Monthly Archives: September 2009

Michaelmas is Coming!

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Michaelmas has long turned into one of my very favorite holidays!! If this festival is new or unfamiliar to you, please read on about this day.  September 29th is the special day!

Michaelmas is an autumn festival that to me really opens up the season for the awakening of our souls as the weather gets colder, the light recedes, and we look toward strengthening our own inner reserves, our own inner strength.  I LOVE this time of year!  After the expansiveness of summer (which I personally often find exhausting, LOL), I am so happy to have the cooler weather return and to be more meditative and inward.

Michaelmas, as you can probably guess, is named for Saint Michael.  Michael was one of the four archangels, and is the angel who threw Lucifer out of Heaven.  He is the Angel of Courage, the Angel of the Fight Against Evil.  Take courage for the long, cold winter from Saint Michael!  Saint Michael usually is painted as riding a white steer, carrying a heavenly sword, and slaying a dragon.  Sometimes he is portrayed as carrying scales, because he also has the task of weighing the souls of men. 

The Wikipedia definition cites where Michael fits into Christianity, Islam and the Jewish religions (and more,) here: 

“Michael (Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל‎, Micha’el or Mîkhā’ēl; Greek: Μιχαήλ, Mikhaḗl; Latin: Michael or Míchaël; Arabic: میکائیل‎, Mikā’īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition. He is viewed as the field commander of the Army of God. He is mentioned by name in the Book of Daniel,[1] the Book of Jude[2] and the Book of Revelation.[3] In the book of Daniel, Michael appears as “one of the chief princes”[1] who in Daniel‘s vision comes to the angel Gabriel‘s aid in his contest with the angel of Persia (Dobiel), and is also described there as the advocate of Israel and “great prince who stands up for the children of your [Daniel’s] people”.[4]

The Talmudic tradition rendered Michael’s name as meaning “who is like El?”, – so Michael could consequently mean “One who is like God.” But its being a question is alternatively understood as a rhetorical question, implying that no one is like God.”

If you would like to read more, here is the link to the full entry:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_%28archangel%29

There are all sorts of things one can look at for this time to celebrate.  We would never explain to small children all I just wrote about Saint Michael, the joy of the festivals with a small child is the DOING, not the explaining!

Some ways to celebrate and lead up to the festival:

  • Start learning Michaelmas songs and verses.  Try Autumn Wynstones and many other traditional Waldorf books for ideas.  You may also have hymns or music within your own religious path.
  • Look for Michaelmas Daisies.  Here is a picture:  http://www.bestgarden.net/Photo_Album/Pages/Aster_novi-belgii.htm
  • Have Harvest Foods. (This used to include roasting a goose – tell me, my European readers, does it still??)
  • Tell stories about Saint Michael  or St. George.  St. George is  the Earthly counterpart to Saint Michael – you could make Saint George tunics (white pillowcases with red crosses sewn on).  Swords and shields are also customary, which makes some Waldorf teachers and parents nervous.    Here is a link of how one Waldorf Kindergarten teacher dealt with this in her classroom:   http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/GW4007.pdf
  • Stories could include “The Kite” from “Festivals, Families and Food”, any number of Kindergarten Stories from that pink book “An Overview of the Waldorf Kindergarten.”  For younger children, Melisa Nielsen has a story in her “Before the Journey” book and Suzanne Down has a lovely story called “Little Boy Knight” in her book “Autumn Tales.”   Reg Down has put his Michaelmas story from the Tiptoes Lightly stories on his website here: http://www.tiptoes-lightly.net/DOWNLOADS/tales_FESTIVAL/The%20Most%20Beautiful%20Dragon%20in%20the%20Whole%20World.pdf
  •   I believe there is also a story of St. George on-line at Main Lesson that would be lovely for the Second Grader studying Saints and Heroes. There are also two stories by Irene Johanson in the book “Stories for the Festivals of the Year”, available from Bob and Nancy’s Bookshop or Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore.    If you are religious, perhaps you could read from your own religious texts.
  • You could dye capes from marigolds for the big day.
  • You could make a Courage Salve from Calendulas.
  • You could do something that requires bravery that day – a hike, an obstacle course?   How about a scavenger hunt for Dragon Tears? 
  • Making dragon bread is very traditional. There is a lovely bread recipe and  corresponding story in the festival book “All Year Round”.
  • You can make Michaelmas Candles, see page 143 of “All Year Round”
  • Crafting “shooting stars” and dragons are also traditional.  Try this link:  http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/GW3211.pdf 
  • You could make a mobile with a dragon and an angel representation on it. 

Start early, go slow and add things year by year – it does not all have to happen this year!  There should plenty of preparation and work leading up to a festival as well, festivals are not a one-day celebration!

Use this time for your own inner work, what do you need to strengthen?  What resolve will you need as you head into fall?

Much love,

Carrie

Realistic Expectations for the Four-Year-Old

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Four is a great age:

For sitting on laps!

For snuggling together!

For telling stories!  Rhymes!  Silly stories and silly poetry!

For exploring nature together!

For practicing gross motor skills!  Running, climbing, walking foot over foot up and down steps, standing on one foot, skipping on one foot, running or standing jumping, jumping off of things with feet together, hopping on one foot, riding a bicycle with training wheels, catching a ball, sliding down a slide, digging in the dirt or sand, lifting, tugging and pulling!  Stirring. crawling, crab crawling, playing wheelbarrow

For practicing fine motor skills!  Buttoning, unbuttoning, lacing shoes, stringing beads, pouring and carrying water, drawing, coloring, painting, modeling

For doll play, dressing up, building

For encouraging creativity! 

For music!

For sensory input!  Rolling down hills, kneading bread dough, sand play, making mud puddles, playing outside in the rain,

For close supervision – many four-year-olds are destructive in their own environments just through innocently exploring and not having a great idea of the consequences of their own actions.  And why should they be able to predict the consequences of their own actions at this young age?  That is your job!

For snuggly co-sleeping – but also can be a great age to try sleeping in their own bed around four-and-a-half or so.

Having a quiet time each day – four-year-olds need this as they play and run so hard all day long!

 

Four is not a great age for:

“Field Trips” – This is an area where people will disagree with me.  Four-year-olds love “new” and going “new” and “special” places.  However, in my experience with many different  four-year-olds over the past ten or twelve years, most four-year-olds are interested for about 10 minutes in whatever you are looking at, and then the importance of the tiger at the zoo or the shark at the aquarium and the pink shoes of the child next to them and that child down the row who is eating something registers about the same on the scale of awe and education.   And then they are hungry and need to use the bathroom and are ready to play.   They could be just as happy with a field trip to somewhere within your own neighborhood that is “new” and “special”.

Expecting a child to do things alone without you being right there to direct or supervise.  Some four-year-olds do a great job at this –they can get up and go to the bathroom alone and get dressed, (and I would say for the most part this is the quiet, mature, less physical little girls who are first born)  and some four-year-olds really cannot do much  unless you are physically present because they just sort of forget what they are supposed to be doing or find something more interesting along the way!

Leaving a four-year-old with younger children without close supervision

Playing well with others (in general – again always exceptions) – Friendships are important at this age, they love to play with other children generally, but still need your help.  Do not tell two four-year-olds to “work it out”!  Help them!

Answering things in a scientific, logical way – if they ask you a question about the world, they are not looking for the ADULT, DRY, LOGICAL explanation (unless this is the way you have always talked to them and they play all those verbal games with you!).

Competitive games

Dragging them on endless errands.

Expect them to cooperate while you are on the phone!

Don’t expect them to stay dry through the night – girls might, but perhaps not!

Sitting through a whole meal without becoming restless!

Pushing academics!  The Gesell Institute in their book “Your Four Year Old” says on page 81, “Especially, do not feel that you must teach your preschooler to read.”  Waldorf Education begins reading around the age of six and a half or seven, and many countries around the world also do this.

 

Ways to connect to your Four-Year-Old:

Listen to them!

Love them!

Be silly with them!  Play! Have fun!

If you have a very active four-year-old, try to enjoy it rather than feel as if you are suffering along and waiting for them to “calm down”.

Leave your lectures and guilt trips behind!

Let your child know you love and appreciate them for who they are!  Active or not, shy or not, able to fall asleep well or not – be warm and loving!

Set loving boundaries in a gentle way – an out-of-bounds four-year-old is really going to feel more secure if you do this!

Avoid moral judgments of your child – just because they love potty talk now does not mean they will love potty talk when they are 15!

Structure your environment so you are not always saying “no”

Show them how to do things, have special times to show them how to use art supplies nicely, how to create a card for Grandma

What Is Anthroposophy?

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Update – I feel I need to point out that some religious beliefs do not mesh with anthroposophy and that one can homeschool with elements of Waldorf Education without delving into anthroposophy at all.   I also feel the need to point out that since the Waldorf curriculum, while not stated to the child,  is based upon a specific spiritual worldview,  and some mothers will not feel comfortable with it at all. The Roman Catholic Church has things to say about Steiner’s worldview as well, and American Catholics seem to take this to heart.  I have left this article on my blog for mothers who are searching for a thumbnail kind of view of what Steiner wrote about. 

I would like to thank Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschool (www.christopherushomeschool.org)  for helping me so much with this post as I wrestled and pondered the question of anthroposophy.  Thanks for your patience and warmth Donna with my many questions. 

This post has taken me forever to write, I have been working on it on and off for weeks.  Much of this is because while I have read so much of Steiner’s work on education, I have read very little  of anthroposophy.  So I barely feel qualified to answer this complex question of what is anthroposophy?

So my main purpose today is to start you all hunting amongst these links and articles I have found for your own educational purposes, and to point you to people who are well-versed in anthroposophy (not me).  

Donna Simmons has told me it helps to look at anthroposophy as a tool to understand the human being.  Steiner called anthroposophy “spiritual science” as he saw it in this way:

“Not so long ago it was still possible to believe that natural science – which is by no means unappreciated by spiritual science but is as regards to its great advances fully valued – had the means to solve all the great riddles of human existence. But those who have entered with heightened inner faculties into the achievements of modern science have been increasingly aware that what natural science brings as a response to the great questions of human existence are not answers but, on the contrary, ever new questions.”
Rudolf Steiner. “Approaches to Anthroposophy.” Sussex: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1992. Page 39-40.

Wikipedia defines spiritual science in this way, [that spiritual science]  “postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development—more specifically through cultivating conscientiously a form of thinking independent of sensory experience.[1][2] In its investigations of the spiritual world, anthroposophy aims to attain the precision and clarity of natural science‘s investigations of the physical world.”

Donna Simmons writes that Steiner was adamant that one needs to be rigorously scientific in one’s thinking – and thus in one’s path through life and through understanding the world. The complex thing is for people to get how that could be – most people do not understand how the spiritual and what is commonly viewed as the scientific – can be worked with in the same breath.  I think she is right!

The expanded Wikipedia definition of anthroposophy seems to be on target, and looks at anthroposophy in the realms of  spiritual freedom and spiritual knowledge, nature of the human being, the role of Christ.   Here is the link so you read the article yourself:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophy

Here is a wonderful article from Donna Simmons’ website that may be of service to you all:  http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/learning-more/articles-on-aspects-of-waldorf-education/working-with-the-spiritual-basis-of-waldorf-education.html

Anthroposophy is not a religion.  Period.  There is no “creed” to follow per se, there are not any prescribed spiritual exercises you “have” to do (although Steiner does have meditation exercises out there for each day of the week), there are no religious practices or sacraments, there is no one spiritual guide (no, Steiner is NOT a prophet nor viewed as one by the Anthroposophical Society  even though he founded the Anthroposophical Society!),  anthroposophy is not a way to salvation or anything else.  There are no sacred texts associated with anthroposophy. 

(Perhaps where people get confused concerning the question of anthroposophy and religion is that there is The Christian Community, founded in 1922 in Switzerland by Lutheran theologian Friedrich Rittlemeyer, with the help of Rudolf Steiner.  However, according to the website of The Christian Community, even this is “not an “anthroposophical church,” although it is the only Christian church whose clergy recognize Anthroposophy and have accepted it as a decisive aid for the broadening and renewal of theology.”   The link to The Christian Community can be found here: http://www.thechristiancommunity.org/about.htm).   

One of anthroposophy’s main goals is to bring together the sciences, the arts and the religious strivings of man and to build from that a basis for the future.  Steiner worked with many different  kinds of people in many different occupational fields when he was alive, and this led to many different applications of his philosophy in the practical realm, including anthroposophic medicine, curative education techniques, biodynamic farming, eurythmy and  also education.

I am not a philosopher, and I do not have many answers on this difficult philosophical subject.  There are others out there who do though!

For more information on this important and misunderstood subject, please see these links:

http://www.waldorfanswers.com/NotReligion1.htm

For what Steiner said regarding the question of whether anthroposophy is a religion or not, please see here:

http://www.waldorfanswers.com/NotReligion2.htm

This is a lengthy article regarding how Steiner started looking at things as a reaction to Kant’s assumptions (anyone take philosophy in college and remember Kant’s assumption of doing things for the greater good???!!) and because Goethe resonated with him so well.

http://www.sewanee.edu/Philosophy/Capstone/1999/Hancock.html

Here is a site regarding some of the issues surrounding criticism of Steiner and anthroposophy:

http://www.defendingsteiner.com/

 As a homeschooling parent, it is easy to present your own religious or worldviews throughout the curriculum.  Anthroposophy is also not taught in any of the Waldorf schools, and nor is it in any direct way of the homeschooling curriculum written by Donna Simmons.

Thanks for reading,

Carrie

Favorite Fall Tales for Waldorf Kindergarten

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This is NOT an all-inclusive list, just a few of my favorites for the season!

 

For Four Year Olds:

For September: (and many of these could work for October or November as well!)

Anything from Suzanne Down’s “Autumn Tales” – I love
“Pipper’s Wild Plum Pie”  and   “The Apple Elves”

The Pancake Mill from “Let Us Form A Ring”

The Enormous Turnip

The Little Light Horse from “Plays for Puppets”

“The Apple Star”

Any of the wonderful Michaelmas stories available – Melisa Nielsen has a story in her “Before the Journey” book, Suzanne Down has “Little Boy Knight” in her “Autumn Tales”, in the book “An Overview of the Waldorf Kindergarten” (the pink book) try “Michaelmas Story of the Star Children” or “Michael and the Dragon”

 

For October:

Suzanne Down’s “How WitchamaRoo Became the Pocket Witch” from “Autumn Tales”

“The Naughty Hobgoblin” from “Let Us Form A Ring”

“The Anxious Leaf”  try www.mainlesson.com

Suzanne Down’s “Why Trees Turn Colors in Autumn” from “Autumn Tales”

 

For November:

Stone Soup – a song version can be found in “Let Us Dance And Sing”

Melisa Nielsen has a simple story of Saint Martin in her “Before the Journey” book

Suzanne Down’s “Autumn Bear” from “Autumn Tales”

“Autumn Story” from Autumn Wynstones about Hedgy Hedgehog

 

For December:

Suzanne Down’s “How the Robin Got Its Red Breast” from her newsletter

“St. Nicholas and the Star Children” from Winter Wynstones

The Gingerbread Man

 

For Five Year Olds:

For September:

Any of the above plus:

Song version of “The Three Little Pigs” as found in “Let Us Dance And Sing” could be personalized with fall details as could “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” or The Brothers Grimm Tale “Little Red Cap”

For October:

Any of the above plus:

Elizabeth Thompson Dillingham’s “A Halloween Story” 

For November:

Any of the above plus

“Spindlewood”, found in “Let Us Form A Ring”

“Mashenka and the Bear” found in “Plays for Puppets

“The Seed Babies’ Blanket” – try www.mainlesson.com

“The Elder Brother” also try www.mainlesson.com

“Sweet Porridge” many versions out there!

For December:

Any of the above

“The Elves and The Shoemaker” from The Brothers Grimm

The Story of the Christmas Rose

“The Mitten”

For Six Year Olds:

Any of the above plus:

September:

I love “The Hut in the Forest” by The Brothers Grimm – you could add fall details or spring details and tell it any time you like!

October:

The Bremen Town Musicians by The Brothers Grimm

November:

Any of the wonderful Native American tales – many are reprinted in issues of “Gateways” available through www.waldorflibrary.org

December:

“The Star Money” from The Brothers Grimm

“Little Grandmother Evergreen”

“Mother Holle” would be nice for January or “The Snow Maiden” from “Plays for Puppets”

 

Be sure to add YOUR personal favorites in the comment section below!  Share with other mothers and help them!  Also, don’t forget to tell some of the same stories year to year as children love the repetition!

Love,

Carrie

“I’m Homeschooling My Four-Year-Old”

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We often say this out of convention, right?  Well-meaning people ask, “Oh, is your four-year-old going to preschool?  Where do they go to school?”  and we answer something to the effect of, “Well, we are homeschooling.”

However, I think we need to be very careful and clear within ourselves as to what we mean when we say this if we are Waldorf home educators.  Waldorf Early Years is about bringing warmth to our child, love to our child, rhythm to  our child with a strong cornerstone of rest and sleep, helping to foster imaginative play, working together on practical things that create an ensouled home, singing together, and fostering a love of nature and reverence and respect.  It is not at all about direct academics at this point because children under the age of 7 are living in their bodies, in their motion, in the movement of the moment.  They are not living in their heads.

This is,  of course, difficult to explain to well-meaning strangers.  However, when one joins other Waldorf homeschoolers and talks about “schooling” their four and five year olds, I think we all need to get clear.  The Early Years is not about academic preschool skills the way conventional schooling is.

However, it is also not about doing NOTHING, which is what many parents conversely seem to think.  There should be a strong rhythm to your day, there should be times of out-breath and exploration in nature, times of fostering quieter reverence for a special told story.  Waldorf Kindergartens in Waldorf schools often make the day look seamless – outside play or walk, practical work for the day, preparing for snack, having snack and clean-up from snack, special songs and a story, rest time, more play in nature; and all the while the adults are engaged in strong practical work with their hands –  but the reality is that is takes quite a bit of planning to make this come off as easily as it looks!

Many mothers of Kindergarten-aged (and remember while Waldorf schools plan for children ages 3 to 6 in Kindergarten your child will most likely be five and six before having great attention for festival preparations, bread baking and etc without a peer group to carry them along) ask about planning.  Less is more for the Kindergarten-aged child.  Seasonal stories and verses can be simple and revisited year after year.  Craft ideas can also be re-done year after year.  There is comfort to the child in knowing that there is dragon bread on Michaelmas,  lanterns are made around the time of Martinmas. 

Many mothers collect songs and verses and stories by season on their computer in files and then take the time to organize it by day over the summer either by writing it down by hand in a spiral notebook or in a computer file that is printed out.  It takes time to collect verses, songs, stories, ideas for festival preparations and gardening.  This is the time for you to really sharpen your own skills – learn to play that blowing instrument, learn to garden and identify some plants, learn to knit.  Check out all the Waldorf Kindergarten posts on this blog, they will hopefully help guide you as to what you should be doing and what a typical Waldorf homeschooling Kindergarten day might look like.

The day should be short in terms of attention for practical work and the circle/story.  Steiner said if we got just 15 minutes of work done that the child could observe that that was wonderful.   He didn’t say hours of work, and in a Waldorf Kindergarten school setting there are multiple teachers and assistants and older children to help carry the group along. 

Mothers say, “Well, my child doesn’t want to do beeswax crayoning, they just do a scribble and run off.”  The point is that YOU do the activity and model it for them.  Children are notorious for not liking their mothers to sing or do whatever, and then lo behold, there the child is singing the song you were singing this morning!  The one they hated and ran away from.

You can work in a two-pronged manner:  stories and songs and activities that are interesting to the child within the realm of practical work for the day, and also by NOT forcing the child.  The child is free to weave in and out and just watch what you are doing.

Your child IS learning academic skills, believe it or not.  Many nursery rhymes and songs have letters and numbers in them, many things about science can be learned by fostering a connection with nature, many fine motor skills needed for handwriting and other things can be learned through arts and crafts and festival preparations.  You may find your child easily meets the PreK and Kindergarten requirements for your state with no direct academic work at all!

Get clear with yourself; there is a reason for the first seven years to be one of movement and will and not regurgitation of dry facts.  In fact, children who are treated to just dry facts by the age of 7,8, and 9 often seem to rebel against this and need more imaginative stories, more sensory and active movement.  Perhaps this is because this stage was missed earlier, and perhaps because even a 7, 8 and 9 year old needs to learn in this manner.

Four is a great age for sitting on laps, four is a great age for loving each other.  Do not underestimate the most important goal for homeschooling:  spending warm, loving time together and fostering close bonds between siblings.  This is the real and true goal of homeschooling.

So, if someone asks you if you are homeschooling your four-year-old, just know and be clear within yourself that you are giving them the foundation that will make academics even better later on, that you are giving them the foundational skills for relationships they will need later on.  Be clear that you are giving them the best education possible by the things we do every day as Waldorf home educators.

Many blessings,

Carrie

More Fall Resources for the Waldorf Kindergarten Crowd

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Folks have been emailing me in reference to my post here and asking where to find verses, songs and stories. 

www.mainlesson.com has some lovely fall stories for free!  Look under Waldorf Kindergarten, and leave the legends and longer fairy tales out unless you have a six year old, and there is still quite a bit to bit from!

Reg Down has a few of his stories from his Tiptoes Lightly Series on his website, look here:  http://www.tiptoes-lightly.net/stories.html

Another favorite resource for me personally is Bronja Zahlingen’s “LIfetime of Joy” and also Suzanne Down’s “Autumn Nature Tales”

For songs, try Elisabeth Lebret’s small red book “Pentatonic Songs” for some traditional Waldorf favorites or if you are looking for some new Waldorf favorites try Jodie Mesler’s new CD available here:  http://www.homemusicmaking.blogspot.com/

For verses, try the Autumn Wynstones book and also Wilma Ellersik’s “Gesture Games for Autumn and Winter.”

For circle time if you do a circle in your house, try “Let Us Form A  Ring” for verses, songs and some fairy tales in the book and music to go with many fairy tales, or “Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures.”

Hope that helps you gather things.  There are many things out there, but they are copyrighted and therefore not available on the Internet.

If you are short on funds, consider the used Waldorf curriculum group available on Yahoo!Groups.  You may have to be fast to catch some things, but you can get some great deals!

Peace,

Carrie