Friday, January 22, 2010

Rain is Good for Studying and Sewing


Teaching the Old Testament stories in the context of the third grade Waldorf curriculum is such an interesting experience. On a personal adult level, I have many questions and meditations that come out of reading the Old Testament, including some conflicts. I am striving to look beyond my own personal questions and delve into the archetypes that are being presented and find the way to deliver this to my son that will meet his own needs, not mine. With those thoughts in mind, we had a very pleasant week with the stories of Jacob who wrestled an angel, Job who was tempted and Joseph with his coat of many colors.

Our shelter and clothing block is progressing alongside the Old Testament. I found some great books at the public library with lovely illustrations of all types of early shelters and clothing. Rowan loves to sit and peruse these illustration-rich, high in detail books. He was so inspired, he had to go off and draw a huge picture of the inside and underground part of his own idea of an Egyptian pyramid, filled with secret passages and traps. Finally, we completed the clay house. We also pulled out the small lap held weaving loom and added a new color.

I find myself with more time to sew now that Rowan is reading more independently. It is so great to give him a reading assignment and see him go off and read it! But, I have found that it is best to be in the vicinity, not off on the computer, when he stumbles on a new or difficult word. For this reason, I am trying to discipline myself to doing only handwork, not other housework or mental work, when he is reading. So far this is working well and I have come up with two nifty new fashion items to offer in my Etsy shop!

I pulled out grandmother's old tattered mink coat and wondered what to do with it. The collar was in perfect condition, so I re-imagined it, combined it a piece from an old cashmere sweater and added some antique lace.

Since I had already cut up the sweater and dragged out the box of old lace, I made up a pretty little choker while I was at it. It seems that on Etsy, these are called "necklets". Finally, I found a few minutes to madly click away on my computer and have joined the prestigious group called the EtsyBloggers. Now I just have to figure out what to do to participate!

No comments:

Post a Comment