Lavender's Blue Homeschool Review: An Honest 2026 Look

We make Starpath Learning, a Waldorf-inspired curriculum, so read our view with that in mind.

Yes, Lavender's Blue is a good Waldorf-inspired curriculum for kindergarten to grade 3. Every day of the year is written out in detail, the circle time songs come on audio, and a private parent community is included. It suits a parent who wants to open the book the night before and know exactly what tomorrow's main lesson looks like. It suits you less if you need grade 4 and beyond, or want the option of a refund.

Who writes Lavender's Blue

Kelly Ehrman started Lavender's Blue in 2013, when she published the kindergarten year and was about to teach first grade to her own daughters. Before that she studied psychology at Oberlin College and worked in developmental neuropsychology research. Then she became head teacher of a mixed-age kindergarten class at a community school in Los Angeles, where the children spent their days in an outdoor classroom. She found Waldorf as a new mother.

Day to day, the person you'll deal with is Flora Schubert, the community manager. Flora sets up your login after you buy and answers questions within 24 hours on weekdays. Kelly doesn't answer individual questions by email.

What each grade includes

Everything is digital. You read it on the members site, download it or print it, and the audio comes as MP3 tracks.

Kindergarten ($327, or $117 a season). 36 weeks across autumn, winter and spring, in 464 pages with 75 audio tracks. Each week has a story, a circle with audio, a wet-on-wet watercolor painting with its colour story, a beeswax modeling idea and a seasonal craft. The full year adds video tutorials on painting, beeswax and storytelling, and 12 summer stories. There's no alphabet, phonics or arithmetic: the site says these wait until first grade, around age 7. It's written for ages 3 to 6.

Grade 1 ($367). A 541-page PDF with 63 audio tracks. Daily lesson plans cover main lessons in form drawing, math, language arts and nature, with watercolor, beeswax modeling and active math woven in. An original quest story holds the first 14 weeks together. For you, there are knitting and recorder video trainings, which help if you've never held knitting needles and are about to teach a seven-year-old.

Grade 2 ($397). A 735-page PDF with 59 audio tracks, planned as four main lessons a week in language arts, math and form drawing. The year starts with animal legends and place value and ends with times tables geometry and trickster tales. Along the way come legends of the saints, clocks and calendars, Aesop's fables, and The King of Ireland's Son as the form drawing block. There are 28 traditional stories, retold for the curriculum.

Grade 3 ($397). 35 weeks of main lessons with daily plans. Farming runs through the seasons, alongside trees and woodworking and shelters from Native American and Chinese cultures. Language arts brings creation stories with cursive and the ancient Hebrew stories, and there's a four-week history of measurement. Math covers vertical arithmetic with regrouping, the times tables by heart, time and money. The grade 3 page says it's still in progress, and it doesn't give a page count or number of audio tracks.

What grade 4 actually offers now

The grade 4 page says the fourth grade curriculum is in progress, and two math blocks are on sale.

King Arthur Math ($47) is a three-week main lesson that introduces fractions, with long multiplication practice and a retelling of the King Arthur legends. It runs to 132 pages.

Harry Potter Fractions ($47) is a four-week block that goes further, from factors and primes to adding unlike denominators and multiplying fractions. The site suggests it as the last math block of grade 4, or the start of grade 5.

That's all of grade 4 for now: no language arts or other grade 4 main lessons yet, and no release date. The About page's latest note, from May 2023, says Kelly was easing back into work after maternity leave. If your child reaches grade 4 next year, plan on finding the rest elsewhere.

Strengths

Every day is written out. Each block has an overview, daily lesson plans that walk you through a main lesson, and main lesson book drawings to copy. You can use it as open-and-go, or as a starting point for your own lessons.

Circle time is done for you. The songs and verses are recorded, so you don't need to read music to lead the morning circle.

The arts run through everything. Painting, beeswax modeling, form drawing and crafts sit inside the lessons, not beside them.

You can look before you buy. Every grade has free sample pages. The kindergarten sample is a whole week.

You pay once and keep it. Lifetime access for your immediate family, including future updates. A younger sibling can use the same grade later.

A community is included. Every curriculum purchase comes with the private online community.

Limits

No refunds. Every product page says the purchase is final and non-refundable. Read the samples first.

Grade 4 is math only. If you want one curriculum from kindergarten through the middle grades, Lavender's Blue doesn't reach that far yet.

Not written by a Waldorf-trained teacher. Kelly's background is in child development and kindergarten teaching, and she says plainly that she hasn't done Waldorf teacher training.

No planner or records. It's a curriculum of PDFs and audio. If your state asks for a portfolio or a year-end report, you'll keep that yourself.

Setup isn't instant. Flora sets up each login by hand, so allow up to 48 hours after you buy.

The kindergarten page shows two prices. An FAQ further down the page still gives older prices ($99 a season, $267 a year). The prices at checkout are $117 and $327.

Prices

Prices checked September 2026.

What you buy	Price
Kindergarten, full year	$327
Kindergarten, one season (12 weeks, no videos)	$117
Grade 1	$367
Grade 2	$397
Grade 3	$397
Grade 4: King Arthur Math	$47
Grade 4: Harry Potter Fractions	$47

You pay once. There's a 10% sibling discount (code Siblings) when you buy more than one grade at a time, and a birthday flash sale each year in late October. Single homeschooling parents can ask for a coupon.

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

A strong fit: a family starting with a kindergartener, or with a child in grades 1 to 3, who wants the whole year planned with gentle, secular stories and plenty of art. It's especially good if you feel unsure leading circle time or teaching handwork, since the audio and videos carry a lot of that.

Look elsewhere if: you need grade 4 onward from one provider, or you want a curriculum written by a Waldorf-trained teacher. The same goes if you want your records in the same place as your lessons, or can't commit without a refund option.

Alternatives to consider

Prices checked September 2026.

	Grades	Grade 1 price	Written by	Worth a look if
Lavender's Blue	K-3, grade 4 math	$367	Kelly Ehrman, former kindergarten teacher	You want every day planned, with audio
Waldorf Essentials	Early childhood to Class 8	$200 digital, $575 with Live Support	Founder Melisa Nielsen	You want mentoring and coaching
Christopherus	Early years to grade 8	$260	Donna Simmons, Waldorf teacher training	You want a traditional voice through grade 8
Live Education!	K-8	$445 plus $65 US shipping	Waldorf-trained teachers	You want printed books close to the tradition
Starpath Learning	1-3, grade 4 being added	$47/month or $19 a block	Sophie, a Waldorf class teacher	You want records built in and to try one block

Starpath Learning is ours. It's Waldorf-inspired, written by Sophie, a Waldorf class teacher with more than 10 years' experience. Grades 1 to 3 are complete and grade 4 is being added, and there's no kindergarten. The year is organised in main lesson blocks of two to four weeks. A single block is $19, or everything is $47 a month, with a 14-day trial for $7. The planner, portfolio and compliance tools are built in, there's a parent community, and there's no coaching. Our Starpath vs Lavender's Blue page works through one grade 1 year side by side.

If you're weighing Lavender's Blue against Waldorf Essentials, see Waldorf Essentials vs Lavender's Blue. For all the options by grade, see the Waldorf homeschool curriculum comparison, or go straight to grade 1, grade 2 or grade 3.

What to do before you buy

1. Download the sample pages for your child's grade. Read one full day and picture Monday morning at your table.
2. Listen to how the circle works. If the audio is what draws you, the kindergarten and grade 1 samples show how much is planned.
3. Think one year ahead. If your child will be in grade 4 next autumn, decide now where the rest of that year will come from.
4. Check your state's rules. If you need a portfolio or annual report, plan how you'll keep it.
5. Buy siblings' grades together if you can, for the 10% discount, or wait for the late October sale.