Hi Homeschool Mom,

Welcome to the journey though numbers, blue writing is for mum to focus on and should not be read to the child.

For this story you will need

A small basket to hold the items used in grade one maths,
A large shell for story telling,

A cloth to wrap the shell

A main-lesson book,

Stockmar crayons, [block or sticks]

Good quality paper for wet on wet painting [27cm x55cm]

Stockmar paints [1 red, 1 blue, 1 yellow]

1 Small gnome [cave dweller]

1 Shell for counting in and some beads [we use pearls]

Kristies' 6th sense maths book is not essential but is a great additional resource.

The intention of this blog is to inspire you to develop your own story. But if you would like to join us on this adventure into mathematics, then please mail me at dehningc@gmail.com for access to the files or to order the supplies.

A once of payment will give you access to the full grade 1 maths schedule that I have used with my son.

I am not a teacher, just a waldorf HS mum. I love our land, the environment and this inspires my work.

THE PLACE OF GREAT GIFTS

If your child is familar with the numbers, still read this story to affirm and focus more on the 6th senses of maths

CHAPTER 1

As a young child, my family journeyed to a place far from home, it was the beautiful place where the silvery blue lagoon was surrounded by the ancient lichen covered forest and the lagoon entered the ocean though a small gap in the mountains. We called this valley Knysna but the ancient people had called it THE PLACE OF GREAT GIFTS

We stayed there for many day, we would awake with the golden sun and wonder along the edge of the blue water and admire the big trees in the green forest. It was a special time, but I knew that something more important was about to happen.

Wet-on-wet painting

Yellow sun meets blue lagoon and magically the forest appears

On the night of the full moon, the wind carried the earth’s whispers urging us to begin the adventure. The moon had magically changed the sea and the tides shifted. The stars twinkled and I could hear the thundering of the waves on the rocks at the mouth of the lagoon.

I awoke at dawn with mummy saying, “Come quick Carle’....[Insert your name here].... there is so much wonder in the world” We dressed, collected our baskets, packed some food and blankets, we would be gone for many days..

At the beach I saw that the tide had pulled back through the heads into the ocean and left the widest beach I had ever seen, slowly and tentatively I put my first foot onto the beach and so began my journey into a world of wonder...

Our walk to the mountains at lagoon mouth was slow but wonderful, with each step we saw earths treasures, I wanted to fill my baskets but mommy reminded me that we were looking for ONE special shell, ONE that was as old as the sea and carried that whispers of the mermaids.

We looked to the mountains that were once the land of the ancient Khoi people. This is where we would live, eating from the ocean and sleeping in the caves.

A seagull called out and landed on a shell. I looked at it, on the outside the shell was rough from the tumbling of the waves, but on the inside it was perfect.

This was the ONE.

inhale - pick it up and hold it to your ear a listen to the whispers of the mermaids, then let your child also listen.

I carefully wraped it in a cloth added the shell to our basket and continued on our journey place shell in basket

Working with the number 1

Put 1 pearl into your counting shell and place in front of your child, showing him what 1 looks like

Choose one of the below for your child to draw

One Shell

One Lagoon

One sun

To emphasis this oneness you could give them one crayon to draw with.

Teach them the roman numeral I and the number 1 and let them write them at the bottom of their page

Observe the body and name the ones, 1 head, 1 nose etc

CHAPTER 2 - available via subscription

CHAPTER 3 - available via subscription

CHAPTER 4

The first thing that I saw when I woke up was the mermaids shell against mums ear and she was listening to it.

After a while mum put the shell down and called me over to her lap and she began to speak.
“Today the shell has told me a great story that the white horses whispered to her.”

She pointed out of the cave to the sea and said “ Can you see those white spots on the ocean, well those are the white horses, they are little waves that appear when the wind blows, they are helpful fellas, So let me tell you the story,”

And mum began again. “The white horses noticed a boat with 2 sailors floating in the middle of the ocean. The boat seemed to be lost so they rushed out to help when they heard the two men talking. The wise old man told the younger man to wait until dark when very special stars would be in the sky. He said a set of 4 stars, called the Southern Cross had been used for many years by travellers to find their way home. So the sailors waited and the white horses waited with them.

Well, that night the stars began to appear and there is was, the 4 stars of the Southern Cross. The older sailor looked at them, pointed North and said this was the way home. The white horses were so amazed, he was right!

The boat set sail again and reached the beach just as the sun was rising on a new day.

Working with the number 4

Great opportunity to do a night of star gazing, contact the planterium for a scheduled viewing or make some hot milk and honey and sit outside with your child on your lap and look at the stars.

Introduction of a compass or compass work

Draw a square and rectangle and discuss the difference then give your child a coloured paper to cut and paste shapes

Draw the southern cross and the night skys then show your child how to write the number 4 and the roman numeral IIII or IV.

I prefer to do the roman numeral IIII as the number 5 is easily understood as V then, but you decide, what ever works better for you

The rest of the curriculum is availble via subscription [12 chapters all together]