visiting other waldorf schools

I think I am one of those people that likes to visit other waldorf schools and take pictures of them...kind of like those people that like to visit churches all over Europe.....is that too funny!


we drove an hour to get to the Taos waldorf school and what a wonderful drive!!!! right along the river, through the canyon....wow! it must be amazing when it is snowy.

The school is set right at the base of a beautiful mountain range....I took pics but I can't get the pics onto this computer....so you will have to wait.


They have a yurt as the Eurythmy room and all around is farm land.....cows, horses, veggies.......

and the town is sooooo sweet with the best toy shop I have EVER been to.....its an alternative toy shop.....any waldorf families dream toy shop...its called Twitter and they had free art classes and a whole play ground with a canopy of trees and comfy chairs for moms and dads to sit in while you watch your kids run around climbing rope/ tube course and mushroom play structure.
It was a very smart business move to have a play area as part of the toy shop....the thing is you have to walk through the toy shop to get to it. so kids always want to buy stuff. they even have a bath room with free diapers so moms don't have to leave if they run out of diapers.....
Moms just bring lunch and play for hours. the play area is clean and the kids take off their shoes and run around....the play structures are all shoe free zones because of the foam/ trampoline sturctures

June 11 the birth of a little golden dragon

8 years ago I was in labor and 6 hours at home with a doula, 2 midwives my husband and my mom ...into the world I birthed a baby golden dragon ....  she is so proud of being year of the dragon. 

since we are in New Mexico and away from my computer I do not have pictures....but I will tell you that she was a small blond bundle....from that moment....from that instant...my life changed and it could never go back........I was born into motherhood and my eyes opened and the world changed. 

This morning we went to early morning sadhana (an early morning group yoga class)  and there we were embraced by all the many people that were in our life when my daughter was born...she was born here in NM where we have many friends we have known for decades...

 in our yogic lifestyle we spend 40 days in our home with the new baby....only close friends and family members who will be apart of the child's life (for ever basically) are allowed to visit...we also have a savadar (a female postpartum doula) who helps to cook and clean the house during this time.  for me it was my mother...she came out and stayed with us...

So our first appearance into the world from our quiet space at home was early morning Sadhana where the rest of the community is able to see the new family and welcome them into the world.  It was a very powerful time 8 years ago and today as we relished our yogic experience, the room started to sing happy birthday to my daughter...   my husband and I were in tears as they sang to our first born. she was so beautiful as she walked around and handed out cookies and excepted all the hugs and best wished from so many friends. 

I feel so blessed to be here....

kinder class

Still working on blue and purple....but here is the beginning of a toy for kinder class. it also needs to be felted.




Kinderdolls....one doll was in the kindergarten and it had a very dirty face. so I brought her home and took off her head and put new skin on...I hand washed the body and dried her in the sun.. . Then I made another doll the same size...I'm not sure how many dolls the Kindergarten needs but once I start...its hard to stop.

hollyhock flowers for plant dyeing....my result was only a little off white...the dye tried to make purple but it did not work. I think too few flowers......I don't know....

here are some crafts for the Kinder classroom

My girls always make me smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They have more energy than puppies.....

adding more to first grade

The top picture is of the 1st and 2nd grade curriculum...this is a picture from Sunbridge... you can see the cat and the pouch there

First Grade verses
These are my hands as you can see, this is my right and this is my left. I can stretch them out wide and pull them in close. I can reach them up high and hang them down low. I can shake them up and hold them quite still. These are my hands they do as I will.

Two jolly grandfathers meet in the lane
Bow most politely , bow once again
How do you do, and how do you do, and how do you do again
Two first graders meet in the land etc
Two tall farmers meet in the lane etc
Two shepherd girls meet in the lane etc
Two wooly sheep meet in the lane etc


Our time for now has ended. Our hands may come to rest. We thank our hands both left and right, for helping us to do our best.

My fingers are so sleepy, It's time they went to bed. First you Little Baby, Tuck in your tiny head. Ruby Ring, now it's your turn. Next comes Toby Great. Peter Pointer hurry Because it's getting late. Let's see if they're all nestled, No! - there's one to come, Move over please and make room For Tommy Thumb.
Blessings on your day 1st grade boys and girls.

4) Leaning how to cast on
Under the fence, catch the sheep back we come and ON we leap
5) Making a square. Cat Pattern
Cast on 16 stitches. Knit until the square can fold into a triangle.

6) Casting off
Knit one, Knit two, leap frog sue .


7) Knitting Bird. Cast on 14. same as Cat pattern but sew in a triangle . Sew on orange felted beak.

Cast on 16 stitches. Knit length of 2 squares (able to fold into 2 triangles)

Flute Case Pattern:

8 color changes (your choice in how this is done).
This current pattern is for size 10 needles

Cast on 40 stitches.

1) Knit 2 ribs (4 rows)

Change color and leave a 2 inch tail on the end.

2) Knit 2 ribs ( 4 rows)

Change color again and leave a 2 inch tail on the end. Make sure that you only change color when you have the tails at the tip of the knitting needle. This will make a fridge on the bottom of the flute case.

3) Repeat for 8 color changes. (This could mean 2 colors changing back and forth or 4 colors changing around etc)

4) After the 8th color change, cast off and sew the case up using the whip stitch. That means we use a yarn needle and sew in a spiral. Leave the top unsewn.
5) 2 methods to finish. Either knit a flap with a button or have your child make a twisty twirly and gather it at the top (a draw string) like their handwork bag.

6) The flap:
Cast on 15 stitches. Knit 5-8 ribs and cast off. Sew on a button.




Knit a pouch. Cast on 16 . Learn to decrease
Cast on 16 stitches. Knit length of 2 squares (able to fold into 2 triangles)

Under two fences, catch the sheep, back we come and off we leap.
Decrease the pouch by decreasing one stitch each row.
Ends with a triangle
Get a button to finish it.

1st grade

I wanted to share what I did this year in Handwork with all the different grades
I will be changing some things next year...but just to share with those who are curious...

I will start with 1st grade...above you can see the books I used...they are a must!


we started our year with a story about a local brother and sister who were going to their grandparents farm.... 2 hour drive from the city to a town we locals are all familiar with for its clean air, farm land and snow.

on the farm they run into sheep...from here the story introduced sheep, wool fleece, spinning on sticks to make yarn and what we can do with yarn.

from there we made our own knitting needles.

I feel I need pictures to properly share this with you...pics to come....

what you need

dowels
sand paper
cement ground
bees wax
felt

we made the knitting needle ends from sculpty clay


next we learned how to make a slip knot.
Verse:
"Here is the lake...see the snake...grab his head and pull the thread." (pics to come)

Then we stared to finger knit a rainbow chain...this became the draw string for their handwork bags. (I pre made 24 bags in pink ) Pink and red are the colors for first grade...it is the color of the womb.

then we finger knit a golden chain that they wore home

Next we learned how to cast on....we cast on for about 2 classes.

Then we stared on our first project the CAT

cast on 14 stitches and knit a perfect square...to make a square take the bottom right corner and pull up to the top left corner... when the square make a perfect triangle...then you are done.

More info to come..............................

Bird
Flute case
Bear
Pouch
Puppet
Rainbow ball

etsy

I just found a wonderful Indian fabric etsy store. I want all of it!!! maya, maya, maya!
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5661894

ladies camp

Ok the tickets are made...I am going back to sunbridge...being that it takes lots of money to get there...I think it will be a question every year...can I get there this summer/spring?

But it is set...kids are taken care of and I am looking forward to 2 weeks of ladies camp....


when I was a kid I would go to 6 weeks of Kundalini Yoga ladies camp...http://3ho.org/WOMEN/womens-new/womenscamp-newpage.htm

it was so fun!!!! it was a camp for only women and girls...females learning how to grow as graceful shaktis... Shakti is a Sanskrit word for graceful woman.

we would tent in a quiet camp group owned by the founders of the camp, shaded by zillions of cotton wood trees in New Mexico... eating organic food, doing really fun activities like, white water rafting, rock climbing, archery etc....and then tons of Yoga and meditation.

I noticed it was also a special time for the women that went...it was a retreat for them...they did workshops all day (unlike the teens...we needed to play)



Anyway...My point is...this sunbridge time is like a woman's camp for me...a retreat... a time to grown within my self.

Meetings

I have been in meetings for the last 2 days and I just received my new schedule for next year....last year I was 3/4 time...next year I will be full time.

The surprise was that I am on the list to teach a double period of fine arts to both 7th and 8th grade...thats an extra 4 hours with the middle school kids....last year I had them for a one block of 8 weeks...not the whole year.

and how will I fit in my BA classes at night with this new full time schedule?

I am honored to be in the position that the mainlesson teachers feel I am a good enough teacher and artist to take on ...even replace their own artistic class period during the week....but wow!

if I screaming now that means I will really be screaming next year.


rethinking the whole plan......hmmmmmmmmmm

now where did I put that wand? I know I had it ......

summer school

so it is time to think about what I am doing this summer...how to finish my BA and how to return to Sunbridge...

I need a magic wand :)

school is ouuuuuut! camping in the cabin

I did it!!!!!!! my first year of being a handwork teacher and I am still standing...........

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

This year I had 23 first graders
23 2nd graders
23 3rd graders
17 4th graders
26 5th graders
16 6th graders
22 7th graders
and
8 8th graders

and I worked with Kindergarten a little

Now I relax....I have meetings with faculty all next week and I have to pack up my room....But now I breathe and plan for next year

Think about what worked and what didn't

Right after school got out on Friday...it was half day...we had the car packed and we left for the mountains to go camping in a cabin

on Monday it was 112 degrees and on Friday it was 65 degrees...so that means we had SNOW in the mountains

I forgot hats so I had to make new ones really fast...good thing I had yarn and a crochet hook...

end of the year round up

We have the last few projects from fist grade going home...bears, bags, finger puppets etc
So my daughter's play was last week...she preformed it 3 times and had 2 parts. 2nd grade did the Indian story of the world is falling apart...it was so cute! I can't show pics of other students with out permission...so you get to just see my daughter as the sun...the play took place in the 3rd grade building structure...they build a shade/ shelter out of hay bales and stuck mud on top (stucco) and wood roof... it is an amazing structure!

Next we have a picture of my older daughter and her friend being very silly with tape on their noses right before we leave for our Spring assembly where we go to local community college and all the grades preform on stage to all the parents (we have so many families that there is not enough seats for everyone. (that's a good sign that we have a very healthy community)

Next you see the second Humming bird about to leave the nest and the mommy feeding him and helping him go...they are so cute when they learn to fly...they get their wings flapping and then they just fall off and about 6 inches down they start to fly up again.

next is my younger daughter drinking from a coconut and having fun on the tire swing

Dyers garden

So its time to start up my Dyers garden. The Gardening teacher and I went over what to plant this coming year.

So far this is what we are at
Sunflowers
Woad,
Weld
Red and Yellow onions
Madder

If you have any other suggestions...let me know :)

7th , 2nd and update on our humming birds

Here you can see our Humming birds trying to fly
my daughter is crocheting...

2nd grade camping trip

Since my second grader is always with so many of her friends, it was hard to get a shot of her alone.
But anyway, the 2nd grade and their families went on a 2 night camping trip to a lake about an hour away from school. it was really a wonderful trip. Not all the families came and not all the families chose to stay the entire time...

But it was a wonderful way to get to know each other better.

Here are a few pics of my girls

parrot alarm update

remember that parrot that was waking me up real early in the morning with a car alarm mimic

well here she is. we have finally met. she hung out in our back yard for about 10 minutes... she ate and sang

update

so here are some things from our day

eating our favorite snacks...papaya and avocado ...each child likes their own favorite snack...its interesting how they are both shaped like an ovary...good for my young females....they say females (no matter what age) should eat one avocado each week

Next is our humming birds in their nest...how sweet they are and so big now


2nd grade crochet update.

this is a dragon finger puppet...it took the 3 students I had do this task only one class so they will make a bag after this...with only 6 classes left.

and our first zucchini and summer squash from our garden

3 weeks left

with only 3 weeks left I am feeling the year come to an end...I see 1st graders turn into 2nd, 2nd graders turn into 3rd etc.

There are some very defining features for each grade.

I keep dreaming

I keep dreaming of going to Europe with my family and traveling for several months. come home for year and then go back for year and stay in some small village....

I wish I had some European friends...it would make this dream so much more a reality.

DO you ever feel pulled some place and you don't know why?

Maybe its all in the mind and not a reality at all or maybe there is some life experience that needs to take place there and my soul is just constantly reminding me

happy May day

my older daughter and I were inspired to make a May pole dance out of felt.