Category Archives: Homeschooling

Ideas For Field Trips For Waldorf Third Grade

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I have been tossing around some ideas for field trips for Waldorf Third Grade.  Perhaps my list will spark some of your own ideas for your family!

  • Obviously, working on farms if that is possible is a biggie.  The point with farming is not so much to visit farms but to WORK on them, to have that experience of building the will when you must do something and see it to the end.  So, that is not so much a field trip but an experience to plan…
  • But, for field trips involving farming, I have also been thinking of orchards, cow dairy farms and goat diary farms, beekeeping operations
  • State Agricultural fairs
  • Native American pow-wows or visits to Native American reservations
  • Perhaps a visit to one of those museums where the people dress up and re-enact how things were done in pioneer days
  • Visits to a working quarry, building sites
  • Visit to see wildlife rehabilitator who deals with injured owls, birds or a visit to a falconer  (it seems as if someone I know was telling me they had a family member who was a falconer, if only I could remember who that was!)
  • Thrift shop/fabric store during textile block
  • Sheep shearing to washing to dyeing to making yarn

 

What experiences or trips are you planning for Third Grade?

Many blessings,

Carrie

Children and Chores

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Yes, I am still here in Little House mode, LOL.  When I was growing up, “Farmer Boy” was my absolute least favorite in the series of books about the Ingalls/Wilder family.  In fact,  I think I mainly skipped it when I was younger.  Well, I just went back and re-read it and boy, was it interesting to me!  What a wonderful coming –of- age story about Almanzo and his increasing responsibility within the family farm as he approaches age nine. 

Have you ever thought about chores in relation to your own children?  This is a pretty classic Waldorf article you may have already read regarding chores: 

http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/klocekchores.pdf

Here are a few back posts on chores and homemaking and housecleaning:https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/12/08/children-chores-housecleaning-and-homeschooling/    and here:   https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/05/11/housecleaning-and-homeschooling/

I find many mothers I meet come from one of two camps:  one where they were responsible for caring for younger siblings and many responsibilities were dumped on them at an early age or that no responsibility was given to them at all.  This makes it very difficult for mothers to figure out how they feel about chores and how to present this to their children!

I believe children do  need consistent chores.  They should be contributing to the welfare of the family, there should be something that they do that is bigger than themselves, and there should be increasing responsibility as they mature.

For those of you with children under the age of  nine:  I remark here that rhythm in the practical work of the home and working TOGETHER in joy is what lays the foundation of wholly independent work beginning around the nine-year-change.   IMITATION is also another way to help children learn about chores when they are young.  What do you do every day that involves more than just pushing a button that they can imitate?  What can you “de-mechanize” in your home so your child can take part in what you are doing?

Children around the age of 9 can certainly take on chores for the family; many mothers start with cooking for both boys and girls. 

Next post up will include a list of possible chores by season and/or age to get your creative juices going regarding this important subject.

More to come,

Carrie

Layout of Blocks For Waldorf Grade Three

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Well, I am almost done planning for my Third Grader. This is the order of blocks I chose with some brief notes and resources.  I am not saying this is how YOU should do it, LOL.  The joy of homeschooling is to be able to pick what resonates with your family, your child and choose what works best for you.  However, perhaps seeing this layout will spark some ideas for your own family from this list!

Also, please note, my daughter is fully nine for this entire school year, so if you are doing Third Grade with an eight-year-old who turns nine during the  school year, you may consider placing the Old Testament Stories later in the year.  I think children should be fully nine  and in the throes of that nine year change in order to hear these tales and really have them resonate with them on a soul level.

If you would like to read what my overarching theme for this year is, please see this short post here and then come back:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/07/26/a-brief-note-about-waldorf-third-grade/

The idea for Lessons A, B and C did come from Donna Simmons’ Christopherus Homeschool Resources Third Grade Syllabus (see here:  http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/bookstore-for-waldorf-homeschooling/curriculum/3rd-grade.html) and I am incorporating it into our rhythm this year.  I am hopeful it will work out well!

So here is the layout I am in the midst of crafting, completely subject to change as I see fit:

3 weeks Old Testament Stories (A:  Form Drawing; B Math  C (after lunch): Painting alternated with  Modeling 1 week, String Games 1 week and Cooking 1 Week)

1 week  Farming (types of soils, worms, the “perfect farm”)  (A: Handwriting  with Poetry B:  Music C:  Games)

3 weeks Math from Noah’s Ark (A:  Grammar; B Music;  C  Cooking or Crafts/Festival Preparation)

4 weeks Farming (including Farm Animals  with poetry and grammar, some of Farmer Boy, types of wood, weather) (A:  Math with focus on Time ;  B:  Music;  C: Hand-sewing)

3 weeks Old Testament Math  (A:  Grammar; B – Birds, Bats with poetry (goes with farming, in my opinion and Old Testament); C- Hand-sewing and Crafts for Holidays

3 weeks Textiles (A:  Form Drawing B;  Cooking; C: Crafts)

Break for Christmas, The Twelve Holy Nights and Epiphany

1 week textiles to finish up (Lessons A; Form Drawing B cooking; C Crafts)

3 weeks Old Testament (A:  Math B: Music or Grammar C:  Painting alternated with modeling or drama or crafts)

3 weeks Math (A: Form Drawing; B:  Grammar or possibly occupations of different people/social studies; C- Crafts or Free Play)

4 weeks Native Americans (A:  Handwriting  or  Math ; B:  Movement or Music C: Crafts)

2 weeks Building (Building Projects)

Break for Holy Week and Easter

1 Week Bees (using Jakob Streit’s book) (A:  Math B:  Music C: Gardening)

3 Weeks Insects. with lots of poetry (A:  Form Drawing B:  Math or Music C: Gardening)

3 Weeks Old Testament ending with David/Testing during this time; we will actually review a bit of this ending time in the beginning of  Fourth Grade starting with the death of Moses..I really just wanted to highlight some of the faithfulness of God in some of these stories and end with some of the Psalms attributed to  King David’s  that suggests fulfillment of our lives through community and connection with God.  My child will be close to ten by the time we do this and I think this idea of our life being spiritually fulfilling and in close intimacy with God will really speak to this particular child; when we backtrack a bit in the fall with Fourth Grade with some of these stories we will look more at the moral ambiguity and human failings part of these stories in preparation for Fifth Grade.  This will not be highlighted when I cover these stories in Third Grade.  Probably clear as mud to those outside of my mind’s ramblings… Donna Simmons talks about the reasoning behind saving some of the tales for Fourth Grade here:  http://christopherushomeschool.typepad.com/blog/2009/06/ot-stories-again.html   Although I stopped in a slightly different place than her syllabus, I will be backtracking those last stories with the Fourth Grade Syllabus and looking at those stories in a different way.

My other note about this layout:  I really wanted to get in Farm Animals, Birds, Bees and other insects in Third Grade  so I can clear up room in Fourth Grade to do a block on Ocean Animals.  As I mentioned above, I will also have some more Old Testament to finish up in Fourth Grade. 

Hope that helps some of you in your planning.

Many blessings and peace,

Carrie

Getting Ready For Back To School!

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Well, we are counting down toward the first day of school (homeschool or otherwise!).  Here are a few fast tips for getting the school year off to a successful start:

1.  I personally think the physical environment of the home is very important.  Does everything have a place?  Hopefully you have had a chance to go through and de-clutter things this summer.  Do your children know where things go?  Do you know where things are?  What is beautiful in your environment for your children to notice?

2.  How is your basic rhythm – resting, sleeping, eating?  Are you allowing enough time to get ready for things and to wind down from things?

3.  How many days a week are you going to be out of your home?  The smaller your children are, the more you should be at home, and even older children need plenty of time to rest and relax, to plan and to dream and to putter.

4.  Have you thought about the practical care of the home?  Some mothers have told me the hardest transition for them was switching from doing Waldorf Kindergarten, where such a large part of the day is spent upon practical tasks, to doing Waldorf Grades – less time for practical tasks!  How will your home be cared for?  When?  By whom?  What is the responsibility of your children? 

5.  If you are homeschooling, what lesson plans and resources do you have and what do you still need?  If your whole year is not planned out, what time will be YOUR time to plan each week in order to get the whole year laid out?

6.  What is the spiritual foundation of your home and family?  What is your Family Mission Statement?  How is this expressed in your family?  What actions do your children see that expresses this?

7.  What will you do to have FUN as a family?  When?  How?  Sometimes that can get lost in the “busyness” of the school year. 

Many blessings,

Carrie

Eurythmy In The Waldorf Home

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(I originally wrote this piece for Donni over at The Magic Onions.  Donni does a great job covering different facets of the world of Waldorf.  Please do go check out her blog here: http://themagiconions.blogspot.com/)

Eurythmy was invented by Dr. Rudolf Steiner and his wife Dr. Marie Steiner-von Sivers in 1912.   It has often been called “visible speech” or “visible song”, and is not only a performing art, but also part of the educational curriculum  within the Waldorf School setting.  This is unique to Waldorf Education and eurythmy is often viewed as the pinnacle of the artistic component of Waldorf Education. 

Eurythmy essentially integrates all the subjects taught within the Waldorf curriculum in a whole-body movement. The “Guidelines for Eurythmy in the Waldorf School”  as put forth by The Eurythmy Association of North American and adopted by best practices by AWNSA and the Pedagogical Section of the School of Spiritual Science has  this to say about the place of eurythmy within the curriculum:  “The special skills children develop in eurythmy include bodily and spatial orientation, a sense for rhythm and measure, teamwork and social awareness, bringing poise, self-confidence, and the ability to think for oneself. The movements of eurythmy are filled with meaning which is of the same nature as language itself. The eurythmy curriculum offers exercises to provide a deeply somatic, kinesthetic understanding of all the subjects in school, including, for instance, math, geometry, botany, physics, chemistry, history, color, optics, poetry, and music. The wisdom of eurythmy supports the totality of Waldorf education. “It is the supreme example of a principle in all Steiner education that movement comes first. For it is the activity of the limbs which awakens and vitalizes the experience of the head.”

A eurythmist typically graduates from a four-year  to five-year  program.  The curriculum typically involves attending eurythmy classes once a week from Kindergarten through Grade Three, and then from Grade Four through Twelve attending twice a week.   Certain eurythmy exercises correspond to certain stages of development, and the eurythmist works with the Class Teacher to support the subjects being taught.   I have heard Eurythmy referred to as “soul gymnastics” because the whole life of the soul can be moved through these exercises the way a gymnast moves the physical body through exercises. 

Many Waldorf homeschoolers want to try to bring this art to their homeschool.  I feel this could quickly become the children just imitating some of the physical gestures (if you even know those!) and not really getting the essential part that makes up eurythmy – the etheric gesture.  Furthermore, the gestures of speech should certainly be brought by a trained eurythmist. 

So what is a Waldorf homeschooler to do?

I would implore you to look for purposeful and precise movement that goes with verses and rhymes and songs.  Look for what movement and gesture you and your child could experience with oral recitation and poetry in the grades.

There are many resources for movement and gesture in the Waldorf homeschooling arena.   Two resources listed specifically for eurythmy come to mind. These  include “Eurythmy For The Young Child” by Estelle Breyer (for the Early Years, some things are suitable for Grade One) and the “Come Unto These Yellow Sands” by Molly van Heider. (covers preschool through Grades Nine to Twelve).    Neither of these resources will show you what gestures to bring for things such as letters, but will give you suggestions for what letters or  purposeful movements go with the songs and stories and verses in the books.  If you would like to see what eurythmy in a classroom would look like, I suggest you try the 2006 DVD of David-Michael Monarch entitled “The Waldorf Curriculum Through Eurythmy” from the Whole Parent, Whole Child conference and available through Rahima Baldwin Dancy’s website. “Joyful Movement” by Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschooling Resources is  not a eurythmy resource per say, but certainly has many ideas for movement in the home environment and is very practical and accessible to the Waldorf homeschooler. 

But best of all, experiment with your own heartfelt gestures for stories and verses.  Try to bring out the exaggerated physical movement of the  characters and archetypes in the stories you tell to your own children.  Work on incorporating singing and clapping games into your homeschool. Work with skipping, stamping, tip-toe walking, walking on heels and the polarities found between quiet and loud and small and big gestures. 

Your homeschool can have as much beauty in movement as you can offer;  from the small points of beauty in your own rhythm to the sounds of careful recitation to precise movement and gestures to beautiful music to warmth.  These things build the etheric body for the future health of our children.  

Many blessings,

Carrie

Do You Ever Worry Your Homeschool Teaching Is Not Enough?

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It is that time of year when families are gearing up for homeschooling, and many times there is anxiety that goes along with that first year.  One thing that repeatedly comes up is this notion:  Will it be enough?  How do I know that I am doing enough in homeschooling?  Essentially, am I preparing my child enough for life, for adulthood, to be a productive and happy grown-up?  Or will I fail and take my children down with me?

I was talking today to a dear friend of mine about homeschooling and about Waldorf.  I think as Waldorf homeschoolers we are very lucky indeed because there is such an overarching philosophy where the curriculum is intricately tied into childhood development.  These stages of childhood development are so pronounced that I have had homeschooling friends and friends with children in public and private school remark upon it.  “Six and seven were so hard, Susie didn’t want anyone to be the boss of her.”  “Nine was when my child really woke up and started noticing how different they were from family members and friends.”  “It was so hard to teach my five year old to read.  It just seemed like they couldn’t remember anything.”  If you know anything about Waldorf, these statements will make you smile a bit.  We can take comfort as Waldorf homeschoolers that this layout of what comes when and why really provides such a solid foundation for life.

This is what I wish I could impart to inexperienced homeschooling mothers when they have this worry:  you will worry less if you know where you are headed in a big picture kind of sense. I think one thing I would encourage new homeschoolers to look at is the difference between curriculum and philosophy. Philosophy, in a sense, is how one looks at how one thinks education should be.  This may even include the sort of “what comes when”
but hopefully more than that it will help you sort out the “WHY something comes when” and the “HOW” of what that something looks like, and how the approach you use will change over the grades, and will match how you view children, development, etc. Curriculum may be what you use to fill in pieces of the philosophy. However, I encourage you to look at curriculum in a broader sense than just little bits and pieces of paper.  Waldorf Education certainly does this, but with any homeschooling method there are wonderful things about the home environment and life that go far beyond what is contained on paper that can be used to support any philosophy that you choose.  So new homeschoolers talk a lot about   “curriculum”, but I think
philosophy is a big thing that helps in sorting through all the products out
there.

( And as a complete side note, I do think one other thing to consider is if the philosophy you choose to answer your “enough” question has implications for how you live your life at all. For example, many Unschoolers bring Unschooling philosophy into their daily lives, and so do many Waldorf and Montessori homeschoolers. In all types of homeschooling, the entire family, home, trips, etc can easily revolve around what the family is learning about.  In homeschooling, the needs of the family are first and foremost.  The relationship between you and your children is first and foremost). 

There are several other ways to look at this worry as well.  If we compare our homeschooling experience to a traditional experience, the school  teacher there has an assessment process for each student and goals for skills of the students (as homeschoolers you can also look up the standards for each state on-line), an idea of possible content for each grade from state standards, and then they make up lesson plans and decide how to best bring these concepts to the children. The teacher will decide how much time is going to be spent where, and  this will be adjusted according to the needs of the class.
Homeschooling is different than traditional school, but it is easy to see in the
above scenario that a classroom teacher must pick and choose just the way a
homeschooling family chooses what is worked with, how deeply, and in what way.  In the homeschooling family, there are many ways to work with your child’s interests and to figure out how far to go off on rabbit trails.

Finally, a last consideration to help you answer the “how much is enough” question  may be to see what support there is for your homeschooling from mothers who are homeschooling older children the same way . I think it
can be very difficult to get the big picture of what you are doing if you are
only hanging around with mothers who are doing preschool or kindergarten. If
you can see where some of the mothers with older children are headed and what that looks like, it helps you make better decisions and choices for the
preschool and kindergarten levels. Some of this can be found on-line, such as
through Yahoo Groups specific to a philosophy of homeschooling; some can be
specific to XYZ math program or for users of ABC reading program.  Even better yet, finding in-person support is vital. Check out what homeschool groups are in your area and how you can connect with other mothers.  If you are a Waldorf homeschooler, you are still a homeschooler and it is also very important to keep abreast of your State’s laws as pertaining to homeschooling –you are part of a larger homeschooling community when you choose to homeschool.

If you are interested in why we chose Waldorf homeschooling, please see here: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/11/06/wonderful-waldorf/

If you are interested in my thoughts as to Waldorf School versus Waldorf homeschooling, please see here:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/03/30/waldorf-homeschooling-versus-waldorf-school/

Set your worries to rest.  Just as you are enough as a mother, just as you are the perfect mother for your child even if the journey has its bumps, you will provide a homeschooling experience that is just right.  You can do this.  Pray, meditate, open your mind and your heart and really look at your children.  The answer will come along with a quiet confidence that this is the right way for your family.

Many blessings,

Carrie

A Brief Note About Waldorf Third Grade

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This evening, I was thinking and meditating and contemplating what blocks I am going to choose and/or design  to finish our Third Grade year (I am now up to mid-March in planning).  And this came to me:

The Third Grade year really is about how we, as an individual, find a home here on Earth from the spiritual realm.  We can show this through the study of one group of people, the Ancient Hebrew people, in their stories as recorded in the Old Testament.  The other possibilities are showing how the Native American people how they made their homes here as influenced by the land they lived on (and remember, I have said I am still not sure how I feel about Native Americans within the Third Grade curriculum).  The third possibility for Americans to consider is  the pioneer and how the pioneers made this individualized journey searching for a promised land  as well,  and how the pioneers also worked with the land and the weather to move from being a pioneer to being a settler.  This is something a nine-year-old is  facing as they become more of  an individual and more separate but still part of a family, and part of a larger  community as they grow and mature.

I think the Third Grade year is also about what we need  in order to live.  First of all, one could consider  a relationship with God and to  authority in order to live in community and as a spiritual being.  This is shown in the Old Testament blocks.  Marsha Johnson also has a free Third Grade block over in her files regarding Community.  The next thing we need outside of a relationship with our Creator and a community is the basics of survival :  a physical house (shown in the building block, but could also be highlighted in a Native American block in how the weather and climate and land shaped the housing styles); clothes to protect us from the elements (textile block); and food (farming block).

The Third Grade year is also about doing, doing, doing – how can one take these blocks and make them full of movement, full of the wonder of doing, and how can one tie this into a unified year.  That is the challenge.

Just musing out loud. 

Many blessings,

Carrie

Waldorf Homeschooling With a Kindergartner, Third Grader and A Baby

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Yes, this is where I am these days.  Planning away, dreaming and thinking.  And de-cluttering my house.

I saw a post recently on Marsha Johnson’s list regarding doing Waldorf homeschooling with a First and Third Grader;I think one of  the responses was something along the lines of try doing the Main Lesson for the First Grader first thing and make the traditional Middle Lesson for the Third Grader.  I thought that was interesting.

I am trying this rhythm ( below)  this year for my Third Grader and Kindergartner.  Essentially I used my Word program to make a table with two columns with the older children’s names in it because even if one child is working with me on something there has to be something going on for the other child.  Does that make sense?  I cannot leave my Kindergartner to wander about and have nothing planned whilst I am working with my older child, and vice versa.  Or if they are playing or doing something on their own, when that runs out and they need something to do, I have to have something ready to go!

So, the general flow of the day and my chart looks a bit like this:

  Third Grader Kindergartner
Main Lesson

(one to one and a half hours)

 Days One through Four here

Movement last 10 minutes or so

 Activities to do during Main Lesson, Days One through Four

Movement with Third Grader last ten minutes or so
Kindergarten Story

(15 minutes or so)

 What will Third Grader be doing during this time? Listening to the Kindergartner story or working independently? Days 1-3, story, puppet shows Day 3 of last week of story

Day 4  Wet on Wet painting and Bible story
Lesson A (half hour) 10 minutes Movement

plus whatever I put here – math or grammar practice, form drawing, music etc.

 10 Minutes Movement with Third Grader

Ideas for Creative Play here
Practical Work (half hour) We can do this together, but I am also thinking:  What can my child do around the house to help today that would be specific to a nine-year-old? DAY ONE-Craft DAY TWO Gardening; DAY THREE Housecleaning; Day four baking
Lesson B

(half hour or so)

 Days 1-2

Day four out of house

 Days 1-2 Art

Day three Music

Day four out of house
Lesson C (this would be after lunch)

(forty five minutes)

 Hands – cooking, painting, modeling, handwork, etc.

Some of this will be done together; Crafts and festival preparation we will do together

 Six Year Old Projects
Directed Movement

anywhere from 15 minutes to an afternoon adventure)

    

 

The length of time is approximate, there will be rest breaks and snacks and lunch and quiet time in there….I am not saying this is how YOU should do things, this is just what I am experimenting with.  LOL.  If you are wondering where the whole lessons A, B, C, originated from,   I actually liked the lessons A,B,C that Christopherus Third Grade  had, and I only have two children to work  with, so I thought I would give it a go.  As usual, I am taking some things from some pre-created curriculum and creating some blocks myself and melding it all as I see fit.

This is the big idea though:  the more children you have, the more you will have to integrate lessons and not have things be so separate. There are some of you who read this blog who have five or more children,and I am sure you can attest to this! Your Waldorf homeschool will not look like a Waldorf School with everyone having a separate Main Lesson, and that is okay!  Home has so many advantages, and family is first and foremost. 

I am also making lots of plans revolving around the liturgical year; these traditions are precious and dear and another excellent reason we homeschool, so sometimes things will be pared down to a Main Lesson and maybe one other thing involving crafts or  cooking or putting on a play for that particular festival. 

I hope this stimulates some ideas for you all, I hope some of you will share on your own blogs what your planning looks like to help other mothers.  We are all here to help each other and learn.

Many blessings,

Carrie

Homeschooling Planning – Mid-Summer Mark

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Here in the Deep South, many homeschooling families are starting around the end of August. If you think about it, that doesn’t leave too many weeks left s left to plan and do things.  In my personal planning for homeschooling a third grader and a kindergartner, I am up to the middle of February.  We typically end the first week in June, so as you can see I have much more to do.

How are you coming with your planning?  I would love to hear from you and know what is challenging you, what is wonderful, what you have left to do.

How is your house coming?  Your school room space? I have a few areas of my house left to go through and de-clutter.  I am also ordering blackboards and a new home school cabinet that I hope will work better for our needs. 

I would love to hear from you, and where you are!

Many blessings,

Carrie

The Christopherus Waldorf Curriculum Overview for Homeschoolers: A Review

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“The Christopherus Waldorf Curriculum Overview For Homeschoolers” by Donna Simmons is an engaging resource that will take you grade by grade, topic by topic, through what is typically done in a Waldorf School, and most importantly, how to work with this in the home environment and how to use your home as the advantage that it is within your Waldorf homeschooling experience.

Homeschooling with Waldorf is not about re-creating a Waldorf School within your home; being home as advantages in its own right.  Donna Simmons writes in the preface of this work that she wrote this book “…because there seemed to be a distinct lack of material available to homeschoolers presenting Waldorf education in a meaningful, yet doable way.  I wanted to help parents catch a glimpse of the depth of knowledge that informs Waldorf education and to also enable them to find their own way of working with it, preventing burnout and feeling of overwhelm.”   She also notes on page 4 that “Waldorf-inspired homeschoolers, in my opinion, should not seek to copy what happens in Waldorf schools, but rather to understand how and especially why certain topics, subjects, methods and practice occur in Waldorf schools, and then find material that fits the bill.”  I think those statements resonate with so many Waldorf homeschooling mothers!  I like that the mission of Christopherus Homeschool Resources, and indeed this resource, is to help parents learn about Waldorf education and bring it into their homeschool experience, no matter what method they would label their homeschooling. 

Part One includes chapters on Waldorf Education and Homeschooling, A Visit to a Waldorf School, The Waldorf Home, Homeschooling with Waldorf.  Part Two includes a look at grade by grade and topic by topic (which includes tracing language arts, handwork/crafts/gardening, foreign language, math, music, history (including fairy tales, legends and myths), art (drawing, painting, modeling), geography, form drawing, science, and movement/games/sports through the curriculum.  Part Three includes the chapters Home is not School, Nuts and Bolts, Questions and Answers and A Peek at the Future:  High School.

Donna Simmons writes about the first three seven-year cycles of ages 0-7, 7-14 and 14-21 and provides insights into these phases that will shape your children for the rest of their adult lives.  She provides a look into a Waldorf school grade by grade (grades 1-8) and then looks at “The Waldorf Home” in Chapter Three.  This chapter has such important information regarding how to be a homemaker.  This is one of my favorite quotes from page 42:  “Play clips and pink cloths aside, it seems to me that there is a fundamental principle or understanding which surely must live in a home which strives to be “Waldorf”….Taking in, living with, thoughts around what is best for a child as she grows, what helps her develop and flourish, needs to be the basis of our family and home life as much as it needs to be the basis of our homeschooling.”    She talks about developing a rhythm in the home, about discipline and how discipline looks different depending upon which seven-year cycle the child is in,  views on media and how this changes as the child grows…really profound things for ALL parents to think about, not just Waldorf homeschooling parents.

She talks about love being the bedrock for the Waldorf-inspired homeschool, and the importance of self-development along with knowledge of child development.  In the grade by grade section, each grade is discussed with a possible schedule for the year laid out.  There are lists for resources of each topic/subject and suggestions as to how to bring these things at home.  I like the chapter entitled “Home is not School” where the differences between home and school are thoroughly discussed.    Donna Simmons writes on page 198, “To my mind, family is the number one reason to homeschool.  I feel that for many people homeschooling is the way for them to build truly healthy families which nurture healthy individuals.  Within such a setting wonderful educational opportunities can arise and by working with Waldorf, which is concerned with each individual’s health, we can watch our children and families flourish.’    Yes!

There are suggestions for child-led versus curriculum, working with multi-age children, designing a schedule.  The Question and Answers section alone probably has many of things Waldorf-inspired homeschooling parents wonder about.

This is a resource that will help you through many years, and I think one you will turn back to over and over.  It offers pearls of wisdom for beginner and veteran Waldorf-inspired homeschoolers alike.  Here is a link so you may look at it for yourself:  http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/bookstore-for-waldorf-homeschooling/essential-christopherus-publications/waldorf-overview-for-homeschoolers.html

Many blessings,

Carrie