On Saturday we received a new botany book in the mail. It's called Shanleya's Quest and can also be 
ordered with a card game. It will go beautifully with Grohmann's The Living World of Plants.
Am Samstag haben wir ein neues Botanikbuch bekommen. Es heißt Shanleya's Quest und man kann auch ein Kartenspiel dazu bekommen. Es wird gut zu Grohmanns Buch Lesebuch der Pflanzenkunde passen. 
Today we read about Mary's apparitions at Beauraing in Belgium. This story can be found in Journeys with Mary: Apparitions of Our Lady
. Heute haben wir über Marias Erscheinung in Beauraing in Belgien gelesen. Man kann die Geschichte in Journeys with Mary: Apparitions of Our Lady nachlesen.
Hello Eva,
ReplyDeleteI have this book as well, I didn't know about the game though. We will begin school this coming week!
I have been reading your beautiful blog for a month or two and find it inspiring. I have two questions. First, what will your family do for Michaelmas? (You weren't blogging at that time of year last year.) Second, could you recommend resources of stories, rhymes, and songs in German? I have terrible pronunciation, but excellent reading skills, because I had to learn to read German as part of my academic discipline. However, I'd like to work on improving myself and open my young daughter up to it as part of our homeschooling experience. Thanks for any suggestions and thank you for the awesome blog.
ReplyDeleteHi Eva! :) We have the book & card game, as well. I'm putting together our continued 6th grade Botany block (as per Stockmeyer) for next spring using the book, game and Drawing from the Book of Nature. Did you know Shanleya's Quest is based upon the "grown up" reference book Botany in a Day by the same author? It's a very nice resource, and we also own that. We used Botany by Charles Kovacs for our 5th Grade MLB and I really loved it, but you know I am a great fan of Kovacs!
ReplyDeleteHello Emily,
ReplyDeleteThe game has photographs of different plants. I have not read the instructions, but I think you are supposed to learn to match the plants with their plant category. It looks like a good learning tool.
Hello Astralwaever,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. It is too late tonight to write you a detailed answer about Michaelmas and German resources, but I will post some here in a few days. One question about the German: What age is your daughter? First grade and up or younger?
Hi Lauri,
ReplyDeleteThat is what I am planning to do, to split up the material for botany as Stockmeyer suggests. I also have "Drawing from the Book of Nature." The original German edition of "The Living World of Plants" is very similar to the Kovacs book. In the English edition I have seen, the order of the text has been changed quite a bit and it just sounds very different from the German.
I have been reading some of the threads on the Homeschooling Waldorf group, but have not had a chance to write anything. I only have access to a computer after 9:00 p.m. I also still want to listen to your talk with Melisa. My day are too short! Maybe you should start a blog!
Hi Eva, thanks for responding. Margaret is almost two. I am doing no academics, only rhythm, allowing her to be with me while I do household tasks, letting her have lots of play time. I've been working on incorporating verses, rhymes, and songs as signals as we "breathe in and out" during the day. I do read picture books and stories to her though before nap time. So, I'm only incorporating what is appropriate for the early years, though we currently have no German board books, rhymes, songs, or anything.
ReplyDeleteI thought that a book with CD of fingerplays would work best for you. Most of my German books with fingerplays don't have a CD. I do have one that is a book with a CD, though. It is a little bit more modern, but the children like it anyway. It's called "Ich bin der kleine Zappelmann." You can listen to samples on the German website, but you need to be able to listen to MP 3 files. (They have a free MP 3 download software on their website.) Here's a link.
ReplyDeleteYou can get it through amazon. Just make sure that it is the version with CD.
Another one I found online is called Babys brauchen Musik. It presents verses and rhymes throughout the day and for special situations. You can look inside the book on amazon.de, but can't listen to the CD. I thought the book looked pretty good. If you want to get that one, try the great service of Ibis.
The American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) also offers a few materials, including some picture books.
If you are looking for some more Waldorf books let me know. They won't come with a CD, though. I hope that these books will be helpful. Please let me know if you are looking for something different. I will write about Michaelmas tomorrow.
Hello, Astralweaver,
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a long answer to your question on Michaelmas, but when I tried to edit it, it disappeared and Blogger shut down. I will have to try it again another time.
I'm very sorry.
Hello, Astralweaver,
ReplyDeleteFor Michaelmas we ususally make a Harvest Loaf from the book
All Year Round.
We also try to attend the celebrations at our local Waldorf school. They normally sing Michaelmas songs and have a eurythmy play for Michaelmas. Sometimes they have their second grade perform a play. I also like some ideas from my German books, especially
Das Jahreszeitenbuch and
Feiern der Jahresfeste mit Kindern. The English version of this book is
Festivals with Children.
Another tradition we have is to decorate our nature table and house altar with pictures of St. Michael. We also like to pray the
Prayer to St. Michael.
One year we acted out the story of St. George subduing the dragon through the help of St. Michael. The children really enjoyed it.
I hope that this is helpful to you. I'm sorry it took me so long to write this comment.