Waldorf Inspired Home School Themes-Animals In Winter

We are Waldorf-inspired homeschoolers, just starting out in kindergarten. Each week follows a theme, inspiring our work and play and learning. This theme is chosen based on the season and what's on our minds. Each week I will share what we've been up to and some links and resources that will hopefully inspire you. There is a link-up at the end of this post... I hope you will share what your home school has been up to. You can find previous weeks here.

'Mr. Bear says all he wants to do is sleep
Now that winters here and snow is very deep
He is curled up in his den
And we probably won't see him
Till the spring when all he want to do is eat!'

Our theme last week (sorry I didn't post this yesterday, Kaiya and I were both sick again, better now) was animals in winter. I shared this project over on the Natural Kids blog last week. It was inspired by Jan Brett's 'The Mitten' and her printable activity page.



Zoe worked on the coloring for us...

while Kaiya practiced her hand sewing.

We also made a paper mache bear cave like this one. We did the paper mache on Wednesday, it wasn't completely dry on Thursday so we took it with us on our Friday meetup with our other Waldorf friends. So instead of cutting an opening as in the tutorial we cut it in half so we could share with our friends. We let the girls paint the cave and a piece of cardboard to sit it on and Sunday the girls finished it up with their dad, cutting construction paper leaves. They've had so much fun putting their animals in there.
We weren't able to get everything done that I would have liked, as Saturday was my husband's birthday and we were pretty busy crafting for that. But if you check out my Pinterest boards you can find more 'animals in winter' inspiration. I also printed some coloring pages from Jan Brett's site and let the girls color them on Monday. Monday is my cleaning day so I like to keep it light that day, generally coloring, drawing or painting.

Songs
Where Is Bear?
Mr. bear
Little Bear
Winter Is Cold
The Mitten

Story
Winter Story
and a couple of books we have
Animals In Winter
When Winter Comes (They're both good but we especially like this one, very informative but not over their heads, even mama learned new stuff! )

Facts
Snug In the Snow


My Pinterest Home Schooling page is here, Verses and Stories here.

A Birthday

Today is my husband's 30th birthday. What a wonderful moment he woke up to. I awoke to the smell of toast and the sound of little feet scurrying about in the kitchen. I could hear plates being pulled down from the shelf and stacked on top of one another. I heard something scrap along a wooden shelf, a sound I knew to be the big serving tray being taken off the shelf. Light clinks and thunks and much scurrying of those little feet. I lay still as Kaiya quietly dashed passed our room and went to the room she shares with her sisters. 'Wake up, Zoe. Zoe, wake up! It's Daddy's birthday! Come on!" Urgently whispering to her sister. They both head back to the kitchen and Kaiya asks Zoe to help her with the tray because it's heavy and tells her to sing 'Happy birthday to you, Daddy!'.
In they come, singing their own version of 'Happy Birthday' and carrying a heavy tray full of toast, jam, apples and homemade presents. Happy birthday, indeed!

I spent the day in the kitchen. Pretty much the whole day. I've been on a bit of a baking frenzy lately, taking much pleasure in trying new recipes, especially bread recipes. Money is really tight right now but I wanted to make Tait something special. Well, simple/special, which is what I do/like best.
Hummus. With extra garlic.

Naan. My first time making it. Love it and will make more. I baked it in the oven.

Cranberry walnut Swirl Bread, sans walnuts. Was supposed to be for breakfast but I was feeling lazy this morning so it's will be tomorrow's breakfast.

Carrot cupcakes.... from a mix! I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and he said carrot cake... 'Just buy a box.' I thought I'd take a break and just do it the easy way. Then I spent the whole day in the kitchen kneading 2 different types of bread and making hummus. Oh, well.





They were well received.

I'll be back tomorrow with some homeschooling inspiration.

A Winter Craft Inspired by Jan Brett's 'The Mitten'

We're learning about animals in winter this week. I shared a little project inspired by Jan Brett's book 'The Mitten' over on the Natural Kids blog. Kaiya loves a chance to work on her hand sewing skills. She really does enjoy it. I think I'm going to give her more sewing projects.



It feels really good to get out homeschooling back on track. We just have so much fun together. And this Saturday I will have a new homeschooling theme post for you. Till then, come on over and visit me at Natural Kids.

Warm

It's not really cold here, not much at all. We've had extremely mild days lately (nearly 70 on Saturday!), 50s and 40s this week. But something about winter, even a mild one, just makes me crave a certain warmth.

Hot beans, soups and breads. Cosy blankets and lying directly in front of the sunny window. Cuddling, knitting, hot tea and candles. It's not really what the thermometer says (for me, maybe it is for you), it's a state of mind. As nature goes into hibernation my spirit seeks warmth and comfort elsewhere. You know, I resisted beans and cornbread as a child, but I crave them often these days. Simple goodness in a bowl.

I finished knitting this hat. It was intended for a friend but felt rather snuggish and just wasn't as slouchy as I would have liked. I think I'll knit another for the friend, this one I handed along to the girls.



Kyrie shares some beautiful reflections on warmth here, that are so inspiring. How are you keeping warm?