Falling Trees and Friday the 13th

So what is the perfect handiwork project to do when rainstorms have knocked down numerous branches in your yard and it is Friday the 13th? Right! Use a saw! Make something out of wood!

(Ok, my 11-year-olds thought that was funny LOL)...

Today we made Father's Day frames from felled trees.

First we cut a slice of tree branch...

Then we sanded the slice...

Then we cut a groove in the slice...

Then we put a piece of wood in the slice

This wood can now prop up photos and makes a nice desk frame :)

We decided to put pictures of the kids sawing the wood into the frames.

Blessings & Health,

Kristie

http://www.earthschooling.com/

http://www.thewaldorfchannel.com/

Time Travel

Today we visited the Living History Farms in Des Moines, Iowa here and had a wonderful time! There were only a few people there and the place is so large that we didn't run into many tourists. It made the experience even more amazing. We helped the print shop owner clean up his presses...

...the kids swept the floor in the broom making shop...

...and Sunii got to make a hook in the blacksmith's shop by fanning the coals, heating the metal, pounding the metal, cooling it in water and then drilling it...

We even visited a pharmacy from the 1800s. The kind pharmacist took down various jars from the shelf and had us smell them and guess what they were.

At the end of a couple hours we had only seen a few shops (out of perhaps 40 possible places to go) and decided to head home on the covered horse-drawn wagon. We are looking forward to visiting again. They have so many opportunities for participation that you can't possibly do everything in one day. Now I just have to figure out how to get the kids to work that hard at HOME!

Hope you are enjoying your summer days!

Blessings & Health,

Kristie

www.EarthSchooling.com

www.HerbnHome.com

www.TheDreamAngels.com

www.TheWaldorfChannel.com

Our Charity Donation to Chinese Waldorf School

Thank you to everyone who purchased E-books for the Waldorf School in China. I will be sending a check for $75.00 on our behalf to WECAN (Waldorf Early Childhood Association) this week.

Blessings & Health,
Kristie

Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
Mother to Mosi, 13, Sunii, 11, Sofi, 9
Living in Des Moines, IOWA after travelling the world :)


www.EarthSchooling.com
Enrichment Curriculum, Video Tutorials, E-books, Consulting & More
www.HerbnHome.com
Naturopathic Healing Classes & Consulting
www.BuyaUnicorn.com
Knitted Herbal Healing Unicorns
www.TheWaldorfChannel.com
Free video tutorials for crafters & homeschoolers

Sharing our Waldorf Enrichment Day in June

We have been having such fun! I've had Waldorf Enrichment classes every day this summer so far and I could go the rest of the summer if I was not travelling! Every morning we do a "field trip" or two, then we have lunch, and then we do some crafts and/or stories and/or art projects.

My favorite field trip this week was our walk. It was gorgeous spring weather - not too hot, not too cold and not raining. Perfect - right? Well, I forgot that it had POURED the night before ...so about ten minutes into our walk we hit a lot of mud. But the kids didn't want to go back. It was too much fun! So we walked the 30 minute walk on the bike trail all the way to Julie's house (a local artist) to see her fairy house and then we walked back. Along the way we saw so many amazing things! A walk after a big rainstorm is a completely unique experience!

We saw semi-dried mud puddles filled with really long worms that had left "worm print" patterns all over the mud with their bodies. Now how often do you see a "worm print"???? Cool! Sofi was amazed at how big the worms were - much bigger than the ones in our worm bin at home!

We saw a bunch of newly "hatched" mushrooms and I explained to the kids that they always come out like that after a rainstorm because the fairies use them as umbrellas. They are 9, 10 and 11 so they tried to tell ME that it was because mushrooms grow best in extremely moist conditions...but I know better! LOL!

And everyone got really really muddy feet so we went in search of a big rain puddle we could wash off in. An hour and a half later we arrived back home - very tired but laughing and ready for an early lunch!

Wishing you all the best rainy days :)

Blessings & Health,
Kristie

Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
Mother to Mosi, 13, Sunii, 11, Sofi, 9
Living in Des Moines, IOWA after travelling the world :)


www.EarthSchooling.com
Enrichment Curriculum, Video Tutorials, E-books, Consulting & More
www.HerbnHome.com
Naturopathic Healing Classes & Consulting
www.BuyaUnicorn.com
Knitted Herbal Healing Unicorns
www.TheWaldorfChannel.com
Free video tutorials for crafters & homeschoolers

Cute Father's Day Verse & June has MORE stories and verses....

Papa Fishes
Norwegian Folk Song

Fishy, fishy in the brook,
Papa catch him with a hook,
Mama fry him for our sup,
Baby eat him all right up,
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!

Of the 50 or so verses I just uploaded to June this was my favorite :) This verse is from the ages 2-3 section. There are also verses for all other age groups ages 2-12.

Bobbie asked for some more thematic stories and verses for June and I already have some in my files from past years (you do this for enough years you actually get BURIED in verses and stories) so I have been organizing them to upload to the June member's page. All June members already get 4 lesson blocks for the month and IN these lesson blocks are stories and verses. However, each lesson block has its own theme.

These new uploads will be for everyone who is a member of the June group and will include the following additional themes in the form of A LOT of VERSES and STORIES:

Father's Day
Midsummer's Night
The Sun
The Sand
Travel
Saying Goodbye

As a June member you also get to choose FOUR lesson blocks from the list below. If you have not written to me requesting your blocks please do so. But if you are busy that is also OK. You can write to me in December and I will still send you your June lesson blocks - LOL!

Choose from:
Herbal Form Drawing (NEW in July)
The Arabic Alphabet Using the Waldorf Method
Herbs for Kids - Part ONE
Herbs for Kids - Part TWO (NEW in June)
Woodworking for Kids
Woodcarving for Kids
Waldorf Watercolor Painting
Storytelling and Theater for Kids
Knitting and Weaving for Kids
Cooking with Kids
Natural Gifts Kids Can Make
The Four Elements - Earth, Wind, Water, Fire (NEW in June)
Exploring Aromatherapy (NEW in July)
Running a Business for Kids (NEW in July)
Exploring Mandalas (NEW)
Sixth Sense Math & Language Enrichment

You can sign up for June (or anything else) at:

www.EarthSchooling.com
or
www.TheWaldorfChannel.com

Enjoy!
Kristie

The Arabic Alphabet - Waldorf Style

This can now be found HERE:

http://earthschooling.info/thebearthinstitute/?wpsc-product=the-arabic-alphabet-waldorf-style

You know it is summer when...

Our rabbit takes up residence in front of the AC vent....

Nobody is wearing socks anymore so the cat thinks the sock basket is a new cat bed....

Zarelda the fairy moves to her summer (OUTDOOR) home...

The cats enjoy a little evening entertainment from our friendly neighborhood raccoon...

How do you know that summer is coming at your house?