AWSNA

This blog post is for people who regularly visit my website, waldorfcurriculum.com.

AWSNA has service marked the term Waldorf® and recently reached out to me to request that I remove it from my domain name. Therefore, I have copied and moved my website to wcurriculum.com. Please visit me there!

Unfortunately, they currently do not allow homeschoolers or homeschool groups to license the term. Although I have had my website at waldorfcurriculum.com for 20 years, I am still required to move it.

I have set up a permanent (301) redirect, so if you type in the old domain you should automatically be sent to the new one without any problems.

Thank you!
Renee

P.S. Because I don't have a team and have never taken any classes in web design, some things may end up acting strangely on the new site. If you find a page with a problem, please leave me a message in the comments below.

Local Industry - Bricks

Our third local industry for Southern Illinois!

timing:

Murphysboro Paving Brick Company
1909 - 1931

resource list:

Murphysboro Paving Brick Company and the Panama Canal


Brick by Brick: Murphysboro company's product goes around the world
The Southern Illinoisan - Oct 18, 2011


Eric and the Little Canal Boat by Lillian Bason

Panama Canal Information - FREE on TpT

Panama Canal Graphic Organizer - FREE on TpT
(which we did instead of the reading comprehension questions)


Coal Mines in Illinois: Murphysboro Quadrangle
Jackson County, Illinois (PDF)
Illinois State Geological Survey
location of the Murphysboro Paving Brick Company Shale Mine


The 1925 Tri-State Tornado Damage Path and Associated Storm System (PDF)
Electronic Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology
Appendix C: Supplemental Material
first-hand accounts from workers at the brick plant, pp.C13-C14


In my overview of this block, I wrote that we wanted to visit the Jackson County Historical Society in Murphysboro, Illinois.

This portion of the block is the perfect tie-in!

I would like the children to see what kinds of historical materials are kept, how the different resources are carefully stored, and what steps people generally follow when they want to research a topic. We can use the brick plant that was located in Murphysboro as our example.

artifacts:

vintage "Egyptian" brick

follow ups:

it would be fun to

Learn About the Telegraph!

On October 10, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson pressed a button in his White House office and caused an explosion 4,000 miles away.

The blast occurred when a spark of electricity traveled across a telegraph cable that connected Washington, D.C. to Panama.

CANAL IS OPENED BY WILSON'S FINGER; Gamboa Dike Blown Away as President in Washington Presses Button.
The New York Times - Oct 11, 1913

Practice Morse Code!

Morse Code

The Collages (Morse Code, part 2)

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Educational Game: Robbin' Eggs!

I'm adding this math game to my series of posts about Educational Games!

previous posts:

Adsumudi - 4 operations

The Allowance Game - coins

Gnoming A Round - negative numbers

Jump One series - skip counting

Poetry for Neandertals - syllables

Today I'm writing about Robbin' Eggs! by Haywire Group.

Here is a video tutorial on Robbin' Eggs!

Sadly, this game is no longer being made but it is well worth tracking down. Many thanks to my co-teacher, Ms. Megan, for recommending it to me!

I use it in the classroom after introducing negative numbers with Gnoming A Round and a hands-on manipulative (we use the Mortensen math material).

When children are ready to think of subtracting as adding a negative, we play Robbin' Eggs!

In the Waldorf scope & sequence, integers are part of grade 7 Algebra. In his middle school book, Jamie York strongly recommends starting children out with the idea of a bank account instead of a number line.

When you enter deposits and withdrawals into the bank, the bank keeps track of them. Each new transaction is a line item (addition means "and"). For a withdrawal, you are adding a negative amount. If you spend more than you have, you have a negative balance! If you deposit funds into the bank, sometimes you still have a negative balance (if it wasn't enough to bring you out of the red) and sometimes you have a positive balance.

Note: After playing Robbin' Eggs!, I have children practice adding and subtracting integers with a traditional worksheet (FREE at TpT).

While talking about this worksheet with a student the other day, I realized something: subtraction is always rewritten!

subtracting a positive number is rewritten as adding a negative

subtracting a negative number is rewritten as adding a positive

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Fraction Skill-Building

After our Introduction to Fractions in March, we will work during April and May on skill-building. Children will continue to add concepts to their MLBs.

The Introduction to Fractions needs to be done very slowly and carefully to ensure there aren't enduring misunderstandings that show up later on!

I wanted to share the rest of my fractions planning for the year now since it is ready. If I make any changes to this as we go along, I will update it.

You will see that even though we went very slowly at the start, they will end up doing standard fifth grade fraction problems by the end of the ten weeks!

Themes Covered in Week 1

Mon - K/W/L Chart

Tue - 1/2, 1/4, 1/8

Wed - Making Thirds & Halving Thirds

Thu - Fractions of a Group, Equivalent Fractions (Houses on a Street)

Themes Covered in Week 2

Mon - Fractions of a Number

Tue - Puddle Question

Wed - Reading a Ruler, Fractions in Lowest Terms

Thu - Build-an-Animal

Themes Covered in Week 3

Mon - Restaurant Simulation

Tue - Coins as Fractions & Decimals

Wed - Basic Operations with Fractions

Thu - Converting Improper Fractions to Mixed Numbers

Themes Covered in Week 4

Mon - Converting Mixed Numbers to Improper Fractions

Tue - Elapsed Time

Wed - Making Arrays

Thu - Using Arrays to Simplify Fractions

week of April 6

Mon - Comparing Fractions

recall Thursday's work with arrays

look back at Fraction of a Group and find the equivalent fractions (2/4, 4/6) visually but also "prove it mathematically" on the board

look back at Colorful Fraction Circles and see if you can find the equivalent fractions (4/8, 2/4, 5/10, 2/10)

have children come up to the board to demonstrate the steps in how to convert each of these fractions to their simplest form

what happens if you reduce 4/8 by dividing both numbers by 2? nothing, you'll just have to simplify it again by repeating the process

so if there are multiple things you can divide the top and bottom number by, you should choose the largest one because that'll save you the most time

notice that a unit fraction (with a 1 on top) is always in simplest form because its only factors are 1, and 1 isn't allowed in factor trees (YCCOM)

have children work independently on Comparing Fractions worksheet
https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/fractions/comparing-fractions-tape-diagrams_QWERT.pdf

for the two equivalent fractions on that worksheet, we then used the chalkboard to "prove it mathematically"

notice that for 6/8 = 3/4, we divide the top and bottom by 2

but for 4/5 = 8/10, we multiply the top and bottom by 2

we can make them larger by multiplying the top and bottom by the same number, and there are times in math when we want to do that!

it's like Alice in Wonderland; you can make her bigger and smaller by nibbling and sipping, but she's still Alice while her size is changing

why does it work? remember that the top number is how many and the bottom number is what kind. if you have a plan to eat 5 pieces of cake, but your mom cuts them in half to make twice as many (so now there are 10 and they are smaller) but you just adapt by eating twice as many, you have still had the same amount of cake!

Arnold Schwarzenegger and the 2 ply toilet tissue fiasco!

he switched to 1 ply at the government offices in California to save money during the budget crisis, and everyone promptly switched to using twice as much toilet tissue

"if you're going to give half as much, I'm going to take twice as much"




Carlyn Beccia book - which 6 of these 9 cures for Wounds worked? that's 2/3!

Tue - Add to MLB

add the steps in making equivalent fractions to the MLB

add new observations and new questions about fractions

Wed - Alice in Wonderland

practice making equivalent fractions by either multiplying the top and bottom number by the same thing or dividing them

go bigger and smaller just like Alice in Wonderland

assignment: write three fractions that are equivalent to one another

Thu - Fact Families

as I watched children working on yesterday's assignment, I realized that the class needed a review of Fact Families

I had each child just choose a few multiplication facts that they were having trouble with and write out the fact families for them

week of Apr 13

Mon - +/- Fractions with Common Denominators

have students practice addition and subtraction of fractions with common denominators by creating problems for classmates to solve (an answer key must be provided)

a fun spin on this is "Secret Code," where the children come up with a fraction to represent each letter of the alphabet and then write a series of math problems for a friend to solve

the answers to the problems spell out a secret message!

this works best if improper fractions ("top-heavy fractions") are allowed and the answers do not have to be put in simplest form

note: a very good way to see if children understand a skill is to have them create their own problems; if children understand that the denominator of a fraction is its name and does not represent an amount, they will resist the temptation to add or subtract them

Tue - Rounding Fractions

practice Rounding Fractions to 0, 1/2, or 1

observe, can children visualize the fractions in order to round them?
who in the group still needs to see them, draw them, or build them?

Wed - Simplifying Fractions Mandala

solve and color the Simplifying Fractions Mandala

read Fractions in Disguise by Edward Einhorn

Thu - "Of" Means "Times"

explain that, in math, the word "of" means "times"

sing the song,

"Multiplying fractions
Is no big problem
Top times top over
Bottom times bottom"

do Fractions of a Group (a whole number has a denominator of 1)

write an X over the word "of" to show that it actually means "times," then solve using multplication and simplify using skip counting

do Multiplying Fractions (notice that the answers are very tiny! 1/3 of 1/4 is 1/12! cut up the Comparing Fractions worksheet to prove this)

week of Apr 20

Mon - First to 50

play First to 50: Fractions of a Group Game with red counters

Tue - Dividing IS Multiplying by the Reciprocal

recall Fractions of a Group worksheet and yesterday's game

is it true that 1/3 of 12 can be written as 1/3 x 12 OR as 12 ÷ 3?

do Dividing Fractions

Wed - Reciprocals of Mixed Numbers

explain the process for finding the reciprocals of mixed numbers

do Finding the Reciprocal

Thu - Add to MLB

add adding and subtracting fractions (with common denominators) and multiplying and dividing a fraction by a fraction to the MLB

add new observations and new questions about fractions

week of Apr 27

Mon - Factor Trees

read the introduction to YCCOM

have fun by drawing factor trees and creating the artwork for them!

Tue - Finding the GCF

do Simplifying Fractions

how have you been solving these? have you ever found an equivalent fraction but it was still the wrong answer because it wasn't in lowest terms? how can you be absolutely sure you're dividing by the biggest possible number that goes into both, and there are no more steps?

explain how to write factors in parentheses to find the GCF

Wed - Add to MLB

practice Simplifying Fractions with the GCF

add factor trees and finding the greatest common factor to the MLB

add new observations and new questions about fractions

Thu - Factors for Numbers 1 to 100

write out the factors for the numbers from 1 to 100 (in parentheses)

week of May 4

Mon - Finding the LCM

this is it! our final fractions skill! and then you will be able to do anything you ever need to with fractions

what would happen if we wanted to add fractions from different sections of the box together?

what if I ate half of my birthday cake during the daytime and then I got really hungry in the middle of the night and went back and ate 1/5 more?



yes, you could do it... but how would you express the answer?

if you say well, 1/2 + 1/5 = 1/2 and 1/5 more, then you have basically just repeated the question

the answer has to have only one denominator; therefore,
you need those two fractions to share a name before you add them

is this possible mathematically?

absolutely! we know how to make fractions smaller by dividing both parts by the same number but we can also make them bigger by multiplying, and the fractions will still be equivalent

here we need to figure out not what factors but what multiples two numbers have in common

as we will still have to simplify our answer at the end of the process, it saves time to go with the smallest common multiple (if I turn 1/2 into 50/100 and 1/5 into 20/100, I will get 70/100 and then reduce... if I turn 1/2 into 5/10 and 1/5 into 2/10, I will get 7/10 right away)

practice with Least Common Denominator task cards

Tue - Task Cards

practice with Adding and Subtracting Fractions With Unlike Denominators Task Cards

Wed - +/- Mixed Numbers with Unlike Denominators

do Adding & Subtracting Mixed Numbers with Unlike Denominators

Thu - Add to MLB

write in adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators to the MLB

add new observations and new questions about fractions

week of May 11

Mon - Brain Drawings

do Addition of Fractions with Visual Representation

post them up on the wall!

Tue - Multiples for Numbers 1 to 100

using another paper that goes from 1 to 100, write out as many skip counts as you want for each number

Wed - Word Problems

do Fraction Task Cards (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division)

Thu - Quiz

assess the class by giving Fractions Operations Review as a quiz (meaning students had to work independently and without help)

week of May 18

Error Analysis

To wrap up 10 busy weeks of this topic, I'll give the children Fraction Operations Error Analysis. This is a really fun way for them to assess themselves, and see if they have achieved total mastery of the skills!

I love Error Analysis and have written an entire blog post about it!

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Local Industry - Salt

Our second Local Industry for Southern Illinois!

timing:

Great Salt Spring is a prehistoric site first occupied around AD 800 along the Saline River in southern Illinois. Here, Native Americans extracted salt from the naturally occurring salt springs, mainly as a seasonal activity during the autumn months. (source)

Temple and Castle owned and operated the mine from 1854 to 1873. They are said to have made five hundred bushels every twenty-four hours. About the beginning [of] 1873 they thought the brine could be transported easier than the fuel, so they started to build a larger and newer plant nearer the coal mine. The work of construction was started but hard times, caused by the panic of 1873, came on and work stopped. Salt became cheaper when the crisis passed over and they never finished the new plant. (source)

resource list:

This Week In Illinois History: Salt In Our State’s Wounds
northernpublicradio.org - overview


Illinois Salines
Wikipedia page



Tales & Trails of Illinois
chapter 2, "Salt Mines in Illinois: An Important Early Industry"
by Stu Fliege


Saline Springs
Missouri Department of Conservation


The Carrier Mills Archaeological Project: Fascinating Finds (PDF)
Southern Illinois University, Center for Archaeological Investigations


A lot of the history of salt is very disturbing, including the fact that this industry was carved out as a special exception to Illinois being a slave-free state, and the frequent use of the n-word in the language of the time. We are focusing on how a saline spring is formed naturally, how people boiled the water away to extract the salt, and some of the interesting archaeological finds of the area.

Here are resources for teacher background information which would not be suitable for classroom use:

History of the Gallatin Salines
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society

Legends & Lore of Southern Illinois by John W. Allen
"The Gallatin Salines" and "Half Moon Lick," pp.132-135

Slaves, Salt, Sex & Mr. Crenshaw: The Real Story of the Old Slave House and America's Reverse Underground R.R. by Jon Musgrave

artifacts:

examples of sea salt

follow ups:

it would be fun to

Explore the Water Cycle!
Water Cycle Mat from Waseca Biomes

Design a Science Experiment!
The Curious Kid's Science Book by Asia Citro

Asia's book is the best for Science Experiments because she has them create their own instead of just replicating an experiment design she has provided.

We have done this in the past to explore questions about evaporation (dishes of water with food coloring or sugar dissolved in them, left out covered or uncovered, left in places in the house of different temperatures).

Even though they know intellectually that the water will "go back up into the clouds," it's fun to watch it happen firsthand!

They are often interested in how quickly evaporation will happen, what else will evaporate up along with the water and what will be left behind (sugar? food coloring?), and if water can successfully get out of a closed container.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Art History - Maurizio Cattelan

In my 2025-2026 school year plan, I decided that our April artist would be Maurizio Cattelan. (Here is the complete list of all the artists we've learned about so far.) Now on to some resources and my planning notes:

Maurizio Cattelan
1960 -

Unique in that this is the first artist that we have done by student demand! They became intrigued by his work when Comedian was in the news.

I think our plan of attack for Cattelan is to choose one piece of art to study each time and look at what its message might be (symbolism, satire).

some possibilities:

Oblomov Foundation Scholarship (1992)

Working Is a Bad Job (1993)

Love Lasts Forever (1997)

A Perfect Day (1999)

Not Afraid of Love (2000)

The Wrong Gallery (2002)

America (2016)

Comedian (2019)
the famous Sotheby’s auction was in 2024

I also think that it would lay a foundation for Maurizio Cattelan's work if we learn about Marcel Duchamp. I have resources about Duchamp in

Discovering Great Artists by MaryAnn Kohl (available at Internet Archive)

Vincent's Starry Night by Michael Bird

Encyclopedia of Artists, vol. 2

also

Maurizio Cattelan
Wikipedia page

Maurizio Cattelan: Beware of Yourself by Maurizio Cattelan
2026

Maurizio Cattelan: All by Nancy Spector
2016

So, a Banana Walks into an Art Fair
frieze.com

Maurizio Cattelan: Houdini of the Art World
"Modern Art Is Rubbish" podcast notes

Maurizio Cattelan
domusweb.it

Maurizio Cattelan, Naughty as Ever, Plays Games and Tours the Whitney
The New York Times - Apr 20, 2017

Maurizio Cattelan: ‘Art saved me from a miserable life’
The Observer - Jun 11, 2025

---

A lot of this will take the form of us looking at the artwork during Snack and having a discussion about what we think the artist is trying to say.

I've yet to figure out any art inspired by him that we can make on our own!

week of Apr 13:

Mon

read "The Bremen Town-Musicians" from Favourite Grimm's Tales illustrated by Anastasiya Archipova (p.143)


act out story with our collection of wooden figures:
tree, house, donkey, dog, cat, rooster, robber, dining room table!



look at and discuss Love Lasts Forever (1997)

use this to kick off our new Philosophy topic, Love


RNS - Why is this piece called Love Lasts Forever?

CB - They're working together to get food because they're all hungry. That's love, when it's teamwork.

AAR - They died but they're still together. That's the forever part. They didn't split up, they stayed together in that house.

EF - They are all friends. They all stayed in the house together; it's their home now. They are all friends. That's a kind of love. You can see it in their skeletons. They are still friends, even when they died.

RNS - Why did he choose to have them in this position? It could have been four animal skeletons standing side by side -- donkey, dog, cat, rooster -- and it would still be referencing Bremen-Town Musicians.

AAR - It's a tower, a strong tower.

RNS - Have you ever seen an animal skeleton before in real life? When is a skeleton just a skeleton and when it is symbolism?

Tue

discuss Oblomov Foundation Scholarship (1992)

explain the cultural reference to Oblomov

tie in with our SWI lesson on < they >


RNS - Thoughts?

FR - That's genius!

EO - I think I know why he called it the "Oblomov Scholarship Foundation." Because the artists don't have to worry about money. The man in the book called Oblomov did absolutely nothing and he was so wealthy he didn't have to worry about money.

CB - I think it's because he worked hard to get it going and then it failed. So then he took the money because of how hard he worked. And then he went on vacation.

RNS - Do you think when he conceptualized it that he meant to take the money?

AAR - I feel like he meant to do it at first, but then he backed down and basically stole the money. Something went wrong and he thought, these artists, I don't like them.

FR - It's a scam but it's not a bad scam. It's half a scam.

RNS - We are all happy to give a scholarship to help someone else but it feels like cheating if we give the scholarship to ourself. But how is it actually different? Maybe he's poking fun at that idea.

FR - Technically he didn't break the rules. He's an artist. He IS an artist who isn't going to work for a year.

Thu

look at and discuss Working Is a Bad Job (1993)

RNS - Does this count as art?

AAR - Kindof. I'm not sure. Because this is just an ad. Some of his things I do count, but this... he didn't even make it. Somebody else made it. He basically cheated.

Z - Yes. It is in his space; they gave him that space. Anything in that space is his art.

RNS - You said "just an ad." Presumably they spent a lot of time designing the ad. Why is the ad not art?

AAR - I guess the ad in a way is art. But he kindof stole it in a way. The ad can have some art in it. But I just don't think it counts as his art.

RNS - We know he likes to poke fun at things. The title is maybe a way to get into his head. Why it is that only the very best artists get invited to the Vienna Biennale, but a magazine ad is just seen as nothing? What really is the difference between an ad and art?

How many people think he is saying a perfume ad shouldn't be minimized? [ two ]

How many people think he could be saying, you can't make me do art if I don't want to? [ one ]

EO - I think it's both. You can't force somebody to do art if they don't want to. Also, those ads are a lot of work and people act like they're nothing. People skip over ads all the time; almost nobody watches them. And then you also can't really make somebody do art if they're like no, I'm not going to do that. They're both really good points so I don't know. I like them both a lot.

RNS - A skeleton becomes art when it means something. We have been saying something is art if there's intention behind it, and the artist is making you think about something.

EO - If it has one of those two things -- or both -- it's art.

Z - Like EO was saying about the ads, I like to listen on the radio to all of the Grainger ads and stuff, and I was listening to music with my aunt a few months ago and she was like please skip the ads. I don't know why people skip them.

RNS - Well, no one skipped over that ad!

AAR - The people who made that ad probably feel very important. To be displayed in one of the most important exhibits.

EO - I wonder if they got more customers??

week of Apr 20:

Mon

look at and discuss Not Afraid of Love (2000)

tie in with our Philosophy discussion of Love

Tue

look at and discuss A Perfect Day (1999)

Thu

look at and discuss The Wrong Gallery (2002)

measure out 2 1/2 square feet with masking tape on the floor

week of Apr 27:

Mon

learn about Marcel Duchamp and discuss his ideas

read #54 "Spinning a Story: Marcel Duchamp"
from Vincent's Starry Night by Michael Bird, p.249

Rue de Bicyclette, 1913

"Duchamp decided that the really essential thing about being an artist was having interesting ideas that make people see things differently."

"'I'm the artist, not you,' thought Duchamp. 'I'm the one who decides what is art.'"


read "Marcel Duchamp"
from Encyclopedia of Artists, volume 2, p.50

Fountain, 1917

"He created an artwork out of ordinary materials (in this case a bicycle wheel and a stool); only the idea to do it was his own."

"'Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made the fountain or not has no importance,' Duchamp contended. 'He chose it.'"

Tue

look at and discuss America (2016)

read quotes from Maurizio Cattelan

Thu

look at and discuss Comedian (2019)

image of the art

read some of the articles from 2024; do you agree with them?


So, a Banana Walks into an Art Fair
frieze.com


Chinese crypto businessman eats his controversial $6.2 million banana art piece
npr.org


The New York Times

Will a ‘Trump Bump’ Help the Art Market’s Biggest Week?
Nov 18, 2024

Peeling the $6.2 Million Banana: An Auction Explainer
Nov 21, 2024

The Sidewalk Fruit Vendor Who Sold a $6.2 Million Banana for 25 Cents
Nov 27, 2024

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Block Beeswax Crayons in Primary Colors

I was looking through the Clearance section of A Child's Dream yesterday when I spotted individual Stockmar block beeswax crayons.

Sieglinde de Francesca recommends these for children in grades 1 & 2. It can be a very interesting exercise to work only with the primaries, and have to carefully blend and layer them to get the effect you want. And far cheaper than a set of 32 crayons for $72.00!

Sigi has two books about this lovely method of drawing:

They used to be available on Amazon but she just has them in her online shop now at teachwonderment.com.

Her Fables book is my absolute favorite resource for this classic Waldorf grade 2 block!

I was looking back through my previous posts to see what I had written about working with Block Beeswax Crayons in Primary Colors. I found a post from 2012 which states that single crayons (you only need carmine red, lemon yellow, and ultramarine blue) were available for $1.50 each. So the current clearance price of $1.57 apiece is pretty inflation-busting!

And here is my 2013 post: Book Review - Coloring with Block Crayons. (Naturally, instead of a CD she now offers streaming videos.) I still have a few of the little pouches my students sewed!

the Stockmar color numbers are

carmine red - 01

lemon yellow - 05

ultramarine blue - 10

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!