The Starpath Library

How to Make a Martinmas Lantern With Children: A Jar Lantern and a Paper Window Lantern

With young children, cover a glass jar with torn tissue paper, brushed on with 1 part glue to 2 parts water. Add a wire handle once it's dry. With older children, cut 2 windows in thick colored paper and back them with tracing paper. Your child fills them with tissue, then you glue it into a tube on a cheese-box lid. Light either one with a battery tea light.

The Story of St Martin for Children, and How to Tell It

St Martin was a young Roman soldier who met a poor man with nothing to wear at the gate of Amiens in a hard winter. Everyone else walked past. Martin had nothing but his sword and his cloak, so he cut the cloak in two and gave the man half. That night he dreamed of Christ wearing the half he gave away. It's the story told at Martinmas, November 11.

What Ages Should a Homeschool Co-op Include? Mixed Ages, Split Groups and the Under-7s

Each co-op sets its own range. One Waldorf-inspired co-op names about 4 to 10 as its best mix, and younger siblings often come with a parent. Waldorf schools keep ages 3 to 6 in one mixed kindergarten and start a single-age class in the year a child turns seven. A co-op can copy this: mix for circle, snack and festivals, and split the under-7s from the grades for story and work.

A Homeschool Co-op Attendance Policy: What's Fair to Ask, With a Short Policy to Copy

A fair attendance policy asks families to come for the whole term, tell a named person early when they'll miss a week, and find cover for their job. The public co-op policies we read review a family's place after about 3 absences, or set no number as long as families keep in touch. A sick child always stays home. A small group can fit its policy on half a page.

How Do Homeschool Co-ops Keep Families Informed? Group Chats, Email, Calendars and Apps

Many small co-ops use a mix: a group chat for quick changes, an email or weekly letter for plans, and a shared calendar for dates. Some move everything into one co-op app. Each has trade-offs, so choose by what your families already use. Many Waldorf-inspired groups keep it simple: one weekly note, one place for urgent news, and the term's festivals on paper.

Drop-Off or Parents Stay? Choosing How Your Waldorf-Inspired Co-op Runs

In a parent-led co-op, every family stays and takes a job. In a drop-off program, hired teachers or a few parents look after the children while the rest leave. HSLDA says more parent involvement makes legal problems less likely. For young children in a Waldorf-inspired group, parents staying often suits best, with any drop-off brought in slowly.

How to start Waldorf homeschooling: where to begin, what you need, first grade readiness, costs and the first weeks at home.

What Waldorf teaches in kindergarten and each grade: the main lesson blocks, stories, math and crafts, with block-by-block guides.

How Waldorf teaches reading, math, form drawing, painting, handwork and music, with practical guides for teaching them at home.

Waldorf daily and weekly rhythm at home: sample days and weeks, schedules by grade, and fitting Waldorf into real family life.

Honest reviews and comparisons of Waldorf homeschool curricula, with real prices, plus Waldorf compared with other approaches.

Homeschool law, portfolios, testing and records, with state-by-state requirements.

Waldorf parenting at home: play and toys, screens, behavior, sensitive and gifted children, and the questions parents ask.

The Waldorf festival year at home: Michaelmas, Martinmas, Advent and more, with the nature table and seasonal crafts.

Why Waldorf teaches the way it does: Steiner, child development, the seven- and nine-year changes, and the criticisms, answered.

Starting and running a Waldorf-inspired homeschool co-op: finding families, the co-op day, festivals together, money, rules and the people side.