This is a big fear of mothers when first looking at Waldorf education for their homeschooling experience. Sometimes the singing, verses, storytelling  can seem daunting, let alone moving into wet-on-wet watercolor painting, modeling, drawing with block crayons!  Ack!!  What is a Not-Creative Mother to do in a Creative Waldorf World?

First of all, go back to the skill list I posted for the work of the mother in the Kindergarten here:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/03/09/a-mothers-job-in-the-waldorf-homeschool-kindergarten/

Pick a skill and get started LEARNING it, DOING it, not just reading about it!

If circle time and stories are daunting to you, pick some pre-made ones with tunes you may know.  Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures has a number of circles written, including a Mother Goose Journey, and the book Let Us Form A Ring has many fairy tales and stories appropriate for the kindergarten crowd.  Familiar things from your own childhood may be a place to start. 

If the ability to read music is holding you back, look and see if  no one you know amidst all of your friends took high school band or orchestra and could help you.  (Sometimes if you go to a place of worship the musical people there may be able to lend a helping hand as well!).  If not, please consider a few lessons with a music teacher just to be able to read the notes.  This is helpful even if you have to write the name of the note above the note on the piece of paper.  My friend Jodie Mesler is working hard on a Waldorf Homeschool Music Curriculum for mothers who have no musical background.  See this post on her blog for her progress on this important work:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/03/03/waldorf-homeschool-music-curriculum/

The important thing is to start, start and start! Some circles and stories will be a flop.  Circle Time may not work in your house at all, and you may choose to work your daily verses around your practical work and start your morning with a walk outside and some fingerplays before a story.

If you cannot memorize the story, then write the story down in a beautiful book.  This lovely idea comes from Donna Simmons of Christopherus.  I personally think it is more important to start with the story, even with the story written down, then to wait until the perfect time to have the perfect story memorized in the perfect year!  Then it will never happen!!

Once you have started there, you can slowly but surely start working on other areas – a blowing instrument, wet-on-wet painting, modeling, drawing.  Get out a calendar and PLAN some time to do this.  Make arrangements to do it at night after your children go to bed, before your children get up, or have a family member take your kids out to the park for a few hours while you paint twice a month.

If you have no plan and you are just sitting around reading and wondering how Waldorf will look in your home, it will never happen.  Get your calendar out, and make plans.  Try it and adjust.  Sometimes we plan and the way we planned it didn’t fly in our house, and that is okay, but you will not know that until you start!

You would have to plan with ANY kind of curriculum you choose. If you were unschooling, you may have to have time to strew things about your house according to your child’s interest.  If you were doing Well-Trained Mind, you would still have to take the time to search for library books and supplies for hands-on projects to bring the Ancient times or Roman times  to life.  Being a good homeschooling teacher does require some degree of, well, teaching!

If you are doing Waldorf, you will need to open up your creative side to give your child what they desperately need in this phase of life.  If you feel the educational system you were part of stifled your own creativity to the point you  have none, do not perpetuate this with your own child!   If your child is very head-oriented and analytical, the Waldorf curriculum will make them better problem-solvers in the long run.  We need analytical people who can solve problems!  The goal of Waldorf is not to make every child  want to grow up to be an artist, but to be the best human and the best at their job they can be!

If you open up and start giving your own creativity some berth, you will be surprised how fast your creativity returns and flowers!

Get out there and DO,

Carrie

Are you a complete and utter Waldorf book and curriculum junkie?  Do you have small children under the age of 7 and probably close to a hundred different Waldorf books?  Do you spend hours on the Waldorf big lists, forums and other “Waldorf expert sites”?

If you do, then this post is for you.  If you are spending a lot of time reading and planning and not a lot of doing, I am speaking to you today.

Just. Step. Away. From. The. Books.

I want you to find a half an hour for yourself, ALONE and get a piece of paper.

I don’t know how old your children are, or where you are in your Waldorf journey, but let’s assume you have young children under the age of 7.  Here are a few questions for you to meditate on:

• What draws you to Waldorf homeschooling for your family?
• What is least appealing about Waldorf homeschooling to you?  What do you find completely challenging these days?
• Have you read any of Steiner’s works yourself?  List them.
• What have you physically done so far in your Waldorf journey?  Have you started on your own inner work?  Have you structured your environment?  Have you started having with more consistent rhythm in your home?  Have you moved on toward incorporating more practical work in your home by hand on a consistent basis?  Are you going outside more?  Look at what you HAVE done and congratulate yourself!  Rome wasn’t built in a day; think baby steps!  Waldorf does not have to be dogma that sucks the joy out of your life; it should be the thing that helps you create joyous family connections!
• Are you down to picking stories and verses for circle time and other activities and feeling lost?  Where is the disconnect for you?

Sometimes Waldorf homeschooling can seem like a lot of work; like it incorporates an entire lifestyle as opposed to just a way to educate your child.  I am encouraging you to step back and breathe.  You do not have to be Waldorf –perfect!  Waldorf is a journey, and Waldorf at home is completely different than Waldorf at Waldorf school in so many ways.

Waldorf homeschooling is first and foremost about family.  So, if you feel like you are ready to ditch Waldorf because it is all too hard, step back.  Take a break.  Do something out of the routine. Remind yourself of how far you have come!

Also, remind yourself that homeschooling in general is an exercise of the parent’s will, no matter what method you choose.  Even if you choose a completely open a workbook and teach your four year old cursive kind of thing, you still have to choose to open the book each day that you are homeschooling.  Even if you are unschooling, you still have to take the time each day to find out what is speaking to your child’s soul and how to best stimulate that.  Homeschooling is hard work at times, and does require discipline on the part of the parent!

The lovely thing about Waldorf is the early years can be mainly being home, being outside, and playing, along with lots of singing and verses and storytelling.  Waldorf early years gives you a lot of time to work up to the discipline you will need for the grades.

So, if you find yourself overwhelmed, just step away from all those books and search your heart for how Waldorf would be right and how it would look in your family.  Connect with your family because that is what it is all about.

Please leave your comments and challenging things in the comment section and maybe we can all help each other!

Peace,

Carrie

There are divorce and custody cases where Waldorf homeschooling (and any kind of homeschooling) is being contested by part of legal proceedings, and I am NOT referring to that here).  This post is more in relation to regular criticism.

Criticism of how one is homeschooling one’s children is always difficult, and it is even more difficult when the criticism is leveled by close family and friends.  I personally have found this very difficult.  As frequently as I explain that the things within the Waldorf curriculum are picked and developed for a particular chronological age, not so much an academic level, there is still doubt on the part of friends and family that this is the best way to educate a child in the early years.

The places I have found family and friends to have the most trouble in the early years (K-4)  are these:

• The lack of academics in the Kindergarten years, and the fact the Kindergarten years covers the six-year-old year.  That is a biggie for many people, especially in the United States,  when most six-year-olds are in first grade.
• The way science is approached through nature stories in the first and second grade with the practical science bridge being things like farming and building in the third grade.  People seem relieved when they see zoology and such starts in the fourth grade.  For more details on science within the Waldorf curriculum, please do see this post on this blog.
• People have a huge lack of understanding about the numbers and letters being introduced in the first grade. First of all, they think this takes the entire year with no true reading or mathematic operations taking place, but even if they do understand that, they think your child must be “bored”.
• If you have a child who is a good reader, then your child should not be in Waldorf because “it moves too slow” and “they know all those stories already.”
• The fact that “true and proper” history doesn’t start until the fifth grade can be a problem for some people. 
• They don’t understand the lack of worksheets, and paper clutter in general.
• Teaching through artistic mediums seems “too fluffy” to many people.
• Any others you all have heard and would like to add in the comment section?

Sigh.

Personally, I have explained, I have provided lots of information (sometimes the same information over and over, sigh)  and for some people, the mindset of Waldorf education is just too far from what the traditional view is and they just cannot wrap their heads around it. 

And, quite frankly, most people do not seem to want to take the time to really listen and understand.  If they did, they might find out that protecting your child’s academic progress so they do not completely burn out and truly are bored and tired of school when they are teen-agers is important to you.  They might find out you really want to have your child enjoy their childhood in a developmentally appropriate way.  They might find out that the seven-year cycles and Steiner’s view of the child’s education is very important to you.

They might find out that Waldorf is extremely academic rigorous in the middle and high school grades, that there really is a shift in the third grade, and that you do not believe you need to stuff your child’s head full of unrelated facts and worksheet drills to provide a good education.

You can talk to people about the truth of Waldorf, you can ask them to look at your whole child and the strengths and weaknesses they possess and how the curriculum really addresses that, you can talk about the rigorousness of the education and how it fits where the child is developmentally right now because a k-4 child is not a miniature adult, but this is the truth:

You can provide information, but you cannot make people believe for themselves.  That is their own journey, not yours, and you have to sometimes let it go, agree to disagree and be rather pointed about saying, “I know you want what is best for my child, I know you care, and I appreciate your concern and I value your friendship/the fact we are part of this family together, so let’s let this go.  Thanks!”

Back to more Tapestries,

Carrie

“The spiritual research of Rudolf Steiner led him to describe how we choose our parents, how we find a way to come from the spiritual world to the people we need to be our parents.  Complex dynamic forces are at work to bring about such a connection.  This view might help us look at our relationship  with our parents in a new way.” – page 22.

Betty Staley goes on to compare and contrast the role and feelings of three generations of women who have struggled with the change in the societal role of woman.

The first group she looks at the mothers of women who are now 50 or so (or 50 or so when this book was published in 1997).  She writes how these women experienced first-hand the changing roles of women in society and how confusing it was to know if being “only a housewife”  was “to be admired or not.”  Betty Staley also points out how hard it was for these women to sometimes watch their daughters “deny the value of motherhood (at least in the way they had defined it for most of their own adult life).

I actually know some women who are now in their 70s and 80s who have mixed feelings about the number of years they devoted solely to  homemaking and raising children.  Many re-entered the work force after their youngest child was in school.  Betty Staley looks at this dilemma of returning to work from full-time homemaking and how the family must change and adapt to this situation.

The second group of women Betty Staley looks at is her own generation.  She writes, “Mine is often a confused generation.  We still had a sense it was important to be a mother, that family was a priority.  Yet we also wanted careers…..So we tried all kinds of things: We celebrated motherhood, and downplayed its importance; we tried to put our careers first, or motherhood first.  We tried it all, and it’s still not resolved.”

Amen, Betty.  Amen.  These are still the issues that I think so many of us in this generation are grappling with in one aspect or another even today. 

I love being home, I love setting the tone in my home, the rhythm in my home, I love devoting myself to my children and my community and helping other mothers.  Yet, the other day, I took the time to figure out that if we have another child, because of the likely age span of our children, I would not be completely done homeschooling until I am 57 years old.  It wasn’t a terrible moment to realize this or anything, because I enjoy my life, but I have to admit it was kind of an odd thought.  Many families evaluate homeschooling as a year-by-year, child-by child kind of decision; so certainly those of you sitting out there with a three year old do not need to freak out, but it really was an interesting thought to me for myself.

And then it suddenly came to me; it was not so much the homeschooling and being with my children for the next how many ever years, but it was the thought that I still need to be able to grow as an individual during this time so when those years are over myself is still there.  My family is a huge part of me, but they are not all of me.  I enjoy writing, I enjoy learning about Waldorf education in a homeschooling context, I enjoy helping mothers.  For me, the next years have to have not only that homeschooling and family component but also that bit of me, even if it is just a few minutes for me each day.  I also need a bit of time for my husband and I  each day as I want us to grow together on this journey and not apart.  Relationships take work.

Betty Staley mentions the third group of women she looked at was this generation, our generation.   She says she has great admiration for this generation as they have seen it all.  “They and their friends have experienced mothers who were too focused on their own lives to  pay adequate attention to their children’s needs, they have experienced the chaos of divorce and the rootlessness of a generation which hardly knows what family is.  They have experienced the courage and commitment of single parents trying to survive.  They know more about the importance of independence and self-fulfillment. “

She goes on to say that this generation has more information, more facts and still has hope and many mothers of this generation are fighting for things such as improved child-care and health benefits, maternity benefits, help for nursing mothers, the involvement of dad in the lives of their children. 

I personally don’t know as there is a perfect balance or trade-off in family life and parenting.   I am not  sure the  we can “have it all” mentality  is really productive and not just causing more burn-out and confusion among the mothers of our generation.  On the other hand, the US lags behind almost every nation in terms of duration, payment and job security of maternity leave, and I believe women are often the best catalyst for change in our nation.   And I personally do see the value of being involved in my community and in community-based organizations.  I admire women who are doing things for these causes at the national level.

However, as a homeschooling mother, I think my biggest perspective on the whole home –or –work- or-issue- involvement issue is this:  I see the quiet revolution we as stay-at-home, Waldorf homeschooling mothers are having. 

I see Waldorf homeschooling mothers who are doing things by hand, who are remembering skills that are almost lost in the fast-paced United States, who are railing against the materialism of our society.  I see mothers fighting against the miniaturization of small children into little adults (so very, very wrong, but you all hear me talk about that almost daily) and who are learning how to be calm and patient with their children while still setting limits. 

I see mothers who are taking Rudolf Steiner’s educational philosophy and are making it work for their own families.  I love knowing that there are other mothers who know there is a time and a place for teaching things that will nurture and speak to their child’s soul.  I love knowing there are other mothers who realize the importance of the early years in education  that build up to a rigorous academic education and how we really don’t have to “stuff” facts into our children’s brains when they are four, thinking that window will close forever.

There is only one educational method that looks at gratitude, love and later duty as we educate our children with human values. And that is Waldorf.  There is only method that looks at reverence, goodness, beauty and truth.  And that is Waldorf.

So, to all my fellow Waldorf homeschooling mothers, my hat is off to you.  Let’s keep the quiet revolution going and change society one household at a time.

In gratitude,

Carrie

I was re-reading the lovely book “Active Arithmetic” by Henning Andersen.  Many of the things in this book are geared toward the Waldorf classroom, and therefore not everyone finds this a useful addition to their Waldorf homeschooling library, but I personally think there are some gems in this little book.  The attitude that this long-term Danish Waldorf teacher brings is particularly powerful:

“One must know, in addition, that human development is not the sort of growth in which something is first small, then bigger, preserving the same basic structure.  Rather it is one where abilities are completely transformed during growth from one level to another.  A child is this kind of being, undergoing complete transformation on its way to adulthood.

In this regard the teacher must have great patience, not only from day to day when he must question the children on yesterday’s lesson, but also from year to year, and even from one phase of life to  the next.  Perhaps the biggest obstacles a teacher has to overcome is to avoid wanting to harvest the next day that which he has sown only the day before.

He goes on to compare the role of a teacher to that of a midwife:

….we can only act as midwife for the abilities that are already latent in the child – awaiting opportunities for growth which we as teachers can create for them.  That alone is our contribution as teachers, and this does not make the job any less responsible – on the contrary, only more so.

In arithmetic and mathematics the question then becomes the same as everywhere else:  “What do the children bring with them?” and not, “What does society demand we put into them?”  What laws of development must be followed if these inner qualities are to be brought out?  Or put another way, is is not a question of creating something, but more of bringing something forth.

In our particular case, we must ask, “What mathematics lies already buried within the child, and what are the rules for nurturing this already existing substance?”

Waldorf education looks at not filling the child’s head with facts, factoids and bits and pieces, but examines what the child has within them and how to best build on that to provide a comprehensive education.  The child entering first grade should be in their bodies, and we can use movement of the body to build upon the child’s counting skills.  The child knows verses and songs orally from Kindergarten, and we can use this for writing practice and then for the child to read from what they wrote.

Waldorf education is comprehensive, rigorous and builds upon itself throughout the grades to provide a complete education, but the teacher is viewed as a guide, a presenter, a natural and kind authority who builds upon the unique abilities, talents and temperaments of each child, observes what lies within each child,  and assists the unfolding of the child’s development through the academic curriculum.  Every seven year cycle builds upon the cycle that came before, and builds toward future physical and emotional health.

Waldorf education does not look to “fill students up” with meaningless chatter and facts, but serves to marry the unfolding maturation and soul development of the child with economy of teaching to lead to wonder of the human journey.

It is a great ride, and I invite all of you to come along.

Carrie

(Addendum as of March 28, 2009:  This post has had 416 hits as of today which kind of cracks me up because I wrote it completely off the cuff in about 10 minutes!  If you are new to my blog, please do have a look around.  There are lots of posts about the developmental characteristics of the ages of children 7 and under, lots of posts on gentle discipline, co-sleeping, breastfeeding and more (and of course there are A LOT of posts on Waldorf homeschooling and life with Waldorf).  I am glad to have you as a reader today!  Thank you!)

I have recently talked to three separate mothers who are feeling hopeless and overwhelmed with Waldorf.  I would like to take this opportunity to shatter the Waldorf myths – excuse me while I go put on my silk, hand-dyed cape!

Okay, now I am back, so here goes:

1.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean that you will always walk around singing and as happy as a Mary Poppins on Valium.  It does mean you will do your best to take some time for YOURSELF and breathe.  It does mean you will try to set the tone for your home, because if you don’t do it, no one else will.

2.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean you can never have another plastic toy in your house ever again.  It does mean you WILL seriously pare down your clutter of toys and get rid of a lot of them.  It does mean you may take the time to set up inviting areas in your home for your kids to want to play in – maybe a kitchen area, a dress-up area.

3.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean you have to go and stand outside in sub-freezing weather everyday because “we are outside in all kinds of weather, no matter what.”  It does mean you will make a very concerted effort to get your kids outside on most days when this is reasonable and that you will try to make it around the same time most days.

4.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean you have to get rid of your TV, but it does mean you will not turn it on during the day and that your kids will not watch it if they are little.  It does mean you are going to work hard to NOT surf on your PC all day, except to read this blog 🙂

5.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean your house has to be perfectly clean and spotless with you standing there in an apron with your broom (although I personally love my apron).  It does mean you will make a reasonable effort to keep your house picked up by having several times during the day where you pick up, that you  will allot time at the end of an activity to clean-up with your children, and that you will try to clean your house and cook some homemade meals.  Baby steps – start small.

6.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean you will never go out during the week anymore, but it does mean you will work to be firmly entrenched in your home, especially if you have small children.  It does mean you will think about the number of playdates and classes and such a four-year-old really needs (my vote is for none!)

7.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean that you are sunk if you cannot make your own bread, knit, sew, paint, model and play pennywhistle, but it does mean you will try to learn little by little.  Maybe you will find other Waldorf homeschooling parents to learn from.  Maybe, gasp, you will attend a workshop or class without your children and learn so you can show them and be a better teacher.  The joy of being human is that we can learn, do better and we are not stagnate!

8.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean you cannot use an open and go curriculum. Melisa Nielsen creates one, and so does Donna Simmons.  It may mean that after you do this Waldorf homeschooling for awhile you may be inspired to create your own, and it is okay to take a few minutes each day to work on it before the next school year.

9.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean you have to honor every traditional Waldorf festival they would celebrate in a school.  Pick the ones that speak to you and your family, start small and add things to it every year.  This is a learning practice.

10.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean you cannot include your child’s interests in your homeschooling experience, but it DOES mean you understand the reasons of WHY Waldorf teaches WHAT when and you  can work with that.

11.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean that your children have to go to bed at 6:30 forever, but it does mean that you shoot for the same bedtime every night and the same awake time every day.  After awhile, you and your children will love this and it will not be a battle, but you have to persevere for at least 21 days!  21 days to make a new habit!  And, as a homeschooling mother, you will appreciate the time to yourself.

12.  Being Waldorf does NOT mean you will never get there, it just may take time!

Be easy with yourselves out there, start small and dream big!  Seek guidance from other Waldorf mothers and don’t just settle on something less than Waldorf if you feel Waldorf is really right for your family!  Make it work for you!

You can do this!!

Love to all,

Carrie