These are some of the questions left by mothers on this blog that I thought I would try to answer in this post.  If you left a question that requires a longer answer, please expect to see a blog post coming up!

Q.  Where can I find the “Curative Education” booklet by Carlo Pietzner you reviewed?

A.  Hhmm, well I got it at Bob and Nancy’s around Christmas, and now it does not seem to be there.  I also checked at the Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore, and it does not seem to be there either.  My suggestion is to email Nancy Parsons at Bob and Nancy’s Bookshop and ask for it.

Q:  What edition of Mother Goose should I use?

A:  I have several, in some the language is “old” and in some the language is updated.  I find it easier to memorize the ones with the more updated language, but like the completeness of the edition with the older language (ie. “hath” for “has”, etc.).  Example of a modern-day English one is here: http://www.amazon.com/My-Very-First-Mother-Goose/dp/1564026205/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263467609&sr=1-3.  This is an example of one I have with less modern language:   http://www.amazon.com/REAL-MOTHER-GOOSE-CARTWHEEL-BOOKS/dp/B000OQKEAQ/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263467724&sr=1-17.  I think it is personal preference, you also may end up owning more than one, and you also may find a bunch of these verses on-line.  I say whatever is easiest for you to memorize.

Q:  What do I do with my child that goes outside and just stands there?

A:  I addressed this a little bit in this post: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/01/13/waldorf-in-the-home-with-the-three-and-four-year-old/

and I also thought this book had some good ideas to get your creative juices going:  http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Playground-Activities-Encourage-Children/dp/1556527233/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263467982&sr=1-5

In general, for small children under age 7, I would think of what fairies and gnomes might need for housing or things in their houses, what we would do to create an outside room for ourselves.

This book may also be helpful to you:  http://www.amazon.com/Sunflower-Houses-Inspiration-Children-Grown-Ups/dp/0761123865/ref=reg_hu-wl_list-recs  (or really any of the books by this author!)

Q:  What do I do with my four year old child that is wanting to know how to write her name or copy words?

A:  Ho-hum attitude.  Let your child copy words if they initiate that themselves, help them write their name   (a proud moment for many four year olds!), don’t say anything negative, keep trying to steer into typical Kindergarten activities, don’t worry about inversions of letters or numbers.  There is a big difference between wanting to write one’s name and being ready for formal academic main lessons in Waldorf.

Q:  But my kindergartner is so advanced!  They are already doing x, y, z!  Shouldn’t I just go ahead and start First Grade?

A:  The Waldorf Curriculum is based upon development of the human being in all aspects.  The subject content is really made for the seven-year-old in First Grade, the academic end of it can be adjusted up or down.  The reverse would be true if you have a 10 year old at a 6 year old academic level, you would still need to bring in the Fourth Grade stories as those are age-appropriate.

Q:  What do I do when I try to set up great play scenarios on a larger scale for my 4 and 5 year old and my toddler ruins it?

A:  That is challenging!  Sometimes doing it during nap if the older one is no longer napping works, building some of it yourself the night before so the little one is not so excited to see *you* building (after all, the toddler is just trying to imitate you), building a scene for said toddler, playing with toddler whilst older one builds,  give ways the toddler can participate in the building,  using a sling if toddler will stay there, and most of all realizing this is a phase that will pass.

I think another thing that happens here frequently is that mothers feel guilty the older one is building on their own and they can’t help as much because of the toddler.  Please try to reframe that in your heart and mind, because the older one really does pick up on that and starts to see the little one as this intrusion who not only is ruining the game but is taking mommy away from helping!  Cultivate the attitude that what your older one creates on their own without as much of your assistance is a great step developmentally and in no time at all you will have two little builders and isn’t having a sibling wonderful and you can show your little brother/sister what you have built?  They are so interested in you, Big Brother.  Use this opportunity as a time to build up their relationship rather than viewing it as a negative, it sets a great foundation!

Q. How do I become a peaceful parent?  Why does it always come back to me, why do I have to be perfect?  How do I start this Inner Work stuff?

I know it is such hard work, challenging work!    Sometimes we all feel grumpy that we have to be the one to set the tone and hold the space.  You don’t have to be perfect, but now that you know much of this rests on you and the rhythm and the words and actions you take to create your home, the intangible home for your spouse and your children, it does become a place to start your work.

There are many posts on Inner Work and also on rhythm on this blog.  There are also posts on anger in parenting, kindness in your home and realistic expectations for each age.

For Inner Work, I suggest just setting aside time to meditate or pray in the morning.    Then, one night a week, I suggest you wet on wet paint, or draw or sculpt or create music for an hour.  This is also development of the soul. Finally, you can start looking at your own biography. Tapestries by Betty Staley is a nice place to start with that, and there are reviews of each chapter of that book on this blog.

With rhythm, start with getting up at the same time each day and getting to bed at night.  Then work in rest times and meal times and then branch out to the other areas.

Seems like there were more questions, but at least that is a start.  Keep those questions coming!

Love,

Carrie

Yes, I do know mothers who do Waldorf with other methods, or employ the use of  a Main Lesson Book with other homeschooling methods and certain subjects.

But, I have several questions for you if this is something you would like to consider, and please do read this whole post and keep an open mind.  This is meant in a spirit of love and support, with questions for you to ponder and meditate on, not a “yes or no” answer.

1.  How well do you serve two masters?   I don’t mean this in a snarky way at all, I am asking you to consider and ponder this!   Something in your homeschool really does need to predominate I think or it can make one a little batty trying to do “the full monty” of all the methods you pick and still have a family life that is joyous and fun!  You absolutely can deviate away from the Waldorf curriculum if you feel it is appropriate for your child, (especially I think once your child is over the age of nine),  but our first impulse in the home environment for the younger child would see if we could satisfy the child’s need for things in small steps first.

For example, the four-year-old who wants to write letters.  We might try to see if the child could be happier doing typical Waldorf Kindergarten things, (ie, redirect)  and if that does not work OVER TIME (not just the first time I try!), I have had no problem teaching my four-year-old little girls how to write their first name.  They love that, it usually is all they really want to know regarding letters at this point and off they go to play.  The other example would be the six-year-old Kindergartner who wants a Main Lesson Book like the big brothers and sisters.  So they get a Main Lesson Book, they draw something in it, and then they are tired of it and go off to play.  The eight-year-old girl who wants to sew (sewing machines typically come in during the Eighth Grade) – can they be happy with hand sewing, with learning how to embroider by hand, and then perhaps yes, we look at a machine, but we do this with conscious knowing we are deviating from Waldorf indications.   How about the ten-year-old boy fascinated by paleontology? 

Start in small steps because of time and money and interests can change quickly!  It is WONDERFUL  to approach a child’s interest with interest and support, but also with a mindful pattern and way to proceed in order to  meet that interest!  Children try a lot of different interests on , and not all have to be met with the same intensity!    Can we work with that in smalls steps as we proceed?  We gauge how intense the interest is, because sometimes small things satisfy and sometimes they don’t.   And if the child eventually, over time, needs “more” or we do decide to deviate from the typical Waldorf indications it  is okay, but we bring a MINDFULNESS to it, and we try SMALL STEPS first. 

By the same token, if a child is not ready, we have the luxury of waiting in the home environment.  Many of you know the saga of my now second-grade daughter who is a knitting fool who could not seem to touch knitting needles in the first grade without tears starting.  She wasn’t ready, and we dropped it and did other forms of handwork, came back to it in Second Grade and boy, was she ready.

2. Why do you want to employ other methods?  Seriously, dig down, and see what is holding you back from only using Waldorf.  Bring a mindfulness to this, and meditate on it.  Steiner homeschooling is PHILOSOPHY driven; we do things for the development of the child and the ENTIRE curriculum builds on each thing during the year and during subsequent years. The curriculum is laid out in such a way that really, really, in my experience, speaks to the child.  The child will often ask to study a certain subject that you are coming up to!  It really is uncanny!   Steiner was an astute observer of children, what children needed, what the human being was and needed to develop.  Waldorf Education speaks to that.

In contrast, I see parents of other methods searching for the “best” reading program, the “best” math  program, trying to find that logical progression so there are  no “gaps”.  Waldorf has this already in place, time tested!  It all builds on itself. 

So what is holding you back?

• Is is that Steiner’s ideas of anthroposophy don’t resonate with your worldview?  As a Christian, I do understand your concerns.  I  address some of  that here:https://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/01/02/losing-the-forest-for-the-trees/    and here:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/12/27/waldorf-101-do-i-have-to-be-an-anthroposophist-to-homeschool-with-waldorf/
• Is it that you don’t think that Waldorf is academically rigorous?  People seem to think that the “pink bubble” of Kindergarten last forever!  It does not! The world open up and there is much to learn, to set their hearts on fire with a love of learning.  I address that here:   https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/05/14/waldorf-educating-for-excellence/
• Do you have a problem with “delaying” academics in the Early Years (before First Grade?)  I actually consider this bringing academics in at the right time, not “delaying”.  It is only “delaying” from a United States public school mentality – compare this to when countries around the world start academics and how much better their test scores are than ours!   How many homeschooling forum boards do you read with posts from parents  of children under the age of 7 who are frustrated trying to get  their child to “sit down and learn”?  Learning is more than just the HEAD.. Yes, your kindergarten child needs something MORE, MORE stories, more projects, more gross motor skill development, more of all of it all.  If your six-year-old is in their last phase of Kindergarten, okay, try some math.  Donna Simmons talks about this in her book “Kindergarten With Your Three-to-Six Year Old” available here:  http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/bookstore-for-waldorf-homeschooling/early-years/kindie.html

As a related digression, not only are many countries starting academics later, but many are also spending less time in the classroom than the  average United States public school (or some of the homeschooling families I see!!) student.  My German friends tell me that in Germany students have about 15 hours of school a week (they go in the morning, go home for lunch and that is it)  until the sixth grade when they do return to school after lunch for an hour or so of further instruction.   More hours and jamming more facts down their throats in the Early Years and the Early Grades does not necessarily equate to increased knowledge, the ability to problem-solve or a love of learning. 

4. Is it that you want to be “eclectic”?  What exactly does that mean to you?  There are beautiful things in every method, I think, but sometimes we just cannot do it all and remain sane.  This is a lesson in life we also need to show our children, especially in this day and age:  you can’t have it all, you can’t do it all, sometimes you must choose a path and take it!   As homeschooling  mothers, our number one priority has to be our family life and they joy that is there, along with providing our children with an excellent education that will guide our children into becoming educated adults who are kind, who are loving, who are compassionate and who can also problem-solve, find information, and handle the stresses of modern life. 

I feel Waldorf Education in the home environment prepares children to do just that.    There are similarities in subject matter  between Waldorf and other methods in some ways, for example, as the child hits 5th grade and starts Ancient History. But even then there are extreme differences in how the subjects are presented.  The Waldorf teacher looks at a time period and we cover history through these scenes that BEST typify a historical time period and/or historical person in our Main Lesson Block.  We teach in a three-day rhythm, we teach and use sleep as an educational aid.  Most of all, we teach through art – art is not an “added in” subject, but the way through which we teach as part of that three-day rhythm.

The Early Years and the first few grades  probably pose the most problems for people, but from what I have seen is that many of the children who start academic work in the Early Years (particularly those little girls who want to start and fly ahead) end up with problems around eight or nine because they are just burned out.  They missed the experience of DOING  things, and the parents went “abstract” too quickly.  Children need a solid foundation in the things that they know, the things they experience every day, things that are real to them!  The concrete!   In my area, for example,  first graders are learning about Teddy Roosevelt – it means absolutely NOTHING to them, they have no historical context to put it in, but they have to know it for some standardized test. 

I am proud to be a Waldorf homeschooling mother, and thrilled my children get to learn this way.  I don’t feel as if my children are missing anything, I feel confident that every academic skill is being covered and that the whole curriculum is complete and my children will be prepared.  We also have plenty of time to spend together as a family in joy and love.

Still not satisfied?  Here is another voice addressing this subject, have a look:  http://waldorfjourney.typepad.com/a_journey_through_waldorf/2009/06/can-waldorf-work-with.html

Happy meditating on this important subject,

Carrie

I guess because I am wrapped up in Babyland, I forgot that this is the time of year our homeschooling group gets calls from parents who have just pulled their children from school over Christmas break and need information fast!  I quickly remembered this, however, when I got calls from several parents at the end of last week.

Here are a few tips I have for this transition period from my experiences with families:

1.  Plan some time for de-schooling.  I had one mother come over to my house over the weekend so we could discuss a plan for her children and I advised her that starting with very simple things such as crafting, baking, cooking, being outside,  even taking a few field trips for the children in the grades, would be a good start without jumping right into Main Lesson Books and such. 

We have to not only deschool the children from the “worksheet” mentality that seems to so frequently pervade schools these days and show them that life at school is not life at home, but we have to deschool ourselves.  We have to let go of our own ideas and preconceived notions from our own schooling experience.  This takes time, and more time.  I have heard some mothers tell me that it took at least a year to really feel comfortable in their own skin and home learning after taking their child out of school.

The most important piece of any homeschooling is spending time with your children in love.  That’s the bottom line, and the rest will come.  Learn to slow down and enjoy each other and some  of the simpler things in life.

2.  Look at your child’s age to determine what year of Waldorf school they should be in.  Remember, a child should be 7 for most of Grade One, 8 for most of Grade Two, etc.  Waldorf at home is different than Waldorf at school, and in my experience these are the ages that work best.

3.  Hopefully you are familiar with the Waldorf curriculum if you are planning to school this way!   If not, take time to familiarize yourself with the essential components of each grade, the three-day rhythm, and consider scheduling a consultation with one of the national Waldorf Consultants.  I typically recommend Melisa Nielsen, Barbara Dewey and Donna Simmons.  Find whose voice speaks to you, start there, and stick with their products if you need a curriculum to follow to start.  Also be sure to check out Marsha Johnson’s free files at her Yahoo!Group www.waldorfhomeeducators.com’

4.  See where your child is.  I found the place where many public school children are lacking when they come to Waldorf homeschooling is form drawing and math. For example, a second grade math student in public school in my area is typically learning carrying and borrowing with addition and subtraction, but have never tackled division or multiplication or Roman Numerals and most of all, they have NEVER been taught math from whole to parts.

Parents always ask about well, with my second or third grader should I go back and do Main Lesson Blocks on the things we missed, such as fairy tales from the first grade or stories of saints and heroes from the second grade?  You could tell those stories at bedtime or before quiet time, but don’t go backward with school.   The only exception I would consider is a block to introduce all four math processes together and whole to parts.   Meet the child with the food their soul needs for their grade.

5.  Make a short list of what resources you will need right away.  This may include essentials such as Main Lesson Books,  beeswax crayons (block and stick), beeswax modeling material, a blowing instrument, knitting needles and yarn, wet on wet painting materials.   Add in what curriculum books you will need right away – perhaps a form drawing book, and other products.  At this point in the year though, consider your finances.  You will want to order products for fall homeschooling around April so you have time to work with it over the summer (if you don’t write your own), so consider what you will need now and what you will need for fall and plan  your budget accordingly.

6.  Consider how your day will flow.  Map it out, choose some verses for opening and closing, think about breaks and how you will incorporate movement and activity into your homeschool and main lessons.  Think strongly about carving an hour or even hour and a half break in the middle of the day for your grades children where you eat lunch and have quiet time.  Everyone needs the rest by the middle of the day, and the grades children can use this time to draw, rest, read, or knit.

7.  Think about where you are in your inner work and how you want to progress with that.  I recommend you start by reading some Steiner.

Melisa Nielsen had a good post that really broke things down for entering Waldorf at each grade and I encourage you to check it out: 

 http://waldorfjourney.typepad.com/a_journey_through_waldorf/2010/01/coming-to-waldorf-midyear.html

Most of all, home is not school.  Use your home to your advantage; hike during the week, enjoy the fact your Main Lesson can be completed in 90 minutes or so, work on things as a family such as gardening and cooking.

Homeschooling is a joy!

In Joy,

Carrie

Did you ever get the feeling that Waldorf homeschoolers or Waldorf families in general lose the forest for the trees sometimes?  Or that their lives and their children must be absolutely perfect because they have this perfect rhythm in this perfectly peaceful home where every object has a place and there are only natural toys where everyone goes about singing all day long like Maria Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music”?

Humph.

Here is my idea, and see what you all think:

I think Waldorf Education is for everyone.  I think even if you do not agree one hundred percent with what Steiner wrote, elements of Waldorf Education can still work for you and your family.  I still think Steiner was an amazing observer of children, and so many of the ways he thought to bring life and morals and yes, education to children in a school setting was incredible!  Many of his simple observations of children match with what Gesell, Piaget and other child psychologists have also noted in child development.  This curriculum is possibly the best match for what Gesell and Piaget thought.

Interestingly enough, in his book, “The Therapeutic Eye: How Rudolf Steiner Observed Children”, Peter Selg writes, “At the Stuttgart teachers’ meetings, Rudolf Steiner would never be abstract, let alone moralistic.”  In another few pages, he quotes Caroline von Heydebrand ( a teacher)  as saying that “Rudolf Steiner was someone “whose wise insight was exceeded only by his kindness.” He asked teachers to approach students from a point of love that came from the deepest  knowledge of the developing human being.

In the first seven years, we work to protect a child’s senses, to develop a child’s imagination, to work with the child’s impulses and will through movement and fantasy and through the child’s body.  Why then, do so many people turn the first seven years into  a  list of “Can Not’s” and “Should Not’s”?

I suggest that these people are looking at the first seven years in Waldorf from a negative perspective; the things Waldorf “won’t let my child do” as opposed to what will best nurture and develop the child in the first seven years.  I have worked with so many children over the years from premature infants up until age twenty-one, in intensive care units, in outpatient facilities, in the home, in breastfeeding clinics, in support groups.  I have worked with children with special needs, children with physical challenges, children with emotional and mental challenges.  I have observed so many children over the years.    We are all human beings.  These children, all of them, would have benefitted from the indications we follow in the first seven years in Waldorf Education.  I feel strongly about Waldorf Education precisely because of my experience and observations.

Do not use Waldorf as an excuse to suck the joy out of your family  life nor to put down the people around you because they do things differently.  Be a light, and a kind light, for those around you.  Perhaps your example, without any words at all, will be powerful to them on their journey.  They are doing the best they can with the information they have at this moment.  And if they are not really thinking, oh dear, that is unfortunate for the children.   But not everyone is interested in being a mindful parent.  And even mindful parents have differences of opinions!

Have joy, keep the very big picture in mind as to what is important – rest, rhythm, outside time, fostering the imagination through music and stories and puppetry, movement, protecting the senses, giving the child a sense of goodness and security in the family and home and the world.  That is the bottom line. It is not that television is evil or that computers are evil or that if your child looks through a magnifying glass before they are nine they are going to die or if they teach themselves to read they are going to be damaged! 

It is, though, about what you as a family make as a priority, how you live consistently, how the younger your child is the more protection of their senses that they need, and how you do need to make some hard choices about what to wait on and what to start now.  As a society we tend to offer the small child everything in one giant lump at an early age and dump it on them – “Here you go!  You are six, right?  Here is Teddy Roosevelt and World War II and Irag and a microscope and a computer and the Internet and oh! don’t forget your cell phone and here, you can watch that movie, no problem and sure, Harry Potter is fine, enjoy the last book especially!  Want to earn some money?  Better get on that fast track now!  Here’s your list of classes and sports and school activities!”

I should hope that even without Waldorf Education, we would figure out that a six- year- old is not the same person as a sixteen –year old and that some things should come later rather than earlier.  I would hope we would stop and ask ourselves if our child really does need to know that, to do that, to be talked to in that way at that age and to stop and think.  What we say and what we do makes our child’s world and their reality.  Think about what kind of world and reality you want it to be!

The world will open up; the right thing at the right time. 

Waldorf Education is for real parents and for real people.  People who have a sense of humor and love and delight in the child.  Are you one of those kinds of people?

Peace,

Carrie

Do I think you have to be an anthroposophist in order  to work with Waldorf Education at home?  No.  Do I think you should read Steiner’s lectures regarding Waldorf Education?  Yes.  Do I think you must have a truly deeper understanding of Steiner’s ideas as far as anthroposophy  in order to be a really, really good Waldorf Home Educator?

Possibly.  And I say possibly because I think in the home environment one can choose how much or how little one wants to work with the some of Steiner’s views alongside our own faith for our own spiritual journey. 

Here is an old post regarding “What is Anthroposophy” that Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschool assisted me in writing:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/09/04/what-is-anthroposophy/

The relationship between anthroposophy, religion, and Waldorf comes up as people are drawn to exploring the spiritual nature of the basis of  Waldorf Education.  One of the major questions is this dual- sided coin of:  1.  Is Waldorf Education Christian?  or 2.  Is Waldorf Education Pagan? (or the corollary questions of  is Waldorf Education compatible with Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism?)

And because others say it far better than I ever could, here is a great post by Donna Simmons regarding “Anthroposophy, Religion and Waldorf” here :   http://christopherushomeschool.typepad.com/blog/2005/12/anthroposophy_r.html

She has a small section regarding Judaism and anthroposophy that is interesting, and talks about how Christians and Pagans will find things here that resonate with them, and perhaps things that don’t! 

 Here is an article by Eugene Schwartz relating anthroposophy and The Kindergarten Years:  http://knol.google.com/k/anthroposophy-and-waldorf-education-the-kindergarten-years#

and Mr. Schwartz had this to say regarding anthroposophy in Waldorf Education and whether all Waldorf teachers needed to be anthroposophists as well:  http://www.southerncrossreview.org/41/schwartz.htm

 If one concentrates solely on the lectures by Rudolf Steiner as related to education, and there is a page of them here at Bob and Nancy’s bookshop:  http://www.waldorfbooks.com/edu/steiner_waldorf.htm (beginning works) and here (more in-depth works):  http://www.waldorfbooks.com/edu/waldorf_depth.htm, that is probably the best place to start.  You can then decide how this relates  to your use of Waldorf Education within your own home. 

This is a complex subject that deserves pondering.  Where are you in your journey with this?

Many blessings,

Carrie