More Ideas for Saints and SWI

It is extremely important to attend at least one SWI workshop so that you understand the approach, but I am happy to share some notes. For initial training, I strongly recommend Pete Bowers, Rebecca Loveless, or Fiona Hamilton. For going deeper, study with Gina Cooke or Michel Mira-Rameau!
I have links to all of their sites on the homepage of waldorfcurriculum.com.

The Saints Block and SWI previous post

This is a fun thing to go into if you are homeschooling children of different ages. The younger child can simply hear the Saint story and the older child can do the deeper SWI explorations as part of his/her language arts lesson.

More possible connections between the Saints block and SWI investigations, with links to the Online Etymology Dictionary by Doug Harper, etymonline:

Cenydd (anglicized as Keneth)
story source: "The Story of Saint Keneth"
from Saints Among the Animals by Cynthia Zarin, page 46

SWI exploration of < nest >
consider nest, nests, nested, nesting, nestling, nestle, and nest egg

Odilia
story source: "Odilia and Aldaric"
from The Giant at the Ford and Other Legends of the Saints by Ursula Synge, page 48 (this book is also available free to read at archive.org)

SWI exploration of < blind >
in the family: blind, blinded, blindness, blinders, duck blind, deer blind
not in the family: night, see, darkness, Braille

Modomnoc
story source: The Saint and His Bees by Dessi Jackson

SWI exploration of < bee >
find words in the < bee > family and write word sums for them, such as
bee
bee + s
bee + keep + er
bee + keep + ing
honey + bee
sweat + bee
bumble + bee
bee + line
bee + hive
bee + s + wax
spell + ing + bee

Dorothea of Caesarea
story source: "The Roses from Paradise"
from The Book of Saints and Heroes by Mrs. Lang, page 4 (this book is also available free to read at The Baldwin Project / Gateway to the Classics)

SWI exploration of < governor >
consider govern, governess, governor, government, misgovern, ungoverned

Felix

story source: Saint Felix and the Spider by Dessi Jackson

SWI exploration of < web >
consider web, webs, webbed, webbing, website, web page, web-footed

this word is nice for introducing the three categories of compound words (website, web page, web-footed); also for introducing the consonant doubling convention with a vowel suffix; also for introducing etymological "cousins" such as weave, weaver, wove, woven, wave, wavy, waffle

Conrad
story source: Saint Conrad and the Wildfire by Maura Roan McKeegan

SWI exploration of < fire >
how many words can you think of that are built on the base < fire >?
write word sums for them and play around with the Mini Matrix-Maker site

would the word < fiery > go in the matrix? it is clearly a relative!
no... since it is not built on the base < fire > we have to call it a cousin

morphological relatives share a base (a modern-day spelling pattern); etymological relatives share a root (a long-ago word from Greek, Latin, etc.)

Rose of Lima
story source: More Once-Upon-a-Time Saints by Ethel Marbach, page 44

SWI exploration of < glass >
consider glass; look at entry for its Proto-Indo-European root < *ghel- > (2) "to shine" and find etymological cousins such as < glisten > and < glow >

Moses the Black
story source: Abba Moses: Notorious Robber, Desert Father by Andrew Votipka

SWI exploration of < murder >
consider murder, murdered, murderer, mordant, mortal, mortify, mortgage

it is especially interesting in the context of this story that murder is related to remorse

maybe explore the "biting" of mordant by doing some Crockpot Dyed Wool (vinegar mordants wool) or Dyeing Fabric with Fruit (salt mordants cotton)

Nicholas
story source: The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi

SWI exploration of < miracle >

practice reading an entry, following a link, and searching in etymonline:
from what Old French word did < miracle > come?
from what Latin word did < miracle > come?
how is the word < miracle > related to < smile >?
what Old English word did < miracle > replace?
how did Miracle Whip get its name?

it is worth looking more deeply at Old English wundortacen and wundorweorc as compound words and looking up tacen and weorc to see what they mean

Helen
story source: The Queen and the Cross: The Story of Saint Helen by Cornelia Bilinsky

SWI exploration of < search >
consider search, research, circus, circle (which replaced Old English trendel and hring); do you think that the word < trundle > is related to trendel?

Tekla of Ethiopia
story source: A Saint and His Lion: The Story of Tekla of Ethiopia by Elaine Murray Stone

SWI exploration of < strength >
consider Old English letters no longer in use (Old English strengþu, strengð) and spelling patterns which have stayed or become obsolete (strong/strength, long/length, strong/strenger/strengest, old/elder/eldest)

Martin de Porres
story source: Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert by Gary D. Schmidt

SWI exploration of < lemon >
find a map or a globe and trace with your finger the physical places mentioned in the etymology of < lemon > (n.1) , all the way back to the Malay archipelago; compare with the journey for the word < lime > (n.2)

Hildegard of Bingen
story source: The Secret World of Hildegard by Jonah Winter

SWI exploration of < shine >
consider shine, shining, shiner, sunshine, moonshine, shoeshine, outshine

this word is nice for introducing the "replaceable e" with a vowel suffix

true or false: the word < shine > is related to the word < cheetah > ?

Brigid
story source: Brigid's Cloak: An Ancient Irish Story by Bryce Milligan

SWI exploration of < cloak >
true or false: the word < cloak > is related to the word < clock > ?

Bernadette
story source: Saint Bernadette and the Miracles of Lourdes by Demi

SWI exploration of < grotto >
true or false: the word < grotto > is related to the word < grotesque > ?

Elizabeth of Hungary
story source: Roses in the Snow: A Tale of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

SWI exploration of < rose > (Old English rose, from Latin rosa)
which of these words does NOT belong?
rose, rosebud, rosary, melrose, rosemary, julep

Simeon the Stylite
story source: "The Saint on the Pillar"
from The Book of Saints and Heroes by Mrs. Lang, page 33 (this book is also available free to read at The Baldwin Project / Gateway to the Classics)

SWI exploration of < hut >
which of these words does NOT belong?
hut, hose, cuticle, curtain, sky, scum

Adam & Eve
story source: several early chapters from And There Was Light: From the Creation of the World to Noah's Ark by Jakob Streit (this book is also available free to download as a PDF at The Online Waldorf Library)

"The World's Beginning" on page 7
"The Creation of Man" on page 28
"In Paradise" on page 31
"The Fall" on page 32

SWI exploration of < garden >
which of these words does NOT belong?
garden, girdle, choir, curtsy, bow, Asgard / Midgard

Patrick
story source: Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola

SWI exploration of < island >
which of these words does NOT belong?
island, land, earth, aquamarine, sewer, gouache

Wulfric
story source: "St. Wulfric, the Boy and the Bread"
from The Giant at the Ford and Other Legends of the Saints by Ursula Synge, page 175 (this book is also available free to read at archive.org)

SWI exploration of < bread >
which of these words does NOT belong?
bread, breakfast, brick, lord, lady, knight

I have taught this block before and not bought so many picture books! It doesn't have to be done this way and it doesn't have to be expensive.

I usually read chapters from one of my classic collections of Waldorf stories for the Saints; however, now that our homeschool co-op is doing distance learning I thought it would be nice if the children each had a few stories in their tote bags that were different, and then they could meet on Zoom and share the legends with one another. Thus this year's extra-long list!

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