The winner is...

The winner of the Little Acorn AfterSchool Guides is:  mommystinch
Please email me at donnaashton@thewaldorfconnection for info on claiming your prize!



Thank you to all who entered! And Thanks to Eileen at Little Acorn Learning

More blogging coming soon...

Donna

Little Acorn Learning contest!

Win a FREE Autumn After-School Guide and After-School Menu from Little Acorn Learning



For those of you with younger children or who are supplementing Waldorf  into after-school time, Eileen has created the After-School Guide & Menu. The ideas can also be used with older children as weekend activities.

After-School Guides include Book ideas, Weekend crafts, Handwork, Verses & Songs, Stories, Recipes and more!
The After-School Menu (Autumn) has recipes, ideas, & schedules for Snacks, Dinner, Dessert, Weekend breakfasts, morning & afternoon snacks, lunch, dinner, & desserts. whew!

These afterschool guides were created to help parents and caregivers of all
types create a healthy, rhythmic and peaceful home for their school aged
children.  These guides may be used with children attending traditional
schools, Waldorf schools, private schools, childcare centers or with
homeschooled children as an after-school and weekend tool to extend their
Little Acorn ‘Learning’.  The afterschool guides were born as a result of Eileen’s blog post entitled Waldorf Afterschooling which you can read here:
http://eileensplace.blogspot.com/2010/01/waldorf-afterschooling.html  

You can read more about Eileen Straiton and her Little Acorn Learning offerings at Little Acorn Learning

A special thank you goes to Marianne Frost who has contributed greatly to this project.  Marianne has brought extensive experience and life to this project.  She is a mother to five children, grandmother to four and seasoned Waldorf and public charter school kindergarten teacher of 20 years. Marianne later opened her own Waldorf inspired, nature-based Playgarden in Sonoma, California.  She now lives in Chicago, IL, working as a professional nanny, bringing Waldorf inspiration into private homes while expanding her experience through writing.  Among her consulting advice and seasonal ideas, Marianne’s beautiful color stories, monthly handwork project and insightful extended learning tips are included in these guides for you to enjoy. 

It is our hope that our journey and experiences as two women on different points of very similar paths will help guide you in your most very sacred work as mothers, fathers, teachers and caregivers by humbly offering you the following guide.


**To be entered in our drawing,  sign-up for Little Acorn's mailing list and come back and comment here!

Summer of the Dragonflies & Butterflies

My girls have spent this hot, humid summer catching dragon, damselflies & butterflies.  Did you know that dragonflies bite?  I sure didn't!  But, L & B have explored every aspect of these quirky creatures in the most natural way- by observing, by looking, and touching and holding.

Ginger Lemonade

What could be more refreshing than ice cold lemonade during this last hot days of summer?

Here is a wonderful recipe that is also healthy. It really perks you up! 

* 2inches fresh ginger root
* 2-3 lemons
* stevia to taste
*2 quarts of water

Wash & peel ginger. Grate is finely over a bowl. Squeeze the grated ginger mash with your fingers to extract the juice (I covered mine with a lemon net) Discard the dry mash. Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and add ginger juice ans juice from 2-3 lemons (I used 2). Add Stevia and stir well. *Note, I used fresh stevia leaves from my garden that I crushed with a mortar & pestle. I used about 5 leaves-wow! first time trying this and it is sweet :)
Drink hot or chill. Add ice and slices of lemon.

Kosher Pickles

Our second attempt at canning this summer ended up being a wonderful, easy jar of dill pickles!

After making the bread & butter batch, I was prepared for a 2-day process, but was pleasantly surprised how easy it was.

Per Jar:
5 pickles sliced into spears
9 oz. water
5 oz. white vinegar
1/4 tsp sugar
2 dill heads
1 large garlic clove
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp kosher salt
handful of mustard seeds

Chop onion & garlic and add to clean jar. Add mustard seeds. Pack pickles in vertically. Boil water & vinegar just to a boil. Pour vinegar mixture into jar and refrigerate.

Bountiful Harvest

Our garden had an explosion around the end of July. We had so much to harvest every day!

Our cantaloupes did really well. We ended up yielding about 10, but some were small.

Here is a fabulous recipe that DH made with our sweet bell peppers.

The Dog Days Parade

Our neighborhood held is "Dog Days of Summer" Parade and it was HOT!  The theme was "dog" days, so some floats were decorated with animals and there were dogs walking. L & B dressed up as cats and decorated their bikes with things and even put the cards on the spokes so they "flapped".

It was a lot of fun. The local fire dept was there with their trucks and tours for the kids. A face painter was on site to decorate.

The girls won "best bike"

They won a free rental for a bicycle built for 2- so that will be fun for us when it cools down a bit.