First Grade Syllabus ? and more

[Unregistered]

I have another waldorf-like curriculum (or resource library, really) and while it does offer loads of stories to choose from and the like, it doesn't give me HOW do execute each lesson. As a first time homeschooling mom, i really need the hand-holding; I need a "do this, do that" for me to jump off from. Like a recipe, I need it at first, then i will do with it what I please. Does that make sense?
I am interested in at least the form drawing book (as I don't have the faintest idea what that's about!) but am also looking at the syllabus.
I have heard it said that it has everything you need in it, but does it plan out the year? I mean, does it have lesson plans for the week/day, and/or does it have "reawakening" activities to do later in regards to that skill?

Another question: my almost 7yoDD is a fluent reader. Dangerous, I know! She is ahead academically, according to public school standards. i am concerned that returning to what i think is beautiful things with letters and numbers will bore her. Do you suggest moving to 2nd grade? My concern here is that she is not developmentally ready for that level of story; it's what what she needs.

thank you!!!

[Donna]

My materials that you mention - the first grade syllabus and form drawing - are about as hand-holding as you can get without being patronizing! There are specific lessons, specific sequence, and very specific instructions.

I would not recommend you skip ahead with your daughter unless she is quite a bit over 7. If she is just 7, then she is perfect for first grade and I strongly recommend you do not skip a grade - she would always be one year off. I have never met a child of this age who wasn't captivated by the stories as long as the parent felt strongly that this was the right thing to do - if you waver or feel ambiguous then problems start! Just go ahead a bit faster than you would with a child who does not know her letters/can't read and make sure you ground her intellect by doing plenty of movement - I strongly suggest you get Joyful Movement as well.

If your daughter straddles first and second grade chronologically, you might consider arranging a phone consultation with me to help you work out a specific program for her.

And don't forget the audio downloads!

Come back if you have more questions! :)

[bendingbirchhomeschool]

Hi Unregistered!
I was facing so many of the things you are facing now - what to do with First Grade when my daughter can already read very well, and looking at curriculum...
I highly recommend to take a deep breath, then do some reading and see if Waldorf and the Waldorf view of child development really resonates with you and in your soul...If it does, and you feel confident about it, then I think you can be re-assured that your daughter will truly enjoy the introduction of the consonants and vowels and will revel in the qualities of numbers. This will meet the need for this down in her soul, and the stories used to do this will really speak to her because she is 7.
Form drawing, to me, is probably the most important thing one can learn in Class One. I highly recommend Donna's Form Drawing book - you can really look through and see the progression of the forms from grade to grade and see how this impacts handwriting, mathematical perspective. Form drawing is unique to Waldorf education and to me, such a holistic and beautiful basis for the language arts and math to come.
Donna's First Grade Syllabus really does go week by week, day by day with Main Lesson material and also how to tackle such essential Class One work as wet on wet watercolor painting, modeling, recorder and handwork. It would be a wonderful jumping off point for you, as you have stated that you would like.
Welcome to the forum,

[Kim]

Thanks for posting on this topic. My dd is 6 and we're doing Kindy. Although we're not 'learning' these things, she's starting to read, she writes a lot and she even 'plays math' with her big brother, counts by 5's and 10's, etc. I know she 'could' do gr 1 now but I'm so glad that Donna & you all showed me that it's really a question of what she 'should' be doing, what will really speak to her this year and in the years to come. I really look forward to grade 1 (and the Gr 1 curriculum ;-) when she's 7 and am so glad we waited!
Thanks-
Kim

[Unregistered]

Donna's First Grade Syllabus really does go week by week, day by day with Main Lesson material and also how to tackle such essential Class One work as wet on wet watercolor painting, modeling, recorder and handwork. It would be a wonderful jumping off point for you, as you have stated that you would like.

Thank you for the words. And I'm afraid to sound like a dunce, so forgive me; does it go into detail, as in a 5 day week, it would say what lessons are covered and how to execute those lessons? Does that make sense? Like, if the block is an LA block, then Day 1 would be to Read Story X; do X activity; form drawing Y (and how to do it), etc.
Or, for a math block doing qualities, to say explicitly how to execute what is done after the story is read/told and activities to follow it up.

clear as mud?

Another question: It's November. What do I "in the meantime" of getting the materials? How much damage has been caused by starting so late? Is it best to start with form drawing, or can I get started with another block and then come back to form drawing?

[Donna]

Please don't think in terms of damage being done. Think in terms of the lovely time you and your child have been having at home, preparing to do some work together.

If you do decide to get my (or any other) materials, in the meantime you can do important first grade activities such as:

Baking and cooking
learning some new songs
reading to her - here is a link to the Great Read Alouds list on my website:
http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/great_read-alouds.htm
Explore the woods, beach or whatever natural areas are near you
Get a head start on holiday gifts - make them or cards for the holidays now!

These are all really important things to do in first grade anyway. I have left a long holiday gap in the schedule - you can perhaps just carry on a bit longer - I also end pretty early in late spring - again, you can carry on for a bit if you have missed things. But don't cram! Movement, exploration and non academic activities are actually far more important at this tender age - they pave the way so that your child will excel. BTW, my schedule is also based on a 4 day week - much more realistic for homeschooling and reminds people not to cram things in in these early years. (I keep the 4 day week through 3rd grade - after that, the child is moving toward some independence and so can do things alone on that 5th day, after or before co-op or errands or whatever else one is doing).

Answers to your questions: yes, yes and yes again - the lessons are all laid out, sequential and in a "now you can do this" format. The stories are all there, the forms in the form drawing book are completely sequential (but created as well so others can skip about). What more can I say? Here is a link to the first grade syllabus description:
http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/1st_grade_syllabus.htm

Good luck!

[Margot]

I just wanted to say (as a guest... I'm still not "on" the forum currently... but I think of you all)...

We are LOVING the 4 Processes math as Donna has, shall I say, scripted it in her First Grade Curriculum. Starting with the concrete, tangible squirrels gathering seeds* (see incidental footnote below) has been great!
The LIGHTS are going on for my active 7.5 yr old son. He's got a math brain but holding off on the written/academic side of things until now has been good. Keeping it centered now in the tangible (squirrels gathing, sharing, etc the seeds)-- excellent.

To prepare for this main lesson, I knitted 4 squirrels (for addition, subtraction, mult. & division) and am using a Folkmanis squirrel puppet for the mom. My son is in the other room, as I type this, acting out his own stories now (some involving math!).... even though "main lesson time" is over.

Personal footnote
* (I changed the "story" to using seeds, yes, as NUTS actually would cause anaphylaxis here at our house... which is a whole other story, but let me just say, knowing in advance that Donna's math curriculum involved SQUIRRELS who bring the deadly peanuts into our yard from distant birdfeeders, has helped us move to a more balanced relationship with squirrels... we moved from HATING them to appreciating their other attributes. Did a "nature" main lesson block on them using info from the Handbook of Nature by Anna B. Comstock as well as from Donna's first grade info. So, Donna, your curriculum has had other ripple effects! LOL Though we still don't appreciate them bringing peanuts into our yard, we can look at them with a wider view. )

Warmly,
Margot in WA-- still here.... enjoying living first grade and kindergarten here in our lovely neck o' the woods.

[elizamars]

Hi Margot -

It is good to "see" you again. I've missed reading your posts!

Lisa Marshall in Pensacola

[holistic_mama]

Hi Margot!

Glad to hear that things are going well! I miss your lively posts!

Hope to 'see' more of you!

Kimberly~in TX

[Donna]

Well thank you, Margot! Glad to see you and your son are enjoying our work. And glad to hear we have helped you all have a new deepened appreciation of squirrels despite their nut-eating proclivities!

Your post reminded me of correspondence I had with one of our customers in Australia - one of the few squirrel-less places on the globe. We spent some time discussing the suitability of various Australian squirrel substitutes - one of the sticking points is that the chosen creature must climb trees to facilitate the "horizontal to vertical" change in math in second grade!

So glad to hear seeds are working for you all! "See you" back on the forum again one day, I'm sure! :)

[Grace]

I haven't purchased the Grade 1 Syllabus yet, but I thought my question would fit into this thread. My DD turned 6 yesterday. She enjoys writing things ("Mama, how do you write such-and-such?") I usually just write it on a piece of paper and let her copy it. Sometimes she does it and it looks like an actual word, sometimes you can't tell what she's written, and sometimes she loses interest. I have found Donna's advice in her Kindy book about working with the 6 year old to be helpful in this regard. It has kept me pretty relaxed (I used to worry that if she showed interest in writing, or if I let her copy something I'd written, I'd be doing it "all wrong").

ANYWAY. My question is this: Since my daughter has an April birthday, she falls right on the cusp of 1st grade for next fall. I think that she shows many signs of readiness (including having lost 6 teeth already), and if she were in a Waldorf school, my guess is that they'd go ahead and send her on into first grade for this fall. I would like to wait a bit longer and just continue to do some of the "6-year-old" Kindy activities that Donna suggests through the summer and fall.

OK, finally, my question! Is the First Grade syllabus set up in a way to be able to begin it at any point in the year (say, January), or is it very seasonal (i.e. the stories that accompany the earlier blocks having an autumn feel or something)? Right now (and I know it's 9 months out), I'm feeling like beginning 1st grade stuff in January feels like a good idea. She'd be just about 7. But I don't want to be "off" in a seasonal way from the curriculum. I think that waiting until she's 7 1/2 to start would be too long since she's already showing some signs of readiness now.

[Grace]

I had a good talk on the phone today with a friend of mine who used Donna's first grade syllabus with her daughter this past year, and she answered my question pretty well. She also has me considering maybe going ahead with Grade 1 in the fall. We shall see.

[Donna]

Unfortunately, for many Waldorf schools, the cutoff is June or even July! The old wisdom about the child being on earth for 7 Easters seems to have gone by the wayside... You know how conservative I am about this... so for me, yes, March and April are the cusp months. But as your child is a girl and as you obviously appreciate that it might be best to take things a little slowly at first, I think starting first grade in the Fall would be just fine.

And as a homeschooler, you can take the first few months very easy and see where she is with things.

The First Grade Syllabus - like the rest of the curriculum - is created so that you can switch things around as necessary. When I write my materials I always try to be mindful of the different seasons that people will be working with - not just in this country, but all over the world! The nature stories parts are definitely tied in with seasonal changes - but I have created the FGS so that you can - and should - switch things around to suit both your child and what is happening outdoors. So no problems!

[Margot in WA]

One thing about the timing of Donna's first grade curriculum...
The X, Y, and Z letters in the story are the shepherds... which is lovely at the time of year if you "do" the first grade curriculum as Donna maps out.

We did the letters block at a different timing and it did work fine... it is just that I could see that the shepherds would have been lovelier with a Dec. timing. (In other words, I monkeyed with Donna's timing for that block, straying from the way it is mapped out)

Certainly not catastrophic to time it differently... just the one thing that popped up at me from your post. (Which, by the way, first grade is pretty gentle... you could do it and just take it easy.)

Warmly,
Margot-as-a-guest (yup, still out here doin' our thing in WA)

[Unregistered]

Is there any religious content in the FGS please? If so, how flexible is it to remove that element or alter it?

[Donna]

Re Religious Content:

It all depends on what you mean by "religious" - one person's "religious-ness" is another person's non religious spirituality and another person's "spirituality" is another person's religiousness! So it all depends on your and your perceptions of these things! One thing I can say, however, is that Waldorf, as it recognizes the spiritual journey of each human being, is founded on a spiritual basis.

If, however, by "religious" you mean Christian or Muslim or Jewish, then it is up to each parent working with the curriculum to bring in elements as works for their family and for how they are educating their child. Because I am Christian and because I want to share something meaningful and imbued with the reality of my spiritual experience to others, I do include some references to Advent, Easter and so on. I also include Native American prayers, reference to Buddhism, stories about Judah Maccabee and Hanukkah, references to a prayer to Allah and so on in our books.... So it really depends on where your threshhold of comfort is with these things!

I can, however, say categorically, that Christopherus materials are intended to be used by people of any religious or spiritual background and our intention is for people to imbue the resources with their own connection with God (Allah, the One, the Source etc).

Here is a link to an FAQ about religious content and several further links from there which you might find helpful:
http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/getting_started_faq.htm