Our (pirate) School of Make Believe

Sugar crystals for your Nature Table

2009-12-12T20:07:00.001-08:00

We made a Sugar Crystal for our winter nature table. It was easy and fun! my son is very proud to show off his crystal to anyone who comes over! Here is a link to directions:
http://www.ehow.com/how_3863_grow-sugar-crystals.html
We let the crystal sugar set for more than 24 hours. Then pulled out the largest formation and tied string around crystal and the pencil and put it into a new jar of cold water for 24 hours.

Magical Halloween Cutting Story

2009-10-15T10:59:00.000-07:00

We have done this story for two years now and it is magical! It is a story about a witch and a mouse finding a home in the cold. You cut along with the story and reveal the surprise at the end! Practice this one first before sharing it and have two pieces of paper because they may want you to "do it again!" Here is the link to the story.
Have Fun! Happy Halloween! If are are interested in learning some really cute Halloween songs to sing with your children, I highly recommend Wee sing for Halloween! I learned these songs and we now sing them every year!

Pumpkins

2009-10-07T21:18:00.001-07:00

Last year, when my son was in Kindy, we had a little fall festival/get together with other Waldorf home schoolers and decorated Pumpkins and Gourds with natural materials! They turned out great! Each family collected natural materials during their nature walks and rummaged through their cupboard for the decorative items. We had thins like, dried goji berries, almonds, leaves, twigs, bark, pine needles, dried flowers, acorn caps, even seaweed! The glue was a little drippy but dried clear! :)

Dragon Bread

2009-09-30T11:28:00.001-07:00

DRAGON BREAD
My son is now attending a Waldorf Program for first grade. But I will continue to share some of the activities we did last year during our Homeschool Kindy adventures in The Pirate School of Make Believe!
We made Dragon Bread for Michaelmas. We used the recipe from Bread making with Children. My son sculpted the dough and then added raisins for eyes and crushed almonds all over! We also read the story. "The Most Beautiful Dragon in the Whole World" and water colored a sky with a sun to go along with the story! We also dyed silk capes from Marigolds growing in our Garden with friends at a park on a camp stove. I highly recommend that you buy mortar or alum for this project so that the color stays better! Wishing you a season of courage and strength!

Midsummer's Eve Fairy Cakes

2009-06-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

For our Mid Summer's Eve Party we made these wee fairy sized cakes from two vanilla sandwich style cookies. Then we decorated them as you might a regular sized cake! See how they look like mini layer cakes when cut! And they are Organic, except for the wee bit of sprinkles. We got the idea from the book Tiny Treats. We also read the book the flower's festival, created "sun" spin art and crafted fairies attached to sticks and danced them at twilight. It was a magical evening.

Mother Earth Kindy Loom and Weaving

2009-06-20T23:14:00.000-07:00

My son has been attending a part time, all outdoor kindy class and this was there beautiful hand work project that they worked on. They sawed the branches, drilled holes and pound in pegs to make the loom. She told them a Native American story about the how the bottom of the loom is the earth, the top the sky and the strings are the rain. Then they weaved Grass at the bottom for the earth, and a multi colored wool yarn with dark purples (mountains and stones), greens (grass and hills, meadows) blues ( streams, lakes, rivers) and pinks (wildflowers) then she showed them how drop spindled the yellow into yarn for the sunshine! We loved Mother Earth Kindy!

Leprechaun Trap

2009-03-17T15:00:00.001-07:00

So this year we set out a Leprechaun trap in the garden. We made it from a cardboard box. My son painted on glue and then we covered it with shamrock fabric. Then my son drew a rainbow with his beeswax crayons and we cut it out and glued it on as well. For bait, we put a very glittery gold paper underneath and since we were already planning on making NT Macaroons, we decided to dye one green and leave it out there as well. We also planted shamrock seeds . This is a Poem my son really enjoys.

The Dear Little Shamrock

by Andrew Cherry

There's a dear little plant that grows in Ireland.
'Twas Saint Patrick himself sure that set it.
And the sun on his labor with pleasure did smile.
And a tear from his eyes oft-times wet it.
It grows thro' the bog, thro' the brake, and the mireland,
And it's called the dear little Shamrock of Ireland.

That dear little plant still grows in our land,
Fresh and fair as the daughters of Erin,
Whose smiles can bewitch, and whose eyes can command,
In each climate they ever appear in:
For they shine thro' the bog, thro' the brake, and the mireland,
Just like their own dear little Shamrock of Ireland.

That dear little plant that springs from our soil,
When its three little leaves are extended,
Denotes from the stalk we together should toil,
And ourselves by ourselves be befriended.
And still thro' the bog, thro' the brake, and the mireland,
From one root should branch, like the Shamrock of Ireland.

Then we made Irish Soda bread ,from the Baking Bread with Children book, to have with our dinner (corned beef and cabbage. Yeah yeah, I know, not truly traditional but a tradition in my family growing up :) yum). Our fortune was not made, we did not catch a Leprechaun but did find some of gold! He tricked us!!! It was really chocolate that LOOKED like gold!! Better luck next time! It was a very enjoyable day.

Mason Bees

2009-03-09T19:06:00.001-07:00

It is time to get ready to host mason bees in the North West! We have read two stories recently that had bees in them. The first was From Grimm's called 'The Queen bee" and the second is " The little Girl who would not work" from the book For the children's hour. This last story was a good choice considering we have had a slow start, since moving cross the country, at getting back (full swing) into our rhythm. But we are on our way! If you do not have one of these hand drills, it is a really great thing to get! My son thoroughly enjoyed drilling holes in that block of wood for the mason bees! Mason bees are gentle pollinators and we are hoping they help us grow some yummy blueberries! For more info on mason bees, check out this website.

Valentines Gold

2009-02-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

Our story for the week of Valentines was "A Million Valentines" by Suzanne Downs from the Juniper tree. You can sign up for her monthly news letter. It is a great resource! In the story an old man is watching the sun rise over the snow topped mountains and the Golden hue reminds him of the golden finches he usually feeds. He finds his supplies ( net bags and thistle) and sets it out it out as a Valentine gift for the birds. They in turn leave him a surprise Valentines as well! We visited our local Birding store and found the bags and the thistle. The next day we had attracted golden finches to our yard! The story came to life!

Valentines

2009-02-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

For Valentines making, I pull out all my old funky craft supplies from the olden days when I would stay up all night making art. My Son just loves to dig through all my stuff, the old clippings from falling apart books, calendars, and what not. There is also a great assortment of stickers and sparkles in there. He chooses what strikes his fancy and then the very cutest part is that he really considers what the person he is making the card for might like. Then he composes a little saying to go with each card. For example: On the back of the sun Valentine ( upper right corner) He had me write on the back: "It's cold here today, I hope your Valentines shines bright" Watching him create these card is MY Valentine's gift!

Candlemas

2009-02-09T13:38:00.000-08:00

Last week we celebrated Candlemas and our story was a slightly modified version of "The Well and the Flame" from the book Circle Round. We observed Candlemas by tidying up all the pine boughs that blew into the yard from our trees, picking out our seeds for our garden, lighting candles in the ground to"warm up" mother Earth so we can then plant our seeds and she can help them grow. We also "plant" our own intentions (what we want to do, change, accomplish) in a clay pot with soil, light a candle in the pot and share our intentions with each other. Then we will add this soil to our garden when we do plant our seeds so that our intentions "grow as well". We also lit a fire in the fireplace using our fire starters that we made the week before ( for our"Shingebiss" story). They worked GREAT!

The Well and the Flame

2009-02-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

In our Story, titled "The Well and the Flame" from the book Circle Round, a brother and sister are wondering when the long winter will end. Saint Bridget gives them the message that Spring will come when "clean water rises in the sacred well and bright flame burns in every hearth". The children are not sure what it means. But they decide to go and make sure there is a fire in the hearth of every villager and ask them if they know of a holy well. They end up at Old Man Mad-dog's house. He is a grumpy man who is not kind to children. In fact, he usually shakes a stick at them as they run past. But the children realize that Old Man Mad-dog does not have a fire in his hearth and that he is in need of help. He tells them that there is an old well in the forest. After helping the old man, they find the old well, which has been littered with sticks and garbage and start to clear it out. They find out that "inside the heart of every girl and boy is a holy well, full of the waters of love and joy and new ideas. This is the well you must keep clean, because it can easily be choked by hatred, greed, and selfishness, And inside you also is a sacred flame, the flame of life. This is the fire you must tend and feed and keep burning, so that you grow to be strong and wise and brave" During our walk in our the nature area in our new neighborhood what do you suppose we stumbled upon? Needless to say this is now a project for us to keep clear and clean! Homeschooling can be so magical and inspiring at times!

Fire Starters ( help brave Cold North WInds)

2009-02-01T16:56:00.000-08:00

Last week our story was Shingebiss from Wynstones WINTER. In this story a little brown duck, named Shingebiss, cheerily goes about his daily chores of pulling up reeds in the ice to make fishing holes and taking his fish home to cook upon his warm fire. Even though the North wind is raging, he continues to brave the weather! This story explains why ducks are not frozen and seem unaware of the cold, winter weather! Seems they can even laugh "quack, quack ,quack" at the North wind's cold and frost! We made fire starters out of paper egg cartons, dryer lint and melted wax because , unlike Shingebiss, We need help staying warm when the North wind blows!!

Other ideas:
*Bundle up and visit ducks at a wetlands or pond. See how they do not seem to mind the cold!
(We saw Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks, American Coots, Buffle Heads, and Northern Shovelers ) you don't need to identify ducks with children in Kindergarten. My son is in his last year of Kindergarten and birding has become his new passion and hobby!
*Act out the story. White and blue play silks make a fine North Wind!
*Sing Shingbiss' song and add the rythym by clapping or rhythm sticks, or Native American drums.

Nature Area

2009-01-23T23:17:00.000-08:00

We have a very small but magical little nature area within 20 ft of our front door now! It has a small creek, bridge, misty forest, and a meadow area. I plan on incorporating this little spot into our homeschool day as much as possible. I can see us telling our stores by the creek, having picnics in the meadow, WELL maybe after it warms up a little! For now we have been taking brisk afternoon walks.

Winter Seasonal/Table

2009-01-23T23:08:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had Happy Holidays! We moved from SUNNY Florida to CHILLY Oregon! Our first step towards getting back into the homeschooling groove was to set up our Winter Seasonal Nature Table. We collected evergreens and pine cones from the back yard. My son chose a postcard of a gnome banking a fire on the hearth and cooking. This seems fitting as we are adjusting to the cooler weather and having lots of fires in the fireplace and making pot after pot of soup! He also added some clear crystals to represent frost,and ice. A felted Jack Frost is also displayed because one morning we woke to find that Jack Frost had been painting his frosty white pictures on our car and front lawn! Very exciting stuff for a kid who has lived in Florida his whole life!

Handmade Gift Idea!

2008-12-02T11:26:00.000-08:00

A Pine cone slathered with organic, natural peanut butter. then sprinkled with birdseeds makes a very lovely handmade gift for family members, friends and wildlife!!!!

Birds

2008-12-02T11:06:00.001-08:00

Our Stories over the next 4 weeks will be from the book Christmas Roses Legends for advent. This week our story is "The Legend of the Bird's Nest". In this story , a Hermit prays to God for the destruction of the world due to all the suffering it's people has created. He is a gnarled, old hermit and while he is praying, with arms outstretched to the heavens , two little birds mistaken him for a tree and build their nest in his hand. Watching these birds, and especially the baby birds that hatach, cause the hermit to have a change of heart. One of my family's all time favorites!!! This week , one project we made is a pine cone bird feeder. We gathered the pine cones from our yard and slathered on organic natural peanut butter and then sprinkled on some bird seeds. Dried fruit could also be added. This was a fun project so we decided to make a few as gifts as well.
Other ideas:
Visit a bird sanctuary
Make your own birds nest from natural or found materials OR make a little box of helpful natural materials for the birds to use.

Advent

2008-12-02T11:05:00.001-08:00

During Advent, we light a candle each evening to mark the path to Christmas day. We use a night sky play silk over a small round table and spiral 24 tea light candles towards one golden star candle in the center ( representing Christmas Day) We also decorate the spiral with pine branches and little wooden stars ( that we have painted golden.) Each Sunday during the Advent we add a representation of each kingdom to the spiral.
1st Sunday: Rocks, Crystals, Shells
2nd Sunday: Small plants
3rd Sunday: Little wooden animals
4th: People ( Mary and Joesph figures)
I sing "One Star Shone" from Sing a Song of Seasons by Mary Thienes-Schunemann each and every night after we light the candle. I love this time of year!

Apples

2008-11-13T09:43:00.000-08:00

This week our story is The Star House from Autumn Tales by Suzanne Down. In this story a little apple tree looks up to the stars and wishes he could be a star. Mother Earth tells the little tree to be patient and he will discover that he is as special as the stars. The seasons come and go and once the apple is ripe and picked, Mother Earth shows the little tree his own stars, which he has had all along! A very sweet story. We have had apples for snack everyday ( the one I cut open after the story each day as pictured here) This apple story lends itself to many baking and cooking projects as well! We will be making caramel apples as well as apple pie ( for Thanksgiving).
Other Activities:
Apple Prints on cloth napkins with fabric paint
Drying apples slices (sliced with star showing)
Planting the seeds

Toadstools

2008-11-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

This week our story is The Mushroom In the Rain by the teachers at Acorn Hill Waldorf Kindergarten and Nursery, From the book A Lifetime of Joy. In this story , an ant seeks shelter from the rain under a mushroom. As it rains, more and more animals continue to seek shelter under it as well. After it has stops raining the animals all leave the shelter for their homes and the little ant wonders just HOW they were able to all fit underneath! A very sweet story. We are using wooden animals and a few homemade ones as well as props to tell this story. One of our projects included crafting and then painting toadstools from a paper egg carton.
Other Activities:
Cooking with a variety of mushrooms ( cleaning and cutting)
Portabella mushroom prints
Hunting for mushrooms outside after a rainfall