I just found they closed and it is a real shame. It does seem to be an issue with the management. Beth seems like a perfectionist that doesn't handle constructive criticism well. She is defensive sadly and can't let go. She has already done all the work it's crazy to not sell the work digitally. It could be set up so all the work would be done for her ,cha ching. She could do it through a system like Amazon where it would be tethered to an individual. So her thoughts on reselling would be enforced without alienating her customer base.

I've been coming here for years and today it wouldn't let me post (ISO post for Kid's Guide to Drawing the Presidents of the United States of America books) unless I posted one post in the forums. Anyone else have that issue?

http://www.enkieducation.org/html/cm_d2_kindergarten_pkgs.htm This is a k program but there is enough materials in it to do a couple years of preschool and K. some favs Waldorf method introduces science through stories my favorite early book is Nature stories by Margaret Peckham another http://www.tiptoes-lightly.net/ http://littleacornlearning.com/sampleweek.html little acorn curriculum http://junipertreepuppets.com/books/ another vote for the book Earthways HTH

I personally prefer the older oak meadow as it's more true to Waldorf methods. The newer versions are closer to what the children would receive in a typical school.

We've felt excluded and included. I'm a Christian and to this day I will never know what I or the other mother/teacher said that so upset a mother that she had her older children "spy" on us during Christian homeschool co-op. That group ended up splitting because that same mom forcibly took over our very large group and then decided most of us weren't "Christian" enough. Which was kind of ironic since she stole years and years of donated curriculum/supplies when she was trying to make the group more "Christian". The side of the group that wasn't "Christian" (Which was a very lopsided very much the majority group.) decided that the kindest thing was to just her and our supplies go. That was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever been a part of. Sadly the group never really recovered. The second time we felt excluded ,was in our teeny tiny church. All of the homeschool families in the church but ours was invited to take part in weekly homeschool co-op. I still do not know to this day why we were excluded that was rather ouchy. The only thing I could come up with we have a LOT of kids. It really hurt my kids feelings and mine. We felt very included in the original homeschool group we were a part of. Well except for the one incident which I still to this day have no idea what was offensive.Sadly though after the split it never recovered. We started one of our own recently with people outside our church and it's been great. The thing I love is we all approach homeschooling differently and it's nice to learn from each other. Next fall the current families and some more new families are hoping to do something bigger with more people teaching. Our group now is a handwork group where I prepare and teach all the classes. It will be super nice to take turns :) There is another group locally that seems really great but sadly most of their activities are costly ,beyond our budget. It seems like most of them are only schooling one or two children so cost isn't as big an issue. So I guess you could say we are excluded from that group as well just by virtue of the group's choices.

A great waldorf curriculum for the older grades is Live Education. I've found where the beliefs differ from mine it's a great platform to discuss and investigate why we believe differently. We have had the most bonding discussions over things that wouldn't even come up in most curriculum. I would much rather have these discussions with my teens then they with all biased college professors out there.

I've been asked if I would consider homeschooling my grandchildren. We are expecting our first this summer. I would consider it,but I would only consider up to 3rd grade. We hope to help with the foster care system when our children are all grown and then travel a bit. Mémère has some plans :) I've seen mentors become closer then parents to some children. It is a tremendous opportunity and blessing if you feel lead to do it. I know my mentors have had generational effects on my family. I so appreciate and love them.

I edited my post a bit as I was rushing and talking to a bunch of people at the same time LOL I would say in a sense I use it every day because I use the verses,games etc.. Some of the blocks you clearly would have to be using it every day. I'm surprised she would say she doesn't. I think it's a great add on to a traditional math program but could definitely be used alone. I like to use Enki as the base for us because many of the games/plays/verses they offer and I would like to use have a story that sets the scene. So it makes more sense for us to use Enki's stories and then add MBH vs the other way around. The programs are similar, both use Waldorf math methods. HTH

I love math by hand. I think the only downsides is it doesn't contain all the stories you need and she used a crazy font in the stories she did include (hard to read). I also wish she offered video of some of the hand verses ,games,handcrafts etc... Some of her story choices I wasn't crazy about but it's easy to switch them out. I remember as a child how math made so much more sense when I started sewing and cooking. I actually had to use the skills in real life context. So yes it is a bit more time consuming then doing a traditional textbook type of math. It's very bonding do a non stressful "not school like" activity with kids I consider it a win win. The other upside is it makes math accessible ,not scary as it's hands on piece by piece. I use Enki as the core and fill in with Math by hand love them both.

Creekland love how you handled it. These people probably didn't realize,meant no harm. A sign would have prevented it most likely.

bit by bit I've changed It's been a hard fought battle but it's worth!

I didn't read all the responses so my thoughts might be repeat. We went to a tiny church where were more often then not we were left out. For years I kept thinking well we just haven't connected yet is all and put us out there over and over again. I had never really been rejected before so I didn't see it straight away and then I wasn't sure how to handle it. I kept thinking once people get to know us but no one ever really gave us a chance. It was a very small group that hung together and it was hard to break into. They would do things like homeschool classes together,b parties,walks,beach etc... that my children were almost never invited to despite the fact it is TINY church. These women would deny it but quite a few people I've talked to since said they felt the same way there. I know one thing I would NEVER put my kids or myself through that again. How I helped my kids cope was this. I would ask them "Would you do this?" No all of my kids are a lot more kind then even the adults in this situation. So it's their issue, their loss. They lost out a cool awesome loving friend too bad for them. Let's move on and find friends that appreciate you. And we have, thankfully we are switching churches to one that my kids already have had friends in for a long time. No the church isn't exactly our cup of tea but at least it's filled with people who are our cup of tea. I would leave the gift card up to your daughter. Sometimes being kind to people who are unkind is healing to me... it helps me forgive and let go. On the other hand,it also can be healing to just move on.

yes for a bit I was a train wreck... I didn't start out that way when we only had two kids I managed quite nicely but then we had three more fast,I had health issues, didn't have any support system like zero (not even in my marriage, my husband was more of a drain then a help) and became depressed and discouraged. It started looking up for me when they figured out some of my physical issues which gave me more energy and helped clear out the brain fog. But even though I was feeling more energized I didn't have the skills to run a household of our size well. I grew up with only my dad with nannys and housekeepers,I was clueless. I had to start from scratch. I would choose one area to improve on. I would read everything I could research,choose then implement. Some things worked, some things didn't but things always improved even if just a bit. Then I would move on to the next and so on. If things still needed tweeking I would go back to it, I would keep researching till I found something that worked for us and now most of the time I feel pretty good about what we are. Number one thing that helps is don't beat yourself you will only make it worse even if you move in the right direction only 10% it's still a move in the right direction. books I liked best Managers of the home (how to make a schedule) slob sisters organized simplicity (she wrote this longer after I needed it but I thought when I read it "Oh if only she had wrote this years ago it's everything I needed" Dave Ramsey books If I think of anything else I'll come back and add it. Hubby wants me to come upstairs HTH

We were only dating 6 mths when we got married so we had a super short engagement to wedding period. Maybe 2 mths? Just long enough to plan a church wedding of 300ish. We kept it simple though and I couldn't get some of things I wanted because of the short notice.

Your house ,your rules ,just set expectations and follow through kids will usually come along. I have a friend that has a toy store in her playroom. Everything in its' place with lots of fragile expensive toys. My kids have toyboxes. They don't have tons of fragile expensive toys because we don't buy them. We buy sturdy old fashioned toys and only a few. So naturally their play and their clean up are a bit different then ours. My kids quickly learnt if they took it out,they had to be gentle and put it back if they wanted to play with the toys. They learned because limits were set. In our case both parents set limits but if you had to, do it on your own. I would expect a parent to replace anything broken but I also wouldn't put out something really precious like that poor boy who lost his memento. When large groups of kids would come over my toy store friends house (like a bible study) she would cover(blanket) the toys she didn't want played with. No reason to stop having friends over :) and best of all both sets of kids learn relationship skills. Who knows maybe some day they will be dorm mates and need those skills.