Never let your schooling interrupt your education.

Block Party Giveaway: The Waldorf Connection

//  by 

This giveaway is now closed. Stay tuned for the winner!

Welcome to Day 4 of the Simple Living Media Summer Block Party! We’ve got 20 giveaways across the entire network this week to give you plenty of chances to win!

Today’s giveaway from The Waldorf Connection is perfect for those planning their next year of homeschooling or for readers who are considering homeschooling but not sure where to start.

Do you ever wonder how you can pull your lessons together?

Do you ever second guess yourself and wonder if you’re doing this homeschooling thing the “right” way?

Are you overwhelmed by the amount of curriculum available and have no idea where to begin?

Once upon a time Donna Lashton, a mother of twin girls, felt that way as well. So she decided to create a venue where those interested in homeschooling could ask questions, get answers, and put the pieces together in a specific way that would work for their unique family.

The result is The Waldorf Connection, an online seminar expo series containing over 15 hours of lectures and valuable content.

I had the opportunity to listen in on a couple of the expo sessions and they were fabulous. Donna’s lineup features award-winning, prominent authors, teachers, and child-development experts. I found myself discussing inspiring points with my husband long after finishing the seminar.

Today’s prize for one winner includes over 15 hours of MP3 download (the entire expo!) from The Waldorf Connection–as well as the PDF transcripts so you can make your own notes and highlight ideas. Also included are three bonus calls in which homeschooling moms reveal their secrets to successful planning.

Many of the sessions are applicable to any homeschooler, whether or not you follow the Waldorf tradition exclusively. If you find it challenging to get away for a real-life homeschooling convention, The Waldorf Connection is the perfect solution to get inspired and fueled for a new homeschooling year!

Here’s a list of the seminar titles (more information can be found here):

  • What Grade Should my Child be in?
  • Simplicity Parenting
  • Steiner’s 12 Senses
  • Skills Parents Can Use to Invite Cooperation
  • Handwork: Planning Your Year
  • Waldorf Music- Teaching a Blowing Instrument
  • From School to Homeschool
  • Creating Rhythm to your Day
  • Grade Overviews: 1st-3rd, 4th-5th, 6th-8th
  • Homeschooling with Multiple Children
  • Pentatonic Music & Foreign Language Program
  • Steiner’s Milestones- Reasons Behind the Curriculum
  • Homeschool Planning in a Nutshell

How to Win

Everyone has three chances to win. Choose one or all three!

1. Comment on this post, and answer this question: How do you approach planning for a new year of homeschooling?

2. Follow @simpleschool and @donnalashton on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway. Be sure to come back and leave a separate comment with the link to your tweet.

3. Subscribe to Simple Homeschool by email or in your feed reader. Leave a separate comment letting me know you’re subscribed.

This giveaway will end at 11:59 pm EST on July 3rd (tonight!) and is open to commenters 18 years or older. We’ll use Random.org to choose winners on July 4th! I hope you win!

About Jamie C. Martin

Jamie is an introverted mom of three, who loves books, tea, and people (not always in that order), and avoids answering the phone when possible. She co-founded SimpleHomeschool.net in 2010 and began IntrovertedMoms.com in 2020.

Jamie is the author of four books, including Give Your Child the World (reached #9 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers list), and her latest release, Introverted Mom (an ECPA bestseller). Her work has been featured by LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow, the Washington Post, Parents, Today Parenting, and Psychology Today.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kim

    This sounds great!
    This being our first year homeschooling, we’re starting with a Pre-K Core from Sonlight. I tried not to overthink it, but I can definitely see this info being incredibly helpful.
    .-= Kim’s last blog: 211- Sad Day =-.

  7. Bronwyn

    My son’s not yet school-age, but we are starting some preschool activities this year. I’m in the midst of learning about planning school at the moment, so I think this would really be a great resource.

  9. Mary Ann

    This will be our first official year of homeschooling so I am new at the planning. We chose Sonlight so a good bit of the planning is done for me. Sounds like the Waldorf Collection would be a great resource for future planning and getting through any hurdles we might face this first year.

  10. coleen

    I’m still considering homeschooling, so I “prepare” by doing research, research, research to see what the best fit for our family might be.

  12. Michelle T

    I haven’t started yet, so this would be perfect for me as I figure out what I’m supposed to be doing! Thanks so much 🙂

  13. daffodil lane

    Planning the year of school is a big process for me, with ages 5,10,and 15. I have a planner that is gradually being filled in with what we plan to do each month, including theme units, chapters in physics to be accomplished, art projects,books to read, special days, etc. Once that’s all done, I’ll move into a more detailed look at each month and begin gathering supplies we’ll need. It’s a ton of work, but I love it. I love the excitement at what a new year brings.
    .-= daffodil lane’s last blog: Fifteen =-.

  15. Fontaine

    Right now, my planning for the upcoming year is very loose. My little guy is only 2 1/2 so everything we do right now is child-led and very “unschool-ish”. That being said, every so often I look at a list of “what your child should know” and make notes of things I want to incorporate a little more purposefully into our days. So far, so good. He still loves learning/playing with me and I’m happy with what he’s retaining 🙂

  20. Cypress

    My plan starts with a yearly calendar into which I plug all the holidays, festivals, and seasonal activities for the school year. Then I look at my teaching goals for the year and plug in blocks (of lang. arts, soc. studies, nature study, etc) to the calendar as well. Then I round it out with handwork projects plugged in throughout the year.

  21. Jen

    We are still considering homeschooling. I am not yet confident I can manage. I am doing much research these days. This giveaway would be a great compliment to my research. Specifically, Creating Rhythm to your Day and Homeschool Planning in a Nutshell. I am not yet feeling the planning can fit in a “nutshell” ;o)!

  23. Kami

    Right now I am looking through curriculum and trying to come up with a rough idea of what the year will look like and what we will cover, but I know we will end up changing it a lot as we go through the year, depending on where interests take us.
    .-= Kami’s last blog: 4th of July pipe cleaner leis =-.

  25. Paula@Motherhood Outloud

    This is my first official year of homeschooling, but I have taught in a homeschool program for 3 years. I like to have a rough idea of our entire year from the start, because I feel like it keeps me focused! But I try to be flexible within the plan, since you never know what a year will bring. This seminar sounds fantastic!
    .-= Paula@Motherhood Outloud’s last blog: What I Learned from Swimming Lessons =-.

  28. jean

    I am very interested in home schooling and while my boy is still an infant, I am a big planner. This information would help me get a jump start for the upcoming years.

  32. Karyn

    I try to plan in early June for our next year, but with three in school it can get pretty overwhelming. This would be great.

  34. Tara @ Feels Like Home

    I am just considering homeschooling my daughter. She just turned 3, and I am (for the first time) maybe able to stay home with her after the arrival of our second child early next year. So I don’t have a planning strategy, but I would like to get one.
    .-= Tara @ Feels Like Home’s last blog: Grace and Her Babies =-.

  37. Lisa

    I approach my new year to homeschool…wait…haven’t started yet. BUT I’m in the research phase. We attended MACHE earlier this year, which was great. So mostly I’m information gathering. 🙂

  40. cindi

    we’re starting homeschooling this year w 2 kids – and I’m not sure what the best way to approach is yet! I’m currently looking at different resources

  42. MomStarr

    I have to think of each individual son or daughter and plan out goals for them as individuals. I then go from there through each subject or area of learning.

  44. Anne Marie

    I still have just a young son, a bit too young to begin homeschooling. But I am such a planner that i feel trapped, like i couldnt ever possibly do this and be solely responsible for his whole education. So this would be a wonderful way to plan and ease my fears.

  46. Julie

    This will be my first year. I’ve chosen a curriculum and am waiting for that to come! I attended a convention.

  48. bryssy

    This upcoming year will be our first year of homeschool and I have collected our resources and decided on the curriculum (classical), made a schedule and have an outline of lessons for the term. We’ll see how it goes from there!

  58. Jessica Brammer

    We just bought The Well Trained Mind and The Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading to start our three year old off on his homeschooling.

  59. Jessica

    I am new to homeschooling and definitely fall into the “overwhelmed by curriculum choices” category. This would be such a help and a relief cause I don’t really have a handle on planning yet!

  61. Robyn

    I have a young homeschooler (preschooler) so we play a lot of games and do a lot of activities to see where he’s at with a large variety of skills. I make a note of this and that, then find some ways to build on what he’s mastered.

  62. Princess Leia

    Well, my kids are 1.5 and 3.5, so we’re not really rigorously homeschooling yet, but we expect to at least for a few years once we get to the official “school” age. In the meantime though, we’re all about “unschooling” and just learning as we go along.

  63. Debra

    These lectures sound great…just what I need to build confidence.

    Haven’t started homeschooling yet–our son is 3–but I knew from the moment I was pregnant that Waldorf was going to be our first choice in education. Our decision to homeschool came shortly after. I’ve read all I can get my hands on so far on the subject, but I admit I do have trouble following Steiner’s lectures. Plus, I am finding it impossible to knit, which makes many of the little handwork crafts a bit out of reach.

  68. Lynn

    We are currently a Waldorf family and devoted to the Steiner tradition. It’s a lifestyle in many ways. I am attracted to this series of lectures as a resource to aid in MY development as well as to further strengthen my children’s development. I hope we win!!

  69. Liz

    “How do you approach planning for a new year of homeschooling?” I don’t know how! I’m here to learn.

  72. Rebekah

    Sorry – liking simple mom on facebook was an entry requirement for a different giveaway. Just count my subscribing, please. And, this post:

    I have just completed Kindergarten with my oldest daughter and I found that taking an hour or so to myself on Sunday to plan worked well. I would simply list our main goals for the weeks in each area of study on a planning sheet that let me change things or add things as the week progressed (nothing ever goes as planned in home schooling, which is what makes it so great!) I find that I’m more excited about the upcoming week when I’ve taken a few minutes to prep. 🙂

  73. jamie

    this would be for my sister if i win! she was just telling me that homeschooling in her house begins in about four weeks {gasp} and she was just sitting down to do her lesson plans. this year she adds one more child to her classroom!

  74. Jenna C.

    my oldest is just now three, so we are thinking about how to transition into some sort of “schooling” situation. these resources would be such a great start!

  76. Fromagette

    My kids are too young to start school, but I want to start teaching them some things and I am not doing a very good job of. I need some help so that I don’t scare my kids from learning!

  78. michelle baker

    I won’t start homeschooling my son for 2 years, but I would love this resource!!

  84. Heather

    We do child-led learning so I think about the things my children are most interested in and find resources to broaden those interests.

  87. Carrie K

    I plan using the Well Trained Mind method and add in our own family’s preferences and goals.

  90. marissa

    my oldest just finished kindergarten & i’m still trying to find what works best for me/us as far as planning.

  92. Tara

    My children are young, so I’m still trying to figure out how I want to help them learn. This package would be a great source of ideas.

  93. jaime

    This will be my first year of homeschooling, so I’m reading lots of books, and getting ideas from blogs.

  95. Mary Beth

    Not homeschooling yet – but starting to think about it and need encouragement and ideas!

  97. mdvlist

    I have no idea how I’ll prepare to homeschool, which is why this sounds interesting!

  100. Christie

    I reevaluate what did and didn’t work. Then continue on with the did and think about how to change the didn’t.

  102. lolo

    I really enjoyed the waldorf connection! I plan my year by taking the time to REALLY think about each of my boys…what are their interests, what is their learning style…what could be a “new twist” on a current interest…..and what character trait would be beneficial to work on in three month blocks. I also try to include one or two life skills to concentrate on each month. Than I take time with each boy and ask them what they might like to do.

  103. trynna

    What a great way to spread the word about all these crafters, and small company’s out there to bring awareness so they may be supported. Just subscribed and look forward to steady info.. Thanks.

  107. susan riedel

    I get your daily emails. I am brand new to homeschooling this year, so any advice and helps at all are tremendously helpful…

  109. Ali

    I take time to focus on what I want to accomplish and what we can do to make homeschool more fun.

  111. Jenny @Home is Where...

    I do my homeschool planning by deciding first what curriculum or books to use for each subject for each child, and then I loosely plan a flow to our day. That’s it, pretty simple, though now my kids are getting older I’m thinking I need to re-do my planning…

    nice giveaway, I’ve been interested in the whole “flow of day” idea for a long time.

  113. Kristie A.

    I will be just beginning my first year homeschooling our daughter. I just had our third baby and need all the help I can get planning for this year!

  114. Caroline

    We plan by making lists: books to read, places to visit, crafts to make, activities to do. Then, we just fill in as the moments arise in our daily routine. That is what works best for me!

  116. Tracy

    What a fabulous giveaway! We have just made the decision to homeschool, so I don’t really know how I approach a new year! This prize would be so incredibly helpful to me as I try to calm my fears about doing the right thing for our children.

  122. Mel

    My daughters are 2 and 4 years old so we are mostly focusing on artwork and learning from nature. I plan mostly by keeping track of the great ideas I see on the internet.

  126. Naomi H

    My girls are still young, so homeschooling for us means long observant walks and drawing what we saw, and lots of reading!

  129. Cindy

    We are about to enter our second year of homeschooling and I am so excited about planning for the coming year. I have learned so much about my children, their interests and their learning styles and I will use this information to plan the next year. I will also think about some of the things that I wanted to incorporate, but didn’t. And I’ll establish some priorities and goals.

  133. Sara

    This is our first year homeschooling, so I haven’t started planning yet. I think we’ll keep it pretty flexible for kindergarten, especially since my son is already reading — yay!

  135. Caitlin

    my husband and i went to a hs convention and picked some books. a basic overall preschool one, 1st grade math and handwriting.
    .-= Caitlin’s last blog: Poor Ella =-.

  137. Ashlee

    I read a lot, try to write out some of our year’s goals, and use resources such as this site and simplycharlottemason.com to stay on target for our age levels.

  142. Lisa S.

    I’m just getting ready to start homeschooling. What a great resource this would be!

  143. Kirstin

    This year to plan for homeschooling I am looking at what each child’s strengths and weaknesses and building from there and I will ask each child if there is anything in he/she would like to study. I also am printing out the dates for our school year and trying to plan where we will be for the whole year. Usually I spend Sunday nights planning but as my second approaches high school I need more of a concerete plan.

  145. Amy

    I am new to homeschooling but I’m thinking that I would approach it by looking at what we want to accomplish and then find the resources to do it. Lovely giveaway!

  147. Rachel

    I plan for the year with a few different calendars. Mine is just in K, so I pretty much just choose stories and then settle on a routine for the day and for the week that carries all of the activities that we want for a week (coloring, painting, storytime, memory verse, etc).
    .-= Rachel’s last blog: Stitch Your Life – How to Get Started =-.

  149. Kat

    I plan by checking out way to many library books, freaking out, deciding I should just send her to preschool, then calm down pick something and go with it.

  152. Hallie

    since my oldest is just two, i’m still not quite to a planning stage yet, but i’m really interested to figure out how to be effective in planning a homeschooling year.

  154. Linda

    I keep a notebook where I jot down ideas as I discuss them with other homeschool moms, as I come across a good website, etc. Then, in the summer, I look over those notes to help me plan for the upcoming year.

  156. Erin

    I get very excited when planning for a new year of homeschooling. I have four children aged 12, 9 and six year old twins. I put down a broad goal for each of the children to strive for (ie: for the six year olds – read a level 1 reader; for my 9 year old , to learn how to write a paragraph; for the 12 year old, to feel comfortable writing a short report)

    The children pick a topic that we read/learn about for the month and then have a craft or activity in the same theme. For the upcomming year we are going to focus on Canadian georgraphy and history and famous Canadians.

    We plan our schedule with our main lesson work in the morning, and a physical activity lesson (swimming) or music lessons and community homeschooling activities in the afternoons.

  159. Sarah M

    Oh wow! I would LOVE this information. I have done a lot of reading about the Waldorf theory and find a lot of valuable things from it. Right now my oldest child is only 3, but we still plan an activity every day for him and his sister. It could be as simple as taking a bike ride, or visiting the zoo, but for now, one activity, and a standard daily routine has been a *wonderful* resource for our family.
    Sarah M
    .-= Sarah M’s last blog: Day 2 – Vancouver- BC =-.

  162. lisa

    I started out planning for this year by figuring out what topics we were going to cover in our unit studies. From there, I’ve been looking up relevant information about those topics, and making more concrete lesson plans.

  163. Carrie

    I plan in the summer. First I order all my currciulum and then set out a month by month schedule.

  165. Tamara Chewning

    I haven’t begun the task of planning to home school. Right now we are working on deciding weather or not to home school my 4 year old daughter or send her to public school.

  167. Christal Houghtelling

    How do you approach planning for a new year of homeschooling?

    This is new to me. I am planning to homeschool my kindergardener this fall. The way I approach planning so far is to look at good blogs like this one, and get ideas I like. Then I make a list, and try to plan activities around what is on my list.

  169. ksmama

    My son is two, so I am (mostly) homeschooling on the fly. I read many, many books and am a fan of both Waldorf and Montessori phils. Thanks for providing this great resource!

  170. April Emery

    i am not homeschooling currently, but am fast approaching time to make a decision about it. this would be a great resource for helping me learn more about how i could homeschool my children (i have 3)
    .-= April Emery’s last blog: A Peasants Feast =-.

  173. Kelly

    I’m going to be starting my planning this year by sifting through all the materials I already own. All too often, I forget what I have only to come to the end of the year and find something great I could have used.

  174. Jana

    I currently homeschool my two kids nearing ages 7 and 9. So far, we have been fairly unscheduled except to read everyday. On most days we also do math and writing of some type. My kids have many interests and I try to let them cater what we “study” without having formal curriculum. So, far it is working quite well. I am interested in learning more about Waldorf as my best friend has her kids in a Waldorf school and I hear all kinds of wonderful things they are doing and learning and experiencing. I don’t do a lot of planning for the coming school year as we school all year round with what I have mentioned above. We also try to encourage our children to memorize and learn about the virtues they have within them (that all children have!).

  175. staceyw

    let’s try this the rt way–;)
    Oooh….i would love to win this!

    I follow you, Jamie, on your Steady Mom blog and here. (follow as in your site is bookmarked and I come there every day)

    This will be my first year homeschooling. I am planning my year by reading TONS online, using What Your First Grader Needs to Know, free resources from buying TOS Planner and other free e-books from them, printables from all over the place. I also have some art and music from Harmony Fine Arts as well as Usborne Books like 365 things to do and make. I have picked monthly themes and am working around that, loosely. I am leaving openings in my plans to allow for review and reassessment to see if things are working for me/my children. I will be hs-ing a first grader and a preK.

    I am incorporating Life Skills into my planning too. It’s not all about the academics—I want to encourage my kids to become self-reliant and resourceful, and help them find their unique gifts/blessings.

    I would love to win this giveaway to get more info on the Waldorf way of teaching/learning!

    Thanks, Jamie, for your work on this site and your Steady Mom blog.

    –Stacey Wolff