Finding Waldorf & Our Magic Red Felt Bird

I blinked and Michael is on to another stage I hadn't anticipated. I often find that when I get comfortable with his developmental stage, off he is to another, leaving me scrambling behind not knowing what to do next. Well, I finally realized that what he needed was more stimulation and I began looking into home school. I've looked at very conservative home school curriculum (not a perfect fit) , unschool (closer) and finally found Waldorf (ah, just right). Right now I'm completely absorbed by the most amazing book, called "You are your Child's First Teacher" by Rahima Baldwin. This book gives a great overview of Waldorf's beautiful philosophy on parenting, school and home school. I love it! It touched the natural Mama in me.

I'm still reading and learning but I love the focus on finding a daily rhythm
-->, giving the child ample opportunity for creative play through simple, natural toys, dress-up, little to no TV, beautiful stories and fairytales. I'm still learning about it, but I'm hooked. The book talks about the different developmental stages of baby through early childhood with a spiritual basis that I find touchingly true.
The author talks in the book about a little red felt bird on a stick that transitioned the children at her Waldorf Kinder class from one play area or activity to the next. So, being completely fascinated with sewing felt lately, I had to make one. I made this one for Michael. He wants a whole flock now.

And I made the red one for me. My little, red bird is magical and she talks to Michael and gets him to do all sorts of things. For example tonight she was able to get him to eat his salmon and rice, where I could not. We are going to have so much fun with this.

So, I'm making a few changes. We are gradually phasing out some of Michael's more "craptastic", plastic toys, as a friend calls them. We're having a yard sale soon, so many of the toys have migrated to the garage. I've always been very interested in simple, wooden toys, so we do have lots for him to play with. And I'm excited to make more. I want to make him a Waldorf style doll, a dress-up crown and robe, a superhero cape, ah where to start! The other thing we're changing is TV. We've gotten in a terrible habit of watching too much TV over the summer, so I'm phasing out TV as well. He can watch his Curious George and Syd the Science kid in the morning and then the TV goes off. We've started informal home school where for a couple of hours every morning on weekdays we read stories, poetry, sing, do finger plays and art. I haven't found a good rhythm for the rest of the day yet, but Michael is flourishing! He loves his "school work" and asks for it even on Sunday.

If anyone has more information on Waldorf books or resources, let me know, I would love recommendations. Does anyone else find developmental transitions disconcerting or is it just me? Ah, the fun and adventure of parenthood.