Inside: Life with toddlers and preschoolers? Not easy! These clever solutions can help you manage time so transitions, meal times and life are easier for everyone- including them. 

Related: 10 Simple Ways to Reset a Bad Day With Kids

• Ripping up paper strips
• Busy Bag Numbers
• Playdough
• Assorted snacks in a muffin tin
• Plastic Baggie Painting
• Sewing with Leaves
• Animal figurines (Love these) 
• Color Wonder marker set 
• Melissa & Doug Water Wow
• Plastic scissors & strips of paper

Related: Easy Printmaking Ideas for Toddlers 

Goldenrod Tell me, sunny goldenrod, Growing everywhere, Did fairies come from fairyland And make the dress you wear? Did you get from mines of gold Your bright and shining hue? Or did the baby stars some night Fall down and cover you? I love you, laughing goldenrod,  And I will try, like you, To fill each day with deeds of cheer; Be loving, kind, and true. -Author Unknown

As I was sharing on Monday, the Waldorf tradition of slowing down and savoring the changing of the seasons has always been appealing. So I marked days off on our school calendar this year and planned to use them to "breathe in" special times, mainly equinoxes and festivals.

Last Thursday and Friday were our first marked days off, to be spent welcoming the Fall Equinox. (I can hardly believe that it's here!) On Thursday, a good friend hosted a homeschool Woodland class at her house complete with leaf rubbings, q-tip paintings of changing trees, and a scavenger hike through the woods. Such fun! And a good chance for all our kids to spend time with each other.

On a quick sidenote, I've had so many conversations lately about homeschool and socialization. It was something that I worried about with homeschooling, but decided this was more important. I'm still happy with our choice, and we've ended up having so many chances to socialize- between sports, classes, library, playdates & Girl Scouts- that I often have to choose to stay home to make sure we keep up with our curriculum. There's also some good thoughts in this article, "What about Socialization?"

Back to the equinox! On Friday another friend had planned a field-trip to an apple orchard. Isia dressed herself for the occasion, with this skirt sewn so long ago. It's been her favorite lately, which means there might need to be a few more on the horizon. Especially now that she's old enough to help! We did a hayride around the orchard, then stopped to pick an apple. At least that was the plan...

The kids also enjoyed playing with their treasures afterwards. Here is Billy counting and sorting his for almost an hour. While I was watching him, I realized how many of his Kindergarten standards that he was accomplishing- just through "play." Our newest math curriculum is play-based as well. Here is Isia playing with her Cusinaire wooden rods for her Miquon Math lesson. This is our first time using this curriculum, and I think it will be a nice compliment to our Oak Meadow's Waldorf math (see first photo).

On Homeschool Mondays, I'll be sharing a glimpse into our schoolroom and what we're working on. This year we have a Second-grader, a Kindergartner, and a Toddler in our classroom. 

I had this funny thought before I left teaching to stay home with Isia- that time would move slower if we were together for most of it. The days usually felt like they did- a few days even seemed to go on forever (wink)- but the weeks felt just as short. And as each new baby joined the fold, those weeks started going by even more quickly! So it is now, as I realize we are five weeks into homeschool. Where did August go??

I'd be thankful if we could talk September into moving a bit more slowly.

So, five weeks into our curriculum, I've realized we are behind what my expectations were. In our first years of homeschool, this would have made me feel defeated. I would have lamented on not keeping up with our expensive curriculum, worried about the future of my kid's learning, been distressed that I wasn't a good enough comparison to what they would have been learning in the classroom. I would have wondered if they should be home with me after all. Whether homeschool was a good fit for us- or whether I was a good fit for homeschool. But I've finally learned to take a breath, pour a cup of tea, then slowly look through my phone and Instagram feed for what we've been up to...

Homeschooling Tips for Difficult Times

• Find your minimum: At the beginning of the week, right after we'd found out the news, I took time to let go of my weekly expectations. The kids were sad, and I wanted to respect their grief so I consciously went through our school agenda for the week and removed everything but the barebones of our curriculum. 

• Supplement your learning: 

• Audio Books: A fun way to supplement learning! My family lives three hours away, so we had a lot of time in the car together. To get the most out of an audio book, I like to pause it intermittently and check in with the kids: "Who are the characters so far?" "What just happened?" "What do you think will happen next?" Easy questions like these help kids build reading comprehension strategies that then help with written material, too. Some audio books we enjoy: The Penderwicks, The Children of Green Knowe 

• Simple Learning Activities: Especially if they're portable, and can travel with you! They're easy to do during long car rides (see above) or in a quiet corner of a funeral home. Here's a few that both my older kids enjoy: Toothpick & Rubber Band Patterns, Busy Bag Buttoning, Leaf Sewing Practice

• Learning Books: Right now we're reading the "Life of Fred" series, which the kids love. Each book introduces math concepts through easy, kid-friendly, very funny stories. Isia enjoys reading by herself during quiet time! So I made sure to pack our current book (see link) for bedtime reading, since the chapters are quick & it's great, low-key learning to discuss the end-of-chapter questions together.

• Learn From It: There were quite a few hands-on learning experiences last week that had nothing to with our curriculum. We learned how to dress for a visitation & funeral. How to shake hands and properly introduce ourselves to adults, especially during the visitation. We learned what's helpful- getting water & extra Kleenexes for Great-Grandma, and what's not helpful. We learned what grief looks like, and had some great, age-appropriate conversations about death. 

• Let it go: Lastly, it's extra important to take care of yourself. During the week, the kids watched several episodes of  "Reading Rainbow" & "Wild Kratts" so I could recharge and work through my own grief. I think honoring & being present for my own grief made me more compassionate to my children's as well. 

The 17-Cent Daily Homeschool Calendar for Kids

• Daily Chores: Bed-making, un-loading dishwasher, emptying trashcans, organizing our shoe area, & sweeping the deck are favorites around here.

•  Daily Weather: Billy only draws the weather so far, but Isia also looks up temperature, writes a weather word, and now records the humidity (a great excuse to talk about percentages). Daily weather observations connect kids with their natural world and include science in your day!

• Daily Quote/Verse Copywork: Memorization is a great way to instill values in kids, and build mindfulness. There are so many words floating around the world through type, screen & audio that it's important to fill our children's core with loving, purposeful ones that aid them in filtering the rest. It's a helpful practice for parents, too (smile).

• Handwork: Simple sewing, knitting, crocheting
 

• Sibling Activities: It empowers older kids to be "in charge of" a simple task with a younger sibling. The best way to strengthen your own knowledge is to teach it to others, no matter how young you are! Whether it's singing the "ABC song" together, doing a puzzle, or reviewing flashcards, it builds sibling relationships and personal knowledge, too.

Homeschool Yearly Schedule

Kindergarten Curriculum

About twelve years ago, Cory & I were calling our families and letting them know that we would be moving to China. It wasn't the first time we traveled overseas. We got married after our Sophomore year, then starting spending our summers abroad the next year. When we knew I'd be finishing school, one year after Cory, we weren't sure what to do next. There was an opportunity to stay and settle down, but our hearts yearned for more adventure before children came.

Children that we didn't realize would be an adventure of their own. 

Children that we envisioned simply arriving once we opened the door, not understanding how complicated & hard that journey can be. But we were young, and that's another story.

So we called our parents, on a sunny spring day, to let them know we'd be moving abroad. Looking back, perhaps a call wasn't the best method- but we were young (see above). Since we thought we were too young for a storage unit, we sold everything except our books & records. Whittled everything we owned down to two suitcases.

There's something so freeing about carrying your whole world in a suitcase. 

Then we left for a year and a half. We learned a lot along the way, and were stronger for the journey. Afterwards we traveled back to the States, to continue our journey here. We've picked up a few passengers along the way (smile), whom we would love to travel abroad with someday.


While we haven't been able to afford international travel (yet), we try to introduce them to other cultures in our home- especially through food, books, music, and crafts. This seasonal hanging scroll was a fun way to explore Chinese calligraphy together, which was a first for the kids. Isia especially enjoyed it, and I know we'll be doing more in the future!
Session One: 
To create the flowers, an adult should cut apart a cardboard egg carton into multiple cups. Divide your cups between kids, and paint them into flowers. We used tempera paint, but acrylic would well, too.

While the paint is drying, make a branch on the side of your scroll for your flowers to sit on. Make sure you leave a couple inches on the top of your scroll, you'll need it later. The kids decided where they wanted their yarn first, then we glued it down together.

This is a good time to practice your calligraphy! We printed off our calligraphy sheet, then practiced on wipe-off boards. The kids then wrote them in pencil on a piece of paper that would fit onto the scroll. (Note: If writing both characters, you'll want to stack them- with "Chun"/"Xia" on top, and "Tian" below.) Once they were happy with them, they traced them with permanent marker & we glued them onto our scrolls.

Session Two:
Glue your painted "flowers" onto your branch, then glue curled-up strips of construction paper into each flower. For gluing in the strips, we found puddles of glue in the bottom worked best!

Roll the top of your scroll around a branch to see how much you need. If there's any excess, trim it away now. Add a thin layer of glue to the top of your scroll & roll around your branch. Let dry.


For Hanging:
Tie a long length of yarn onto the branch, on either side of the scroll. Hang from the middle, and enjoy!

Quick History Lesson:
"A hanging scroll is one of the many traditional ways to display and exhibit Chinese painting and calligraphy. Displaying the art in this way allowed public appreciation and appraisal of the aesthetics of the scrolls in its entirety by the audience. It is to be distinguished from the handscroll, which was narrower and often much longer and not designed to be all visible at once. The technique was imported to Japan and Korea who each have their own traditions and aesthetics. Hanging scrolls are generally intended to be displayed for short periods of time and are then rolled up to be tied and secured for storage. The hanging scrolls get rotated according to season or occasion, as such works are never intended to be on permanent display."
(Excerpt from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_scroll)

Variations:
-Instead of egg carton flowers, glue pressed flowers & leaves up the side of your scroll. This also allows you to easily roll it up for storage.
-Drawings or collages of flower images are also a nice decorating option.
-Traditionally, hanging scrolls have a second rod at the bottom to add weight, so you can wrap and glue a branch at the bottom of the scroll to make it look more traditional. This will also help weigh it down in a breezy house. Our egg carton flowers weigh ours down, but pressed flowers or drawings won't.

• Blank Bingo Cards: One with 16 squares (see above), and one with 9 squares for younger players
• Bird Picture Squares to cut out and assemble onto each bingo card
• Bird Identification Sheet, with Chapter references for each bird
• Instruction Sheet with how to assemble, and the different ways you can play including:
• Reading Bingo: With the included Bird Name Squares
• Phonics Bingo: With the included Bird Letter Squares

We've had so much fun playing with this already, and we hope your family enjoys it as well! Just click here to get your Free Bird Bingo Pack. Happy playing!