So far he's loving Waldorf-inspired Math

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Toyfairlogo_2Stephen: Mom, what are we going to do today?

Me: Well, this morning we're going to make math gnomes.

Stephen: Math gnomes? What do math gnomes do?

Me: Oh, after we make them, they'll add, subtract, multiply and divide.

Stephen: Cool! Spend one morning making gnomes and they do our math for us! Gotta love those little dudes.

Indeed.

Our gnomes are on the lefthand sidebar. I'll add  pages to the album as we play with numbers this year. Right now, I'm off to read Oak Meadow 1 and Christopherus First Grade Syllabus for inspiration so that I can figure out for myself a really good number gnomes story.

Be sure to visit the Jacobite Rose for the Toymaking Fair.

While I appreciate the beauty, the materials and some of the methods of Waldorf education, I am not a follower of Rudolf Steiner, his educational philosophy, or his religion. I am a practicing Catholic who is very clear in teaching the faith to her children. Please see this post for any further explanation of incorporating methods or materials that might also appear in Waldorf schools into your home. Take inspiration from what is good and what in in harmony with the true faith and leave the rest. If you can't discern, then leave it all alone.

Speaking of Family Games...

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Today we're celebrating Family Games over at Learning2love.

It's the perfect day to check out the Million Minute Family Challenge. The 2007 Million Minute Family Challenge takes place September 1 through
December 31, 2007. Anyone can join! All you need to do is spend some quality
time playing a game with family and friends and keep track of the minutes
your group played. Then visit this website to log your minutes and see how
you and other groups are doing. With groups in all 50 states working
together, we can reach our goal of 1 million minutes by the end of 2007!


He really did it

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It's official. I know this to be true, because we just threw a party. The children made a list of party food and called the neighbors. I let them eat up there (snickers bars,doritos, buffalo wings, sprite--in that order. Sorry,  Mary Chris;-). And now, it's really official.

Nicky has moved out of my room.

It started last night with a solemn pronouncement:

"Mom, I'm going to sleep in my bed tonight."

With that, he scooped up his blankets and pillow off the airbed on my bedroom floor and carried them to the bed in Christian's room where he has never slept. He pulled the dog off the bed. And there, he slept the whole night.

Today, he decided he couldn't bear to spend another night in a room with football and basketball posters and no soccer memorabilia.  Furthermore, Christian is usually studying into the wee hours of the morning and then sleeping late. So, Patrick muscled Nicholas' bed into his room and now Patrick, Nicholas, and Stephen are happy together.

The dog is beyond distraught. (He's eying that available air mattress.)

And I'm wondering why they all have to keep growing up.