This is the time of year when I feel I must make an annual plea for the homeschooling family:  your family homeschool is not a Waldorf School.  There are extreme differences, and if you are trying to replicate a Waldorf School, or any kind of institutionalized schooling in your homeschool, please let it go!

I see many parents trying to recreate the Waldorf School in their homes; I think this comes up so frequently because the curriculum is so philosophically driven; each grade is geared toward the level of soul development of that child with the subjects geared toward the development of that age.  The subjects are presented by the teacher through the vehicles of art and movement in a rhythm that utilizes sleep as an aid to learning.

So, this must mean I have to turn myself into a Waldorf teacher at home, right?  Wrong!

First of all, the homeschool environment is looser, and in many ways, richer than the curriculum at a school.  Continue reading →