Category Archives: Homeschooling

The Heart Of Waldorf Homeschooling

Posted on by
5

(CARRIE”S NOTE:  I regret to say that as of 6/2010  this link no longer is working.  Sorry about that!)

Lovey over at Lovey-land wrote a post that should be at the top of all Waldorf homeschooling mama’s reading lists:

http://lovey-land.blogspot.com/2009/05/stumbling-blocks-and-answers.html

This post is essentially the heart of the Waldorf curriculum. Handwork and enjoying being outside in nature does not a Waldorf homeschooler make.  Incorporating stories does not a Waldorf homeschooler make.  Being media-free does not a Waldorf homeschooler make.

The heart of Waldorf  education is understanding and believing and trusting in the seven-year cycles of childhood development and understanding how each and every subject is laid out at the proper time for the holistic development of the child within the curriculum.    It is trusting that even though a child is interested in something, they are interested in lots of things, and that the things laid out in the curriculum of Waldorf education really provides the subject at the best possible time for the child to learn, grow and take this material into themselves. For example, we could look at rock layers as we camp near a canyon and our child is interested, but the curriculum will delve into geology in depth in the sixth grade in a response and deepening to the fact that a sixth grader is becoming more solidified in their position on Earth.   The entire curriculum works as stepping stones, building upon each layer, year after year.    It assists us, a society who can’t seem to find a clue about what a child needs when or how a child develops anymore, to be better educators and parents.

Waldorf education is academically rigorous, and we have so many advantages in homeschooling using Waldorf.  But the key is still to know what comes in the curriculum and WHY it comes there.  We can tailor things to our own family, but we must know and understand the big picture of what comes when in order to do this.

The heart of Waldorf is not natural toys, and the pink bubble of Kindergarten that people think exists and lasts forever.  Kindergarten and delayed academics is a short part of the entire scholarly career.  While practical skills such as handwork, cooking or woodworking  are important,  that is not the heart and soul of it all.   What IS the heart and soul is the way that Waldorf teaches the right thing, at the right time, in the most concise way possible – a method Steiner himself called “soul economy.”

Thanks to Lovely over at Lovey-land.  You read my mind today,

Carrie

The Mini-Rant of Boundaries, Balancing and More

Posted on by
6

My dear friend came over yesterday and while our children played we were just talking.  She mentioned some of her experiences whilst tutoring children in German, her native language,  and commented that some of the brightest, most academic, most verbal boys were also “the most difficult to work with”  within a tutoring situation.    When I queried her further, she said she felt that these boys, while often  very bright, were often VERY behind in other areas, including understanding of boundaries and personal space, manners, gross motor skills and fine motor skills.  (Oh, but they can read!  They have read since they were three!)

Donna Simmons just wrote this insanely good post about boundaries on her blog, have you all read it?  Here is the link in case you haven’t  yet:  http://christopherushomeschool.typepad.com/blog/2009/04/boundaries.html

This is an excellent reminder of what so many parents are doing with their children in our society (and not doing) and boundaries are there throughout all of our lives. 

To me, this inability of children to deal with boundaries of which my friend was speaking, (which, by the way,  I see more and more of), is directly tied into the lack of rhythm of the early years in children under 7 where no boundaries are set. The Early Years are the foundation for the rest of life.  Bedtime is when the child is  over- tired.  Naptime may or may not happen.  Meals and snacks are a different time each day.  Caregivers may be different with the rotation of the small child from room to room in daycare as they mature and grow.  Instead of being firmly entrenched at home, the small child is more and more likely to be going to the mall, the play area at the mall, out to lunch, and on every errand.

Instead of placing importance of the small child learning boundaries, becoming rhythmical, being rested and fed whole foods, living in their bodies and experiencing things through their senses,  we place the emphasis on “Have they started preschool yet?  Do they know their numbers and letters?”  If this is so beneficial for the long run, why is the United States behind other countries in academic indicators as the grades progress?  I had a dear Dutch neighbor who was amazed at the things her daughter learned here in the United States in the second and third grade and remarked that some of the things her child was learning was not taught until much later, sometimes in the SEVENTH grade, in the Netherlands.  If our emphasis on academic prowess in the early years and the early grades is so wonderful, why do we have such a high rate of ADD/ADHD, why do we see so many school-aged children who are having health issues related to stress, why do we see so many teenagers who are battling that feeling of “I have already done it all, I know everything, I have seen it all”?

I feel the problems we are seeing in the areas of boundaries with small children who are oh –so -smart and who can chatter incessantly oh- so -well has to do with our direct inability as a society to set boundaries with our children. 

We seem to have lost as a whole in our society the ability to distinguish the need to set boundaries that will keep the child a small child.  Instead, a small child is enmeshed in an adult world, with adult ideas and explanations and adult hurrying. 

Instead of letting the child be a small child, and realizing that a first, second, and third grader is still small and there is time to learn certain advanced concepts when the child is ready, there is this notion that if we start early and we just practice enough and repeat it enough, the child will get it!  Yes, the child may memorize it –but does it feed the child’s soul? does it speak to the child and the level of experience the child has?  Does it relate to what is in the child’s everyday life that they know?  Oh, hang developmental and physiological maturation anyway, we must know better than Mother Nature and our Creator, right?

This is one of the absolute major hang-ups I have with The Well-Trained Mind for the Early Grades – and my problem with it is not the idea that the child won’t  enjoy the  stories of ancient history, because they probably will.  They will probably enjoy spending time with you and listening to whatever you have to say!   But they probably will enjoy fairy tales, legends, nature tales just as much and take these truths into their souls more than just the story of how someone said it was some time ago.   Again, I think that learning some of these concepts early is just a symptom of the “expose the child early enough, drill it through several different times through the educational process and it will eventually stick” that we are seeing everywhere…….But does this lead to creativity and problem-solving that the technical nature of our society requires now and will require even more in the future?  As a science person, these are the questions that keep me up at night.

I hear parents worry about the academic rigorousness of Waldorf.  Waldorf education IS academically rigorous, at least in my household, but it is RESPECTFUL of where the child is.  Who says first grade should be as academically rigorous as the tenth grade?  This makes no common sense at all.   The things that are laid out in the Waldorf curriculum will have more impact and more meaning on their lives  than other methods, and yes, Virginia, you can still get in all your academic concepts through the wonderful stories and art and movement  in the Waldorf curriculum.  There are still matters of grammar, punctuation, writing, math, learning to play music, art, and all those other skills in the early grades in Waldorf.  That perceived pink bubble of Waldorf kindergarten does not last forever!  But that to me, is more where a small child SHOULD be!

And maybe, if we focus on the whole picture, the whole child, the idea of what a child needs outside of academics to function in our society, then we will be on to something.

Spend some time thinking about boundaries in your family.  Are the boundaries of people respected in your house?  What is done for the good of the whole family?  If someone has a need for rest, is this respected?  How about the ability to finish a sentence without interruption? Is your child learning manners, learning reverence, learning gratitude, experiencing things through their bodies and their senses? Boundaries are things children are learning over time, with GENTLE and LOVING guidance – they don’t happen overnight!  But they are every bit as important, if not more so, than the whole notion of being able to decode a symbol on a page at an early age.

So much for my rant of the day,

Carrie

Age for Waldorf First Grade

Posted on by
Reply

If you are confused, well, join the rest of us!  Some Waldorf resources say the child is six in first grade, other sources say seven.  The general guideline I have used is that the child should be at least six and a half by the time the First Grade starts.  This means if your child has a summer birthday, they may be seven when first grade starts.  Most early six- year -olds are still in Waldorf Kindergarten (or should be). 

Do not rush, you can never get the Waldorf Kindergarten six –year- old year back!  And most children will benefit from the extra time to just “be” without having to focus on a main lesson for two hours.  No need to rush the end of that first seven-year cycle.

Hope that helps,

Carrie

Thoughts for Homeschooling Waldorf Grade Two

Posted on by
2

I personally am very excited to prepare for Grade Two!  A Grade Two child should be close to eight years of age and the Waldorf curriculum for this age reflects the increasing separation (but not complete)  of the child from the dreamland of the first seven-year-cycle.  A second-grader should still be open and trusting about the world, although not nearly as dreamy as your First Grader should have been.  Second Grade is a  deepening of what has been taught in the First Grade, and we have the privilege of making sure our child really does know all their phonetic sounds of the letters, sight words, going deeper with our four math processes, increased and more realistic Science.  We have the opportunity to make sure the child is learning these things through movement, art, and music and rhythm instead of dry, mind-numbing workbooks and reading comprehension paragraphs.

Stories of the Saints sometimes throw parents during this year.  The Saints are NOT taught within the context of the Catholic Church (although if you wanted to do that at home, I suppose you could!)  There are also  Hindu saints (see Hear the Voice of the Griot! by Betty Staley for suggestions) and Donna Simmons has some suggestions for Saints and Heroes from Russia, Native America, China and other places. Donna Simmons writes in her “The Christopherus Waldorf Curriculum Overview for Homeschoolers”:

“Stories of the Saints is a wonderful Main Lesson found in most Waldorf schools.  Here one is telling stories from the lives of people who were not quite of this world – whether this is Brendan braving the waves to sail to new lands,  Francis addressing the wolf at Gubbio or Bride traveling to another life via the well.  This is not a block on good people or people who have done good deeds.  This is about other-wordly people, messengers from the spiritual world – a place the eight year-old still relates to.”

Second Grade material also could include the Buddhist Jataka Tales from India, myths and legends of the world, Native American or African trickster tales, Robin Hood or King Arthur, Mungo.   The moral lesson of the tale, as far as trickster tales and fables,  is NOT directly said – the child will figure it out!  Remember what Steiner said about supplying the child of this age with conclusions (and if you forgot, see this post here: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/04/17/inspirational-words-from-steiners-the-education-of-the-child-regarding-teaching-of-the-7-14-year-old/).

Language Arts is centered around starting to learn the types of speech (the four kinds of words – name words, doing words, how words and color words.  You can see Dorothy Harrer’s “An English Manual” by Dorothy Harrer), punctuation, writing paragraphs, more word families, sight words.  All of this is taught creatively through stories and movement, not through dry workbooks. 

Eric Fairman has many examples of how to tackle the four kinds of words in his book regarding second grade and is a good resource.

Math this year has the following goals, taken from Ron Jarman’s “Teaching Mathematics in Rudolf Steiner School for Classes I-VIII”:

a) Rhythmic learning by heart the rest of the multiplication tables (up to 12 times) and in many ways: 12 is three times 4, three 4s are 12, 4 into 12 goes three.  Rhythmic clapping, speaking, etc of sequences, both forwards and backwards, of sequences like 3  6 9  12

b)Intensive mental arithmetic, and practical problems where is has to be used.  Use of the familiar terms “a half of”, “a quarter of”, “the difference between”.  Playing store with money.

c)Written arithmetic in units, tens, hundreds and thousands – with addition, subtraction, short multiplication and short division; all involving carrying.

d)  Simple money sums

e) Development of symmetrical form drawing – using several shapes on the same piece of paper with one vertical axis of symmetry, extension to horizontal plus vertical axes, with horizontal axis alone.

f) freehand drawing of various symmetrical shapes – ovals, pentagons, pentagrams and interlacing figures

g) Experience of directions of space N, S, E and W

h)Factor multiplication and division

i)  Predicting the rough answer of a sum before doing it

j)  Translating large numbers into words and vice versa.

Science focuses on the characteristics of animals, taken from the Fables and Saint Stories as part of the three –day rhythm. If you are confused how to do this, I highly suggest you join Marsha Johnson’s Yahoo!group waldorfhomeedcuators and access her second grade files regarding how to do this.  Other blocks may include working with the four elements.  Gardening is a practical way to incorporate Science in second grade at home.  I have a complete post regarding the scope and sequence of Science throughout the years in the Waldorf curriculum:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/02/28/science-in-waldorf-homeschooling/

Form Drawing has been mentioned, with a focus of mirrored or symmetrical forms on a vertical axis, crossing the axis, working with a horizontal axis and then work with both axis lines toward the end of Second Grade.

Knitting in some schools included projects with purling now; some schools move into crochet.  Hand sewing can still be done as well.

Music should be continuing with singing and your blowing instrument and more songs.  Piano is not included in the Waldorf curriculum and a stringed instrument is introduced in the Third Grade, but some homeschooling parents do start piano lessons here.

Modeling, as taken from Arthur Auer’s wonderful book “Knowing About the World Through Modeling”, include wonderful ideas for working with the animals of many of the fable and Saint stories. 

Wet-on-wet painting lessons often link up with the stories of saints and fables.  Dick Bruin and Attie Lichthart write in their book “Painting in Waldorf Education”,  that in order to keep the painting from becoming a representation of something from the story instead of a color conversation, sometimes the painting exercises are done a few months after the stories are told.

Gardening, as mentioned before, should be an important part of your curriculum in the home environment.  Working with the four elements is also laying the foundation for later physics of the sixth grade, so do that work carefully.

All in all, a wonderful year with lots of material to choose from!

Carrie

Inspirational Words from Steiner’s “The Education of the Child” Regarding Teaching of the 7-14 Year Old

Posted on by
4

Steiner’s Thoughts on the Education of the Child Aged 7-14

From Education of the Child, 1996 print edition:

“Then, from the change of teeth on, the etheric body that is now developing must bring to the physical body the forces whereby it can make its forms firm and inwardly complete. Whatever makes the strongest impression on the etheric body also works powerfully toward consolidating the physical body. The strongest of all the impulses that can work on the etheric body come from the feelings and thoughts through which the human beings consciously divine and experience their relationship to the Eternal Powers- That is, they come from religious experience. Never will a person’s will – nor as a result a person’s character – develop in a healthy way, if one cannot during this period of childhood receive religious impulses deep into the soul. How people feel their place and part in the universal whole will be expressed in the unity of their life of will. If they do not feel linked with strong bonds to a divine-spiritual, their will and character must remain uncertain, divided, and unsound.”

Again, on page 60 in my edition: ”Most important of all is religious instruction. Images of things supersensible are deeply imprinted in the ether body. The pupil’s ability to have an opinion about religious faith is not important, but receiving descriptions of the supersensible, of what extends beyond the temporal. All religious subjects must be presented pictorially.”

Steiner goes on to talk about the development of FEELING during this period (as opposed to the WILLING of the Kindergarten/Early Years) –

-developed through pictures and parables

-through the pictures and stories of great men and women, taken from history and other sources

-a correspondingly deep study of the secrets and beauties of nature is also important for the proper formation of the world of feeling

-the cultivation of the sense of beauty and the awakening of the artistic feeling

-the musical element “must bring to the etheric body the rhythm that will then enable it to sense in everything the rhythm otherwise concealed. Children who are denied the blessing of having their musical sense cultivated during these years will be the poorer because of it for rest of their lives.”

– the moral sense of children is being formed by the pictures of life placed before them, through the authorities they naturally look up to

-“Thought in its proper form, as an inner life lived in abstract concepts, must still remain in the background during this period of childhood. It must develop itself, as it were, without external influences, while life and the secrets of nature are being unfolded in parable and picture.” Steiner attributes the ability to form independent opinions after puberty to how abstract concepts are handled during the period of ages 7-14. He felt by awakening independent judgment too early, we will damage the problem-solving ability, the ability of independent thought in the adolescent. This is why the years of the second seven-year period are focused more on examples, analogies, rather than just conclusions. Conclusions in Waldorf teaching do not come in until after age 14 for various reasons.

“If we force children into critical thinking before the age of fourteen, it is particularly disadvantageous for them and forces them to create their own conclusions or lose the well-intended power of the surrounding persons of authority. It is very bad if the child cannot look up to anyone.”

-the two things connected with the development of the etheric body are habit and memory. “For this reason you should try to give children a firm foundation for life anchored in good habits. People who act differently every day, who lack a stable basis for their deeds, will later lack character……Children need to learn upright habits and to have a rich store of memorized knowledge.”

-We form a strong memory during this second seven year year period by instructing children and NOT by teaching through example as in the Kindergarten years. “We form a strong memory, not by explaining all the “whys” and “wherefores”, but through authority.” Steiner said.

-We must surround children with people they can trust – people who can awaken in children a belief in the authority they hold.

-“Great care must be taken that teaching is brought to life. Much is spoiled in the child if it is burdened with too much that is dull and lifeless. Whatever is taught in a lively interesting manner benefits the child’s ether body. There should be much activity and doing, which has a quickening effect on the spirit.”

–The main emphasis of this second seven year period is on authority and community. It is also the time to foster the sense for beauty.

-We must harmonize interests with talents.

Most of all, remember that “Suppose we raise a child by emphasizing only the capacity for abstract thinking, as is so often done in school. Those pure concepts and abstract ideas cannot affect the child’s feeling life. The feeling life remains undeveloped and unformed, and this shows itself later in all kinds of ordinary experiences.” (page 109) In my opinion, this is much of the problem with the educational system of the United States today.

Steiner’s words, written in “The Foundation of Human Experience”:

Enliven imagination,

Stand for truth,

Feel responsibility

Keep imagination alive in your teaching,

Carrie

More Great Read-Alouds for Waldorf First Grade

Posted on by
3

I wrote a post about good read-alouds for first grade here a bit ago: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/11/11/great-read-alouds-for-waldorf-at-home-first-grade/

Today, we are going to add these titles to that list:

The Cat’s Vacation by Irene Schoch for 6-8 year olds

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace for 6-7 year olds – Please pre-read as you usually do; as I remember Tacy comes from a large family and the newest baby in their family either dies at childbirth or right after childbirth.  It is addressed in a very sensitive way in a chapter, but it may be too much for some of the children.

Freddie the Pig Series – Walter R Brooks

Mrs. Pepperpot by Alf Proyson

One Hundred and One African –American Read-Aloud Stories by Susan Kantor

The Curious George Series for ages 5-8 by H.A. Rey – yes, either you love it or hate it!

Honk the Moose by Phil Strong for ages 7 and up

Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie dePaola for ages 6 and up

The Wind Boy by Ethel Cook Eliot

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen – a picture book, but just lovely to re-visit every year in the Winter

A Ride on the Red Mare’s Back by Ursula LeGuin

Paddington Bear Series – Michael Bond

If any one has others to suggest, please leave your thoughts in the comment box.  Please remember to pre-read and decide if these titles are right for you and your family. 

Also, the main goal of stories at this age is still to provide more of an archetypal element and not so much of  a ready to identify protagonist.  Fairy tales should still be the bulk of your stories this year in Main Lesson, and also outside of Main Lesson time.  Also, do not neglect your oral storytelling by telling  stories about animals around your home, what happened when your child was little, what happened when you were little.

Happy Reading,

Carrie

“Drawing With Your Four to Eleven Year Old”

Posted on by
6

This is a book written by Donna Simmons, and people ask me about it all the time.  I think so many parents are intimidated by the drawing part of the Waldorf curriculum, so I thought I would run through what this book has to offer. 

The introduction talks about how this book is a “short introduction to drawing with your child [that] is a very simple and basic glimpse at how parents might take methods used in Waldorf schools and work with them at home.”  What I appreciate here is her acknowledgement that home with Waldorf is different than Waldorf school, and understanding of the intimidation that many parents feel with drawing and the fact that the grades material is taught through artistic approaches.

The next section talks about “Materials” and outlines the specifics of block and stick crayons, pencils, other materials, paper and what suppliers to consider getting supplies from.    She then addresses the question most parents ask which is why do all the children’s pictures look the same in the beginning?  Why do all the children draw the same picture?  She writes that, “An important foundation to Waldorf education is the deeply held belief that it is imperative to work with the child at his appropriate stage of learning.  Young children, up to 6 or 7, learn best by imitation and so when the children paint or draw they do what their teacher does.”  There is further guidance about the use of Main Lesson Books and the drawing that may accompany main lessons in the grades. She also provides notes on outlining and painting and then moves into talking about drawing with each grade.

Kindergarten – there is a small amount of information that probably will not be satisfying to the mother new to Waldorf whose oldest child is of Kindergarten age (because there should be more, right??) :),  but will be perfectly satisfying to mothers who have been through the Kindy phase and realize how drawing is a small part of the daily rhythm at home usually at this point.  LOL.  My main advice to the mother of a Kindergartner is to simply slow down.  The artistic things can be important in the Waldorf Kindergarten at home, but remember, the main focus should be on rhythm, fostering of gratitude, getting your child into their body and protecting those 12 senses, along with the development of YOUR skills in different areas of the curriculum.    Please do see some of the Waldorf Kindergarten posts on this blog for ideas!

First Grade – Donna talks about making borders for the Main Lesson Book, drawing of figures and also an introduction to form drawing. 

Second Grade – Donna talks about the transition to making drawings of more detail and provides examples of Main Lesson Book pages to draw from.

Third Grade – She talks about how to work with drawing in conjunction with some of the Third Grade blocks of building, Old Testament, and provides examples of how to draw animals and the habitats the animals live in. 

Fourth Grade – Donna talks about drawing maps, the use of proportions and blocking out pictures. 

Fifth Grade – Drawing becomes more realistic and challenging in the Fifth Grade Waldorf curriculum.  She talks about free-hand geometric drawings and the role of drawing in the ancient blocks, and of course the drawing that is prevalent in the botany blocks.

She then has notes about “Looking Ahead”.  Sixth Grade is about perspective drawing, and mastering charcoal pencils. She provides several pages of resources regarding Basic Waldorf Education, Form Drawing and Painting, and Drawing.

In short, this little book is about 36 pages long and provides a fine overview of the progression of drawing in the curriculum with color examples and some detailed techniques.  I am personally glad to have this book on my shelf because it is a fast resource I can turn to the know what kinds of drawings I can expect with each grade and quick examples of how this might look for each grade.  Another book I can also recommend is “Drawing with Block Crayons”, which is more intensive in techniques but also requires you to really sit down with the book and work with it – you cannot just leaf through that book and absorb it, LOL. 

I think this book is worth checking out, as is “Drawing with Block Crayons”; however be forewarned you will need other resources for Form Drawing.

Hope that helps,

Carrie

Waldorf Homeschooling Versus Waldorf School

Posted on by
12

In this solemn economic time, our local Waldorf homeschooling group is getting more and more calls from the parents of the local Waldorf school who will not be able to afford Waldorf school in the fall and are interested in investigating Waldorf homeschooling.

I have a few thoughts on this subject.

It actually does come up, even in Waldorf homeschooling circles, this question of, “Well, if you had all the money in the world, wouldn’t you put your child in Waldorf school?”

And our family’s answer is no.  You will learn my bias toward Waldorf homeschooling in a moment, but let’s peak at the issue of school first.

PROS (or at least, hopes for a school!)

  • A community (hopefully!) of like-minded people gathering for festivals, a community of general happiness with the ideas of the Waldorf curriculum as tailored to the soul development of the child.  This can be very hard to find in a land of Well-Trained Mind homeschoolers and unschoolers.
  • A place where there are specialty teachers to bring things like eurythmy, foreign languages, woodworking, games.
  • Fabulous festival celebrations.
  • Some things, like Circle Time in Kindy and pedagogical stories in the grades , grouping children of the same temperament together, work well in a group at school and may not work nearly as well at home.
  • Great teachers who collaborate with parents as partners in education.
  • Hopefully the school will offer some of the other “extras” such as gardens and beekeeping and other totally enriching experiences for your child.
  • Hopefully adult opportunities for learning.

CONS (or at least possible cons)

  • Possibly long drive times to get to and from school.  In my major metropolitan area, you pretty much would have to sell your house and go buy one by the only Waldorf school in our area, or spend a great deal of time in the car.
  • Tuition, fundraising outside of tuition, extra fees.
  • Some parents who have left the Waldorf school environment for homeschooling felt like they learned a lot more by homeschooling than by being at the school.  For example, many parents told me they did not celebrate the festivals at home, only at school, and after transitioning to home they had to decide what the festivals meant to them and how to plan it, whereas at the school the festivals were planned and they had a part assigned to them.
  • Some parents who have left the school environment for homeschooling told me they felt that many parents were not on the same page regarding media in the younger grades and other areas, even with school policies set forth.
  • Some children truly do not function as well in a group environment in the younger grades.  Some parents told me they felt their wild child really calmed down with Waldorf homeschooling as opposed to school, or that their shy child really came out of their shell with homeschooling.
  • Some parents have told me they felt the repetition of the early grades, the focus on group unity in the early elementary grades, or lack of individual attention and progress to a slower or faster learner were hard to deal with.

Waldorf Homeschooling PROS (yes, this is my bias)

  • Waldorf homeschooling is first and foremost about family.  It is about spending copious amounts of time with your children, quantity time and really being there for all those little questions that come up during the oddest moments.
  • You can save  your children a great amount of overstimulation by not having to drive in traffic, and save money by not paying tuition.
  • You will learn about Steiner, festivals and make them your own.  You can fit your own faith into your homeschooling experience they way you want if this is important to you.  It is important to me.    You can tailor your blocks to your child – for second grade, for example, you can pick – there are the Saints and the animal trickster tales, of course but you can also pick “Cherokee Animal Trickster Tales” or Anansi the Spider or Robin Hood or American Tall Tales.  You can pick stories where the meaning really speaks to the things your child is struggling with.  You can pick what  festivals you celebrate and how, with the whole family involved in building up to the festival.
  • You will develop your own skills so you can teach your child.
  • You can spend a vast amount of time outside.
  • You can go on vacation when you want, and take a day off when you need to attend to family business.
  • You can foster close bonds between siblings who may otherwise be separated all day in different grades.
  • You can show your child the warmth and work that goes into homemaking, and have time to do this.
  • Dad may be able to be more involved as you can work your homeschooling around his schedule as well, and homeschooling and learning becomes a family adventure. You start planning family things around the blocks you are studying – weekend field trips different places that tie into what you are studying.  Grandparents and aunts and uncles can even get into the act!
  • You can move at your child’s pace within the curriculum.  I still feel with the grades it is important to keep within the three day rhythm and use sleep as your aid, but you can do more math blocks than language arts blocks if your child is a language arts star and needs more work in math, you can work toward longer sentences in language arts if they have mastered shorter sentences earlier, or move ahead in math if they really get it.
  • You can honor your child’s development as it unfolds.  Sometimes children do things that do not fit into the norm and need more time to just be.
  • With homeschooling, there is plenty of time for the child to play, to look at clouds, to make homemade salt dough, to just dream and be.  Sometimes this gets lost in the hustle and bustle of any school if one is not careful.

Waldorf Homeschooling CONS

  • I guess this to me is a pro, but to many parents it is a con: You need to do your own inner work with this method. How do you feel about fairy tales? Saints and legends?  The Old Testament as a story of a people’s relationship to authority?  How do you feel about what comes where within the curriculum?  This can be hard work for some people.

My thought on this:  Aren’t these questions you should be looking at anyway?

  • You have to get to know your own community and your own resources.   Waldorf homeschooling in the US Virgin Islands is going to look a lot different than homeschooling in Idaho, not because the building block in the Third Grade is going to change, but the local resources are different.  A child in the US Virgin Islands might learn about the use of molasses as a building and binding agent, or the particulars of the cannonball tree in botany  in addition to other cultures’ building methods and a child in Idaho may focus more on local things in addition to others’ building methods.  This intimidates many parents, that their child “may not learn it all.”

My thought on this:  Even a Waldorf teacher in a school has to pick and choose amongst possible blocks and available resources; just like you!

  • Being a Waldorf homeschooler can be hard in some respects when everyone else around you is homeschooling with other methods.

My thought on this:  Start your own local Waldorf homeschooling group.  Be a beacon for your area!  Hang out with homeschoolers who use other methods, and be okay with that.  Do what works for your family!

  • Some parents feel Waldorf requires intensive work.

My thought on  this:  All homeschool curriculums require work on your part. That is called teaching, as just opposed to opening a book and handing it to your small child.  There are open and go kinds of Waldorf homeschool curriculums out there.

  • Some parents feel Waldorf homeschooling requires severe lifestyle changes.

My thought on this:  Baby steps, people, baby steps.  Homeschooling in itself is a lifestyle, no matter what method you choose.    And the pink protective bubble of Waldorf Kindergarten does not last forever.

  • Waldorf homeschooling is not the same as Waldorf school at home.

My thought:  Absolutely and that is one of the reasons I choose to homeschool.

I appreciate your thoughts and comments in the comment section,

Carrie

Flu Poems

Posted on by
3

My first grader wrote these while she had the flu and a 102 degree fever (before we went island hopping).  I thought they were cute and I would share:

Thank You

Many thanks for our food.

And many thanks for our love.

Many thanks for my prayers which

My Lord hears so well.

And this one:

Do You Love Me?

Do you love me Mother?

Yes, for all the world.

Do you love me Father?

Yes, with all my heart.

Everyone loves me.

Peace,

Carrie

Ron Jarman’s Math Goals for Waldorf Grade One

Posted on by
3

This is from Ron Jarman’s book, “Teaching Mathematics in Rudolf Steiner Schools for Classes I-VIII”: (some of these goals have been shortened, you need to get his book to see more of the details!).  I took them directly from the book, so please note the very English spelling of some of the words! 🙂

a. Experience of straight and curved lines- in bodily posture, by walking along them and through drawing them in colour on the blackboard and on large sheets of paper.

b.  Introduction to whole numbers, proceeding from whole to its parts (e.g. breaking up a dead stick). Finding where they reveal themselves in the world.

c.  Counting – first up to 10, then up to 20, later up to 100.  (He mentions counting rhymes, jumping, skipping, singing, movement, movement, movement)

d.  Estimating the size of collections, especially of shells, stones and nuts.  Arranging them in groups and patterns.

e.  Experience of forms containing straight and curved lines…finally concentrating on the writing of the Roman numerals and later the Arabic numerals.

f.  Experience of the 4 rules and developing imagination for the invisible third number in each sum (using concrete objects)

g.  A lot of mental arithmetic – both orally and through writing down just the answers.  Games with mental arithmetic.

h.  Written arithmetic with the 4 rules, (physical demonstration first, going into imaginative type, then into purely computational kinds of sums)

i.  drawing repeated patterns

j.  symmetrical form drawing

k. free modelling of shapes including flat and curved surfaces

l.  comparison of lengths and widths, but not by using rulers or pairs of scales – instead using their own limbs and body weights together and as a group

m. rhythmic learning by heart of the 2 times, 3 times, and 10 times tables; also of number bonds up to a total of 20.

There you have it!  This really is a book that belongs on your bookshelf; it is easily available through Bob and Nancy’s at www.waldorfbooks.com, the Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore, and many of the used Waldorf curriculum lists.  Maybe my Canadian and British readers can let me know a supplier they use. 

Thanks,

Carrie