{this week)

This week was a big stepping out for me. I went away. I got on a plane and left my children (in very good hands) for the first time ever. I've gone away by car. They've gone away by plane. But this was the first time I got on a plane and left them behind. And went across the country to California. It felt big.

It was also the first time I'd been on a plane in ten years. After twenty years of always being on planes, I took a ten year hiatus. What a difference now with airplanes and airlines, with overbooking of flights and going through long lines of security check in, even taking off the shoes and no meals served on the flight. I did enjoy the individual movie screens though and got to catch up on movie watching and movies sure do make the time fly by. (yes pun intended ~ forgive me)

I went to California for the LifeWays Board of Directors meeting. I was invited to join the board of LifeWays last year and accepted with great honor. We met in Northern California, in Marin county, nestled in the hills surrounded by tall and majestic redwoods. So Californian: vast and beautiful. What a lovely time I had with these brilliant, creative and dynamic women, who are doing so much work to create a spaciousness in life for the children and families in our midst.

We worked hard yet I left feeling refreshed and so hopeful, imagining the network of LifeWays people all across the country, all the way from Maine to Texas, up the California Coast, Canada, Colorado,  Wisconsin, New York and across the seas to Hawai'i. Yes Hawai'i. Can you imagine, "Oh honey, I'm going to do my LifeWays training in Hawai'i" Well why not? Bring the family. More here.

Some pictures from California:

LifeWays Executive Director Cynthia Aldinger with her beautiful voice sings a LifeWays tune.

I was delighted to arrive home to a sleeping house greeted by this face at the door.

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. a photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

photo by Robbie Stanley

joining with Amanda of SouleMama

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. a photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

inspired by SouleMama :: this morning the black eyed susies about to open

Today :: This Blog :: Musing

Hello friends, some musing here... if you're not in the mood, well click away.

I struggle so much with this blog, with bringing form and definition here. I've been thinking about it so much lately, almost getting here, wanting to get here, vowing to get here and wondering to myself, what is this blog about, who is it for? I need clarity.

Is it for me to wonder aloud and share my inner musings with you? Is it a place to follow our family life through the year? (That is a bit challenging because my children are getting older and they are not keen on being seen on the blog.) Is it a place to share glimpses of the rhythm of life as it unfolds here, where I live? Is it a place to share elements of my program Celebrate the Rhythm of Life? Is it a place to share The Wonder of Childhood?

Is it a place to answer your questions? My e-mail is full of requests for how do I help my child with this or what about that, what do you think? I strive to respond to you all, yet it is becoming overwhelming with the volume of mail I am receiving. I've thought about doing that here, anonymously, of course.

I've thought of dedicating days to certain topics like a Rhythm day or a Wonder day or a Recipe day or a Homeschooling day or an Answer the Question day, yet that feels too formed, I want more space for musing. I want more grown up talk. I am wondering...

So much possibility. So much expansive possibility at this time of year.

I feel like the five pointed star, arms and legs out, impossible to draw in and focus, so much out there, pulling me outwards. You know the look, the feeling of being stretched out...?

Sometimes I see it as a place for sharing some wisdom I have gleaned over the years and then I struggle with narrowing the focus, is it pregnancy, childbirth, midwifery, food, nutrition, parenting, teaching, early childhood, homeschooling, gardening, homemaking, where to focus, what to share? You see as we get old, we have more and more texture to our lives. Is it about growing older? ( I like that)

I've looked around the blog world and mused at the history and connection making with theme posts like Corners of My Home, I love this, to peek into others' homes or The Simple Woman's Daybook, and I love to see how other homeschoolers are doing it too. I love to see your gardens and your cooking and read your musings.

So this is my little effort at this expansive time of year to bring some cohesion to my thoughts and focus here and to my deed, writing with clarity.

At the end of all this whining, what comes to mind is to just "do it!" to show up and write and if I bore you, well perhaps you won't come back next time, and if I write often enough, perhaps you will give me another chance.

This weekend I have been enveloped in color doing lazure painting. It has been so uplifting, not tiring at all.

And right now I am working on a talk on The Senses of Childhood, what they are and why they are important and this is a lead in to my talk on Circle or Ring time play with Young Children and the Grade School Child which is a piece of our planning out the year in Celebrate the Rhythm of Life with Children Program.

I want to bring my camera outdoors and photograph all the blossoms that opened this week at the  solstice. What blossom splendor! Morning glory, borage, poppy, my grandmother's day lily, thyme, it's like the whole world just opened up to receive the warmth of the sun this week. That's another blogpost. And now it's raining ~ hard.

I'm wanting to empty the house, room by room, wash it and paint it and then chose with care just what it is I want to live with. This is the longest I have spent in one house in my adult years. We have been here for ten years and I love the intimacy that comes with living in a place year after year, noticing where the sun moves through the year, noticing what grows where, where does the catnip pop off the sprout again next year? where the nettles rise, seemingly carried by the wind.

Over the years I've come to see  that this is the week to scrub down the north facing walls and corners of the house because the sun reaches those places and can really dry them out after a good scrubbing.

Okay, I've let it all out, fitting for Moon day, day of reflection.

I' love to hear from you, why do you blog? How do you bring focus? How do you stay on track with it? What inspires you? Love to hear from you below.

Happy Moon Day!

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. a photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

inspired by Soulemama

Seventeen :: June 12

Seventeen Times Around the Sun

Rhythm of June Give Away!

Announcing a Give Away for Membership for the Month of June in Celebrate the Rhythm of Life through the Year!

With the great popularity and gratitude expressed for the Rhythm focus, we'll continue along with that, looking at our daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal and yearly rhythms, bringing more form and finding more freedom within the form.

We'll take the plans we have sketched out and work on identifying what skills and understanding we have of the curriculum, and identify what skills, and knowledge and tools or toys we need to create within and without for the coming year.

In the month of June, we'll get into the details of the day, we'll look at how to implement that plan, how to organize the space and make it more play and education (if we are doing the grades) friendly, how to make the materials we need and how to use them through the year. Where do we want to be with our children during the day and what can we do to make our living space flow more smoothly with children?

We'll cover wet on wet watercolor painting, beeswax crayon drawing and coloring and bean bag making. We'll bring in verses, song and movement for jump rope, speech exercise, body geography, sensory nourishment and putting your circle into lively action.

We'll look at How to Implement the Pillars of Waldorf education that I have outlined in our blogs over virtual tea, here with Carrie Dendtler of The Parenting Passageway including:

• Drawing with Beeswax Crayons 
• Wet on Wet Watercolor Painting 
• Modeling with Dough, Beeswax and Clay 
• Speech 
• Movement 
• Drama 
• Singing and Musical Instrument 
• Handwork :: Ideas for each grade 

We'll look at the components and rhythm of  Circle and Main Lesson
We'll compare Circle time for kinder and nursery child v circle time for grade school child
We'll review the Benchmarks for first, second and third grade

Join us on this adventure to sketch out the year ahead and remain well anchored in the day before us.

Sign up for the month of June is here.

In May we sketched out the schedule, now in June, we'll step it up with an intensive, an in depth look at the pillars of Waldorf homeschooling and how to go about implementing them in your year, your week and your days.

We'll begin with ourselves and our own rhythms and work from our strengths and passions in setting up the year. Like to cook, great, bring it in. Are you a musical family and wrestling with how and if to integrate it into your child's homeschooling? Are you crazy about crafting but lost in what to do with all those gorgeous hand made and love filled treasures? Do you wish you could be more spontaneous and fun? Come along and join our vibrant group and set up your homeschool plan for 2012 - 2013.

We'll look at ways to organize our homes and to create smoother rhythms and we'll get to work on organizing the essentials for a creative, playful, productive and satisfying year.

To enter the give away, kindly share a link to this page on FaceBook.

For a second chance to win, LIKE Celebrating the Rhythm of Life on FaceBook and share the post announcing this give away on your FaceBook page.

Remember to leave a comment below for each entry.

The drawing is over and the winner will be announced here so come back to see if you are the winner of this membership for the month of June.

~*~*~

And the winner is.... Jennifer, "Just what I need as I am facing the momentous task of planning grade 1!! So exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. I shared this on my FB page. "Jenny, please send me an e-mail at  lisaboisvert(at)yahoo(dot)com  to get started

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. a photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

inspired by SouleMama

Happy Weekending!

Planning the Waldorf Year in the Home

The Merry Month of May is a time of a great expansion, a great breathing out. On warm days we can throw open the windows and relax. The crab apples are blossoming and the willow trees are beginning to unfurl their leaves.

Celebrations in May include May Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day and Memorial Day here in the USA. It's a time for outdoor celebration with cook outs, pot lucks and play.

We now turn to planning, having woken from our long winter's rest, having dreamed and imagined our vision for the future, we turn to planning next year, of home education and home making for our families, ourselves and our children before the expansive energy of summer swoops us off our feet and away.
Celebrate the Rhythm of Life in Caring for Children in May will focus on sketching out the year.

What do we want to bring to our children through the year? through the seasons? through the weeks and the days from September 2012 until June 2013.


In May we'll look at::

• What do we have at hand to use and what do we need to procure

• Do you want to do a 3, 4 or 6 week Circle or Main Lesson block? We'll look at the benefits and drawbacks of each

• How often to change circle? How to change circle?

• What is circle or ring time anyway? Do you need to do it at home? Can it be easier and more fun?

• What props to use in circle and storytelling and main lesson? Props?

• We'll look at how to organize your plan and get clear on what it is you want to bring to your child, your family, yourself.

• What are the milestones you want to reach before January?

• What about the holidays, how do they fit in the plan?

With the great popularity and gratitude expressed for the Rhythm focus, we'll continue along with that, looking at our daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal and yearly rhythms, bringing more form and finding more freedom within the form.
In the month of June, we'll get into the details of the day, we'll look at how to implement that plan, how to organize the space and make it more play and education (if we are doing the grades) friendly, how to make the materials we need and how to use them through the year. We'll cover wet on wet watercolor painting, beeswax crayon drawing and coloring, bean bag making and use, jump rope, speech exercise, body geography, sensory nourishment and putting your circle into lively action.
In June, we'll look at the Pillars of Waldorf education that I have outlined in our blogs over virtual tea, here with Carrie Dendtler of The Parenting Passageway:

• Drawing with Beeswax Crayons
• Wet on Wet Watercolor Painting
• Modeling with Dough, Beeswax and Clay
• Speech
• Movement
• Drama
• Singing and Musical Instrument
• Handwork :: Ideas for each grade

Join us on this adventure to sketch out the year ahead and remain well anchored in the day before us.
Sign up for the month of May is here.
Sign up for the month of June is here.
If you sign up for only one month, know that you will be doing only half the planning and may not emerge with a sense of completion. The planning is designed over two months to give you the opportunity to sketch out the curriculum in detail and to prepare your space and your self for bringing it in the year ahead. We will be implementing the schedule in June, not designing it. In May we will be designing the schedule and focusing more of the rhythm of the year, season, month week and day rather than looking in depth at the pillars, which we will do in June.
Clear as mud? Send me an e-mail at lisaboisvert (at) yahoo (dot) com with your questions.

Celebrate the Beauty and Wonder of our home.

Take ten minutes out of your day for this gem.

{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

along with SouleMama

The Flowers in My Garden Nigh are Waiting...

Who is coming by?

The Fairy Caps will soon be along. 

Waiting for a child to come by ...

Those beautiful violets are in blossom right now. Any suggestions for what to do with them?  What's happening in your garden today? I'd love to hear from you. Leave a link below.