First Day of First Grade

So, I did it - we got through the first day.  I've been quite nervous about this - wondering how Elie would take to the change and how Yoav would react to Elie's participation and if Yoav would follow along or want to lead...

Today was really fantastic....  Better than I ever could have hoped for.  We had about four hours of perfect harmony - Yoav loved every minute of it, and Elie loved parts of it (Circle) and played along for the rest (drew and played with his truck while Yoav spent an HOUR on a drawing!)

I followed Marsha Johnson's (waldorfhomeeducators Yahoo group) First Day suggestions pretty closely.  I used that, plus the first day suggestions in Steiner's "Practical Advice to Teachers" and the first day of form drawing suggestions in Ernst Schuberth's "Form Drawing for Grades 1-4".

We woke up early today at 6am (Elie fell asleep early last night and Yoav was just excited to start First Grade!) and started off with breakfast and some cleanup.  Then we went out for a quick walk, singing my walk transition song first ("I Love to Go A-wandering") - the walk involved us leaving out the front door, going past one house, taking a path to the back yards and walking along the forest to our backyard :)  So that got us a little nature walk and got us to the backyard to do Circle.

Circle was wonderful - the best we've ever had!  Elie lately has really enjoyed finger movements and follows along with the words and movements if I sing slowly.  The format worked well - it was more fun that last year when I just did finger plays and movement verses - this year I'm including some game, all of which the kids loved and couldn't get enough of...

CIRCLE:


Opening
(Nancy Foster, “Let us Form a Ring”, notes on p. 31)
Let us form a ring
Dancing as we sing,
Ring-a-ring-a-rei-a, Ring-a-ring-a-rei-a
Now we turn ourselves around,
Watch the birds fly up and down,
Kick-er-i, kick-er-i kee!

Clapping Game
(From Mrs. M “Fall Circles for Grades 1-3”; did this one line with Elie, then next w Yoav so they'd both be doing it with me)
Pease Porridge hot, Pease porridge cold
Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old
Some like it hot, some like it cold
Some like it in the pot, nine days old!
(clap knees-clap own hands-clap other’s hands-repeat - do three times through)

Jump Rope
(From Mrs. M “Fall Circles for Grades 1-3”)
Tie rope to door knob or fence... swing gently and let child jump over...
Round and round the earth is turning,
Turning always round to morning,
Then turning round to night.
x3

Finger Plays
(From Mrs. M’s Flute Book - to prep for flute instruction)
Where is Thumbkin?
Where is Thumbkin?
Here I am
Here I am.
How are you today, sir?
Very well, I thank you.
Run away
Run away.
Where is Pointer?
Where is Pointer?
Here I am
Here I am.
How are you today, sir?
Very well, I thank you.
Run away
Run away.
Where is Longman?
Where is Longman?
Here I am
Here I am.
How are you today, sir?
Very well, I thank you.
Run away
Run away.
Where is Ringman?
Where is Ringman?
Here I am
Here I am.
How are you today, sir?
Very well, I thank you.
Run away
Run away.
Where is Baby?
Where is Baby?
Here I am
Here I am.
How are you today, sir?
Very well, I thank you.
Run away
Run away.


(From A Child’s Seasonal Treasury):
I have ten little fingers                    [Stretch hands out in front.]
And they belong to me,                [Point to self.]
I can make them do things,                [Rub hands together.]
Would you like to see?                [Open hands, palms up.]
I can shut them up tight,                [Make fists.]
Or I can make them wide,                [Extend fingers.]
I can put them together,                [Clasp hands.]
Or make them all hide,                [Put hands behind back.]
I can make them jump high,                 [Raise hands overhead.]
I can make them jump low,                [Place hands on floor.]
I can fold them quietly,                [Fold hands together.]
And hold them just so.


(From A Child’s Seasonal Treasury):
Whisky, frisky, hippity hop,
Up he goes to the treetop.                [Roll hands up and clap at top.]
Whirly, twirly, round and round,
Down he scampers to the ground.            [Roll hands down to lap.]
Furly, curly what a tail,
Tall as a feather, broad as a snail.            [Bend arm in a crescent.]
Where’s his supper? In the shell.            [Cup hands, look inside.]
Snap, crack, out it fell.                [Clap two times, open hands.]

Hebrew Movement
Ooga ooga ooga,                     Cake, cake, cake,
bama’agal nachuga,                     in a circle we celebrate
nistoveva kol hayom,                     turning around all day
ad asher nimtza makom,                 until we find a place
lashevet, lakum, lashevet, lakum,             to sit, to stand, to sit, to stand,
lashevet v’lakum                    to sit & to stand!

Games
(From A Child’s Seasonal Treasury):

Jump the river - Place two sticks one foot apart to form river.  Children take turns jumping over.  Widen the gap as children try to jump over widening river.

(Mrs. M - bean bag game)

To the tune of Muffin Man:
Do you have a bean bag head, a bean bag head, a bean bag head?
Oh do you have a bean bag head, so early in the morning?
(put bean bag on each head and march around in a circle in the room; then Can you hop with a bean bag head, etc...)

Toss and catch game (Mrs. M)

Use soft ball to toss and catch, starting close and moving further apart to a cute rhyme of any sort or counting (doing this to 1,2 buckle my shoe - on 1, throw to Yoav, on 2, throw to Elie, on words, they both throw back to me and I take a step backward)

Standing Poem

(traditional Waldorf)

It’s Golden in the Garden,

It’s Golden in the Glen,

It’s Golden, Golden, Golden,

September’s here again.

Seasonal Song (most of this really does not describe the season now in Israel, but I like the last line and it's not so far off, and I couldn't find one and didn't write one that would fit better )
(From A Child’s Seasonal Treasury, notes in book - p. 37):
Yellow the bracken, Golden the sheaves,
Rosy the apples, Crimson the leaves.
Mist on the hillsides, Clouds grey and white.
Autumn good morning, Summer good night.

IAO Verse (use Eurythmy poses)
(Eric Fairman, “Path of Discovery”)
Ee, ee, ee: We reach for a tree.
Ah, ah, ah: As far as a star.
Oh, oh, oh: Round the world we go.
Oh away! Ah away! Ee away!

End of Circle
(From Mrs. M):
Hear and listen, listen and hear,
Now the lesson time draws near!

At this point, we went inside and as we stood by the school room (with the door closed), I said our Start Day verse:

Start Day
In sunlight shining bright
In reverence to Hashem
The strength of humankind
Which You so graciously
Has planted in my soul
That I with all my might
May love to work and learn
From Hashem comes light and strength
To Hashem rise love and thanks!

I started off relatively easy (for me to memorize) and will gauge how it goes and add more/change as needed.  I have all my homeschool planning (schedules and day-by-day plans) on Google Docs, so I printed all the verses and taped them onto 4"x6" cards so I can carry them around and study them as I have time.

We then went inside the room, Yoav Ooohed and Aaahed.  I gave both kids a rose from the garden which I put into a vase in the school room (great Mrs. Johnson suggestion!) and I used some of the language from Mrs. Johnson and from Steiner - that it's the first day of First Grade, it's an important day, that this year we will be learning a lot of the things that adults know - how to read, write, play an instrument, knit.  Then I showed the kids where I put things - each child has a drawer in a vertical bookshelf for chalkboard/crayons and chalk, then there's a drawer for yarn, a drawer for painting supplies and a drawer for drawing paper.

And then we began!  I drew a straight line on the board (top to bottom) and said it was a straight line.  Then we stood straight and tall with arms straight up, walked along the jump rope in a straight line, practiced drawing a straight line in the air, then on the chalk board and finally on paper for a Main Lesson Book.  Yoav at first when he drew on paper did it from bottom to top, but I reminded him that we draw from "Heaven to Earth", pointing to the top of the line down the bottom and he understood and redrew.  Next we did the same with a curve.

Next was time for modeling wax. Each child got a bit of reddish/brownish Stockmar modeling wax to make a line and curve.  I don't remember if Yoav asked what we were making or if he just understood (I was making a line and curve as well).  It is so interesting (and probably a good subject for a future post) how content he was to make something so simple, when, in the past, we've had such a hard time with modeling wax - he always wants to make something far beyond his ability (like a fire truck, which he insisted on trying to make last time) and he ends up in tears (don't worry, we do this very rarely - I try it every few months to see if there's any change).  Since the day was so structured and so exciting, he was happy to make the line and curve, he could feel that it was important work we were doing!  We stuck the shapes onto the drawers (I know it looks like an aleph - we didn't talk about that, though - I'm tentatively planning to start the Hebrew letters in Third Grade).

Next Yoav decided he wanted to do a free drawing, which seemed fine until I realized how long it would take!  Yoav has the patience of an ant.  I was going stir-crazy, watching him slowly draw, sometimes getting distracted by Elie (when I would jump in and remind him that his tree was growing and growing - I really really had a hard time keeping my mouth shut!!!  But of course, as we all know, patience is a virtue so I certainly don't want to interfere!)  This was the result of his efforts - too bad he won't be drawing the chalkboard drawings for letters for me since he already draws better than I do!

When Yoav FINALLY finished his drawing (btw, Elie drew on his chalkboard with crayon during this period and later I was able to get it off with a mix of dishwashing detergent and baking soda!), I lit a candle, sang "Mother of the Fairy Tale" (from Nancy Foster's "Let us Form a Ring") and played on the pentatonic xylophone.  I told the story about the crab, which Yoav loved (as he loves all told stories) and watched me tell the story with a big smile on his face!

At the end, I used my new snuffer to put out the flame (which this kids thought was magic and asked if the "thing" could make the candle get lit again LOL) did my end story verse ("Snip, Snap, Snout, Our tale is ttold out") and end Main Lesson ("Birds in the air; Fishes in the water; Stones on the land; I’m in G-d’s hand) and we had lunch, tried to rest a bit afterwards and then went to Yoav's horseback lesson in the afternoon.

Yoav was thrilled with the first day and told anyone who would listen about the school room and what we did.

I'm so exhausted (so I'm sorry for typos or bad grammar) - I'm going to get breakfast and our watercolor paints ready for tomorrow and then hopefully get to sleep soon...