Early June carries its own feeling. The grass has grown tall, the lilacs are in bloom, and many children are already leaning gently toward summer.
 
By this point in the year, it is not unusual for attention to wander. A butterfly at the window or the sound of water nearby can feel far more compelling than one more page of arithmetic. And yet this is also a beautiful moment to pause, gather what has been learned, and bring the year to a thoughtful close.
 
Review need not come through tests or piles of worksheets. In a Waldorf home, we can look back with care and gratitude, noticing how the child has grown through thinking, feeling, and doing.
 
Whether you are finishing a first year of letters and numbers or closing a richer, more complex middle grades year, these five gentle ideas can help you review what has been learned and step into summer with a sense of completion.

​Do you remember long summer days as a kid, reading for hours in a tent as the breeze blew through the screen? Do you remember swinging in a hammock with that novel you just couldn't put down? How about reading that comic book on the couch to the family dog?

Creating space and time for free play and teaching classic childhood games we played as kids is one way we fulfill Daily Wonder's mission to Reclaim Childhood to Transform the World. ​

Play is an essential part of the healthy development of physical, social and cognitive skills. Classic childhood games help to connect us to traditional values and culture, but they also are super fun to play. No matter your age or physical prowess, there's a classic game for everyone.

We're not exactly psychic, but we can predict that your children will complain that they are bored and bicker with their siblings (if they have some) at least ten times during the summer. So we are here to highlight the amazing work that is taking place behind these annoying scenes. 

Long summer days can offer so many wonderful opportunities for family time and activities that we forget to honour the downtime. Children hardly get unstructured time these days. When they do, it can be met with complaints and loud, uncomfortable noises. As parents, our first inclination is to stop that noise however we can. When we remember that boredom is the doorway to creativity, we give ourselves permission to sit back and wait for the magic to happen.

Things that can come out of boredom...​