Whipple Dam

Zade is basically in his last year of pre-school, and Aria is now in 1st grade.  Here are some pictures we took to show them at the beginning of the school year.

Whipple Dam

We had a lot of fun going to the nearby lake and playing in the water and sand.  It's been a cool summer this year, without a lot of sun, but we did have a lovely sunny day on this Saturday and the kids enjoyed making sculptures in the sand.

Home School
We've begun our first big unit for school.  It's a 4 week language arts unit.  During the four weeks all the letters of the alphabet are introduced to the kids.  The letters are brought to the children creatively through a the story of a proud prince who must go on a quest with a wise woman in order to learn how to become a good king.  Additionally, famous fairy tales are woven into the story, such as the Golden Goose, which was told to the kids last week.  In order to make the story more fun, I made stick puppets to go along with the characters in the story.  In typical Waldorf fashion, I crafted them quite simply and did not create faces, so that the children could use their own imaginations. Aria already knows all her letters, so I am asking her to perform additional work.  While Zade only has to practice writing the letters, I have Aria write sentences about each of the characters in the story.

We also began painting this past week.  We are doing wet-on-wet watercolor painting.  We are using very nice professional painting paper and paints.  First grade is supposed to be primarily experiencing color.  Here the kids are painting with only red and blue.  I told them a story about how red came to the park bold and confident and then blue came, very shy in the corner, and then the story continues with each color meeting each other and their interactions together.  I realized that we should probably paint inside on the table after this experience because it left quite a mess on the sidewalk.

 Each letter is drawn to also represent a character from the story.  The kids draw these pictures also and put them in their portfolios.

Each day we do our calendar.  Zade usually picks out the number and Aria puts in the weather.

Here are some pictures from our summer picnic at Ms. Katrina's house.  Katrina brought her table and dishes and many of the toys outside for the children.  It was all set up beautifully.  The kids picked many vegetables and fruit from the garden again, and created a delicious salad.

 The kids are starting a music program called "Lets Play Music."  It's supposed to help the kids internalize music theory through singing and games.

Ryzen is continuing to make progress toward walking.  He now pushes things along the floor, like his high chair, and walks along small tables.  He is much more willing to walk if someone is holding his hands, and even with just one hand.  Some fun things about Ryzen- He loves balls of kinds, and every time he sees a ball he says, "Ball!" He also insists on feeding himself and has become quite adapt at using a fork and spoon.  In fact, he will not let anyone feed him, and if we do, he comes very upset.  In the morning he likes to eat part of my oatmeal in his own bowl, or else cheerios with milk.  Ryzen loves animals, especially dogs.  Every time we go by our neighbors that owns a dog, he says, "Dog! Dog!" Ryzen loves me to read him stories, although he is not very patient and usually doesn't let me finish the story I start before he grabs a new book.  He especially likes me to read, "This Little Piggy," and play with his toes.