It was a beautiful week to start our Botany Block. The gentle Waldorf approach to Botany gives every child the opportunity to discover natures with a sense of wonder and awe. We are fortunate to have a school campus that thrives with plants from many different classifications so that we can witness how mushrooms, algae, and lichens grow. In this first Botany block, we will study the oldest plants, the ones that have not developed complex systems of feeding and reproduction. Those include algae, lichens, mushrooms, mosses, and ferns. If we have time we will study conifers and trees. In the Spring block we will study flowering plants. What a perfect way to spend the Fall and Spring outside. I have given them a rubric for this block which begins our preparation for getting grades next year. I will send a copy of this block to you before and after it is complete.

The other new things for this week have been timed math worksheets and form drawing for geometry. For our math, we are taking a gentle approach, and I am giving them the opportunity to correct their own papers which lessens the competitive aspect. I collected them at the end of the week, and I’m quite pleased that they are continuing to get better at math memory.

The students and I are very excited to be clearing the space for our new home down by the pond. Please come and join us in our project. We need to clear a space that’s approximately 12-14 feet wide and 24 feet long. The Parkers have donated mulch for the area once it is cleared, and also to help set it up.

I look forward to seeing you either at the parent conferences on Zoom or at a workday in the future!

Here is the link to sign up for a conference: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0844AAA928A0F58-45parent

Have a great week!

Blessings,

Kathee