This is my first WIP Wednesday post. I aways enjoy them on other blogs. A week ago I took an Ojo workshop taught by Jay Mohler. This is a 12 sided one I started in the last day of the workshop. I found Jay online when I was looking for instructions on how to make simple god’s eyes for a lesson I was putting together. When I saw his Ojos my jaw dropped. I had no idea he lived near me when I found his website. I was lucky to be able to learn from the master. These would be terrific for 6th grade or up Waldorf homeschooling. This directly relates to geometry, and brings it into a 3 dimensional realm. For instance the purple was made with 3 squares, and the 2 two turquoise colors each make 2 triangles, or a 6 sided star each. This 12 sided one is too difficult for younger children, but they could make an 8 sided one or a 4 sided one witha bit of help. Mr. Mohler has a step by step tutorial on how to make an 8 sided Ojo on his website. The one below is an 8 sided Ojo. You should take a look at his website just to see the beautiful Ojos he makes. The ones I have made are really amature. His are amazing to look into. He also has a facebook page where he posts videos & pictures of new pieces he has available. I know that he also has an etsy shop.

Earlier this year we did a place value lesson with squirrels, gnomes, and squirrel hotels carved out of trees.  This is a game we created to go along with the place value lesson. We took it out again this week & reviewed place value, and added the millions manor.

This is how to make & play squirrels Grove.

To play each player rolls the die.

The players draws from the stone bag as many stones as the number they rolled with the die. So if I roll a 5, I would draw 5 stones. The player then places the stones in the hollows of the trees, and says the number that was created. In this instance I drew 5, and the number created was 30, 264 or thirty thousand, two hundred sixty four.

The next part is totally optional, as it may make it competitive. I realize this may be undesirable when you are trying to build a child’s confidence in math. We created a second board that is a great deal like snakes & ladders. When a player says their number correctly they move the same number of places on the game board as the number they made has stones. So if I had said the number above correctly, I would move 5 spaces since my number was made with 5 stones. We used nuts as game pieces. The first person to reach the 3 trees of squirrel grove wins.

To make the game you will need:

• 3 small posterboards or thick papers
• small flat river rocks like you would find in the floral dept, black is best.
• a die or 2 if you have different levels of players
• crayons, preferably beeswax ones
• something such as bag or bowl for the stones
• string, or yarn
• optional paper for snakes & ladders type board

First, create the playing boards. Have the child/ren draw large trees with hollows large enough to place your stones in. You will need 3 trees. You may only use the hundreds tree if your child is in 1st grade, but you can add more trees as the child’s knowledge of place value grows. My daughter is in 3rd & we now work on place value up to the hundred millions. Use a hole punch to make holes on the edges & tie the trees together. The whole thing can be folded up & put away when you are done playing.

Next, take the stones & paint numbers from 0 to 9. I used a paint pen, but acrylic with a brush will work just as well.You will need a die. It does not matter what numbers are on the die. You can always place stickers over the existing numbers &  write what ever numbers you like.  A child that is only working with values up to the hundreds place may need a die with only 1, 2, & 3 each appearing twice on the die. A standard 1 to 6 die may be just what you need. Right now the die we are using has 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, & 3.

You can then create the snakes & ladders type board to go along with the game. This is optional, but my daughter really likes it. It was her idea. We use nuts as game pieces.  It is a simple, but very effective game. It really helps them be able to read larger numbers correctly by allowing them to really see how the placement created the value. Such as 246 could be only that, or it could be 246 thousand, or 246 million depending on which tree (or place) it is in. regardless of where it is, it is still said the same way. The stones can be used in any number of ways in simple math games. Such as pick 4 stones & add them. Pick 2 stones, and multiply them, ect. I hope this tutorial makes sense. If you have questions just place them in the comments section, and I will reply ASAP.

This is a picture my daughter drew when we did this lesson in 2nd grade. She did it in her free time on her own because she loved the math story & lesson so much. 

After we learned about the Ojibwe and their homes and land it was time for day of the dead. We did the typical day of the dead activities. We made pan de meurto. I liked the recipe we used this year better than any I had ever tried. It was easier than the others, and when you added the glaze it smelled & tasted like fresh doughnuts. I think I will make it again soon, but call it something else. We decorated with simple fold & cut papel picado. I still have not taken them down. I think I will make some red & green ones for Christmas. I thought it would be a good time to start learning spanish. We already knew some basic phrases, colors, numbers, and things like that, we need to learn more so that we can speak it conversationally. We are learning it through songs & movement. We take the words & phrases from the songs & make large cards with the words on them and hang them up. We try to use the new words in everyday life.   I decided since it was day of the dead that we would learn about the mud houses of the Aztecs. Day of the dead has it’s roots in Aztec culture. The Aztec commoners lived in simple one room homes make of pole frames covered in mud or mud bricks. They usually had a thatched roof.   The Aztecs used cocoa beans as money we discussed this very briefly, as we will be going back to it deeper when we do a measurement block on money. Th Mexicolore  website has a really wonderful page about cocoa as money. 3 cocoa beans would have been worth one avocado. I told my daughter the story of how the little blue frog brought cocoa to the people. We made a hot chocolate whisk called a “molinillo” from a piece of dowel & copper wire. All you do to make one is coil about 4 feet of wire around a dowel that is smaller than the one you are using for the handle. This will make your wire look like a spring. You need at least 3 of them. Then you just wrap the coils around the dowel/handle and wire on tightly. 

To make hot chocolate in the traditional way you rotate the molinillo between your two hands placed palm-sides together.  The twisting motion frothes the chocolate. We made hot chocolate in this way while singing a  traditional chant..

You can hear this chant & others for free at the Texas State Library Archives website.

“Chocolate”  is about 1/3 down the page. This is a great resource for anyone wanting to add spanish to your curriculum or circle time.

We made some easy ojo de dios, or God’s eyes. The Caron website has a nice tutorial if you would like to see how to make them.

My daughter kept asking me “where” these different people we are learning about live. This continued to be an issue. She could not reconcile what their  natural environment & climate was with where they were located. To me this was a huge issue that needed to be addressed.  I decided we needed a map. I printed out a map of North America, or “Turtle Island”  as many indigenous people called it. It was a completely blank map that we could color & fill in as we like. When we study a group of people and their homes we draw their house on the map where they live/d. You can print out a map in just about any size up to 7ft (I think). The one here is 3ft x 4ft. It prints out on regular printer paper & you just tape or glue it together.

The next people we studied were the Cherokee. We did not do any traditional school work with this group. Instead we went to where they lived (and still live & thrive). We went to the north Georgia Mountains. I love it there. We went to many little areas and saw the amazing sites. We went to Tallulah Gorge. This gorge is HUGE. I think they said 950ft. We were lucky enough to be there when they let the water loose. There was some really nice white water, and the kayakers were taking full advantage of it.  They have a small, but very nice museum, and info center. They had a great deal of information on the Cherokee inside, as well as some myths & legends you could read next to pictures & displays.  Outside they had a wonderful blacksmith by the name of David Little doing demonstrations for visitors.  David is a man of many talents. He does black smith demos, makes unbelievable lighting fixtures, rehabilitates birds of prey and works at the Hike Inn at Amicalola Falls, an Inn you have to hike 5 miles on foot to get to. While driving around we discovered a beautiful old water powered mill right outside of Helen, Ga on the Chattahoochee River call the Nora Mill Garnary Grist Mill. It has been there since 1876. They grind all kinds of grain with very old french burr stones that are powered by the river you see in the pic below. This was a perfect thing for a 3rd grader to see as it ties into so many of our lessons.

 While we were up there we went to a great little music festival called Hemlockfest. It is a 3 day camp out festival  put on every year to raise money to help save the hemlock trees which are being utterly devastated by a beetle. The proceeds go to university labs trying to save the Hemlocks. It was a great little festival. This was the view as we walked down the drive toward the festival.

Once we were in the festival it was alive with music & good cheer. The weather could not have been better. This festival is wonderful. They even had canoes you could take out onto the lake for free.  They had a tepee set up at the far end of the lake that you could go inside of.  That’s my husband playing violin on a rock by the lake.The sign read “western plains tepee lodge..come in, sit down, tell stories.” 

They let you bring your dog.  I have been to many music festivals, and this is the only one that is dog friendly. We heard Col. Bruce Hampton, and the Quark Alliance play on Saturday night, and all I can say is wow!! Great show…..I really loved this little festival. I will definitely be back next year.

Shortly after we came home we went on a field trip to Cypress Gardens in Moncks Corner, SC. This was a nice field trip. We all went out into the black water swamp on boats. They have a buttefly pavillion, and aquarium too. I managed to capture this wierd little butterfly with my camera.

Here’s another of the same species in larva form….

That is what we have been up to the past few weeks. We are still working on our shelters block. Right now we are learning about tepees of the plains.

After a great deal of consideration, and reading the kind, and supportive comments some folks have left, I have decided that I will continue to post about our homeschool journey. I had no idea so many of you were getting something out of our blog. Most of my adult life I have only wanted to help, whether it be animals, friends, the earth, or children… and if my posting about things that we do can be useful and helpful, then I will continue. I may go a week without posting, maybe even 2 weeks, but I will continue.  At the time when I had decided to end this blog I was feeling very run down….I felt like there was just no point in it. I suppose I am a perfectionist who tends to be melancholic, and that makes me have a very all or nothing attitude. It is not healthy, or constructive, and is something I definitely have to work on. I also had some cyber swiping with a nameless website swiping content, and that was very upsetting. I over re-acted to the situation when I let that incident defeat me. So, I will be posting. I hope many of you will continue to read. I do feel a little silly about the last post. While I was considering what I should do in regards to this blog a quote by James Keller continued to come up ”A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle”. There are so many people who served as a source of light for me, who have shared their knowledge, skill, and kindness. If I can use this blog as a way to return even a fraction of what I have received then it is worth the effort.

Love & light to all of you, Jenn

This will be the last post I write on this blog. It as been wonderful reading comments & well wishes from readers. I am just having a difficult time maintaining it, and keeping up with my responsibilities as a mother, and wife. I will leave the content that is here up so that it is still available for anyone who needs it.

Love & light, Jenn

This is an easy tutorial for paper lanterns from a watercolor painting. You can of course make a painting just for a lantern, or use any other kind of paper.

gather materials: Watercolor painting, scrap cardboard such as from a cereal box, scissors, glue stick, tape, x-acto knife, tissue paper, clothespin, wire for handle

make a line 1 1/2 inches up from bottom, cut paper below line as shown

cut shapes from paper with x-acto knife

coat back with glue

 

lay tissue on the back

 

fold up tabs toward back

 

apply glue to the edge of one side

 

clip one end, this will help in holding it in place, tape seam shut

 

trace around cylinder

  

 

 

 

draw a circle just slightly smaller than the one you traced, cut out smaller circle. Trace the one you cut out so that you have 2 cardboard circles

 

coat one side of each cardboard circle with glue. One goes on the inside, the other glue to the bottom

 

Put something heavy (like a jar or can) inside to weight it down until glue on cardboard circles dry

 

Now you can add a wire handle. If you are going to carry it on a stick or dowel, make a notch in you stick abput 1/2 an inch from the end. This will make a place for the handle to rest on the stick without slipping.

Martinmas/Lantern Walk

St. Martin of Tours was born in 316 and died on November 11, 397. He is known as a deeply religious man who shared his cloak with a beggar and represents the attitude of brotherliness. According to old customs at this time, as the days become shorter and the stars appear earlier, children would walk with lanterns through the streets singing. As the world grows darker, the inner light of man wants to shine forth – from Shepherd Valley Waldorf School

Golden light is turning grey,
Mists begin to rule the day.
Bare the trees, their branches lift;
Clouds of dead leaves earthward drift.

Through the field the farmer goes,
Seeds of ripened corn he sows’
Trusts the earth will hold it warm,
Shelter it from cold and harm.

For he knows that warmth and light
Live there, hidden from our sight;
And beneath a sheltering wing,
Deep below, new life will spring!

Deep below, deep below, new life will spring!

Martinmas stories

Martin & the Poor Man- http://herbnites.tripod.com/waldorfinspiredschool/id15.html

A Golden Lantern- http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/GW3808.pdf

This is the story I will use for a mixed age group. I will tell my daughter the story of Saint Martin while we make our lanterns.

The Lantern

There was once a boy called George who had been outside in the garden all through the Summer running after the butterflies, jumping like a grasshopper, singing like a bird, and trying to catch the sunlight. One day when he was lying on his back in the meadow gazing up into the sun-filled sky, he said, “Dear Brother Sun, soon the Autumn winds will blow and wail, and Jack Frost will come and make us all freeze, and the nights will be long and cold.”  Brother Sun pushed the clouds aside and said, “Yes, it will be dark and cold. In the deep midwinter, warmth and light live deep within, hidden from sight. In the time of dark and cold, you will tend the Light Within.” “But,” said George, “How will I tend this Light when it’s dark everywhere around me?”“I will give you a spark of my last Autumn rays once you have made a little house for it, for this spark must be guarded well. It will light the way for you to tend the Light Within throughout the time of dark and cold.” And then Brother Sun once hid again behind a cloud. George went home and wondered how best he could make a little house for the spark of the sun. He took a thick piece of paper and painted a beautiful blue and yellow watercolor upon it. When it was dry, he cut windows into his painting. Then he placed colored tissue paper on the back of his watercolor – and – he formed it into a lantern. He took a candle and put it into the middle of his lantern. And, as it was growing dark, he went outside with it. George held the lantern up above him and said, “Brother Sun, I have made a little home for one of your golden sparks. Please may I have one? I will guard it well.” Then Brother Sun looked out from behind a cloud and said, “You have made a beautiful home. I shall give you one of my golden sparks.” And suddenly, George saw how the windows of his lantern were lit up, and as he looked into the lantern, he saw a spark happily dancing on top of the candle. Oh, how happy the light was in his lovely lantern! It shone and shone so brightly. “Thank you, Brother Sun,” George called out, “Thank you.” And he took his lantern and carried it carefully home singing:

 The sunlight fast is dwindling,

My little lamp needs kindling.

Its beam shines far in darkest night,

Dear Lantern, guard me with your light
~ from Autumn, Wynstones Press, originally by M Meyerkort and revised by L Sutter.

Martinmas lanterns

Paper mache globe lanterns http://maymomvt.blogspot.com/2007/11/making-lanterns-for-martinmas.html

turnip lanterns- http://resurrectionfern.typepad.com/resurrection_fern/2008/10/how-to-make-a-lantern-out-of-a-rhutabaga-or-turnip-a-seasonal-tutorial.html

water color lanterns- http://naturenest.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/watercolor-paper-lantern-tutorial/

glass jar lanterns-  http://ourhomeschooljourney.co.za/wordpress/142/how-to-make-a-lantern-for-waldorf-festivals-or-waldorf-inspired-gifts/

folded construction paper lantern (only for older childern) http://www.pacon.com/projects/PaperLanterns.htm

For 3 songs you can hear go to http://astorytellingofcrows.blogspot.com/

Aricles about Martinmas

http://chicmommyusa.com/martinmas-lantern-walk/

http://www.waldorfwithoutwalls.com/newsletter/39 -halloween & Martinmas

 While searching the web for a worry doll tutorial I came across Amnesty International’s website. I had never heard of CEDAW, nor did I know the US was one of the only countries not to have yet ratified CEDAW. Instead of making worry dolls for ourselves we will make them, and send them to Amnesty International before december 10th, and take part in helping other women, and mothers around the world who are not as lucky as we are. Below is excerpted from Amnesty Internationals website. Please go there for more details,  how to make the worry dolls, and to learn more about CEDAW.

Amnesty International USA activists around the country are crafting worry dolls to send a symbolic message to the Senate. We’re urging them to help protect women’s human rights by ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Throughout the world, discrimination against women and girls is pervasive, and its impact is devastating. Of the world’s 1.3 billion poorest people, 70 percent are female. Violence against women is prevalent: one in three women worldwide will experience assault, rape or other abuse during her lifetime. Two-thirds of the world’s 771 million illiterate adults are women. Due to lack of adequate health care, more than 530,000 women die each year from pregnancy-related complications – one every minute.

CEDAW establishes international protections against these abuses: it offers women redress against violence, guarantees equal access to education, and commits nations to fighting maternal mortality. Yes the United States remains one of the only countries that has not ratified CEDAW.

One woman lost to pregnancy-related complications every minute means more than 10,000 maternal deaths every week — and those statistics are cause for urgent concern and attention. In Mayan tradition (and in some other indigenous communities around the world) one way to deal with worry is to make a “worry doll” — a simple doll made with a few popsicle sticks or a clothes-pin and some yarn or thread.

AIUSA members around the country are crafting these worry dolls. Join us in crafting 10,000 worry dolls to symbolize the 10,000 mothers we lose every week! Next year, we’ll deliver them to the Senate to push them to finally ratify CEDAW and protect women’s human rights.

Amnesty International USA activists around the country are crafting worry dolls to send a symbolic message to the Senate. We’re urging them to help protect women’s human rights by ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Throughout the world, discrimination against women and girls is pervasive, and its impact is devastating. Of the world’s 1.3 billion poorest people, 70 percent are female. Violence against women is prevalent: one in three women worldwide will experience assault, rape or other abuse during her lifetime. Two-thirds of the world’s 771 million illiterate adults are women. Due to lack of adequate health care, more than 530,000 women die each year from pregnancy-related complications – one every minute.

CEDAW establishes international protections against these abuses: it offers women redress against violence, guarantees equal access to education, and commits nations to fighting maternal mortality. Yes the United States remains one of the only countries that has not ratified CEDAW.

One woman lost to pregnancy-related complications every minute means more than 10,000 maternal deaths every week — and those statistics are cause for urgent concern and attention. In Mayan tradition (and in some other indigenous communities around the world) one way to deal with worry is to make a “worry doll” — a simple doll made with a few popsicle sticks or a clothes-pin and some yarn or thread.

AIUSA members around the country are crafting these worry dolls. Join us in crafting 10,000 worry dolls to symbolize the 10,000 mothers we lose every week! Next year, we’ll deliver them to the Senate to push them to finally ratify CEDAW and protect women’s human rights.

This weeks lessons focused on the Ojibwe people of the great lakes region. I could have easily taken a month or two on them. I began with the story of Turtle Island, modern day north america. I told this story http://www.gct3.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/creation_story.pdf . It was a wonderful transition story to use to create a bridge from old testament legends  into our native american block. The Ojibwe creation story of Turtle Island is similar to the Noah story in that the earth is flooded by the creator because people had become wicked. Instead of a chalkboard illustration I decided to do a watercolor. I wish I could have taken more time on it, but it served it’s purpose. My DD put the story in  her new native stories main lesson  book.

We learned about how the pre-contact Ojibwe lived. We learned about birch trees that grow where they live/d, and how the bark is removed in sheets and used to create shelters called wigwams, canoes to travel through the lakes on, and buckets for harvesting things. My DD put a paragraph about wigwams, and an illustration in her shelters main lesson book. I put an Ojibwe prayer on the board, and we recited it throughout the week.

We talked very briefly about wild rice, a staple of the Ojibwe. We will return to it when we do our small block on the grains.

We had a great time making a dome shaped hut from newspapers. This was the part of our lessons that was enjoyed the most. It reminded me of the dome shape of a wigwam. It was pretty simple to make, not to mention the bonus of it being absolutely free! You can find a great tutorial at pepper paints blog . Throw a lightweight sheet on, and you have a cosy little hide away ready for hours of play.

We worked on the number 8, and it’s times table through rhymes & tossing a beanbag.  Since it’s halloween we made a spider mobile, and put the 8 times table numbers of the spiders bodies.

We also learned the story of the dream catcher, and Ojibwe legend. We made a dream catcher from things we had around the house. We went outside, and cut some vines that were growing around a tree to make the hoop, and used hemp string for the web. I used a combination of this story & this story to make one smooth Dream Catcher story. 

I also checked out a few picture books about Ojibwe legends from the library.

Windigo’s Return- Great story about a monster from Ojibwe legend who eats people. It’s kind of scary, but has a humorous ending.

The Legend of The Lady Slipper-Beautiful tale about a brave girl who ventures into the night to save her people from a sickness that has stricken her entire village. Were were going to make mocassins in conjunction to this story, but ran out of time.

Ladder To The Sky- Another Ojibwe story with similarities to an Old testament legend. In this story the people lived in peace without sickness, or death, until someone disobeys the creator, and consequence ensues.

On friday we went to Brookgreen Gardens, about 30 minutes from our house. The most amazing trees east of the Redwood Forests are here at Brookgreen. If I were to move from here it would be the trees my heart would ache for.

The trees in the pics are magnificent by any standards, but are not the most amazing in the gardens. These were all in the native species zoo. My camera battery went dead before we got into the gardens, which are just completely enchanted. If you are ever near the mid-South Carolina coast, Brookgreen is a must see.

If you read this blog you know it’s weird that I post this week’s lessons on Monday. I really just needed to go ahead & post them so that I could close the book, so to speak, on old testament legends (for now). We need to clean the slate & start fresh. Today we finished up the Noah/flood story. First we made easy origami doves which we colored. This was a great activity because this was a “folding story”. I retold the story of Noah as we did the folds. Each of the folds symbolized part of the story. I did a separate post on how to make the doves. If you hold their chests and move them up & down the wings & tail will flutter & appear to fly. My daughter just loved this, and made several of them. My daughter wrote the story in her book & did a few illustrations for it. We had a discussion about what it would be like to build such an enormous structure. Through out Noah we sang Shel Silverstein’s poem”Unicorn“. It is kind of silly, but most kids relish silliness. It tells of why the unicorns did not get on the Ark. There are several youtube videos of people doing it as a song if anyone wants to hear it. My dd likes to sing rather than recite, so I accomodate her when fitting.

We sculpted a few animals, and a rainbow from beeswax.

My daughter made her favorite doll “Posey” her Halloween costume. This served as handwork. Posey has been a constant companion since I made her when my daughter was 4. I have repaired holes, re-stitched hair, cleaned repeatedly, and even had to do a complete body replacement. A mean cousin  drew all over her face with a sharpie. That just devastated my daughter, but fortunately the most wonderful dry cleaners in the world at Conway Cleaners cleaned her up for us free of charge. Posey has reached Velveteen Rabbit status. She’s real. So it is only natural that she have her own costume. A is pretty good at working in 3 dimension. She hand sewed the gnome hat from a pattern she made herself. I was suprised to see a 3 panel gnome hat. That was not something I had ever thought of before, but it worked out well. She sewed pink wings onto the doll’s overalls.

So, thats all for now on the old testament legends. The remainder of the week we will work on wigwams made by the Ojibwe. We will hear about the beginning of Turtle Island, a story about a monster called Windigo that eats people & has a heart of ice, and the legend of the dream catcher, all three Ojibwe legends. We will draw, we will sew puckered moccasins, we will make a dream catcher to hang above our beds to capture any bad dreams that arise from all of the weird, scary, modern halloween images she takes in this time of year. Working from the spider theme of the dream catcher we will work on the 8 times table. I think since we are working on 8 in math our form drawing will reflect this too, although I am not sure what forms we will work on. I am thrilled to have a change, and I know my daughter is too.