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A Little Garden Flower
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Before the Journey Includes book, 2 DVDs featuring craft demonstrations, plus 1 CD with photos and recordings of family singing Melisa and Erik Nielsen Softbound $35.00
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It seems to me that young mothers and fathers have a very good friend in Melisa Nielsen. I remember all too well the bewilderment I faced when my children were young, and I had only just learned about Waldorf Education and Rudolf Steiner’s approach to the world. At that long-ago time, I was living where no Waldorf schools existed; I personally knew no one who was raising their children in this light; and, the wonderful “old guard” Waldorf teachers and anthroposophists who I met here and there along the way seemed to know only one way to do things, and it seemed to me that I could never find a way to fit their wise suggestions into the life we actually lived. And it is just this that I love about Melisia’s work and especially about this dear little book, Before the Journey: that she at no time assumes that there is only one way to bring love, light, and learning into a child’s life. Out of her own experiences and, I think, out of a deep place within her, she always allows each of us have a unique life and destiny, a unique way of connecting with Spirit and Place. She also always allows that each of us has a gift to offer our children, and her task as friend and advisor is more that of helping us find and use our very special gift than it is of transforming us into a “model parent and teacher.” That she thought to create a helpful, warm little book for parents of young children, a book that doesn’t instruct, but rather offers possible examples of four very different households with very different amounts of money, beliefs and directions is her gift to our children. After reading through her accounts of these four (seasonal!) households, I believe that you, like I, will come away both filled and inspired. You’ll also come away with a clean and clear sense of freedom to create what your home can be for you child. Not to mention, you’ll have gathered a treasure chest of hearth-warming recipes and craft ideas along the way. It is my hope that young parents everywhere will read Before the Journey and walk a while with Melisa. My prediction is that before long, your own family life will glow with a renewed warmth as you discover your special gifts and bear them homeward in confidence. Contents:
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My Journey A Little Garden Flower Book Melisa Nielson Sturdy Spiral Binding $36.00
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In our family, there was a time when our children were sharp-tongued teenagers that the running family joke was that neither Bob nor I had time to go out and do anything because we had to "stay home and plan our day." Of course, this wasn't really true (honest, it really wasn't true), but there is no denying that we leaned hard and heavy on our day planners to get us through those years raising a houseful of teenagers. And, we found them very, very helpful. Needless to say, I think that Melisa Nielson's day planner is just the ticket for homeschooling parents, most especially those who work with Waldorf education. In addition to daily scheduling pages that give ample room for quickly-noted schedules alongside longer entries and to-do lists, you'll also find:
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A Journey . . . Melisa Nielsen 7 Audio CDs $40.00
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Busy parents want to know ~ but sometimes they simply don't have time to sit down and read. That's why Melisa Nielsen created this audio cd set, so that mothers on the way to the grocery store and fathers commuting to work could all listen to her describe her approach to Waldorf homeschooling. The result is simply lovely - what a warm and engaging way to discover the ways of Waldorf in the home! Bob and I had such a good time listening to Melisa - in her descriptions we found someone who has taken the basics of Waldorf education and shaped them in ways that not only educate, but that bring families together. For instance, when she describes how her family keeps a Nature Table, we were so touched at how she has engaged her children in the creation of each week's table (she uses a 4-week cycle). We were also moved by the gentle way in which she holds her own authority over the life of the table, like a guiding light that casts a broad enough beam to enable exploration without wandering from the path. What came back to us again and again was that Melisa has taken what I'll call "classic Waldorf" and re-imaged it to take on the contours of home and hearth. Truly a beautiful work. I should also add that as I listened, I found myself inwardly having a conversation with Melisa, one in which my own perceptions, experience and insight played alongside hers. The outcome was that I came away from my audio session with her having understood her and myself better, and holding an inspiration for approaches that emerged between us. I think you'll discover the same thing - that her modesty in presenting her experiences to you allows you to find your own star. This is truly what our children need of us. Contents: Disc #1
Disc #2
Disc #3
Disc #4
Disc #5
Disc #6
Disc #7
Grades 6, 7 and 8 are in progress and will be available in the future. |
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A Journey Through Waldorf Homeschooling New Edition - includes CD with illustrations and audio material Melisa Nielson Contributions by Kimberly Rivera Foreword by Alan Whitehead Softbound $22.00
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Welcome a lively little book that introduces the wonders of Waldorf homeschooling from the heart of someone who has done it. Melisa Nielson originally began her book as a companion to Susan Whitehead's seasonal kindergarten books, but it grew and deepened to the point where it will guide and nurture your efforts through any seasonally themed Waldorf kindergarten suggestions. What I most like about A Journey Through Waldorf Homeschooling is the amount of life on each page -- the ideas and activities that are recounted here clearly came into the world with the full force of the author's creativity and imagination. The wonderful news is that she hands over to us not just a usable description of what she did, but her enthusiasm and joy in the doing of them. It is this latter quality which will nourish any children fortunate enough to be touched by it. This is a book to be done, not just read. And in the doing, your own life and happiness will spring to life for your child. Contents:
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A Journey Through Waldorf Homeschooling Melisa Nielsen Foreword by Eric Fairman Softbound - Includes Companion CD with MP3 files and pictures to accompany the book $30.00
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Melisa Nielsen has emerged from Kindergarten with a joyful confidence that will shine light and inspiration into anyone's experience of teaching first grade. Her hands-on approach to homeschooling is couched in a friendliness and warmth and gives lovingly unites both home and school. You'll see what I mean when you read the contents. Children everywhere must be cheering. Contents:
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A Journey Through Waldorf Homeschooling Melisa Nielsen Foreword by Esther Leisher Softbound - Includes Companion CD with MP3 files and pictures to accompany the book $22.00
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It is so very clear that Melisa Nielsen simply loves teaching grade two! Everything about the curriculum seems to excite her and carry her on to the next lesson -- happily, she shares that excitement with us, as well as so very many things that will help all homeschoolers present the richness that is grade two to their own students. Contents:
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A Journey Through Waldorf Homeschooling Includes companion CD Melisa Nielsen Foreword by Tammy Sher Softbound $24.00
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Grade Three is the time of the "9-year-old change," where children often experience themselves as cast out from the garden, awake to the world in a new and exciting, but often also lonely and uncertain way. To meet this, Rudolf Steiner's curriculum offers the child both some reassurance and some company, as well as an "action plan" for resolving the problem of no longer having a home in the garden. Steiner does this by taking the children through the Old Testament stories up to the building of Solomon's temple: here they discover that others have been ejected from their gardens and left to wander (often in error). But, they also discover that God was always with them and in the end enables them to build a new home for God and themselves. At which point the children step outside and set to building a dwelling which can be as big as a playhouse or as small as a bird house. Thus, finishing this life transition empowered and sheltered. That said, I want to tell you all how deeply Melisa Nielsen has understood this year, its importance to the child, and the way Steiner's curriculum addresses and guides. Her Grade Three book is just wonderful! It's like having someone next to you, helping you along with their experience and insight. Her contributors are all equally gifted and just right for the subjects they address. Do enjoy this one - it is lovely. Contents:
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A Journey through Waldorf Homeschooling A Little Garden Flower Curriculum Guide Melissa Nielsen Softbound Includes the unabridged, illustrated book, The Children of Odin by Padraic Colum!! $32.00
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Marvelous! Melisa's Grade 4 Journey offers so many things that I've never before seen brought together, including many things I've never before seen addressed in print. All in all, this book addresses not just Grade 4 and the needs of those students, but all of us, our families and life itself, in what is becoming an increasingly confusing and challenging world. First, Grade 4 in the Waldorf curriculum can be perplexing to many people. Just what is going on with all these Norse myths, anyway? And, why won't the children sit still and listen they way they did last year? Those two questions turn out to be intimately related -- Melisa's delvings into them are simply splendid. You'll discover for yourself how nourishing and useful they are. Then, I want to comment especially on Chapter 4, aptly titled "Inner Work for Self and Family." Of course, any inner work we do really always begins with outer reality. Never have I seen this fact presented in such a crystaline way: Melisa begins from the heart of the matter with "Blending a family from hate to harmony." Her decision to share her journey and that of others through divorce and remarriage, through the trials and joys of blending two families into one is a huge gift. The authors offer it up with such heart that I found myself feeling uplifted and empowered through tears of recognition. It is not by chance that this topic should appear in a book created to help adults teach 4th graders -- like one of Thor's lightening bolts, it strikes with brilliance the experience of being a 4th grader, and shines a light on how that experience is one we all share. Additionally, Melisa has had the generosity to include the entirety of Padraic Colum's Children of Odin, one of the best resources for vibrant, 4th-grade-ready, Norse myths. What a treat to find it right there, ready and waiting! As you can see, I believe this is a wonderful, inspired curriuculm guide. Do enjoy! Contents:
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A Journey Through Waldorf Homeschooling Melisa Nielsen Softbound - includes CD with illustrations and audio material and seed packet for botany block $40.00
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I have always thought of the Waldorf 5th Grade curriculum as the jewel in the crown of Waldorf Education. The sweep and depth of it really are spectacular: in a single year, teacher and student travel across centuries and continents, savoring the developmental history of Western Civilization, from it's historical beginnings in Ancient India through to the fulcrum-point of Ancient Greece, which (in my mind, at least) served as a cultural gateway to the Ancient past and became as well the springboard into our modern world. As if that weren't breathtaking enough, 5th Grade also introduces the world of plants and the beauty of geometric construction. Form drawing can enter the world of very complex Celtic knots, and in handwork knitting in the round is introduced along with the first opportunities to work with sculptural clay and wood. You see what I mean - this year is packed, start to finish, with one wonder after another. It is into this richness that Melisa Nielsen leads us with her abundant journey into the world of 5th Grade. What I most love about this book is that she walks the reader/homeschooler through the almost overwhelming glory of this teaching year with a calm, steady pace that encourages joyful discovery and even leaves a bit of time for smelling the flowers (remember the Botany block!). Amidst what can seem like the clamor of competing possibilities, each vying for attention, Melisa calmly shows us how to look and find the stepping stones that lead through this year. In some instances her choices veer from the path laid down in Stuttgart in 1919 (e.g., the inclusion of Australian cultural history), but always her choices ring with a truth, whether in her personal context or one that extends well beyond her own family. In fact, one joy of this book is that she shows how to make choices that meet the needs of the students at hand, and still stand within the stream of Waldorf education. I think this is a beautiful book! Thanks again to Melisa for her work and her love in creating it. Contents:
* I feel the need to comment on Jennifer Crebbin's article in this book. While I agree with her completely that handwriting does, indeed, contribute to shaping one's soul (and also expresses it), I do not agree that the Vimala alphabet and its approach to handwriting are pedagogically appropriate from the perspective of Waldorf education and healthy soul development. Nonetheless, excluding her belief in this handwriting style, Jennifer has written some very helpful comments on Main Lesson book form that should serve everyone well. |
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