Inspirations from Tapestries: The Seven-Year Rhythms from Birth Until Age 63 and Onward, Part 3

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The ages of 42- 63 are about building spiritual maturity.

Ages 42-49

  • Much of what happens in this time period depends upon if you hit the crisis described in Part 2 of this series in the cycles of ages 35-42.  If you already experienced crisis, this period after crisis could be a time of productivity, innovation, imagination, new strength. A time where careers are reshaped and where you really know what you want to do in life.
  • It can also be a time of greater patience, new friendships, new-found confidence.

Ages 49-56

  • Increased flexibility and humor than in the past.
  • A time to remember the past as we gain perspective.
  • Wisdom prevails.

Ages 56-63

  • Another new burst of energy, with many earlier conflicts now resolved.
  • Enjoyment of respect and confidence.
  • Living from within our own maturity, out of the depth of our own experience.
  • In this phase, we go inward for insight.

Ages 63 and Beyond

  • Betty Staley writes that this is “a continuation of previous phases.  The processes of development which began at 35 continue and mature.”

We will be taking a closer look at each one of the seven-year cycles from age 21-63 in the coming weeks.

Looking forward to delving further into the notion of human biography with you all,

Carrie

Some More Straight Talk About Waldorf Homeschooling of First Grade

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(You can read the comments below, but I thought I would re-print one of my replies to the comments here for clarity with some questions that came up:

Foreign languages typically are introduced in Waldorf Kindy solely through puppetry, songs, verses. In my area at the local school they introduce German and Spanish, and I could find resources for that in my area. First Grade is kind of a continuation of that, I will try to find the post on this blog about foreign languages for you…..As far as math, we moved pretty aggressively which you don’t really need to do unless your child is moving along, but yes, all four math processes are introduced. Keep in mind this is with counters, objects, bodily movements such as oneTWO(stomp)threeFOUR(stomp)fiveSIX(stomp) for example to start learning the two’s table through skip counting and then moving into whole to parts 2=1 X2, 4=2 X 2. At some point I will do a review of the math books out there, but Ron Jarman’s, while it moves too fast for some folks, at least does have a list of goals for each grade in it, which I found to be helpful.
Also, we did do sight words because my daughter had already taught herself to read, but I think Donna Simmons says that normally comes in in second grade.
The joy of homeschooling though, is that you can go at your child’s pace and also to see how satisfied they are with the curriculum even if they are ahead or behind here or there.
Waldorf homeschooling is a wonderful adventure!)

 

On to the post:

I make up our own curriculum, so this is based off of what we did this year, but it may give you some idea of our particular scope and sequence and you could modify it for your own children and use:

Language Arts

First Block – Letters A-J with phonetic sounds, alliterative oral phrases, thinking of all words that begin with one letter and writing those down, rhyming words,  and writing of phrases through fairy tales.  Start reading what your child writes, help them follow left to right with their finger for visual tracking if they need it, read the sentence and cover a word up and have them fill in the blank.  Practice!  Use sentences and look at not only the phonetic sounds, but sight words (usually this comes more into consciousness in the second grade than first, but my child was already reading).  You can write the sight words on the board in a separate list if you need to!  Waldorf is a whole language approach to reading so look at both phonetic sounds and sight words and the whole sentence!

Second Block – Letters K-S as above through fairy tales

Third Block – Letters S-Z, vowels, starting with writing of familiar phrases, songs, verses moving into writing longer sentences for different fairy tales involving capitalization, punctuation, contractions.

What I would do differently: I probably would introduce just the letters Steiner indicated in his writings and go into more writing quicker.  Steiner did not say to introduce each letter with a separate story!  My child was a  fluent reader before we started first grade and not surprisingly hated writing (well, copying but she did a lot of writing of poems and stories on her own time), so we went easy on the “required”  writing for much of the year.  I recently went back through a bunch of our schoolroom papers though and found a large number of poems and stories my child had created “outside of” school, so if you have a child like that you may not have to be so worried about the writing.  If your child is reluctant to write, it is important to look at the age of your child (hopefully they are seven for this grade), their gross and fine motor skills and then look at how much you should require.

Essential Resources: A copy of the Grimm Fairy Tales or other fairy tales from around the world that you would like to use.  I also found Donna Simmons’ First Grade Syllabus and her Living Language book to be of help for gauging where we were.  The other thing to  remember is that the letters are being taught through art, so you will need to know how to use block crayons, how to model, all those things.   Sigi’s block drawing book is a must, and Melisa Nielsen now has a DVD of Sigi drawing through her book available for sale.   Drama is another fun way to bring the fairy tales to life.

Math

First Block (6 weeks) – Quality of Numbers 1-12 (I think most Waldorf teachers do numbers 1-10 only) through fairy tales, Roman Numerals 1-12, introduction of all four math processes through our friends the math gnomes.

Second Block – Used work with concrete objects and whole body movement to explore addition and subtraction facts up to 20, division, multiplication tables of 2s, 5s, 10s, skip counting, counting to 100 forward and backward.

Third Block – Worked on same as second block, moving into  working with addition and subtraction up to 100, introducing columnar math problems by end of year.

What I would do differently:  I introduced the numbers pretty fast but from what I read in Steiner’s work it seems as if the numbers would be introduced from things that are part of the children (fingers, toes) or around the children even faster than what I did.

Ron Jarmon’s math book moves fast but has clearly outlined objectives for each grade.  You may have to tone it down, but it should be on your bookshelf as a reference for math.  The other book you may want to check out is Melisa Nielsen’s new math book; I have heard spectacular things about it.  You can see a review of Melisa’s book over at Lovey’s blog here:  http://lovey-land.blogspot.com/2008/12/journey-through-waldorf-math.html

The other thing to keep in mind is much of math is bodily movement, rhythm, music, so to have ideas for that floating around your head.  Math, to me, is also one of the areas where kids kind of seem to get it (or not), so I wouldn’t  feel badly if your child doesn’t move as fast as above and needs a summer to sleep on it before it all clicks in second grade!

Science – my own personal theme was “Looking at Things Around Us” (through all 12 senses of course!!)

First Block – we did River Life in with form drawing and explored stories (with characteristics of those animals)  about Ms. Turtle, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, the Otter Family, Old Mister Frog. You could pick whatever kind of habitat is predominant in the area in which you live and make up stories about the animals.

Second Block – introduction of calendar, making a calendar, spending time with stories about each season and how one season gives way to the other.  From that point on we also made calendars in German and Spanish each month.    A really fun block!!

Third Block – Backyard Nature – bees, ants, dragonflies, butterflies, ladybugs.

Essential Reference:  The Handbook of Nature Study.  I also like Donna Simmons’ From Nature Stories to Natural Science as a reference.

Form Drawing

First Block – line and curve and variations

Second Block – moving from line and curve into spirals, lemniscates

Third Block –  moving into closed forms, how lines and curves can change a form from one shape and feeling to a completely different shape and feeling

Fourth Block – closed forms with and without shading, running forms

Essential Reference:  Embery-Stine and Schuberth’s Form Drawing Grades One through Four.

Knitting

We had a tough time with knitting; my child hated it and was extremely frustrated.   She did careful, cautious work but you could tell it just required so much concentration for her.   She knit a rectangular scarf for her bear and started a square to make a chick for Easter.  I don’t know if we will get to a third project or not!  There are lots of wonderful knitting resources out there though to help you get started.

Wet-on-Wet Painting

We started with our three color friends of red, yellow, blue and those qualities, moved into painting with two colors where the colors exchanged places on paper, then into all three colors where they changed color on the paper, some color blending to make orange, purple, green, and then at the very end of the school year plan to move into painting some simple shapes with gesture.  I wrote a post a while back about the wet-on-wet painting books on the market here:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/02/02/resources-for-wet-on-wet-watercolor-painting/

Modeling

Arthur Auer’s book is a must!

 

Pennywhistle

We learned many songs this year, played with rhythm and learned five songs together on the pennywhistle.  Looking forward to even more next year!

Foreign Language

We did Spanish and German; celebrated many German holidays and made a lot of typical German crafts for the holidays.

(Lucky enough to have tutors  and Saturday German school for these areas!)

Religious Studies

We learned about the 9 Fruit of the Holy Spirit through stories and did one fruit for each month of school, which worked out well.  Next year I plan to focus on what I call “The Be-Happy Attitudes” (the Beatitudes).

 

First Grade is the BRIDGE between Kindergarten and Second Grade; so although this sounds like a lot I would say our school hours were short, we did a lot of gardening, baking, cooking, crafts and being outside.  We also continued work on a lot of gross motor skills involving balance, hand-eye coordination, working with jumping rope and jump rope rhymes.

Definitely do not drive yourself insane with first grade, but do look at where your child is and where they need to get to by the end of the year!

The sequence I used may be too fast or too slow for your child, but hopefully it will give you some idea of ways to progress forward in first  grade!

 Hope this post will give you some ideas,

Carrie

Inspirations from Tapestries: The Seven-Year Rhythms from Birth Until Age 63 and Onward, Part Two

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The ages from 21-42 are for the development of soul maturity, psychological maturity.

Ages 21-28

  • The “I’” incarnates more fully.
  • Strong emotional life, excitement, impulsivity, sociability, adventure, sensuality.
  • Memory reaches its peak.
  • A time to prepare for a career and to gather experiences.
  • Betty Staley also writes about marriage when both partners are in their early 20s and how this often works but can be a difficult road as both partners do not have a bank of life experiences to draw on.
  • Men during this time period are often focused on work, marriage and family and trying to set and achieve goals “he thinks he deserves by the time he is 35.”

Ages 28-35

  • The “I” begins to enter the soul-life more deeply and penetrates thinking.  We begin to experience life through our thoughts and our thinking.
  • We feel the need to organize our lives.
  • We regard things more objectively than before, but at times our objective thinking can also separate us from life – if we judge everything around us, we can become cold, distant, critical, self-righteous.
  • In this phase we tend to think that thinking can solve all of our problems.

Ages 35-42 – Going into consciousness

  • A time of strength, ambition; but also of emptiness and loneliness.
  • Life taken in through our senses, through our bodies, does not excite us the same way it used to.
  • Our natural spirituality fades and we can feel overwhelmed by life
  • Life takes on a routine quality, and yet we can experience more and more problems than before.
  • Much of what used to bring contentment no longer does.
  • We become critical of causes, philosophies, religion that used to appeal to us.

 

Whew!  I think when we are in the 35-42 year phase, we have to be particularly careful to NOT pass on our adult baggage and criticism to our small children.  I have seen over and over parents of this age frame to have difficulty working within the Waldorf framework with the spiritual elements because they themselves are going through a period of disillusionment with spirituality.  Please make sure to not shove your 8-year old into the 35-42 year old phase  by putting your “adult stuff” on them!

We will talk in detail about each of these seven-year cycles, but next we will look at the last part of this overview of the seven-year cycles that covers ages 42- 63 (and beyond), a time of developing spiritual maturity.

Till next time,

Carrie

What If I Am Not Creative?

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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

Inspirations from Tapestries: The Seven-Year Rhythms from Birth Until Age 63 and Onwards, Part One

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Here is a summary of each of the seven-year cycles, and then in future posts we will be delving into each cycle more deeply:

Ages Birth – 21 is seen as a PHYSICAL time.

Birth – Age 7

  • The birth of the physical body is paramount
  • Children of this age are one big sense organ, an eye, that deeply perceives all the sensory impression received.  Betty Staley writes, “These impressions influence the physical body: if they are quiet and soft, the child can breathe more rhythmically and relax; but when children’s immature nervous system try to process startling noises, flickering lights, and quick visual impressions, it is too much for them.  They can become exhausted, tense and afraid.” (page 61)
  • Children of this age learn through imitation
  • Children in this cycle  learn to be upright, to walk, to understand and speak ‘their mother tongue”. 
  • This cycle is divided into thirds; around the third year children experience their own being and start referring to themselves as “I”
  • Children in this cycle are still rather “asleep”; sensory impressions experienced now are more inward and form the basis for conscious ideas later on
  • Children enter the world through their will and the movement of the physical body.  This movement forms the basis for what they will FEEL in the next stage
  • The organs and the physical body is being completed, which culminates in the loss of the primary dentition.

 

Age 7- Age 14

  • The physical body continues to develop, with the adult teeth starting to come through
  • Consciousness further awakens from a state of sleep to a more dream-like condition
  • The inner soul-life intensifes
  • In the earlier period, the organs and physical body were being completed , but now attention is turned to “the soul as powers of imagination and thought, as image-forming activity.”
  • Children’s thinking at this age is influenced by strong personal feelings, personal experiences and expressed through IMAGINATION.

If we divide this stage into thirds:

  • We have the 7 year old where children have many of the same tendencies as the earlier stage where they learn by imitation and see nature as alive and connected to themselves. 
  • At around 8 and 1/3, imitation becomes less strong and the child’s need for almost constant movement can begin to be reigned in.  There is a beginning of separation here, the nine-year old change,  that shows itself through new feelings – uncertainty, fear, anger that things are unfair, feeling they are ugly or disliked or unwanted.  The child does not feel connected with the world so much as distanced, separated, unhappy and restless.  The period of 8 and 1/3 to 10 and 2/3 years of age is really the heart of childhood in many ways though, and the children of this stage have a strong sense of nature, love of wild places, a love of myths and legends, they play well, are well-coordinated, their imaginations are vivid and alive.
  • Around 11 and 2/3 the body begins to change with signs of puberty appearing.  The girls are about two years ahead of the boys.  Children’s feelings at this stage become more connected with their individuality.  Special friends are very important.  A new capacity for understanding cause and effect develops and they are more objective about the world.  They are better able to understand why and how things happen.  Their strong physical resemblance to their parents starts to wane, and their individuality becomes more pronounced.  The changes of puberty echo the change of teeth which occurred at the end of the first seven-year cycle.
  • The forces released in puberty are now available for the next phase

Age 14- Age 21

  • The physical body goes through great hormonal change as the adult body takes form.
  • Feeling life is erratic, chaotic, with highs and lows
  • The creative power which worked on the physical body from birth until age 7 and then worked on the feeling life of the soul from age 7 to 14 is now at work on THINKING.    This is when young people become critical of everything, questioning everything, rejecting things
  • The adolescent is learning how to use their thinking to control their feelings and will-impulses.
  • Thinking becomes more inward, more conceptual and abstract
  • Around the seventeenth year, there is a glimpse of the “higher self”, a sense of purpose and meaning in life
  • Character is forming

 

If one understands the view of the seven-year life cycles, one can see how everything in Waldorf education is designed to match or meet where the child is developmentally.  Waldorf education is also designed to preserve the health of the child for later seven-year cycles.

Next post we will talk about the age of 21-42, which is the development of the psychological or SOUL maturity.

Thanks,

Carrie

Step Away From Your Waldorf Curriculum!

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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

Inspirations from Tapestries: The Stages of Marriage

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There have been several posts about marriage and nurturing your partner on this blog that you can search and see for background regarding marriage, attachment parenting, and homeschooling.  Here is one that comes to mind: https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/10/08/parenting-as-partners/  as well as this one:  https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/11/17/using-your-first-year-of-parenting-to-fall-deeper-in-love-with-your-spouse/

This is a topic I feel is so important because unfortunately, many of the homeschooling mothers I know appear to  feel overwhelmed, seem to feel unsatisfied with their partner’s contribution to family life, and just are not enjoying time with their partner/spouse because they feel their basic needs are not being met within their closest relationships.

Maybe Betty Staley can help us unravel some of the mysteries surrounding the life cycle of a relationship. 

She writes, “Just as each individual passes through cycles, so does a relationship.  During each stage of a relationship we have particular needs and ways of solving problems.  There are three basic elements to consider when we speak about relationship-stages.  First, the individuality of each person.  Second, the phase of life each person is in.  Third, the  stage the relationship has reached.  In addition to these three aspects, cultural and historical expectations and the environment are also strong influences.”

The stages of relationships per Tapestries:

  • The first stage of a relationship is when two people are attracted to one another, “they are in a soul stage where feeling life predominates (21-28 years) no matter how old they are.” (page 75).
  • After the relationship settle down to routine, the couple enters the soul phase where THINKING predominates (28-35 years, but again it does not matter how old the people in the relationship are).  Each person looks at the other more objectively, and each may question the relationship itself.  This can be a point where many relationships fall apart and break up.
  • If the couple survives this phase, the next phase is the soul phase where CONSCIOUSNESS or AWARENESS predominates (corresponding to the ages 35-42, but remember, it does not matter how old the people in the relationship are), where each individual in the relationship begins to look at themselves and their partners more objectively.  During this time, hopefully each person can have not only a sense of realism about their partner’s strengths and weaknesses, but also love their partner with some of the passion from the feeling stage and see the person’s high self.

Betty Staley points out on page 76 that if a couple is older than their twenties when the relationship begins, the earlier phases representing the twenties will be passed through quickly to get to the stage of life the couple is in.

In other words, if a couple’s relationship starts when they are 35, the relationship will pass quickly through the feeling stage and the soul phase where thinking predominates to the soul phase where consciousness or awareness predominates.

She talks about couples where there  is an age difference and how each person in the relationship will demonstrate not only aspects of the seven-year cycle they are in, but also aspects of the seven-year cycles their partner is in.  She discusses that the combination of  having two partners from two different age groups can bring support into the relationship as whoever is older and in the next seven-year cycle can provide better patience, understanding, (depending upon the maturity of the person, of course).

If you are a couple where both of you are in the same seven-year cycle, this can be a source of unity and support because you are going through the same things (although I would add here that I think men and women often experience different intensifications of aspects of the same seven year cycle, so it may not be exactly the same), but it can also be difficult because neither person can step outside the relationship and look at it from a broader perspective, and neither may have completely developed greater understanding or patience.

My husband and I have been married for almost 17 years and we were both in our early twenties (I was 21) when we married.  I truly believe that  at least from my personal experience and from watching the couples around us that these cycles of a relationship are dead-on.

Of course, the trick is to survive the stages!  Can you identify where your relationship is according to Tapestries?

Understanding where you and your partner are in relationship to the seven year cycles throughout the lifespan on top of understanding the cycles of a relationship can be of great help….

We will look at a summary of each of the seven year phases for the adult in our next post.

Thanks for reading,

Carrie

How To Deal with Criticism of Waldorf Homeschooling by Family and Friends

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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

Inspiration From Tapestries: Waldorf Homeschooling and the Quiet Revolution

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“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

Tapestries: A Waldorf Perspective on the Adult Lifespan

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I am here amidst the Caribbean blue sea and skies rapidly devouring a wonderful book I received from my sister-in-law for Christmas called “Tapestries:  Weaving Life’s Journey” by Betty Staley.  If you have ever been intrigued by the Waldorf notion of “biography” ,  this is a very accessible resource to look at seven-year-cycles across the continuum of life.

“Tapestries” was inspired by Betty Staley’s interviews with women and men in Latvia.  The Forward to the book talks about how Betty Staley started this project, “As she listened to their life stories she realized that they illustrated  the seven-year life phases and revealed universal patterns:  a human tapestry which went beyond cultural, racial, gender and ethnic boundaries.”

Betty Staley writes in the Prologue, “We are born into a physical body with its magnificent design of skeletal structure, muscles, organs, hormones, senses, and nervous system.  We are received into a family with complex interrelationships of sisters, brothers, mother and father.  Our soul unfolds as we live in the world and meet other people.  Our lives are embedded in a process of time, so that we undergo change from one phase to another, experience soul struggles.”  She talks about how the human spirit can be our foundation to decide how we work to transform ourselves, and shape the opportunities we are given, how we change things about ourselves that we decide to change toward becoming the highest expression of ourselves.

This book looks at life cycles and human rhythms as influenced by the work of Rudolf Steiner and has eloquent and thought-provoking passages regarding relationships, aging, love and growth.

I will be sharing some thoughts with you over the next week or so as we explore the anthroposophical journey of the human being from ages 21 onward.

Please do join me,

Carrie