Wintergarten Spiral Walk - Easy & Simple Plans

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Earthschooling FAQs

Dear Parents,

Thank you to everyone who has submitted a request for more information from www.TheWaldorfChannel.com.

I am finding that I am getting some of the same questions over and over so I have complied a short list of my "top seven" and have them posted here:

http://waldorfenrichment.weebly.com/frequently.html

I will add to this list as needed. You can also link to this page from other pages on the website.

These are the questions so far. If you click on the question you will be linked to the answer.

1. I have toddlers that are 2.5 and 4. What materials and resources do you have for this age?
2. I have a Kindergarten Child. What materials and resources do you offer for this age?
3. I have a first grader. What materials and resources do you offer for that age?
4. You have so many offerings. Can you help me choose the right one for me? How do I choose?
5. I have a 5th grader but I see you don't have full curriculum for this grade. Do you offer any resources for this age?
6. What IS Earthschooling? How is it different from other educational methods?
7. I am just starting with Waldorf Education? How can I get started and learn more about it?

Blessings & Health,
Kristie

Twas the Night Before Solstice Poem

Dear Parents,

It is a yearly tradition now that I post this poem I wrote a few years ago to the list :) Enjoy once again or enjoy it for the first time. You are welcome to share it and pass it around. However, please include credit to me and my websites as you pass it on. Thanks :) Blessings & Health, Kristie

'Twas the Night Before Solstice...

Twas the Night Before Solstice
By Kristie Burns
www.Earthschooling.com
www.HerbnHome.com


'Twas the night before Solstice and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even our pet mouse

Knitted wool stockings were hung with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there

The children were tucked in organic cotton sheets,
The air filter blocking pollution from the streets.

While mama stayed up to make handmade gifts
I co-slept with the kids and watched auras shift.

When out in the herb garden arose such a clatter
I sprung out of our futon to see what was the matter!

Away to the solar panels I flew like a flash.
They took me hours to install, I hoped they hadn't crashed.

The crystals we'd laid out to absorb the moonlight
Sparkled like fairydust and blocked my sight.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh without any reindeer.

At that moment I knew that the little old man
Had received my last letter so bold and so grand

Could you stop using reindeer? Last year I wrote him,
And enclosed with the note a PETA pin.

As he neared the house in his all-wooden sleigh
I noticed it was powered by wheatgrass and hay.

Ostheimer! Kinderkram! Stockmar! Fair Trade!
Don't bother landing if the toys aren't handmade!

"Hey Arriana," I called to my wife with chagrin,
"With that body mass do you think he's vegetarian?"

She paused only a moment from her crafting and said,
"One moment dear! I'm shaping this gol-darn Waldorf doll's head!"

On our roof I strained to hear the ole boy
But I'd recently insulated it with soy.

So I drew in my hand and was turning around,
When in through the front door came St. Nick with a bound.

The Advent wreath had caught in his hair
As I said, "Why in the world did you enter from THERE?"

The soot in your chimney contains poisons galore.
You should consider the environment more.

But he was dressed in fur from his head to his foot
So I said, "Look whose talking about my soot!"

A bundle of felt he had flung on his back.
"I hope you like handiwork," he said with a laugh.

His eyes - how they twinkled! His dimples were treats!
His cheeks reminded me of when I dye silk with beets.

He must be of the choleric type I mused.
It's a good thing with lavender the stockings I infused.

With his fur boots he slipped on the bamboo wood floor.
I offered him Arnica and then closed the front door.

After all that I'd paid to the energy company this year
I didn't want one bit of that cold air in here.

He had a broad face and a little round belly
I asked him, "Have you seen your naturopath lately?"

He was so chubby and plump I worried for his health
But I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to task,
Needle-felting dragons and weaving a mask.

He knitted a pure cotton sweater and two pairs of mittens,
Then picked up a knife and carved 2 wood kittens.

He finger-knitted an entire nativity scene.
With the most amazing skill I'd ever seen!

When he sprang from his seat on the floor and arose
I yelled, "Arianna - watch - there he goes!"

With the unfinished doll she was struggling to sew,
Arriana went to watch him out the window.

And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight!
"Arriana, my dear, the stiches are too tight!"

The Journey of Analise - 24 Days of Original Waldorf Stories

This is now located at www.JourneyofAnalise.com

Live Expert Crafting Inspirations/Help Online - Friday, December 4th

This can now be found at www.BEarthBLOG.com

How Do You Celebrate Your Thanks?

If your family has a story to share about how you share your
thankfulness for the earth please share - I would love to be inspired by
you all - I know so many of you and you already inspire me. I will be
reading the stories you send to my children this Thanksgiving.

One of our stories is below...

I'll share something very personal with you - in the past five years we
"almost" became homeless twice. It is amazing how quickly it can happen
to someone and how hard it can be to find help. I was fortunate enough,
in both circumstances to be saved - literally at the last moment - by a
blessing. However, these experiences, combined with living overseas for
16 years and seeing the face of poverty in different countries - have
made poverty issues one of my main concerns (along with the environment
and empowering people to heal themselves). We give thanks every day that
we have a home, good food, clothing, and even some extras like pets and
an Ipod. At the same time I am shocked by the state of people in America
- how easy it is for credit card companies and banks to "rob" hard
working Americans, how easy it is to lose a job and how hard it is to
earn enough to pay for all the family needs - and how easy it would be
for anyone to slip from the blessed ones who have a home and job into
the crowds of those who don't - it is very easy and can happen in an
instant.

I remember last year my son asked me "Mom, if they charge so much for
gas, why don't gas stations look like palaces? Why are they so small and
not very good?"

That statement says so much. WOW. It is symbolic of how so many big
businesses focus on earning rather than on being fair. Although there
has been a slight rise in worker owned businesses
(http://www.ncba.coop/abcoop_work.cfm). Every day I try to remind myself
and my children not to function like that. But it is so hard. We are
ingrained, from childhood, and trained by ads and by alluring magazines
and displays at stores to always "want more". We are trying, as a family
to think differently. We already have everything we need. Really. We
have a home, food, clothing and plenty of books and toys. Logically,
then, we should be distributing our extra instead of making Christmas
lists of "what we want". It is a hard habit to break, but I feel it is
worth the effort. If we can all try to distribute more and consume less,
I imagine that it might reduce the poverty of a great number of people -
some of these people may even be our friends and relatives. Every time I
am tempted to purchase that $5.00 "extra" at the store I think - what
could someone else do with this money?

That is why, this Thanksgiving, we will be volunteering at a homeless
shelter instead of preparing a lavish feast. Now, don't get me wrong -
if we had a large family nearby or a gathering to travel to that was
close enough to travel to - we would be there - the gathering of family
is an amazingly important event and honorable and great tradition to
hold. However, we are unable to travel this year so, it being only I and
the three children, we feel the energy and food would be better shared
with others.

A friend of mine, who is a teacher, also sent me a wonderful curriculum
plan she is using with her class. I will be adapting it to our own needs
- basically just using some ideas from it but
not all. You can find it at:
http://www.beadforlife.org/docs/BFL_CurriculumFNL_BW_72.pdf

If anyone else has resources or thoughts to share on this topic I would
love to hear them.

My children and I look forward to hearing other stories on how you all
share your thankfulness. There are so many different ways!

Blessings & Health,
Kristie
www.Earthschooling.com
www.TheAvicennaInstitute.com
www.HerbnHome.com

Helle Heckmann: Protecting Childhood: Birth through Age 8

Helle Heckman, director of the Nokken Waldorf Kindergarten in Copenhagen, spoke November 2 at the Ames Public Library on the topic, "Protecting Childhood: Birth through Age 8." Kristie Burns received permission to film this inspiring event. The following is a ten-minute excerpt from her talk. The full talk is available from Helle Heckman or to Lifetime members of www.Earthschooling.com. This video clip is exclusive to The Waldorf Channel. You can see this ten-minute clip, where she talks about one of the main issues in modern childhood, at: http://waldorftv.weebly.com/theory.html

If you would like an excerpt of one of your videos featured at The Waldorf Channel or you would like your event filmed for free please contact me, Kristie at: herbnhome@gmail.com. I work mainly in the area of the Midwest. However, in April I will be in the California area as a speaker at the 2010 Waldorf in the Home conference.

This video is also being sent to Delphine Douglas of the Prairie Flower Waldorf School in Ames and will be available for viewing for members of the Ames Waldorf Association.

Enjoy!

Blessings & Health,
Kristie