Friday Book Review: Circle of Seasons

This is an absolutely gorgeous book by Gerda Muller called, "Circle of Seasons". It is currently out of print, but was originally published in the Netherlands as four separate books (one per season). The board books are available at many waldorf bookstores, as well as amazon (see links).

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

The books are beautifully illustrated with just few words, allowing the imagination of the parent and children to tell many different stories from the gorgeous pictures. And there is always something new to discover. It is easy to get lost in these pages and I would have loved to have known about these when my girls were toddlers. Highly recommended books for little ones! A few of these pictures can give you the idea better than my words could :D

These books (or "Circle of Seasons", if you can find a used copy) would be wonderful to have on your permanent bookshelf for generations of appreciation. They help usher in the seasons and add a wonderful sense of rhythm to our children's lives!

Free Stories For Grade 1

Some wonderful FREE stories for Grade 1 can be found here:



The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales

English Fairy Tales collected by Joseph Jacobs

English Fairy Tales by Flora Annie Steel

Norse Myths by Sir George Webbe Dasent

For the Children's Hour by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey

Thornton Burgess Animal Tales

Various Nature Tales by Clara Dillingham Pierson






The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins






Main Lesson is a wonderful resource for Waldorf & Charlotte Mason books.
~ here is their Grade 1 Waldorf list
~ here is their Grade 1 Ambleside list

Painting Peg People

Peg people are so fun! You can do so much with them, and so can your kids. The twins have been painting them and making little families for their freeplay.

You can purchase them at most crafts stores, online, or on etsy, even! We use standard acrylic paints on theses and then once they dry, the girls polish with beeswax :D

Once dry, it's off to Adventureland...look out for the Volcano!

Using a branch they found on the ground for the tree...

And the village is ready for play!

We also used the female peg people when we made our math gnomes for Grade 1. The tutorial can be found here.

Friday Book Review: What's Hiding in There?

"What's Hiding in There?" by the very talented Daniela Drescher is a wonderful book for preschool on up. It's only 7 double spread pages of lift-the flaps, but the art work is absolutely stunning and the wonder the kids have at lifting the flaps to reveal the surprise is so precious!

The book is a series of vignettes centered around nature, wildlife, and "wee folk" (fairies, elves, etc). It is written with a series of questions which encourage children to lift the flaps to find the hidden object.

Here are a couple of the 2 page spreads...


This book is put out by Floris Books and just about anything Floris puts out is fantastic. Ms. Drescher has numerous books available, many of which can be seen at waldorf book stores.

If you have a younger child full of wonder, I bet they would love this book! I have seen some of her postcards at the Waldorf Toys online shop, but know shipping is outrageous to the States. Has anyone seen them locally or within the US/Canada, by chance?

Handwork: Learning the Lucet

Last weekend, Elena and I had some one-on-one time, a rarity in our household, and she wanted to learn to use the lucet she received in her Christmas stocking (yeegads - where did the time go?!?). I purchased a lucet for each of the girls from the Tan family of Syrendell. Jennifer has an amazing fiber arts shop called Gosh Yarn It where you can find the lucets, and so much more!

The lucet was used as early as the Viking days, to make cords to lace corsets, embellish clothing, tie bags, etc...They are very sturdy and gorgeous.


I searched online and found a tutorial that I watched before presenting it to Elena. It is relatively easy and addicting (though it does take a lot of finger strength - mine got sore after some time) :D. So Elena eagerly began. We tried several types and thicknesses of yarns to get a feel for it. I had to hold the top string while Elena got going, but it won't be long until she can do it all by herself!

The rainbow cord was our favorite and she was inspired to make a bunny with it (while I was angling for a snail - lol!). I tried to show her how to hide the threads and then just let her go at it and have fun...

She was so happy with her little bunny!

Thanks, Jennifer, for the beautiful lucets!!!!

Review: Form Drawing Block & Continuation of Nature Studies Block II

This past week, we reviewed various forms we covered throughout the year while I read and told several nature stories.

We didn't do too much MLB drawings of the stories since we were busy putting our forms in our books, but we did do one for a story by Carl Ewald called, "The Dragon-Fly and the Water-Lily". It yielded a lesson about simplicity of life, coupled with the reality that we all end up in the same predicament in the end, no matter what our journey is to get there.

I also read to them a few stories by Clara Dillingham Pierson, Thornton Burgess, and one I made up myself. I tried to pick stories that could be tied into the forms we were reviewing. Donna Simmons has a wonderful "Form Drawing for Beginners" book which has a lovely example of how to do this, pertaining to a king looking for his love and the journey he takes to find her. Here is an informative review on this waldorf book.

Those are just some of the running forms we reviewed this past week from Donna's book. Next week, we'll continue this review block. My sister is also coming into town with her family - yeah! So I should have some fun family photos to share, as well :D