The first step of the Daily Wonder morning lesson incorporates verses, poetry, songs and intentional movement. It is recommended that you begin the day standing with your child and allow each component to flow together, much like a circle time would.
 
The opening verse acknowledges that the morning lesson is officially beginning. Instead of simply calling your kids to the learning space to begin the day, we build the experience of reverence by using verses, poetry, and songs to signal the start of your lessons. Singing each day enhances connection and offers a lovely balance to individual recitation. By including poems connected to the seasons, your child becomes connected to the cycle of nature through their feelings. Poems and songs connected to the unit theme enliven the topic of study and support our artistically integrated method. Encourage your child to memorize the poems. Recitation builds memory, vocabulary, the strength of individuality, and opportunities to practice oral language features such as intonation, pace, and volume. The goal is that by the end of the unit, your child will share the poem by heart. 
 
The experience of a Daily Wonder lesson is creative and reverent. Just as your opening verse creates a special moment to acknowledge that the morning lesson is beginning, your closing verse marks the closing of this part of the homeschool day. Participating in a closing verse, poem, or song is a meaningful and beautiful way to honour all the work and learning that has just taken place.

All Daily Wonder units include suggested opening and closing verses, unit-themed songs, poetry and intentional movement. As always, Daily Wonder encourages you to teach the child in front of you and change anything that doesn't suit your child's frame of reference. Below are some opening and closing verses to get you started or to use in place of what's suggested.

Waldorf meal blessings are a beautiful tradition that can help establish a sense of gratitude, mindfulness, rhythm, and ritual during meal times. In Waldorf education, meal blessings are an opportunity to foster a deep sense of thankfulness for food and community. These blessings often involve a simple verse or prayer that expresses gratitude for the food and the efforts of those who prepared it. Modelling gratitude is such a gift we can give our children, and mealtime blessings are a great way to establish the family rhythm and ritual together.

​Here are three of our favourite mealtime blessings that we used at our Waldorf school.  ​

Seasonal songs serve as a musical reflection of the ever-shifting environment, celebrating the beauty and significance of each season and a deeper appreciation for the cyclical nature of life. This approach fosters a sense of connection to the natural world and helps children develop a heightened awareness of time's passage, instilling a sense of harmony and balance with the world around them.

The following are some fun fall songs to incorporate into your daily rhythm this season.

The essential elements of a Waldorf Kindergarten are not the specific activities (baking, painting, etc.) but should reflect the underlying philosophy of Waldorf-inspired kindergarten: It's play-based, non-academic, and nature-inspired. 

The kindergarten-aged child (and even the 3-4-year-old) learn through imitation, open-ended creative play, movement, music, stories, artistic activities and purposeful work. 

Your role as the parent is to form the daily and weekly rhythm, create lots of opportunity to learn and play, and build your relationship with your child.

Children thrive in a predictable rhythm and routine. We see their anxiety lessen when they know what to expect. When meals and bedtime happen regularly , it anchors their day. Once established, it is helpful to find other aspects of the day that you can commit to making happen regularly. Homeschool is, of course, a source of rhythm for your child. Although these days, school can be somewhat unpredictable as well, giving us even more reasons to fill moments in your child’s day with heartfelt connection and a sense of calm.​

Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the Hebrews' liberation from slavery by the great prophet Moses. Moses would not have survived to free his people, had it not been for the cleverness of his sister Miriam. She set him in a basket on the river Nile, and watched over him until the Pharaoh's daughter found him and took him home to be her own son. 

In this way, Moses survived the dangerous times in Egypt, and grew up with a deep compassion for the Jewish people. In his adult years, he fulfilled his destiny to guide the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt, to form a covenant with God through the Ten Commandments. 

Miriam, perhaps the only woman in the bible, who is not referred to as someone's mother or daughter, has, in more recent times, taken a place of honour at the Passover Seder. As Jewish celebrations and rituals become modernized to fit our new levels of awareness, we turn to the women of the Bible stories, choosing to elevate them to places of importance. In modern Jewish rituals, when the Seder, or religious dinner ritual takes place, many families choose to include Miriam as one of the sacred guests. A cup is filled with water, in her honour, and songs and stories are shared to celebrate her strengths. 

What a wonderful time we live in, where we can honour the importance of the feminine, and include it in a ritual that was formed thousands of years ago. 

Here are some ways you can learn more about Miriam and celebrate her as well.

Sing Miriam's Song
A beautiful song depicting the spirit of women now and in ancient days.  Here are the lyrics so you can sing along:​