Waldorfish Families - Cheyenne Patterson

Every few weeks on the blog, we spotlight a Waldorfish community family. You are a diverse and global group! We’re pretty sure you’d be bff’s in real life. Today, please enjoy our conversation with Cheyenne Patterson!

(And don’t forget- we’re here for you! If you’re like some support in your homeschooling journey, click here!)

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TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF!

I'm a homeschooling mom to Renzo 11, Tre 9, and Penney 6, and wife to Joel. I have always felt like a bit of an anomaly as a super crunchy, health food store owning, Waldorf loving, ballet dancing, artsy, creative, Christian.

HOW DOES YOUR FAMILY START THE DAY? 

Our mornings are slow and quiet, the most the peaceful time of day for sure! We are a late family, between the late night dance classes and performances and my husband working late at our store, we tend to do late dinners and late bedtimes. Thankfully the kids are really great at playing quietly or reading until everyone is up and ready for activity. Some mornings we make a big breakfast, but I’ve also gotten the kids in the habit of making their own breakfast on the mornings that I juice. Then we gather to make our plans for the day.

My kids really appreciate a written list of expectations for the day, including both school work and chores. This is also the time of day that we go over any outside-the-home-plans or activities. For years, we would then move on to circle, but as my crew is getting older I’m struggling a bit to settle into what works. We seem to be transitioning to a singing and devotional time for everyone, then first grade movement or song, which my boys surprise me just often enough by jumping in and wanting to join in!

GIVE US A SNAPSHOT OF ANY MANAGEMENT/ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES THAT ARE HELPING YOU FLOW THROUGH YOUR HOMESCHOOLING DAYS.

This year I’ve got three kids in the grades, and although it is different than the year of juggling babies and toddlers with school, it is still a juggle all the same! I find the more we can combine lessons and find overlap the smoother our days go. My fourth grader is equally passionate about ancient history and sciences as my sixth grader, so I only need to alter the length of their writing assignments.

My daughter, on the other hand, really needs her time with fairy tales and the foundations of academics, so I have to be careful to fill her bucket. As far as organization, I have tried quite a few methods. Last year, I printed out everything we would need for the year from various curriculums and online resources, and had my own open-and-go curriculum. It was, in many ways, lovely, but I still tweaked it and rearranged it so much that I'm back to my tried and true classic of just making lists.

The lists for first grade are simple, lists of letters with stories and ideas, lists of math games, lists of read alouds and handwork and art projects. For the boys there are lists of books and projects for each block. Then I have always kept a very informal mental check list for full school days to includes the three R's (reading writing and arithmetic) and something beautiful. If the three R's aren't covered in main lesson, then we will cover them in short independent review for my older ones, and in games or songs in the younger grades.

Using lists works well so that school can happen around living life. We can enjoy good weather days and say yes to field trips and spontaneous play dates without feeling behind or like we need to rush through lessons to catch up. If the next lesson is a three day project but it’s a Friday, we can just pick a different shorter lesson, we don't lose momentum just because we aren't ready for the next thing.

The last thing I utilize that helps keep us going, is planning for the times that I can't be the awesome hands-on teacher that I like to be. They do review days with independent work like math, spelling or cursive copy work books, piano apps, art lessons and math games.

“The goal is that school fits into our life and gives us structure when needed rather than force our life around a school schedule.

”

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCES? (HOMESCHOOL OR OTHERWISE)

Oh I have so many favorites! As someone who doesn't tend to stick to curriculum but loves reading it for ideas, it’s probably no surprise that I love buying individual blocks from places like Hearth Magic or Ancient Path on Etsy, or blocks from a Waldorf Journey or Magic of Waldorf.

I’m a big fan of the mathbyhand.com Times Tables and Fables Kit, the Living Music from the Heart for recorder, and Out Door Secrets from Simply Charlotte Mason. I always enjoy pursuing book lists from Waldorf and Charlotte Mason curriculums to find the best books. And of course, I love the inspiration from other moms on social media, but I’m not sure I’d be able to do this at all without my real life, in person, homeschool mom friends! I’m also very grateful for the Earthschooling curriculum for such a broad selection of stories for each grade which really brought a sense of freedom to our home school.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I’ve always got a more challenging classic going that I'm half listening to on Libervox - right now it’s Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, which will take me a full year. I’m also reading The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, and I found a 50 cent copy of Beyond the Rainbow Bridge by Barbara J. Patterson and Pamela Bradley that I am enjoying, even though my kids are past this stage. I was wanting something Waldorfy after reading The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart and Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins this summer. As a family we are reading Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Odyssey and Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome, I highly recommend both! I just started A Mathematician’s Lament by Paul Lockhart and it’s so great! A must read for any educator!

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE OVERWHELMED OR STRESSED?

When the overwhelm comes I know it is time to slow way down with school and outside-the-home commitments. It’s a balance because sometimes the overwhelm comes from needing to catch up on house work and adult work, and so it makes sense to put everything on pause to get those caught up. But other times the overwhelm comes from business, and I find creative pursuits and time in nature and daily time in prayer and meditation are such a good antidote to business. I also feel very blessed to be able to take about 5 hours a week of ballet and modern dance classes and it’s so nice to have that built in time to be totally in my body.

PLEASE SHARE SOME WORDS OF WISDOM YOU'VE GLEANED OVER THE YEARS.

There are always those new stages where it is really tempting to think, "Wow my kid is so big, it’s time to really hit the books," or "This school year has got to be really rigorous". But I keep coming back to the idea that school needs to be fun or we are doing it wrong, and it is just as true in sixth grade as it was in kindergarten. Leaving breathing room is paramount both for creative teaching, to stay aware of the climate in our home that is set by our attitudes. It is far more important to prioritize relationships and character.

TELL US A BIT ABOUT HOW WALDORFISH COURSES ARE ADDING TO YOUR SCHOOL YEAR. READY....GO

So far we have enjoyed the Waldorfish courses that are a part of the Earthschooling membership. Waldorf art was such a game changer for us, especially for my oldest who was so afraid of making a mistake that he wouldn't write or draw or paint at all.

“The course on block crayons showed me how to teach how forgiving drawing could be. I’m so glad I didn’t give up, and that we found the Waldorf arts - that I found something that teaches art as a skill that can be improved. ”

My sons are finally really happy with their art, so we are now working our way through the courses again as a family but this time with little sister joining us!

WHERE CAN WE CONNECT WITH YOU?:

Instagram: @cheyenne_and_crew

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Waldorfish Families - Nichole Goff

Every few weeks on the blog, we spotlight a Waldorfish community family. You are a diverse and global group! We’re pretty sure you’d be bff’s in real life. Today, please enjoy our conversation with Nichole Goff!

(And don’t forget- we’re here for you! If you’re like some support in your homeschooling journey, click here!)

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Tell us about yourself!

My name is Nichole, I go by Mom most of the time. We have 3 boys in 7th, 5th and Kindy 4/5. We also own a small woodworking business, newly relocated. Our dreams are to have our shop and home on the same property, and our Vision is currently in process. Our shop is built, and we are renovating the home on site, but live in a rental 5 minutes away, while doing so.

How does your family start the day? 

We start the day with Kindy, then we move into 5th and 7th. My older boys co-op at our wood shop a couple mornings a week, as well. Outside time or movement helps before school.

Give us a snapshot of any management/organizational strategies that are helping you flow through your HOMESCHOOLING days.

What has really helped me this past year is teaching my older boys how to use a planner. If they have their week planned out, including outside of the home classes, appointments, and even online art classes like Waldorfish. It helps our days flow better. It also encourages them to be self-starters, and get going on their subjects. And it helps them know when my “office time” is, which means my availability to teach or help them with their subjects. Boundaries and limits can be an issue with homeschooling. If I do not create those boundaries they may never understand when to have school work completed = deadlines. We are flexible, but as time goes on it is nice to teach deadlines, or school can get dragged out for weeks.

“Movement has been huge for us. I have sensory seekers and avoiders, so for years we’ve spent time on helping them to balance that out and cope. So our sensory life has always affected our school life and so on, it is not separate. It’s dimensional.”

What are some of your favorite resources? (Homeschool or otherwise)

Waldorf Essentials, Christopherus, Pinterest, IG accounts of wonderful mamas sharing, some FB groups, local activities. And let’s not forget Waldorfish Festival Year, Geometry 5th and 7th, and Weekly Art.

What are you currently reading? 

Where Two Worlds Touch, by Gloria D. Karpinski. With the boys we are currently using Frankenstein as a read-aloud.

What do you do when you are overwhelmed or stressed?

Salt bath, fresh air, CBD oil, prayer, breath work.

Please share some words of wisdom you've gleaned over the years.

Life is messy and hard and beautiful. Life is dimensional. I’ve learned that Perserverence is the hard work you do, after all the hard work has already been done. I’ve also learned that I’m a teacher and a healer, and that I’m doing exactly what I should be doing, at this moment, working in my backyard, helping to heal the Sacred Hoop.

Tell us a bit about how Waldorfish courses are adding to your school year. Ready....Go!

“Waldorfish has helped my boys with confidence, especially my 11 year old, who didn’t feel as talented at drawing. Waldorfish has also helped me as a mama-teacher. I feel less stressed about bringing the content forward. Waldorfish has helped us become consistent each week, spiraling forward within the learning framework of each block.”

Where can we connect with you?:

Instagram: @nurturing-spirit and @coydog-studios

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/coydogstudios/

https://www.facebook.com/nichole.goff.161

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CoydogStudiosHome

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Waldorfish Families - Maya Corinne

Every few weeks on the blog, we spotlight a Waldorfish community family. You are a diverse and global group - We’re pretty sure you’d be bff’s in real life. Today, please enjoy our conversation with Maya Corinne of Pollen Institute!

(And don’t forget- we’re here for you! If you’re like some support in your homeschooling journey, click here!)

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Tell us about yourself!

 Hi I’m Maya, a creative who’s also your biggest fan! When I’m not homeschooling my 5, 10, 13, & 17 year old boys, I’m teaching global icons, beacons, & angels how to sustainably create freedom + plenty, showing college student-leaders how to make an impact free of gross unconscious consumerist patriarchy, or figuring out how to make some traditional feast, or making fences for my animals.

Photo: Danielle Cohen

How does your family start the day?

I take our 5-year old, Saki to pick fresh & dried herbs for his "specialty" (special tea.) He distributes them into mugs while I heat the water & get breakfast started. When we pour the water over the herbs, we whisper prayers into the steam, for the elements to deliver. Usually it's, "May all be giggles," and that kind of thing. Micro-traditions are everything. The middle boys, Lake & Mekhi, sleep for another hour or two, then roll into their novels until it's time to help make beds. We always, always make the beds, as a matter of dignity & discipline. Mahal, our 17 year-old, wakes super-early even though he'd love to sleep in, & makes his bed, too. His internal motivation & will is beyond.

GIVE US A SNAPSHOT OF ANY MANAGEMENT/ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES THAT ARE HELPING YOU FLOW THROUGH YOUR HOMESCHOOLING DAYS.

We are Waldorf-ish homeschooling kindergarten, 5th grade, 7th grade, & a graduating junior. So yes, kindergarten, grade school, junior high, & high school! I use a few different systems for sure. Trello is where I keep resources & passwords, as well as idea boards for each boy. I use Evernote to plan projects. I keep a separate planner for 5th & 7th that includes subject-specific check-lists, while the 11th grader runs his own education like a baller. I help manage his state-issued homeschooling budget (we are with Inspire Charter School in California), & he raised his own additional educational funding & found his own instructors for each subject. So he's taken himself to countries around the world & runs his own online businesses, as well.

The kindergartner falls into a standard Waldorf rhythm organized around food, music, creative, & outside time. It's not as cozy as it would be in a standard Waldorf classroom, there's astral energy (teen vibes) everywhere. So I'm eager to focus on that.

Our family formation has also shifted in a way that's required them to have less classes, & sports than usual. So we will be finding some new ways to integrate their community engagement time so they have their own very important social spheres.

My favorite strategy is something that always, always works: Lower the bar. Whatever the external standard, drop it. Choose what each child actually needs. Make sure you are well.

What are some of your favorite resources? (Homeschool or otherwise)

We use all of the Waldorfish offerings, & I also love Christopherus. We join local Waldorf schools for festivals, & are definitely active members of our local library, aquarium (California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco), raptor center, & museums. We are also members of the Oakland Zoo because we love their ecology programs & feel good about their awareness, & how they raise awareness. We attend farmer's markets, & are also very close to local farmers & fisherpeople, who trade work, food, & food stuff (plant starts, eggs, fish, feed, etc) with us. Many of my alumni are herbalists, crafters, & medicinekeepers, so there's an amazing rotating apothecary/gift shop that comes thru the mail. Which requires us to make things, too.

What are you currently reading? 

Decolonize Your Diet by Luz Calvo & Catriona Rueda Esquibel.

Mom's House, Dad's House by Isolina Ricci. (It's priceless!!)

Planetary Herbology by Michael Terra.

Afro Vegan by Bryant Terry.

The Balanced Mom by Bria Simpson.

Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice (again & again).

The Organic Artist by Nick Neddo.

What do you do when you are overwhelmed or stressed? 

Sit in my closet. Lol. Still. I take long showers & sit on the bathroom floor. I sing. I dance. I go for barefoot medicine walks outside, every day, & make sure to see the horizon. It always reminds me to be right sized, that my life is so insignificant in the larger rhythms, & so there's also room to swing large, to make big mistakes & create big, spectacular messes. I also cook like I'm famished. Giant stews with 20 ingredients, & 10 toppings. They comfort me & bring me a sense of abundance.

I have a tight circle of creative, smart, conscious, next level friends who are parents that build businesses that are also movements (like Robyn & Brian Wolfe.) I tend to be extremely private. So it's not me to reach out for problems or commiserating.

These kinds of friends include real life while also understanding my impulse to convene, collaborate, & co-create. In our pajamas of course.

Please share some words of wisdom you've gleaned over the years. 

Don't worry about self-love. Surround yourself with stellar people & let them hold your self-esteem. You hold theirs, & love on them. If they contract in your space, they aren't your people, choose those that expand. Don't focus on how you want to feel, or you'll always be wanting. Fill up on the qualities that are *who you are* as a contribution. Mine are magic, flow, warmth, & awe. They are my prayers for myself, my children, my work, & society. So I fill up on those things. Now I have more than enough to give, regardless of how I feel. This is the ancient way. We had our roles.

Oh yes, & don't manage time. Manage your roles. Batch your tasks. Don't wait on your children. And if you never say no to them, they will be the kids all the other kids think are bullies. They can handle a firm container, & will honor you for it. They will also appreciate the freedoms you give them without taking you for granted.

This I know as a mother of color. We can't have entitled children. Unchecked privileges turn into violence in men. So chores are noble. Showing up for the family is a gift they want to give.

Please share 3 or 4 sentences about what Waldorfish courses have added to your family/school year. Ready....Go! 

My 5, 10, 13, & 17 year olds love how Waldorfish courses bring them together. The elder boys get to share many of the art techniques & funny moments they had live when Robyn & Brian were their actual Waldorf teachers. The middle two enjoy expanding their math & art skills, while the kindergartner likes the quiet, settled presence of his kuyas (big brothers) when there's a lesson.

Of course he's picking up everything. Waldorfish classes help us to keep a living home, not just a worksheet & sports factory, but a home that’s filled with work we are so proud to have up, & that they are so proud to have up. It hones their aesthetics so that their lesson books are meaningful. Thank you. We love every last Waldorfish course.

Where can we connect with you?

Website: www.pollen.institute

Instagram: @urbanorganica

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Waldorfish Families - Carrie Dendtler

Every few weeks on the blog, we spotlight a Waldorfish community family. You are a diverse and global group - We’re pretty sure you’d be bff’s in real life. Today, please enjoy our conversation with Carrie Dendtler of The Parenting Passageway!

(And don’t forget- we’re here for you! If you’re like some support in your homeschooling journey, click here!)

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Tell us about yourself!

 I am a long-time homeschooling mother of three children ages 17, 13, and 9. My husband of 26 years and I have taken a conscious approach to homeschooling and parenting. Snippets of our life and ideas about parenting and homeschooling can be found on-line at The Parenting Passageway.

How does your family start the day?

With teens in the house, the day is often much slower to start than when all the children were small. We tend to snuggle with our two rescue dogs and eat a warm breakfast together as a family.

GIVE US A SNAPSHOT OF ANY MANAGEMENT/ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES THAT ARE HELPING YOU FLOW THROUGH YOUR HOMESCHOOLING DAYS.

We are homeschooling high school, middle school, and elementary school! Due to our large age gaps, I think we have done less academic lessons all together than other homeschooling families, but have instead revolved our homeschool experiences around our experiences as a family, such as working as a family, helping each other, creating things for festivals, our spiritual life, field trips, and spending time in nature and at the farm where we have two horses. The organizational structure of our homeschool has remained the same since the children were very small, with that basic kindergarten Waldorf rhythm of work and activities each day. This year, our high school junior has had outside classes, so I planned chunks of time around the outside commitments.

What are some of your favorite resources? (Homeschool or otherwise) 

I have so many favorite resources! For homeschooling, I love to read the lectures on education that Rudolf Steiner wrote. For children's health, my favorite books are "A Guide to Child Health" by Glockler and Goebel, along with the series by Ames and Ilg called "Your Six-Year-Old," "Your Seven-Year-Old," etc. For practical favorites of how to teach, Jo Boaler's "Mathematical Mindsets" comes to mind as well as "Waldorf Education in Practice" by Gottgens, and "Creative Pathways" by Auer.

What are you currently reading?

"Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics" by Walle, Karp, Lovin, and Bay-Williams.

What do you do when you are overwhelmed or stressed?

 I usually have healthier options for short-term stress or overwhelm than long-term stress. For short-term stress, taking everyone outside, taking the day off, connecting with a friend in the moment, resting (or hidingin the closet! LOL), making plans with my spouse or a friend, lowering expectations and letting things go, deep breathing can all help. I will be the first to admit that going through really hard, long-term situations is much more challenging. I feel like I am just getting a handle on it now, this year, in the middle of homeschooling high school. I had to put a care plan in place for myself, and start using even stronger boundaries than I had before.

Please share some words of wisdom you've gleaned over the years.

Connection, love and warmth before learning is a mainstay of how I approach homeschooling, along with seeing what the child in front of me really essentially needs and knowing I may need to let my own baggage go in order to meet those needs whole-heartedly. Homeschooling is about understanding your child, your family's dynamics and what works and what doesn't, and understanding development. If we can let go of our own agenda and get out of our own way, life with homeschooling can flow beautifully.

TELL US A BIT ABOUT HOW WALDORFISH COURSES ARE ADDING TO YOUR SCHOOL YEAR. READY....GO!

I think what Waldorfish brings to our family is flexibility; it gives me a different way to learn rather than to wait for workshops on Waldorf art or geometry to come to my area (which I have attended many). So the flexibility to be able to learn in my own home is amazing! It gives me a relaxed pace that fits in with what our children developmentally need so I can bring them the best of our learning time together.

Where can we connect with you?

Blog: www.theparentingpassageway.com

Facebook: The Parenting Passageway

Instagram: @theparentingpassageway