Saints and Heroes is a common theme for 8-year-olds being taught in the Waldorf tradition. We are filling them with stories of really great, good people who did extraordinary things to make the world a better place The "saints" obviously don't have to be Catholic saints, but Francis is one who is commonly suggested in various curriculums, so I decided to go ahead with him. I put him in December because it's easy to spend a couple of weeks learning about him, and also he was the creator of the first Nativity play.
At first I had kind of a hard time relating to him. The reading I'd done about monks in college made me quite certain that it was a lifestyle I'd never want to embrace! The whole mindset of imposing severe physical deprivation in order to get closer to God is very foreign to me, and that is exactly what Francis and many others did. But I persevered and just tried to figure out what it was from this story that a child might need, what positive thing did I need to pull out.
Dallin has actually really enjoyed hearing about St. Francis. We are covering his life over three weeks, and Dallin has asked me almost every day this week when we get to hear the next part of the Francis story. We've talked a lot about how Francis had different religious beliefs than we do, and Francis didn't have the fulness of the restored gospel... but he loved Jesus and wanted to serve him the best way he knew how. I think it made an impression on Dallin when Francis gave back all his father's money and even the clothing he was wearing when his father was angered that he was using family money to help the poor. That was quite a dramatic step, and it makes one really stop and think!
One day we made stew. It was the closest we could get to poor monks' food. The kids actually had a blast peeling and chopping carrots and potatoes, even Dallin. And I've discovered that when they are busy with a task like this, they don't fight! I think there is something to be said for a physical, rhythmical task like peeling and chopping. Maybe that's why so many monks did things like that, mundane tasks that provided discipline and also time for reflection? We were supposed to make bread to, but with our new baby that just didn't happen.At first I had kind of a hard time relating to him. The reading I'd done about monks in college made me quite certain that it was a lifestyle I'd never want to embrace! The whole mindset of imposing severe physical deprivation in order to get closer to God is very foreign to me, and that is exactly what Francis and many others did. But I persevered and just tried to figure out what it was from this story that a child might need, what positive thing did I need to pull out.
Dallin has actually really enjoyed hearing about St. Francis. We are covering his life over three weeks, and Dallin has asked me almost every day this week when we get to hear the next part of the Francis story. We've talked a lot about how Francis had different religious beliefs than we do, and Francis didn't have the fulness of the restored gospel... but he loved Jesus and wanted to serve him the best way he knew how. I think it made an impression on Dallin when Francis gave back all his father's money and even the clothing he was wearing when his father was angered that he was using family money to help the poor. That was quite a dramatic step, and it makes one really stop and think!
Right now while we are in new baby mode, we have scaled back our work a lot. I have pretty much accepted that we are in this homeschooling thing for the long haul, because we are surely not keeping up a public school pace this year, at least not now. And that's OK! I guess this has been the way to really get thrown into what homeschooling is all about, which is to go with the ebb and flow of one's family lifestyle and not have your lives determined by artificial government timetables. Anyway, where before we were doing doing stories per week with accompanying academic work, right now we are only managing one. And the only academic work happening is him writing a summary and doing some copy work (copying poetry, working on handwriting, etc.) No spelling or grammar during the month of December. Oh, we are doing a bit of daily math.
Comments