"Mr. Pruner's" Pumpkin Bread!

 

 

Last Tuesday was a lovely day spent with Willa's 3rd grade class making pumpkin bread.  Willa was thrilled to have Daddy the Former Baker Extraordinaire there to head up the lesson!  The kids paired up their desks and worked in teams of twos with one big bowl for each pair.  They got to mush up freshly baked pumpkin with their hands, cream butter and sugar, and hand mix the rest of the ingredients.  The kids were busy and boisterous but focused and having fun.  Miles did a great job guiding their culinary experience and the kids really took to him!  The warm and welcoming 3rd grade room slowly filled with amazing aromas throughout the morning.  The earthy pumpkin giving way to sweetness and butter...then the spices hit, one by one, all warming together into one final heavenly smell as they baked in the oven and the kids danced and sang with their Russian teacher.  I hope everyone enjoyed eating their loaves this Thanksgiving as much as we did!

 

 

"Mix. Bake at 350 until a toothpic comes out clean"

 

 

 



FANTASTIC FRIGGIN NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After a year and a half of waiting and all the fretting found HERE and HERE, I just got a call from Winterberry, our local Waldorf charter school saying that they have a spot for Lo in first grade in the fall, and did I want to take that spot?
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After screaming such things as, "OH.MY.GOD!!!!! No WAY!!!!!! REALLY?!?!?!" and jumping up and down and sideways-you would have thought that I had just won a thousand bucks off of the local Morning Zoo radio-I, of course, answered with a definitive and definite,"HELLS YES!"(they're gonna love me there).

I have lost too much of that "Waldorf connection" over the past year without that daily support and participation in such an environment. I've tried so hard to hold onto that and am SO looking forward to immersing ourselves in it again!!!! On some level I've felt that I've been in this holding pattern for the past year...a place where time has stood still, where I was not able to really "get into" the events of the school Lo was going to and having such a hard time keeping the Waldorf in our home. I acknowledge that I've needed that help, that belonging to a Waldorf community, to keep organized on on track...I feel I can breath again...a block is gone and I can plan, I can break out the scroll saw for some toymakin' for the school, I can research into what is to come for Lo in first grade!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm am so excited for her!!!!!!

Huz in gonna have to peel me off the ceiling when he gets home!!!!!

SAD GOODBYES and why I HATE mainstream preschools!

Poor Lo.

Dea Dea Dea Dea Dea Dea DeaYesturday was the last day of pre-K at Aurora Waldorf School for the summer and I was surprised at how hard she took it. She has been in the 3day/3hr pre-K class for the past 2 months. Before that, we attended the Parent/Tot class taught by the same teacher, Miss P. I also know Miss P. from an acupressure class that we both took a few years ago.

My friend who was taking care of Lo on Wednesdays so that I could work, was no longer able to watch her due to a heavier work load. She is the head naturalist at our Nature Center and Lo got to hang out with her and attend her Kneehi Naturalist program. As I was not able to stop working, we were forced into looking for alternative care. We checked out 2 "highly recommended" pre-schools and I left feeling like I was going to throw up. Total chaos. As soon as we walked in it blasted us in the face. Kids screaming, arguing, fighting. Teachers yelling over the din. Early academics pushed. Stupid mainstream themed plastic toys. Kids laden down with Disney, et al. accoutrement's. Windows were covered up? No artwork on the walls. And no friendly welcome. Lo hid her face in my legs when the teacher finally "greeted" us. I could tell Lo was too sensory overloaded to respond. When Lo peeked out to watch some wrestling kids, the woman actually placed herself in Lo's line of sight, bent down from the waist(not squatting on Lo's level for reassurance), stuck her face in Lo's and seemed not to want to relent until Lo greeted her back! Through gritted teeth I said,"She's easily overwhelmed by this type of thing. She'll come out of her shell when she feels safe."

In tears I told my husband there was no way in hell we could send her there. I just could not accept anything less then the homeschooling(for lack of a better word-she's only 4 so I've provided the basic rhythmic Waldorf pre-K ) I was giving her or an environment like our Parent/Tot class. In the end after giving it a lot thought, we decided to buck up and send her to her beloved MissP's pre-k class. I pushed hard to get in her in for just 2 days a week but that wasn't possible. They are a private school trying to make ends meet. So 3 it was. It was so hard for me at first-I love being home with my baby! But I also knew in my heart that she was needing a little more social stimulation and I was having a hard time giving her that with where we live. She fit right in knowing her teacher and classroom as well as many of the kids. I took on another day of work to help pay for the tuition and realized I was really needing that 3rd day to just be by myself to engage in some "me time". I've never been the type of mom who was sick of being at home, couldn't wait to get back to work, blah, blah, and I've never needed or asked for a lot of space, but those 3 hours a week are precious to me. It gives me a chance to re-connect with myself as an individual. It's like restarting my battery and really all I need. Without it I'm not myself, lost, crabby...yikes! In the end, we're both invigorated and still have our own "homeschooling" rhythm.

So, back to sad goodbyes. Parents were invited to stay for the day for a shared meal and outside play. Lo was uncharacteristically clingy and did not participate in any activity that represented the "last day". This kid is totally motivated by food and didn't even want to help with making the fruit pizza. She didn't want to be a part of the impromptu class picture.

Here she is leaning on Miss P.... Sad girl.

She didn't want to hug anyone or hold hands during the closing verse. In my soul I felt her sadness. I was almost teary myself as were some of the other moms and dads and kids. I could only imagine how Lo must have felt! She crashed hard for a long nap when we got home and was in slightly better spirits when she woke up. She had 2 pee-pee accidents though. One during nap which is rare and one after her bath(oi!) when we went for a bike ride(never has an accident when awake anymore). What might be going on there? :(

A Waldorf school is a world apart from other educational institutions. It's a family, a deep connection, an extension of oneself. I understand that sense of loss she is feeling.

But we'll fill our summer with fun, still see some of her Waldorf friends for playdates, explore and learn, travel, and invite Miss P and her family to come up and go hiking with us in our "back yard". She's still asleep this morning but I hope today's blue sky and pink morning sun on the mountains will fill her with the promise of more time with Mommy and Dea...and Summer.

View from our deck this morning

WE NOW RETURN TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM

SPRING HAS RETURNED!!!!!!!!!

What fantastic weather we had yesterday for the May Faire and Lo’s birthday party!

We spent the first part of the Day at Aurora Waldorf school’s annual May Faire, one of our most anticipated events of the Fair/Festival season. Crafts, games, juggling, pony rides, food and folks against a backdrop of folk, bluegrass, and classical music performed by students and parents of the school.

Lo started off a bit cranky but was fine as soon as we put some food in her belly. She also tends to get sensory overload at events and really needs to ease into all the goings on. It was sunny and warm and an enchanting place to pretend you’re in a charming fairyland village. The kids enjoy buying their jewels(colorful glass floral stones) and keeping them in their little sacks around their wrists. Such a fanciful “currency “ to use to pay for all the activities! Face painting is always a favorite of Dea’s and I wish I had volunteered to help at that booth! I love transforming kids into creatures! Lo chose to be a colorful lion and Dea opted for the minimal blossoms.

Other activities included hula hoopin’,

A long wait (Mommy and Daddy tag teamed it)on line for a pony ride,

pot painting and tomato and herb planting,

Fishing for a surprise,

Jump rope making,

Making juggling balls and learning some juggling tricks ,

And making fairy garlands.

After a couple 3 hours we re-entered the real world and headed home for the birthday party. All of us were fortunate that Lo took a nap on the way home! It had already been such a high stimulus day! We had anticipated the usual birthday meltdowns but it actually went smoothly in that respect. The night before, Dea helped decorate the house after Lo went to bed and Huz baked the cake.

I LOVE decorating for my kid’s B-day parties!!! Dea’s is in July and it was always full of colorful flowers- purple fireweed, daisies, grasses- balloons and butterfly streamers… But not so much now that she’s older. It’s nice to have a little one again to decorate for.

Kids arrived at 4:00 and I’m not really sure what happened after that! With the first 2 kids came some serious rowdiness so we herded them outside to the play garden. At least the snow had melted enough around the swings and tree fort! From there it was off to make fairy bracelets and picture frames. Then our homemade pizza and cake.

Then prezzies. This picture is indicative of how that event went!:

Lo just started ripping through the gifts and I barely had time to slow her down, pick gifts up off the floor before they disapeared in tissue and wraping paper, read the cards take pictures, or suggest hugs and thank yous! I had to tell myself, she’s not being rude, she’s being a 4 year old! And she’s just the type of child who has to see everything first and will then go back and explore each thing.
The dollhouse was a hit despite the ill fitted front roof(we’ll fix that later) and Huz and I are quite proud of ourselves I must brag.

I’m diggin’ my scroll saw! Eventually the last kiddo left and I finally got to have my piece of pizza. Phew.

Got the Birthday Girl off to bed and the 3 of us watched-slept through, in my case-Beverly Hills Cop. Or maybe I passed out from the obnoxious 80s music.

THE BEGINING

"Waldorf education addresses the child as no other education does. Learning, whether in chemistry, mathematics, history or geography, is imbued with life and so with joy, which is the only true basis for later study. The textures and colors of nature, the accomplishments and struggles of humankind fill the Waldorf students' imaginations and the pages of their beautiful books. Education grows into a union with life that serves them for decades.
By the time they reach us at the college and university level, these students are grounded broadly and deeply and have a remarkable enthusiasm for learning. Such students possess the eye of the discoverer, and the compassionate heart of the reformer which, when joined to a task, can change the planet." ~Arthur Zajonc, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physics, Amherst College



Welcome! I am a mommy, Massage Therapist, artist, seeker...living in a mountainous hanging valley nestled 2000ft above another valley in south central Alaska. This blog will be about my family and our experiences- with an emphasis on Waldorf education and how I'm implementing it into our lifestyle. With each passing year I realize how many details I forget over time and the fear of loosing those precious "gems" has prompted me to get this stuff documented. So here I go.

Earlier this year with a desire to add a little more purposeful structure to the daily life of LO and Mommy, I began researching basic preschoolish/home school activities. I delved further into Waldorf Education, a pedagogical philosophy that has resonated with me for years. The Waldorf approach emphasizes the role of the imagination and the arts in learning, developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component. It’s overarching goal is to provide young people the basis with which to develop into moral and integrated individuals and to aid every child in the unfolding of his or her unique destiny. It has been fascinating and infinitely rewarding to see this philosophy at work in not only LO’s life but in the heart of our home. We are much more attuned to the natural rhythms of everyday life, each other and the miraculous cycles throughout the year that lay the foundations of learning and encourage living more of a back to basics life. Early childhood is such a wondrous and magical time. I’m blessed to be a witness and accomplice in LO’s exploration of the world.

I believe our world would better a better place if Waldorf was our primary educational paradigm. I'm hoping to learn from others as well as to spread some enlightenment.