Monday, January 28, 2008

NEW! Finger-knitting and Chalk Art at www.thewaldorfchannel.com!


Every Sunday we broadcast a new show on www.thewaldorfchannel.com . You can access these new shows and any past shows by visiting the site.

This week our PUBLIC and FREE shows are very exciting.

Chalk Art - in the "art" section of the channel

FILMED BY: Erron Evans / Studio E at: http://www.erronevans.com/
Brian Wolf, a teacher at the Davis Waldorf School in California

This is an AMAZING and breathtaking video of Brian doing a chalk masterpiece on the board at his school. It is done in fast-motion so you feel as if the picture is being created out of the air. It really took him 45 minutes to do but the video is only 5 minutes long! Even though I could not duplicate his art I did learn a lot about chalk drawing from watching this and was inspired as well!

Finger-Knitted Flowers - in the "crafts" section of the channel

by www.thedreamangels.com

A lot of people have been asking how to make those finger-knitted flowers I posted a picture of a couple weeks ago on my BLOG so here is an 8-minute tutorial on making VERY EASY and very beautiful finger-knitted flowers. This is an original pattern that my daughter and I created 4 years ago. And I know you all need something to do with that 1000 meters of finger-knitting you have around your house - right? These also make a perfect Valentine's Day project AND GIFT. Everyone we have gifted these to before has been thrilled with them.

Enjoy!

Blessings & Health,

Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Parent Child Natural Healing Classes Start NEXT WEEK :)

Dear Parents,

Parent-Child Natural Healing Classes ONLINE will be starting on February 1st!
(Scroll down to sign up as a pair, a family or co-op group)

I have been teaching a naturopathic healing class online for 8 years (and offline for more). My children are all old enough to start participating in learning these skills, but the classes I already offer are at a higher level (14-16 years old and up to 150 years) So I will be starting a new series of classes over the next few weeks called "Parent-Child Natural Healing Classes". During these classes we will be learning:

Reflexology
Herbs
Iridology
Nutrition
Typology


These classes will be taught at a child's level and will all include video support. I will be uploading one class every month for the next 5 months. Mothers who have taken these classes "in person" with me before have been thrilled because the classes were so easy for THEM to understand too. Even herbalists and healers were excited to discover new ways of looking at herbs and healing and the kind of reflexology I teach is not American reflexology so it is new too!

How the classes will run:

1. Each month you will receive your video - downloadable online - and class materials and E-books, lesson plans and stories (all online). You will be able to access these materials at any time so even if you don't choose to participate WITH the class you can use these materials even 5 years from now!

2. The entire month we are running the class I will be visiting the online forum (open for the class forever) and I will be present there every Friday at a certain time to participate. You are welcome to join the class in "real time" or you can access the forum and do the class on your own time. I expect there will be enough people doing the class at different times that there will ALWAYS be someone on the forum so these classes are NOT restrained by time but I am adding an element of time to them so that people who want a more LIVE experience can have that.

3. You will be able to either participate in LIVE time or on your own time.

4. The classes do not involve testing, although you are welcome to contact me any time with questions

5. Two certificates of participation will be issued when you finish the series for participants in the class, however, as many children or family members as you like can participate in the classes. However, please do not distribute the class outside of your group as the materials are copyrighted.

6. You must sign up for all of the classes. You can pay all at once or you can pay in installments:

One time price is:
$150.00 payable at:
http://tinyurl.com/2gdrz7
(Ideas: sign up as a co-op group to save money and split the fee between more than one person)

The installment price is (a little more because of the maintenance from my end)
$50.00 for the first installment and then $30.00 a month after the first installment for the next 4 months.
http://tinyurl.com/2zq89k

7. If you want classes with testing and certification for older child or adults visit: www.naturopathichealingcourse.com


If you have any questions please contact me at : herbnhome@yahoo.com

Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
www.thedreamangels.com

Thursday, January 24, 2008

How to Knit together the Valentine's Flowers...

This post can now be found at www.BEarthBlog.com

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

My dream job...

Well, I can't take this job but it sounds like a dream to me...so I thought I would post it here in case anyone else is inspired...

Assistant Position
The Cork Steiner Kindergarten
Summerhill South, Cork City, Ireland.


The Cork Steiner Kindergarten is currently looking to recruit an
assistant to work, starting from September 2008, with our two
kindergarten teachers. The ideal candidate will have training in
Steiner early childhood education or a strong interest in same with a
willingness to undergo training with the support of the kindergarten.
As Ireland boasts a wonderful part time teacher training programme
this would be a fantastic opportunity for someone to work in a
kindergarten while training to be a Steiner kindergarten teacher.
For Further details please forward your c.v. with a letter of
application to; Janemaeve@yahoo.co.uk

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Waldorf - Montessori Enrichment Fun






The Montessori kids had two days off school this week so we had two full days of "Waldorf Enrichment" fun with my kids and three others. We did some Chinese Form Drawing (see member's video at www.thewaldorfchannel.com), we did some Chinese Brush painting while I told the story "The Boy Who Drew Cats". Then we did a play about the story.

We made our own pizzas the first day and although I had other plans for day two, the pizza was so popular they insisted on pizza again the next day :)

We played a cooperative game where you read words in other languages off of cards and you have to act out or draw the word so others can guess what you are saying. The game is called "Tower of Babel" and since nobody knew the story (GASP!) I told them the story as well.

We had a lot of fun talking in Chinese, Swahili, Japanese, Russian, Navajo and Greek (The words are sounded out on the card to help the child pronounce it)! We learned that Basketball sounds the same in Russian as it does in English, and that the word for crazy is similar in Greek and in Spanish (most of us speak Spanish). However, the most popular word of the day was "PEE-pee" , the Swahili word for candy. Now tell me....are you EVER going to forget the Swahili word for candy?

In the afternoon we had a coffee-making lesson with the hand-grinder and French press led by Sunii and the kids all had a basic lesson in Su-Jok reflexology. They were amazed and had a lot of questions!

I am offering a download of the Su-Jok reflexology lesson for kids for only $7.50. If you would like a copy of this video please e-mail me at: herbnhome@yahoo.com. You can also purchase the DVD for only $12.00. I will have this DVD avaialable on the website sometime this week. However, you can e-mail me and I can send it to you before I have it listed since I will not be listing things until later this week but I do have the DVD/download ready at the time of this posting.

And I do have to admit I have an ulterior motive in teaching the kids reflexology...it is a GREAT way to get FREE reflexology treatments. Really, the kids are so good at it and they love to practice (LOL).

Enjoy the photos!

Blessings & Health,
Kristie

Monday, January 21, 2008

Finger-knitted Valentine Flowers

This can now be found at www.BEarthBLOG.com

Friday, January 18, 2008

ETSY Treasury

Dear Members,

Two of my fantasy craft items were included in an ETSY Treasury today. You can see the entire treasury at: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREASURY

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Waldorf Radio Instructions NEW!


1. Download the U-broadcast player (which is free & you only have to download the FIRST TIME you listen. After that it is on your computer ready to listen to at any time!) at:

WALDORF RADIO CHANNEL 6098

2. Tune into Channel 6098 and press "Skip to Show"

3. You can continue to press "skip to show" until you find the show you want. Once you start "play" you have the option to start and stop the show again (if you want a break) and the rest of the shows will continue playing automatically after you select one to begin with.

IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS STATION PLEASE HELP ME BY CONACTING ME WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE AT: HERBNHOME@YAHOO.COM The only way I can improve this station is by getting feedback. Thank you!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Special Guest Singer/Reader on Waldorf Radio

Visit www.waldorfradio.com to listen...



Imagine being transported into the world of fairies, and listening to a story that not only entertains your children, but also teaches them some of the important lessons of the world. The Fairy’s Flowers will do just that. Based on a blending of experiments in gentle story telling and song, The Fairy’s Flowers is a 40-minute journey, designed to teach your children lessons in the ten cardinal values: non-harming, benevolent truth, non-stealing, universal love, simple living, purity of mind and body, contentment, service, spiritual knowledge, and contemplation.

Narration and songs by Anjali

Story by Mukti Hava Bauman

Adapted by Didi Anandarama

Produced by Anjali for Ananda Marga Gurukula - a Neohumanist education paradigm: www.nhe.gurukul.edu

This recording, which includes 12 additional songs, can be purchased by contacting Anjali at:

Waldorf Purists Cover Your EYES!




Waldorf Purists Cover Your EYES!

Ok, if any Waldorf purist might have a few words to say about this but I decided that we needed a "quick" way to do some watercolor painting as well as the "meditative wonderful dreamy" way. So I took some of the elements of "set-up" and "processs" and improvised a bit. What I came up with is a Waldorf-INSPIRED way of doing water-color that is great when: A. You have kids over that don't do a lot of water color painting B. You don't have a large space to work in C. You don't have paintboards or a place to put your drying paintings C. You are feeling stressed and you want to paint but you want to make it a little easier...so here it goes:

1. Use smaller sheets of water-color paper - 8" x 10" and remember to round the edges!

2. Clip these sheets to a wooden clipboard (you can get these anywhere - office supply stores, etc...)

3. Put a big bowl of water in the middle of the table and put a large paintbrush in the bowl.

4. Instead of using a sponge to get the water on the paper or instead of pre-soaking the paper, have the child stroke the large brush across the paper until it is soaked. This also helps them practice their brush technique and is very relaxing!

5. Once the paper is soaked then take the "raw" watercolors and "dot" the color where you want to start painting. They can spread out the color from there. Remember, the paper has to be VERY WET for this to work!

Have fun! You can just dry the paintings on the clipboard - it works great!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

MP3s of February Verses READY :)

This can now be found at www.Earthschooling.com

Scroll down for enrichment day photos...

I've added a post since I told everyone about my enrichment day photos so please scroll down a bit to see those. They are not at the top of the page anymore :) - Kristie

Enrichment Classes Online?

Hi Kristie,

Thanks for the quick response. I am still a little confused.....are the lesson plans something I can download or do you mail them to me. I would like to be able to download. We are in Canada so the shipping adds a lot to the cost.

Blessings on your day,
S. in Ontario


Dear S.,

Yes, all the lesson plans and files are online for a few reasons:

1. The reason you gave is the first one. I used to live overseas and I am trying to provide a service that everyone can use even if they are not in the USA. It was near impossible or at least really annoying for me to have to order things by mail from the USA when I didn't live here :)

2. So I can update the files as needed. I have found that ALL books, despite their best efforts need updating every year - that is why you find books published in their 8th edition. It is not just because they "ran out" of copies!

3. So we can save paper by having everyone just download what they need.

4. So if you lose the files or are on vacation you can download them from ANYWHERE!

5. So members can share their favorite files for the months and I can add inspirations in the middle of the month if I need to.

Oh...that was a very long answer....anyway, they are downloadable - yes :)

I also have all the verses on MP3 now too which are available and you can download them to your computer instead of having to buy Cds to listen to.

Sharing our Waldorf Enrichment Day :)








I had four Montessori students come over yesterday to share our day with us. They were here from 8am-3pm and we had so much fun. My favorite comment of the day was by the little four-year-old who looked at me while we were making lunch and said, 'Miss Kristie, why are we having so much fun here today?'

Since they don't come over every day we did a little Chinese New Year - Winter Cold inspired lesson. We did a lot of cooking and baking (a great winter activity!) and I told a story about Dragon Stew. Then the kids (having been here before) asked "Oh! Can we do a play about the story?" I really had not planned on it - but they were really into the idea and they already knew what role they wanted in the play so we spent another half hour doing a "play"! What I do for this type of "play" is that I tell the story again but I pause as often as I can and leave out as much as I can (like a narrator and a bit more sometimes) so the kids can have a chance to act out and say their parts. Depending on which child is in the role I will leave out more or less. Some kids really get into the improvisation in this!

We also did some watercolor paintings of dragon flames which everyone enjoyed. It was an easy enough project for the four-year-old but also interesting enough for the 11-year old.

Well, it is said that pictures say 1000 words so I will leave the rest of our day to the pictures above!

Blessings & Health,
Kristie

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Do you ever get that sneaking feeling...?


I always had this sneaking feeling that nobody in the house could function without me. The coats stay on the floor unless I remind people, teeth stay dirty unless I tell them to brush and the laundry is never picked up unless I point out that the floor is not visible. I come home from leaving them with someone else and it looks like a tornado hit the place, etc...then I told myself I was being paranoid.

They were fine without me. Sometimes Suni makes lunch when I am busy, sometimes they do pick up their toys and coats and things without me asking. And I think I actually hear somebody brushing their teeth now! But my hopes of an independant household were dashed this morning when I woke up and found 2 cats and a bunny patiently waiting and staring at me sleeping in bed.

Apparently they were waiting for me to feed them. There are three other people in the house who were all awake and they were sitting at the side of the bed staring at ME! I have no idea how long they were there. But it was a bit weird and definately confirmed my suspicions (LOL).

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Peter in Blueberry Land


I am not selling this but I was at Half.com today and saw two of these for around $7.00 each!!! This is one of my favorite books of all times! So if you want one for a good price here is the link:

Peter in Blueberry Land

Funny Quote of the Day

Me: "Sofi what are you doing in the silverware drawer?" (it is not time to eat)

Sofi: "Oh, I am getting a magic wand"

Me: "WHAT?"

Sofi: "I am a Chinese wizard so I need a chopstick."

I confess RE: Waldorf Home Organization


OK, I confess, my kids never watched the "Homeschool Organization" video I uploaded to www.thewaldorfchannel.com

This is what my dining room looked like this morning and I have 3 questions:

1. How did coats get on the floor when nobody went outside since I reminded them to pick them up last time?

2. Why is there only one blue shoe on the floor (In the background)? Where is the other one????

3. Does a coat hook mean NOTHING to these children?

Love & Laughs,
Kristie

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Homeschooling Outlawed in Germany

This may be old news to some of you but I found this news posted on another list I am part of and I found it amazing! How ironic that we are all doing Waldorf enriched homeschooling but the country Waldorf was created in does not allow it! I didn't even believe the post at first. I had to look it up on Google. So if you are interested - try it yourself - "Google" HOMESCHOOL GERMANY and see what you find. WOW! There are articles about people selling their homes to pay a homeschool fine. Fleeing the country, having their kids taken from them. Yikes! I am not going to write any more since I am not sure of all the "ins and outs" of this...like is there a way around this law? Is it getting better? For now I am just sharing information. But if there are any people who know more about this please share with us! - Kristie

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Waldorf DVDs Available for IMMEDIATE Download

Dear All,

Most of my video and audio instructions for craft projects and Waldorf enrichment blocks (not the lesson plans, just the blocks) are now available for immediate download from:

http://store.payloadz.com/results/results.asp?m=40979

This means you save a lot on the price of the DVD (since you are downloading the cost is less), you don't pay postage, you get to listen, read or view your file right away (this is great for people living overseas) AND we are helping to save the environment because we are not producing any more paper or metallic waste on earth :)

Titles Available are:
(I will upload more as they become available)

Videos (these are the full DVD - available in two downloads, I don't use ZIP files because not everyone has winzip and I have had trouble with it in the past)
How to Knit (A Unicorn)
Waldorf Birthday Parties
Herbs for Kids
Woodworking with Kids

E-Books
Knitting & Weaving for Kids
Multiplication Tables
Storytelling & Theater for Kids
Herbs for Kids
Woodworking for Kids
Natural Gifts Kids Can Make
Cooking with Kids

Audio Files
All sudio from our Radio Show can be downloaded for play on your MP3 compatible player here (this includes mobile phones and other devices other than MP3 players that play MP3s)

Blessings & Health,

Kristie Burns
Teacher, Healer & Artist
Storytime radio, Lesson plans, Free visual resources, Healing classes, Discount natural living items, Herbal consulting online, Crafts & More at:
http://www.thedreamangels.com/

Advent Cookies - How Many is Created from One

This post is now located at www.BEarthBLOG.com

Sunday, January 6, 2008

The History of Food


I ran across this link tonight while I was searching for something else. WOW! I could do an entire homeschooling unit based on this page. Imagine teaching history through FOOD? What fun! Ideas are already spinning in my head. But I just HAD to share the site with you!

Visit:
http://www.foodtimeline.org/

Blessings & Health,
Kristie

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Waldorf Storytime Radio Now Broadcasting!

I am excited to announce the opening of Waldorf Storytime Radio at:

www.waldorfradio.com

This week our program includes:
The Arabian Nights - Installment ONE
The Arabian Nights - 2
The Arabian Nights - 3
The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Anderson
Dedicated Story to Ron by Robin - Nasr Din Traditional Eastern Tale

Tune in this weekend for more additions and a special guest is coming next week!

If you have ANY TROUBLE with the station please contact me. The only way I can improve the station is to get feedback from you all! Thank you!

Blessings & Health,
Kristie