"Things in space Speak to the senses, Changing in time. The human soul in cognizing... Unlimited by space, Untouched by time... Reaches into the Kingdom of Eternity" I take criticism now and then that I am too organized, too rigid, on the contrary! I am fully aware and continually balancing the realms of Lucifer and Ahriman - the one that loves chaos and the one that binds. We have to find the Christ in the center - the balancing. Over the last several years, I have a saying from our church that I ponder extensively. "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, e ..read more

Here are my thoughts on early risers... they may not be popular, but they are still something to think about. My kids are good sleepers now, but they have been all over the place with their sleep and we have struggled at times. Harry, my oldest, is an early riser, always has been, he used to have a knack for waking everyone in the house up... like a bull in a china shop!  So when he was 6 I told him if he woke people up then he would have to help entertain them! It really doesn't come down to much more than parenting... learning how to be the authority and helping children understand ..read more

I tend to get a fair amount of emails this time of year that sound a little frantic. "We got off track and there is no way I will finish!" "I am stuck!  We all just want to play and we are not finished." Sound familiar at all? Or maybe you just didn't intend to have as many sick bugs as you were struck with...or maybe you have a little one that gave you more fits than you expected? So many reasons that we get off track.  The important thing isn't to sit and dwell on the WHY. Now is the time to take stock and think about how you can spend the next 6-8 weeks getting finished up. Someth ..read more

Years ago, we went through our old house with our sweet landlady. She hugged me and said we were the best renters she ever had - and she had MAJOR reservations in the beginning because of the size of our family. She gave me the biggest compliment... she said... "You and Erik are such pioneers. When the Spirit calls you to something you answer right away. I admire that." I thought about that for a bit... I pondered our lives, what we do, how we do it and what our family means to each other. I really did think about her words... that we were pioneers. What does that even mean?  I ..read more

It can be really challenging to read blogs and then try to decide what Waldorf actually IS! Waldorf is something different to many different people.  Some are only interested in understanding Waldorf as far as what the schools would be doing. My question to those is...why? The schools can have WONDERFUL experiences associated with them, I have visited many and fallen in love with the beauty of the classrooms, the artistry of a Waldorf teacher's chalk board, marveled at the selection of books in the classroom... but my reality is at home. Do I want to base my schooling on what the schools ..read more

I had a client ask this question and I pondered it a bit. As I have been working through my own planning and also reflecting on my career as a homeschooling mom. What makes us fail? All of us have an off year here and there - some of us have several years that are not what we'd like, whether it is a birth, death, divorce, illness... or even just an off time for us as Mom, it happens to us all.  What separates those who fail (or think they fail) from those who don't is one thing... WILL. Often those seeming *failed* years aren't - especially if you had a plan. To have a plan, yo ..read more

Let's look at something you might already know how to do but didn't realize you should be doing it for yourself, not just your children: Form drawing - this is incredible inner work. I find that working on forms gives me peace and comfort when I am struggling to connect to God because I can't get over myself, lol... yes, I have days when my ego wants to rule and I need to step back.  If I can't get out of that angry place on my own, I turn to form drawing.  Knocking out some of those knotted grade 4 forms will help rebalance me and allow me to connect back to the mama I enjoy being ..read more

Grade 2 (age 7-8):  In many ways, grade two is an extension of grade one.  Some children are reading well and some are still coming along. When you come to Waldorf at this stage, you will need many of the foundations that we recommend for grade one, the exception being that you will want our grade two curriculum instead. Grade 3 (age 8-9):  Consider not working on the regular Waldorf festivals this year but rather celebrate Jewish festivals and ease into your year.  Remember to keep any history to an age-appropriate level.  You can skip the fairy tales and t ..read more

Steiner describes the etheric body or life-body as he sometimes called it, as working "in a formative way on the substances and forces of the physical body and thus brings about the phenomena of growth, reproduction, and inner movement of vital body fluids. It is therefore the builder and shaper of the physical body, its inhabitant and architect. The physical body may even be spoken of as an image or expression of the life-body."  These etheric forces work on our body through our lives and for mothers, we have to work to protect ourselves from being drained.  Pregnancy, nursing and m ..read more

Working Together, a Math Gnome Story by Melisa Nielsen One day King Equals decided he needed a new counting tower.  The old one would be donated to the kingdom to expand their library.  The king looked far and wide for a contractor to build this special tower.  Another king recommended Sir Enufstuff and after talking to him, the king decided to hire him. “Sir Enufstuff, I have my four best gnomes to work for you.  If you work with them together, the project should be built quickly.” “Thank you King Equals, but I have my own ideas about staff.   ..read more