Waldorf Co-op - Weeks 2, 3 & 4

WEEK 2

We met at the creek - it was such a beautiful day! Actually it was a bit warmer, around 80 degrees.

We had yoga and Circle, with Apple leading and doing a beautiful version of the Giant Turnip. After Circle, we did our craft - crayon drawing on turnip shaped paper.

We took a walk up the trail to a new favorite spot at the creek. The shore is more level and the mommas can sit and do handwork and chat while the children are in plain sight.

WEEK 3

Erin took her turn to lead co-op. Clover turned 9 that day, wow! Erin's rendition of the Giant Turnip was beautiful. Lots of animals were there helping, and the kids were cracking up at Erin's woofs and meows. Instead of the mouse being the last to help pull out the turnip, it was Baby Sister Rose, who whispered to the turnip gnome underground to release the turnip.

Our craft was decorating birthday hats.

Shy Laurel!

We all sang happy birthday to Clover, and enjoyed delicious butternut squash muffins with chocolate chips. Mmmmm!! Erin has the recipe over at her website - here! Afterwards Clover opened her gifts - it was so sweet to see the genuine appreciation she had for all the thoughtful presents in her honor.

WEEK 4

Well, no pictures from today! It was cold and rainy (again, as it was last week) but everyone was a bit better prepared. Tanya and Blake led Circle, and told the story together. It was very cute - Blake did a great job and was obviously confident in speaking. Impressive!

We also added a new verse, about a pumpkin, which everyone took to quickly. We are making that our new Autumn verse.

Our craft was embroidery. Tanya brought turnip shaped felt, and the kids sewed it with floss onto another piece of felt on a hoop. The creations and work of the kids, especially the older ones, were amazing.

Next week, we'll begin a new story with some new movement verses and fingerplays. I'm so happy with the structure and rhythm of co-op this year. Things are much more peaceful and relaxed.

Waldorf Co-op - Week 1

What a great start to our Waldorf co-op! We have three new families joining us this year, adding a total of 7 new little friends. So now in all there are 7 families with 19 children ages 3 months to 8 years.

Our first day was a little bit out-of-sorts. We discovered that the spot where we normally meet at the park was being used by the staff for a program. Since the parking area is so small, and we had the flexibility, we moved our group just up the hill to the picnic shelter until we could get back to our usual place.

Teaser pic - keep on reading!

A small trail behind the shelter goes down to the lake. I took most of the kids (about 10) for a hike. The older boys ran ahead and by the time I had caught up with them, they were knee deep (literally) in mud! The lake had receeded, leaving a wonderfully gooey mudflat. With such an amazing opportunity for mud play, we put co-op on hold for the kids to enjoy the muddy mayhem.

They were all very hungry (and dirty!) since lunch was quickly approaching. We took full advantage of the outdoor sinks at the picnic shelter to get the kids (semi) clean. Luckily, I have a "close relationship" with the park's General Manager, so he came by to clean up our mess.

As soon as we got back to the creek and picnic tables, we set up for lunch. I sang a little verse while passing our the placemats I had made for the group. The kids instantly settled down and were ready for our blessing:

Earth who gives to us our food,
Sun who makes it ripe and good,
Dearest Earth and Dearest Sun,
We will not forget what you have done.




One of the mommas reads a story while the kids finish eating. It was amazing how much more peaceful lunch was that day, as opposed to how lunches go during playdates and last year's co-op. Definitely a new tradition!

After lunch, one of the mommas leads the children (except mine, who refused to participate) in some gentle yoga.

After yoga, they "om" or "aum".

Then we moved on to our circle. I don't have any pictures of that unfortunately. We sang our songs, lit our candle, then I told the story "The Giant Turnip". I was really happy with how it went. We moved from that into movement verses and more songs. I think that for next week, we should transition from the story (passive) to the movement verses (active) with a more quiet fingerplay. The kids really seemed to be jolted out of the story by jumping up and doing the song. Some of them didn't even jump up! So I think we need a better way to ease them out of the story. Hmmmmmm.............
After story, we moved onto crafts! For our first craft, we did watercolor.

I like to give my girls one color at a time - starting with yellow, then red, then blue. They fully enjoy and explore one color before adding the next. As always, the painting ends up a dark blue-green-brown. But that's okay, because right now they are just enjoying the painting (verb) and don't care about the outcome painting (noun).

All mommas agreed that it was a GREAT day! I'm so excited about this year!!!!

Field Trip to Reedy Creek NP

As usual, the morning started off with the kids outside! Every day for the past few weeks they have dashed out the back or side door after a little pre-breakfast snack. We have the craft table and their chairs under the carport now, so that there is always a place for eating meals. How the house gets so messy when the kids are outside all day, I'll never know!

This morning, Lela and Liv posed for a picture with our new tent. It is so big, that we think it can accomodate two queen mattresses! We are taking it for an Inagural Camping Trip in a couple days. It will be Laurel and Liv's first "official" camping trip, if you don't count the one night in the rent-a-tent at McDowell last fall.

Today our co-op had a field trip to Reedy Creek Nature Preserve. We met at the Nature Center, checked out their beautiful native plant gardens, then made our way towards the trail. There were pits for digging for fossils, and the kids played in there while we waited for everyone to show up.

We found this lovely large snail who obliged us to poke her head out, even a little bit more....

We wanted to avoid the trail that went towards the pond, but the kids would hear nothing of it. The older kids ran ahead a little ways - when we caught up to them, Lela was tearing through the undergrowth on all fours, chasing a huge toad! She finally caught him.

The kids worked through sharing the toad-find, and Lela was very possesive of "her" toad. Finally, she chose the perfect spot for him, between two trees on a bed of moss. Idyllic - - - on her hands and knees, she placed him in the grass......then....

"OH! A SNAKE!!" (quickly pounces to rescue the toad)

A black rat snake was right there, but she quickly made her way into the woods. Some of the kids got to see her. After a while, the toad was finally released, for good this time.

Finally at the pond, the kids wade a little.

We walked a bit further before plopping down on some benches and enjoying rations of cheddar bunnies, pretzels, mango and orange. There was more spashing in the water, and well, most everyone was soaked. I had extra outfits for my girls luckily! The saw some little fish and tadpoles there too.

It was a long hike back up the trail, with the little ones tired and very hungry. When you are slogging 50+ pounds of toddlers and a heavy basket, (or a 30+pound toddler and a 7 month baby-in-belly), you can feel like it just wasn't worth it, and it is easy to forget the magic of the earlier moments. Like when Lela ran to share her precious toad with a friend who had fallen. That spontaneous, freely sharing of a coveted thing was beautiful, and to see the compassion in your child is magic.