Association/dp/1936849194
Can I ask which stories you’ve been reading? I’m always looking for more!
Another lovely week! We love incorporating Waldorf storytelling into our days as well. I orally tell a story each morning, using wooden figures to illustrate. I tell the same story each morning for a week and by Friday, Silas has usually taken over and is the one telling me the story!
We also enjoy Reg Down and have used the Tiptoes books at bedtime. Any of the nature books by Thornton Burgess are also very popular in Waldorf circles (and are greatly loved by my 4-year-old). Here is a link to the storytelling guide that I use for our morning stories: http://www.waldorflibrary.org/articles/977-choosing-fairy-tales-for-different-ages
Great link!! Thanks.
How lovely!
Your kitchen garden is great! It’s winter here in Europe… I’m looking forward to the spring and being able to start gardening with the kids again!
Do you know the books written by Elsa Beskow? We read “children of the forest” at the moment.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_8?k=elsa+beskow&sprefix=elsa+bes
My children love it! I found these books at the little shop of our local Waldorf kindergarten. They are a little old fashioned but imaginative and we love the drawings and details and the various characters (fairies, animals, etc.)
I’d love to hear more about the Waldorf storytelling – is it quite different from other storytelling? Is telling stories a new thing for you, or is it more the specific Waldorf stories?
Love the water over chalk writing, great idea!
I always love your photo wrap-ups. We, too, adore Bananagrams and their many uses. I cannot wait until we can visit the farm! These snowbanks need to melt. Thanks for this!