January Weekly Homeschool Rhythm – Waldorf Inspired

As it is the beginning of the new year, I, like most am ready for a new rhythm and new habits to bring into the home. With this being said our weekly rhythm for my kindergartener will stay pretty much the same with just two days switched around. In Waldorf education, the rhythm is so important for children. It gives them the stability and knowing of what comes next. We have a daily rhythm (you can read more about our winter daily rhythm at the link provided) that my children know so well, including my 2-year-old. Now that our homeschool has started back up from winter break we will be using our weekly rhythm again. For our January weekly homeschool rhythm, Monday is for nature, Tuesday for crafts, Wednesday for watercolor, Thursday for baking, and Friday for plays. Each new week I choose a seasonal story to read at the end of the homeschool day. This week to start us off I chose The Star Child, a classic Brothers Grimm fairytale that my daughter and I thoroughly enjoy. Now let’s go into our January weekly homeschool rhythm.

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Monday

Mondays are our dedicated nature day for our homeschool. I see Monday as a transition day from the weekend into a new week. We don’t do much, if any formal work on Mondays. My oldest two may do some reading and maybe an assignment but we try to focus on spending our day outdoors and deep in nature. For our first Monday back I wanted to do a fun project from nature. So I looked in my Play the Forest School Way book and decided on the nature ice disks. It had snowed so bundling up was a must and we scavenged for leaves, pinecones, branches, etc. We then returned inside and used some bowls to freeze our new treasures in. We left them outdoors as it was in single digits here in the Midwest. The next day we then hung them from a little tree in our front yard. It was such a simple activity but so fun.

Tuesday

On Tuesdays, we focus our time on a craft we can make together. This Tuesday we made salt watercolor stars. I chose This craft I found it perfect for our story this week. This activity is so much fun and magical. I used this tutorial to make with my kindergartener. It turned out so pretty and we will be doing this activity again but with snowflakes next time.

Wednesday

Watercolor Wednesday is probably my favorite day of our January Weekly Rhythm. We do wet-on-wet watercolor (you can watch this tutorial from Sundays with Sarah on YouTube) and it is always so pretty. This week my daughter decided to paint Mathilde from The Star Child for her watercolor painting.

Thursday

For Thursday we decided to make a simple loaf of bread, like the one Mathilde shares in the story. This recipe is very simple and an absolute favorite.

Friday

Something new we added to our weekly rhythm is a play to act out on Fridays for the family. My daughter truly enjoyed setting up a stage and performing her weekly story for her siblings and father. We take this day (another transition day) to create. She chooses what she wants the stage to look like and what toys she wants to use as characters. Then (with my help) she performs her story. This a great way for her to learn storytelling, a lost art.

This has been a successful weekly rhythm that we will keep for as long as it still works. Kindergarten in Waldorf Education is still heavy in play. This took me time to really understand this and absorb. I believe there is an unspoken fear in home education if us parents are doing enough and if our children will be okay. They will, I know with experience, but even after seven years I still question myself. I have watched how she has responded to this type of Kindergarten and it has been successful.

I hope this helps your Waldorf-inspired homeschool and have a wonderful week.
-Micah