Welcome to Day 8, September 15, 2026, of homeschooling my triplet nephews, who are almost five years old, using a Waldorf inspired kindergarten approach. Our garden projects are continuing, and our little seedlings are doing so well! Since our backyard is still being landscaped, many of the plants will be going home with my sister-in-law so the children can eventually transplant them into her garden. I am keeping a few here so we can continue observing their growth together.

Gardening is such a natural part of the kindergarten experience, and even when you cannot work outside, there is so much you can do indoors. We have saved seeds from our squash and tomatoes, planted seeds from packets my mom brought while she was visiting, made our own little newspaper seedling pots, watched the seeds sprout, and now we are transplanting them into larger pots.

One of the things I love about this approach is that these are not activities created specifically for four or five-year-olds. They are simply meaningful things that we are doing as a family, and everyone can participate according to their own abilities. Kindergarten is life, and everyone can participate in life together.

My 11-year-old nephew joins us for many of these projects, but his work can be more complex and appropriate for his age. When we harvested seeds from our vegetables, for instance, he labeled the seed packets. He is also working on handwork projects that are more challenging than what I would bring to the younger children.

With the triplets, I am not concerned with bringing academics too early. At this age, we are building the foundations they will need for later academic work through movement, fine and gross motor skills, practical work, imaginative play, stories, poems, verses, and beautiful language. Literacy is already present through the rich vocabulary and rhythms they hear throughout the day.

We also made little painted labels for our plants using pencil drawings of the vegetables. I recently dyed some fabric using natural plant dyes, so I shared those colors with the children as we begin thinking about future projects using naturally dyed silk and wool. Eventually, this will lead beautifully into handwork. We may even try some simple weaving boards with the triplets, while their older brother works on a more advanced weaving project.

Of course, there was food preparation too! We seasoned and roasted the butternut and acorn squash that the children had previously removed the seeds from. Once the squash was soft, I blended it with a little coconut milk into the creamiest soup. We served it at room temperature for their midmorning snack, bringing the entire experience full circle from preparing the squash, to saving the seeds, to making and sharing the food.

We also set up our teepee, and I was so happy to see the children settling into some wonderful imaginative play. They have been so interested in all of the projects I bring that I especially appreciate seeing plenty of time for free play as well. My 15-year-old daughter has been wonderful at helping lead that imaginative play alongside their 11-year-old brother. Having all of these different ages together adds something really special to our days.

We skipped our story today because we simply ran out of time, and there is still so much more to come. The children even helped me unwrap a new package for our kindergarten space, but you will have to wait until next time to see what was inside!