Pipiri doesnt watch TV, See Movies, or Play video games

When Pipiri was born we made the decision to not allow her to watch television. We decided to not watch television in front of her as a family. Nor go to the movies. We also decided to not allow her to use computers or play on our cell phones. (she has watched one movie ever - The Sound of Music - 2 TV shows when she was sick - and she types on my computer maybe 1x per wk for 10 mins but this is just recently and shes 4.5 years old.)

I wanted Pipiri to play.
I wanted her to run, jump, hop, skip....get dirty...swing...outside.
I wanted her to skip rocks, climb trees, be sweaty, make mud pies - and collect leaves, bark - bugs.
Pretend.
Use her imagination.
I wanted to create a natural play area for her.
I wanted her to spend hours outside.
I wanted her to be an early reader.
I wanted her to play with naturally made toys -and only have a few of these.

So we chose to go full Waldorf with her toys and art supplies.
Where Waldorf education and I differ is with reading. Reading is not taught in a Waldorf school until 1st grade. While yes I understand the reasoning behind this - I do not agree. Pipiri learned to read because I read to her so frequently since birth. And I see nothing wrong with that at all.

Here is a list of toys and art supplies that we use.

1. Wooden Characters - these are some of the most played with toys In our house. She uses them to act out all of the books we read. While yes wooden is more expensive - I wanted a few nice toys rather than a bunch of cheap plastic toys. Wooden toys feel so nice in childrens hands..and they will last for generations.I started our collection very small...just a couple animals and people.

These are a few of the ones we have - we have the brand Holztiger and Ostheimer. I think they are both very high quality.
Holztiger Wooden Giraffe
Holztiger Brown Bear

Holztiger Wooden Squirrel
Holztiger Wooden Elephant

Holztiger Wooden Polar Bear

2. Wooden kitchen...I can say that her kitchen is played with every single day of her life BUT not until I moved it directly next to my real kitchen...now she cooks while we cook, she bakes, cleans, does dishes...every time I do. Again - while yes the kitchens are not cheap - they are so beautifully made - you can tell that some love was put into each one.  Ours is beautiful!

Camden Rose A Simple Hearth (Childs Cherry Wood Play Kitchen with Hutch)

3. Stuffed animal birds...some wool stuffed some not....played with every single day! Dolls - wool - hand made - she LOVES her dolls (while yes she pretends to hurt them - she still loves them - HA!)Dress up clothes for them as well. I only buy her handmade - wool stuffed dolls - we have a few non-wool ones but I prefer all natural materials. They too are an investment - we started with one - now she has 3. If you are starting to make the change to all natural toys - start with one doll.
Grimm's Soft Cuddle Baby Natural Waldorf Doll, Yellow
Cuddly Organic Woolen Baby Doll with Warming, Pure Wool Stuffing, in Pink Stripe

etsy.com - is a great place to find awesome handmade dolls and stuffed animals.

4. BOOKS...being that we read everyday together books are always around. In every single room of our house I have a little basket (the basket also becomes a toy) of books for her to look at. When she was younger and it was time for me to shower/get ready for the day...she always struggled...so I started bringing a few toys and books into the bathroom for her to play with. We still do it now and it teachers her independence and helps her with reading by herself. Click here for a book list for all ages.

5. Pencils, paper, crayons, water colors, art supplies...I again prefer really well made excellent quality art supplies for her to use. You can tell the biggest difference in art work when children use high quality products. Here are some of the ones we use regularly.

1. LYRA Waldorf Selection Unlacquered Triangular Giant Colored Pencils, Set of 12 Super Ferby Pencils, Assorted Colors (3711121)

2. Stockmar Modeling Beeswax - 12 Assorted Sheets

3. Stockmar Beeswax Block Crayons,8 Assorted Waldorf Colors in Tin

4. Stockmar Premium Quality Watercolor Paint Basic Assortment, 6 Colors
5. Wool Felting Kit - Learn to Felt with Acorns Waldorf toy

6. Camden Rose Cherry Wood Four Jar Paint Holder

Rainbow Writing

Pipiri loves to write!

She makes tons of lists just like me....grocery lists ...things she's going to give up (like Lent)...things she likes...things to play with...

She also writes in her unlined Main Lesson Book (mlb) like these two...8x8 unlined notebook Or this type.. Large flat lying notebookseveral times a week.

Sometimes I write using a pale yellow LYRA Ferby Pencils  (these pencils are the best ...we have had ours for 3 years and they make beautiful art work and letter making) and then she traces over my writing. 

We do this with vocabulary words from whatever book we are reading. We also do main ideas, settings, narrations, characters, drawings...most everything goes into her MLB. 

Another super cute way we write is by using the pale yellow LYRA Ferby Pencils again...and then she does "rainbow writing". 

Basically, she uses her LYRA Ferby pencils making each letter a rainbow.

Some letters she traces the entire letter using one colored pencil then she goes back over the letter with another color. 

Other letters she traces different parts of the letter with different colored pencils. 

She LOVES writing the RAINBOW way!

 It's her favorite!

If you have a child that doesn't want enjoy writing...try the rainbow way. 

Minimalising toys

After having Pipiri I bought her wayyy too many toys, clothing, books, things, STUFF!

Read more Here about how I decluttered our house

Our house was over run with stuff! 

Her toys were literally everywhere.

Ugly, broken, plastic, unnatural, not pleasing to the eye...blinking...noisy...obnoxious...uggg!

So about two years ago I started making huge changes.

I did this room by room, drawer by drawer, closet by closet...so not to overwhelm myself. I did it during nap time, when she was at the park with grandma..anytime I could find I decluttered.

I started selling all of her unused plastic toys at consignment sales. 

I would take a garbage bag around with me...then stick it either in the attic if I wanted to sell it or in the trunk of my car if it were to go to Goodwill. (They know me by name there now)

I gave some away to friends. Anyway I could think of I got rid of more and more.

She was so young that she didn't miss them...

She now knows that the Toy Fairy comes often to get rid of things that she doesn't play with.

The rest that were broken or I couldn't sell I took to Goodwil...again and again and again...(Tax break for those).

I then started to add beautiful wooden, natural, soft, silky.....beautiful hand crafted toys...toys that would last a lifetime...toys that felt good on the skin...open ended toys...toys where she could use her imagination...

We started with this simple little wooden kitchen and kitchen...wooden eggs...wooden dishes...these are super cute, wooden food, cutting board, oven mitt. In the basket we have silks...which are the best thing ever for imaginary play!!  They seriously are the best toy ever..and they are not even a toy.

  The wood kitchen is right by our home kitchen. It is played with daily! 

Then around the holidays and her birthdays we added a little area for her to play in directly behind the couch. 

It has an iron, ironing board, drying rack, hi chair, doll bed, cradle, sheepskin rug, bolga basket...

..Out of sight if someone were to walk into the living room....like a secret hideaway. 

She loves this area...her own special place.

It has been a labor of love - I love to declutter, organize, get rid of stuff....and man o man what an imagination it has created for Pipiri.

Top ten reasons I work out....

1. Jeans...they need to fit!
2. Bikinis....yep they need to fit also!
3. Blood pressure, cholesterol levels...aka physical check ups.
4. Seeing old friends...
5. Class reunions
6. Bra fat
7. Cellulite...hate it!
8. New running shoes
9. Over eating....
10. Nothing beats the feeling of after working out....nothing! Pumping iron, running, spinning, strength training....all give me a super HIGH!

Workout Tuesday

I love love love to run! Have for many many years...that being said...

The first mile or so is always so hard...such a struggle...always has been. 

It's like my body is saying...hold on there...are you gonna keep going? 

Yes yes I am...so start working! 

Running is hard. It's the hardest cardiovascular exercise for me ever! It's always tough every single time I lace up my shoes. Always! 

But always worth it! 

Never feels better than after the first mile and just trucking...running like there's no tomorrow...running with zero thoughts..running to be...running to feel great....just running. 

4.17 miles 400 cals treadmill...sprints hills fast....steady....good ole run! 

Summer Reading Challenge

We love to read in our house! And we love the Nashville Public Library!

For the past three summers Pipiri has participated in the summer challenge and this summer is no different. if you are a new reader... read....Here  and Here about why we homeschool...

The challenge works like this...Read books, go to museums, make something creative...and each time you do so you get points for each, which you record online and/or on the sheet you can pick up at your local library.

When you get to 25 points you receive a prize..and 50 points you receive a book bag.

Pipiri whipped through her 50 points within a couple of weeks. She was pumped...she received a free pass to the Adventure Science Center , which we enjoyed last weekend. And today she got her book bag and a free pass to see a Nashville Sounds game.

Here are the books that she read and/or we read together. I let her pick whatever she wanted...

Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia

Otters under Water

Make Way for Ducklings

Charlotte's Web ...we are still reading this wonderful book!

New Catholic Picture Bible...we have read the first 6 stories.

The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies...this is one of her all time favorites. 

Blueberries for Sal

Madeline

Corduroy

A Pocket for Corduroy

Where the Wild Things Are

The Story of Ferdinand

We read just about everyday. 

She loves to read! 

Loves loves loves books!