So how far down the rabbit hole do I really want to go?

Ok so obviously I have a slight obsession with blog hopping. There are so many ideas out there that I just want them all. I have page after page of academic things that I want to try out with my daughter. She is so naturally intelligent I just wanna see how much she can really do. And that's the problem.

I made this revelation today as I was hopelessly not staying on task of finishing a class paper due this weekend. I hopped around a couple of blogs and found this Waldorf one. My first reaction was, "There's a lot of fairies, acorns, and leaves here. Weird." LOL I left it alone for a couple of hours and then curiosity got the better of me. I hopped on a Googgled Waldorf.

To be honest I was really confused, intrigued, intimidated by the whole scene. I do not feel as though I am a crafty person by nature. Mainly because I have never made it a point to work at it. I use to draw, write, paint, and sew when I was younger but hey who has time for that now right? I miss it I want to be able to make gifts and be proud of them. And this is what I saw in the pictures, homemade loving inspirations that the children just adored. I almost wrote it off to, "Maybe when I have grandkids I'll have the time" when I happened upon an article comparing Montessori and Waldorf. One of the statements in their really hit me. It basically said that Montessori focuses on teaching the nuts and bolts while Waldorf encouraged the exploration and imagination of learning.

Hmm. Interesting. Now I know that my son has to be presented with ideas and examples to learn from, he's not a natural explorer but a perfectionist. That's why I like Montessori methods so much. They give freedom to choose the subjects I lay out for him. One set back to all of this academic focus is that I feel that my children lack in the imagination department. Oh they play and have fun, but it is on a very limited scale. I feel that has a lot to do with this urge we feel to hurry up and teach, and for them to hurry up and learn.

So that got me thinking. What do I want to do now? Well I want to slow it down a bit for Hazel and I want to start exploring with both my kids the beauty and exciting experiences of creating. So far for me this means presenting a certain amount of information to go over but most importantly to make it a goal to create. To create food, art, clothing, magical places, anything! I plan on starting this project by example. I will take a set amount of time in front of my children each day (or week) to work on a craft (right now its my embroidery) in front of them so that they can see a creation coming to life. I also want to make available paint and paper for them to create. As we all grow in this adventure I hope to hone my skills enough to make the toys and the learning fun stuffies, and for my children to begin to see a world beyond a printed example. A world that they can visit in their dreams and fantasies..... And now enters the Fairies, acorns, and leaves. :-D