Making Summer Solstice

Today we celebrated the Summer Solstice by sharing many of the songs and verses in our new Midsummer Festival E-Book and also making these beautiful Summer Garden Suncatchers that my co-author Sara Wilson from Love in the Suburbs created for the e-book.

Maia just loves all forms of handwork.  Weaving must be one of her favorite things to do so this activity really appealed to her.

I'll be a little sunbeam true, 

A tiny ray of light,
And try in all I say and do,
To make the world more bright.

How did you celebrate this special day with the children?  Remember that Midsummer Day is on June 24th - we have lots of ideas for you in our new e-book.  Let us know which was your favorite!  



Midsummer Festival E-Book Giveaway!!!!

Splashing, exciting, swimming, freedom, garden, outside, lazy, travel, laughter, light, fireflies, allow, wet, expansion, camping, barefoot, water, fun, community, crazy, family, sweat, beach, relazation, absorb, golden, savored, sweltering, heat, happiness, togetherness, energy, exhale, warmth...

What word comes to mind when YOU think of summer?  Post it in the comments of our Facebook Giveaway and enter to win a FREE Midsummer Festival E-Book from Little Acorn Learning!

Hurry - tomorrow is the first day of Summer! 

Ladybug, Ladybug

 Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly away home!
You house is on fire, your children are gone.
All but one, and her name is Ann,
And she crept under the frying fan.

Today we made ladybugs with the children.  The dots represent the child's age on their little ladybug.  Maia created the flowers on her own with pipe cleaners and decorative flowers.  This little craft was inspired by one of the Wool Pets kits - although we did not use the actual kit to create them. 

The Secret of the Sunflower

Oh sunflower what is the secret thing

You hide in your inmost heart?

When you turn to the sun like a slave to his king

With all your leaves apart!

 We were very surprised to find this random Sunflower growing in the garden this morning when we went outside.  It must have somehow came from last year's plantings as we didn't plant any this year.

 When I carefully opened up the petals to see the inside of the Sunflower - look what we found!  A very hungry caterpillar munching away on the entire inside!  What an amazing surprise and creative home this little guy found! 

This was such a great experience for the children.  These simple discoveries with the children are creating a love of nature that will last a lifetime and I am so honored to be a part of it. 

Clean Break

My sweet Keira broke her wrist this past weekend.  She was taking photos of animals for her photography club and stood up on a chair on our deck to get a once-in-a-lifetime shot of a beautiful bird when the chair fell backwards and she landed right on her wrist. 

Luckily she is a lefty and it was the right hand that was hurt.  She was in a lot of pain and was really really upset when she found out it was indeed fractured and she needed a cast.  I was able to make her smile for the photo here but prior to that there were tons of tears.

She's gotten very good at using one hand and we are keeping our (left hand) fingers crossed that the cast will come off before we go on vacation. 

*NEW* Midsummer Festival E-Book!

I am SO excited to announce Little Acorn Learning's new Midsummer Festival E-Book that I wrote with my dear friend Sara Wilson of Love in the Suburbs.  This HUGE e-book is filled with tons of activities, songs, book recommendations and much more to help you welcome summer the entire season long!  We hope you enjoy it!  xoxo

Waldorf Kindergarten Field Trip

We've been so lucky to have the opportunity to send Brianna to our local Waldorf Kindergarten program.  After such a hard time in public school, Waldorf Education has been such a gentle and healing experience for her. 

Last week we were able to attend a field trip with the Sunflower Class.  The teachers brought us to a park which had a nice stream for the children to float the boats they made in class. 

The six year olds made larger wooden boats while the younger children made little walnut shell boats with sails.

 Then the children waded and walked in the stream and saw many fish as well as tons of crayfish. 

I want more than anything in the world to send my girls to this school all the way through 8th grade.  It has been a dream of mine and something I keep trying to make happen. 

I'm lucky enough to have many daycare parents that do not mind me bringing their child along when I go to bring Brianna to school so it is not entirely out of the question long-term just so expensive and a lot to manage as I will need more children to afford it along with my other bills.

My heart just breaks thinking of Brianna having to leave this sweet school but I am also grateful that she has been able to have the experience even if for a short while. I wish my husband would get on board. It really is the best place for her. 

I am going to pray and ask the universe to help me find a way to send my little ones here and hopefully it will somehow work out.  If not, I will just continue to work extra hard to bring the beauty of Waldorf into their home life. 

These sweet little walnut boats were made by melting a beeswax crayon and adding a stick for the sail. 

Later the children enjoyed a blessing, snack and a lot of free play on the playground.  Sitting and watching I wished all children had this type of Kindergarten experience and I have regrets that my other children did not.  It is truly such a gift. 

On our way out we found this wonderful tree stump that looked like a little chair.  Brianna fit perfectly inside! 

Are there any of you out there that also have struggled with trying to make a Waldorf Education a reality for your children?  How have you handled it? 

xoxo