I love this time of reflection during winter break. Among other things, I’ve been reflecting on this blog. I find it really satisfying to look back over 2014 and to realize that last year at this time, this blog was only a little over a month old. Hard for me to believe, really. I was curious to see what the most popular posts have been over the past year, so I looked at page views. And here I share those with you.
Top 10 Posts of 2014 on Art of Homeschooling
1. Movement Games – This post has the most page views of all. You can read about how to make bean bags and collect a few verses to go with them, one about “King Winter” and my favorite “Calendar Rhyme” that begins with January.
2. The Lantern Festival – In this post, I share all about creating a lantern walk: how to make the lanterns, songs to sing, stories to tell. My favorite resources and ideas all in one place.
3. Celebrating the Equinox – All things fall here, including four different verses: “The Leaves are Green,” “The Apple Tree,” “September,” and “Thanks.”
4. Michaelmas – I just love this festival of strength and courage, and in this post, I share the link to a lovely “Michaelmas Play” as well as the verses, “Brave and True” and “St. Michael.”
5. Steiner on Humans and Animals – From The Steiner Cafe, where my friend Alison and I meet every week or so to share reflections on Steiner’s lectures to the very first Waldorf teachers. This post is about the fourth grade main lesson bock on Humans & Animals which is a challenge for many, but both Alison and I found a more satisfying understanding of this block by reading Steiner than we ever have in hearing how it’s done in a Waldorf school! “But the most important message of this lesson is that human beings have feet that carry us about and arms and hands that allow us to be of selfless service to the world.”
6. Discussions with Teachers, Day 6 – More reflections on Steiner’s lectures here, this time on sharing stories with children…reading stories to children to be precise! Here are Steiner’s three suggested steps on reading stories.
7. Restless, Irritable and Discontent? – Wonderful words of wisdom from Franz Kafka encouraging us to become quiet, still, and listen.
8. My Heart is Shining Like a Star – Encouragement for setting up a spiral walk outdoors to celebrate the darkness of the Winter Solstice.
9. Family Dinners – “Family dinners are a time for us to come back together at the end of the day and reconnect.” Here I share my favorite resource for planning for dinnertime.
10. Let Go of Doubt & Distraction – Oh how the start of a new year of homeschooling can bring up lots of distracting doubts when we’ve finally begun but we’re in need of tweaking a few things here and there. This post is about transitions and how to work together on making little adjustments to our plans.
So interesting to me to review these posts. There is a real mix of topics. After this post review, I was also wondering what the top content on my site has been over the past year. So, here it is.
Top 5 Pages in 2014 on Art of Homeschooling
1. Resources for Waldorf-Inspired Homeschooling
I want to thank each of you for being here and sharing the journey of this blog with me. I find it heartwarming that we can share encouragement and support over the internet, something I was so skeptical about when I began. But I really do feel lifted up by this process of sharing our journeys of bringing inspired learning to our children and families. I hope you do, too.
May 2015 be a year of joy and adventure,
Jean
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