http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog A Cozy Corner of the Internet for Waldorf-Inspired Homeschoolers Sun, 02 Nov 2008 02:28:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en We've had a nice couple of days here celebrating Halloween.  On Thursday night the neighbour came over and we spent the evening carving pumpkins.    Fuss didn't really like getting his hands dirty, but when it was time to create, he really got into it: When they were all finished, they were so ... http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/11/01/halloween/ Now that we are part way through fall, I thought I would add a photo of our well-loved nature table.  Please pardon the horrible mess, but they kids really do play at it a lot.  There are baskets of acorns and chestnuts, some mushrooms and gnomes, and various other things ... http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/10/26/our-fall-nature-table/ So, tonight I'm up late scrapbooking (when I could be posting about the leaf prints we did this week), and a girlfriend of mine who is also up late surfing the web, sent me a link to find my fairy name.  All in good fun and here's mine:  Your fairy is called Gossamer ... http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/10/18/fairy-name/ This was our first week back at homeschooling (at least at anything remotely routine) and one of the themes of the week was 'squirrels and nuts'.  We learned all about both, sang song and learned finger rhymes.  It was great fun.  I think the first week back is always a ... http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/09/05/first-week/ After an extraordinarily eventful summer, which we are still recovering from, and which I will provide details of in another post some time in the future, I'm back with some more family and homeschool musings! So, being a hippie in yuppie disguise, I was thrilled when Fuss got his first pair ... http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/09/03/my-sons-hippie-indoctrination/ I have been using Kitchenmuse menus for several months now and I just love them.  They are so easy and my family agrees that they like the meals.  In the menu, I get 6 dinners, some side dishes and a couple of desserts.  It works perfectly.  On the 7th night of the ... http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/08/22/kitchenmuse-review/ So, the great toy purge of 08 is finally done.  Finally.  Colin ended up doing most of the work because I was a bit overwhelmed by the task.  He did an awesome job, but he was exhausted.  And....we filled 20 large moving boxes!  20!  Amazing that we had that much ... http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/04/29/update-on-toy-purge/ I just spent Friday night and all day Saturday at the Gateway Conference at our local Waldorf school.  It was fabulous.  Such an energizing and inspiring weekend. The keynote speaker was a man by the name of Kim John Payne, an Australian now living in New York.  He's been working on ... http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/04/20/gateways-conference/ A while back I learned of a place called Rising Chefs.  It is a chef school for wee ones.  I was so excited!  I went straight to the website to sign up for a class (or sign Fuss up for one).  Disappointingly, they are about 45minutes to an hour away, in traffic.  Basically ... http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/04/03/rising-chefs-club/ Since Fuss was very small, I've been using a 'curriculum' called Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready by June R. Oberlander.  I don't remember how I first found it, however it is listed as the suggested preschool curriculum in The Well Trained Mind which I read long before I had children!  So, ... http://plattdiscoverycottage.com/blog/2008/03/31/slow-steady-review/