And the Winner of the Sun Maiden Wool Painting is.......

Megan who said:

 

I love that Waldorf schooling embraces the whole child. Beautiful spring wall hanging!

 

Congratulations Megan!  Your name was pulled from a jar and you have won!  :) 

 

Please send me your address (you may email it privately to farley98@earthlink.net) and I will pop your Sun Maiden Wool Painting in the mail this week. 

 

Thank you to everyone who entered and have a wonderful spring! 



Giveaway: Sun Maiden Breathes Life into Spring

To celebrate spring and the milestone of over 300 followers to Ancient Hearth, I wanted to give away a beautiful Waldorf inspired wall hanging.  Handmade using wool roving and lovingly needle felted by me, this hanging is approximately 9" x 12" and can be hung on a wall using the hemp twine attached to it.  Would make a lovely addition to a bedroom, school room, or class room.

The Sun Maiden holds a bouquet of spring flowers as she travels through the meadows bringing light and life to the land.  A nest of three eggs sits above her head in the tree as wispy clouds drift by and the gentle breeze blows.

To be entered into this giveaway, please leave a comment that you'd like to be entered, along with what you love most about Waldorf schooling, lifestyle, or philosophy!  Doesn't have to be long, just interested in seeing what drew you to Waldorf or to this blog.  If you share this on your blog, please let me know - along with a link to your blog, and I'll enter you a second time!

A lucky winner will be chosen within a week and the winner will be announced next Sunday!  Good luck and blessings to all!

 

Love and light!

~ Jen

Happy Spring!

 

I can't believe spring is already here!  My husband recently put up a few shelves in our school room so I could display some of our beloved wooden figures and needle felted treasures.  It helps with our rhythm.

 



 I have so missed blogging, feeling sad that I haven't much time anymore to capture our days and share them with others, but I did go through today and saw about 50 comments left through the years that I hadn't seen and got around to publishing them today.  I wanted to thank each and every one of you who reached out and commented on a post I had done.  It really meant the world to me - like little hugs across the miles :) 

 

It is so nice to find like-minded friends and others with the passion to nurture and prioritize the health and development of our children.  Sharing helps others and reaching out to receive inspiration or to inspire others, in turn, helps so many children.  I know I have been so motivated and enlightened by so many amazing mothers, fathers, teachers, and friends out there through the years who took the time to share.

 

So today, I want to honor all of you and in the spirit of giving, I am going to be making something today to give away as a token of thanks this week!  I don't have any plans yet just *what* to make - other than something needle-felted as that is a beloved passion of mine...so stay tuned and enjoy the life that is blooming right under our noses!

 



Blessings and light to all my friends and readers! 

xoxo

A few photos from our Block on the Norse Myths...

 

One of our favorite blocks from Grade 4 was the Norse Mythology Block.

 

There are a lot of wonderful blogs and websites to help inspire creativity, but my favorite books are listed below.  Padraic Colum's book is a fine read to fluff out more details for when you are telling one of the myths to your child.  But for drawing inspiration, the D’Auelaires book was fantastic!

 

Here are some of my chalk drawings.  I have yet to find the other stories we did - they are buried in my photo log somewhere - but here is something to get you started!  I used the D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths for the drawings.  They are just stunning and even more so when you get them on the chalkboard.  The cover world is a nice starting point before you being the tales so you and your child can familiarize yourselves for further enjoyment.

Here is from Yggdrasil, the World Tree...

 

 

Some wonderful more thorough coverage of this block can be found at these links:

 

Waldorf Homeschoolers: http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/norse-myths

 

Sure as the World: http://sureastheworld.com/2012/04/11/norse-mythology-block-2/

 

Homeschooling Waldorf has some beautiful wet on wet watercolor paintings that may inspire you: http://homeschoolingwaldorf.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/watercolor-painting/

 

Sorry I have such little time as of late to showcase more of what we are doing, but I am happy if you can find even a little inspiration from our journey! 

 



 

Advent has arrived!  For those who celebrate this religious tradition, Waldorf has found a lovely way to tie it into the earth, as well.  We begin with the Light of Stones...

 

Carrie from The Parenting Passageway wrote a beautiful and detailed post on the first week of Advent in relation to Waldorf and how she and her family celebrate.  It can be seen here.

 

 

In our family, we make our own Advent wreath from branches in our yard, pine cones we have collected, acorn caps, and this year, we rolled red holly balls from our wool roving.  My daughters, who are now 10 years old (OMG) made the wreath this year with minimal help from Mom :)

 

 

Several years ago, I created a basic tutorial, which can be seen here. 

 

 

The twins tied the branches to the frame with twine.

 

 

I got out some special gifts from nature we have collected through the years...

 

 

From our lovely Oak tree in the front of our home...

 

 

And pine cones from a park near our house...

 

 

Laney got to use the hot glue gun and glued the acorn caps to the branches...

 

 

She glued the wool balls and I tied red ribbons on our candle holders this year...

 

 

We begin with a story from one of my favorite books, Christmas Roses: Legends for Advent...

 

Light our candle with a prayer...

 

 

And meditate on our blessings...

 

 

The Advent Wreath helps us focus and center on family, reminds us to slow down and come inward again to replenish, to heal, and to rest.

 

I found some beautiful verses that I enjoyed very much from Sandi at The Sun with Loving Light...blog here.

 

Blessings and Light to you all as you begin this Advent journey!

Leaving November behind...

 

Golden Sun is going down to seek his winter throne.

Far and wide the seeds now sleep my garden is alone;

 

When all around is dark and still within the winter night.

The sun will rise within my heart and shine a warmer light.

~ M. Meyerkort
from the Autumn book by Wynstones Press

A glimpse of our schoolroom...just before the autumn fairies carried the seed babies away...

Hello my friends - I have missed posting and have much I hope to share with you all from this past year.  I also have messages I still have to go through and appreciate everyone's patience.  Life has been so busy that I had to prioritize things other than updating this blog.  Now that December is here, we slow down and focus on the magic of this special time, so my hope is to post more and get caught up.  Blessings and love to all of you!

Happy Spring!

Down in the earth in their dark winter bed

Someone is calling, the crocus said

In colours bright they quickly dressed,

In lavender, purple and gold of the best.

Then out in the grass they dance in a ring

And call to the children, "Come out!  It is spring."

~ H. Henley

 



Stay tuned for a post on our schooling and our spring giveaway is right around the corner!  Happy Spring!

Reactivating Ancient Hearth

I apologize for panicking and removing my blog from public access.  I won't go into the details of what caused me to pull the plug, but after much thought and prayer, I realized that if this blog can help even one parent, teacher, or child on their journey - it should remain accessible to all.

Life has gotten so busy in the past couple of years that I have not been documenting much of what we've been doing, intending to go back in the summer and photograph our work for the year to post, yet summer flies by and we are already into the next spring.  I hope to be better at posting at least a smidgen of what we are doing.

Until then, I hope that this blog can be a place of inspiration and inner quiet where others can be nurtured as I have been.  Blessings and light to you all.

December 1st...The Journey Begins...

The Holy Family

I have several favorite Christmas traditions that we started years ago when we first began our Waldorf inspired journey.  One of them is our Descending Angel Calendar that is very easy to make.  I can't even remember where I first saw it, but it is very easy to make, stores easily, and is fun for children. 

Here is how: I used felt and cut four long strips and sewed them together (the dark blue).  Then I cut out 26 gold stars - one of them you can see at the top, which is larger and represents the guiding star and then 25 smaller ones which go all the way to about 2 inches from the bottom strip.  The little angel can be made out of tissue paper with wool rolled up in the shape of a ball to form the head.  You can either use a pin or tape to move her down each star for each passing day.  Eventually, ours will stand upright on the stars as the remaining section of the strip is on the table itself.  Here is our angel on the first star for December 1st!

One of my other favorite traditions which begins on December 1st is to prepare the way for the Holy Family and their journey to the stable.  I absolutely cherish my beautiful manger, which has also served as a set for many of our schooling stories, as well as a structure for the girls freeplay.  It was handmade by Rick Tan of Syrendell as a custom order.  Jennifer and Rick are two of my favorite people in the waldorf circle and have so many talents.  I have always been thrilled with their creations!

Pinecones that you can collect with your children are always fun to represent nature and trees in storytelling.  Rocks are also beautiful and add to a nature table.

In the past, I have used pieces of evergreen branches for our spiral, but this year, I wanted to try using our dried moss.  The evergreen branches sometimes slide on the silks (also hand dyed by Syrendell), but the moss tends to grab at fibers more, so I think if we bump into the table, our spiral won't slide out of place this year...we'll see :)  I also love the look of it.

Interesting note of Ancient Hearth history - the Joseph doll was my very first needle felting creation.  I had no training, but used to oogle the beautiful dolls I would see, so I gave it a whirl and voila!  I will always cherish these primitive figures.  There is something special about the simplicity of them.

Below is the base of my Descending Angel Calendar.  Once she reaches the last star on the morning of the 25th, we light our beeswax candle and take a moment to reflect on the many blessings we share and the beautiful soul born 'this day' so long ago...

So the journey for 2012 begins today and we begin to try to quiet our innerselves to prepare for all that this month brings!  Tomorrow, we light our first candle of Advent as it 'officially' begins. 

P.S. Don't forget to start your St. Nicholas stories today, if you are celebrating the Festival of St. Nick!

Holiday Preparations: Wooden Ornaments

Alas, it has been months since I've penned this blog last and for that, and for my overbooked schedule, I apologize.  Life is keeping us very busy and I don't have much time for elaborate, well planned posts.  But, what I love about December is that as part of our homeschooling year, I block out much of the month to focus on all of the wonderful festivals, baking, and traditions; and it's a time when we slow down, stray from more formal lessons, and focus more on creating memories by living in the moment.  So, I am hoping to write many posts over the month of December and would love to start by sharing some warm fuzzies that we treasure in our home. 

Like many of you, I prefer anything handmade.  It is hard to find natural, handmade in the local shops, so I often head over to etsy or track down obscure shops online where I can find those heartfelt goodies that make us feel cozy inside.  I was thrilled to find these handmade wooden ornaments from Germany at a local shop near our home last year.  There were so many cute ones that we had to narrow it down over and over again and I hope that we can snag a few more this year - adding to our little collection through the years.

The girls begged me to get out the old Christmas bins from the garage (no basements where I live) so they could begin decorating the tree and these were some of the first ornaments to go up...

Flying Santa

 



The Baker

 



Santa with his Walking Stick

 



Our Russian Soldier

 



Of course, the girls found the mini village my father had surprised us with the year I got married and the twins got sidetracked, but hey - any creative play is great by me!  December is a time to slow down, turn inward, and recharge the soul.  Kids definitely recharge through freeplay while we adults often recharge by ignoring the phone, dishes, and laundry and enjoy watching those little ones around us in all of their innocent, joyful splendor.  Childhood is a wonder to behold!

We are preparing our special holiday table, our Advent spiral, Advent wreath, and of course - we are excited about our first festival in Dec - Bishop Nicholas' Day!  This special tradition was made even more fun thanks to the amazingly beautiful and talented Christine Natale and her St. Nick stories - read one a day, beginning Dec 1st and get your kiddos into the spirit of giving and sharing... I have referenced Christine many times in my blog and there is a big reason why - she truly encompasses the Waldorf heart through her love of children and her foundational training and understanding.  I wanted to post the link to her stories now for anyone who plans to begin them December 1st!

You can read more about St. Nicholas here.  And I will be back with more photos as we prepare for this most wonderful time of year! 

Also, I have several comments that I've not answered yet - I hope to eventually get to them.  And I just saw that I have reached a wonderful milestone of 300 followers :) So in honor of that, yup...you guessed it...I am planning a special giveaway - so stay tuned!  Hugs to all of you!

'Television' by Roald Dahl

 

My sister sent this to me this morning from one of the Waldorf schools in her area and I just had to share it here...now I should also be honest and admit that my girls do watch videos on occassion.  I have turned that ugly black box on now and again to get a rest, but do I see a difference when they watch too much?  You bettcha!  So this is kind of a gentle reminder to me to power through and always limit it.  And as a Roald Dahl fan, I appreciate his talents that much more :)

 

Television

The most important thing we've learned, So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set --

Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink --
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND! IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE! HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!

-Roald Dahl

 

 

My reader, Laney, who is often found buried in a book...

Christine Natale's "Fairy Tales" is available on PDF now!

People who have read my blog know that I'm a huge fan of Christine Natale.  She wrote, IMHO, the BEST Waldorf stories for celebrating the St. Nicholas festival and was kind enough to share them, along with much of her other work for free.  Not very many people do something like that and it shows that for Christine, it's all about the children and helping moms and dads, grandmas, grandpas, teachers, and caregivers to have access to the tools to nourish these little ones who are so lacking stories to enahance their beings.  So I wanted to put this out there and give a shout out to Christine.   She has some wonderful original stories that she wrote for her Waldorf classes.  We have used them in our homeschool and my twins loved them (as did I). 

To contact Christine to see about other offers or specials she has, her email is: Golden3000997@cs.com