Waldorf Art Posted in: Waldorf 101 - Central to Waldorf principles is the need to surround children with beauty. Watercolors and beeswax crayons (when used with teacher guidance and purpose) naturally create very beautiful works without technical talent. You will notice that the teachers take care not… Read More >>
The Wisdom of Fairytales Posted in: Waldorf 101 - Parents frequently express concern about violent, even bloody, incidents that occur in Grimm's fairy tales. Today, we often see these tales edited to remove or soften these aspects. This results in a kind of deprivation of our children's sense of… Read More >>
Natural Toys, Clothing, and Materials Posted in: Waldorf 101 - This article is from an old Waldorf school newsletter from 1990. If anyone knows the source, please let me know 🙂 Anyone well acquainted with our school will have had their attention drawn at some time to the fact that… Read More >>
Breathing In, Breathing Out, and Baking Bread Posted in: Waldorf 101 - This is a sample class schedule that incorporates the principles of "Breathing in and Breathing Out". I have also explained some of the wisdom behind the baking of the bread below. Shaping Bread: “Breathing In”. This is the beginning of every… Read More >>
Rhythm of the Waldorf Year Posted in: Waldorf 101 - Here is a sample of some Earthschooling activities I scheduled over the year based on seasonal, holiday, and other themes. Earthschooling includes holiday and seasonal themes, but is not dependent on them and covers many other themes each month as… Read More >>Lesson Blocks in Waldorf Education Posted in: Waldorf 101 - When Rudolf Steiner started the first Waldorf school, he established the “main lesson”—a two-hour class during which all academic subjects except for foreign languages would be taught. The subjects taught in the main lesson were studied for three weeks to… Read More >>
Rhythm of the Month Posted in: Waldorf 101 - Every month, we had a rhythm as well as a weekly and daily rhythm. As you look over my lesson plan guides and the vast amount of material I have provided or that you have yourself, you can use a… Read More >>
Rhythm of the Week Posted in: Waldorf 101 - This is one sample of a weekly rhythm. As well as having a different activity assigned to each day, I also had a different theme I would meditate on as a teacher each day. Sometimes I would share this theme with… Read More >>
Rhythm of the Day Posted in: Waldorf 101 - This is one sample of a preschool rhythm. The Daily Rhythm for Preschool/KG This was my schedule for the classes I taught. My schedule with my own children varies, and yours might too. But this gives you a good idea… Read More >>
Specific Themes for Each Grade – Preschool to Grade Eight Posted in: Waldorf 101 - Preschool & KG Morning: Circle Time Verses (Finger rhymes and verses are very important for pre-math and pre-language abilities) Shaping Bread/Snack Storytime (Puppet show style, repetitive stories (like The Little Red Hen) and relational stories – stories about what children did… Read More >>
A Waldorf-Trained Teacher Summarizes the Needs and Rhythms of Each Age from Preschool to Grade Eight Posted in: Waldorf 101 - Preschool Theme: Rhythm, Repetition, and Parent Modeling. Cultivate Parent Attachment. A toddler longs for rhythm, repetition, and activities that feel safe. As a parent, you should continue your daily rhythm or schedule and then slowly add a child or two… Read More >>
Rhythm and Stages in Waldorf Education Posted in: Waldorf 101 - Waldorf education works with the rhythms of the child, the day, the week, the month, and the year. It works with the body's spiritual, emotional, and physical rhythms. It works with the rhythm of the earth – natural foods, toys,… Read More >>
The Importance of Free Play Posted in: Waldorf 101 - One of the significant changes in education over the past 20 years has been the transformation of preschool and kindergarten rooms from a child's joyful, creative play area into mini-first-grade classrooms full of lessons and worksheets. Some government agencies around… Read More >>
Parent-Teacher Modeling Posted in: Waldorf 101 - A toddler longs for rhythm, repetition, and activities that feel safe. As a parent, you should continue with your daily rhythm or schedule, and then slowly add a child, or two, or three, into your daily activities. Contact other mothers… Read More >>
Waldorf Philosophy Posted in: Waldorf 101 - https://earthschooling.info/thebearthinstitute/waldorf-101-syllabus/ This mini-course is designed to be easy to do so that you can become more knowledgeable about Waldorf education with minimal effort. We know how busy you are because we are busy parents & teachers too! Each article… Read More >>
Color and Grain of the Day Posted in: Cooking, Uncategorized, Waldorf Earthschooling, Waldorf Philosophy - Read More >>
Ancient Cultures & Roman History Lesson Block Tip Posted in: Curriculum, Fifth Grade, Sixth Grade - Our children always seem to instruct as as much as we instruct them. This week Sofi said something that struck a chord with me. When we were doing our Ancient Egypt block she indicated that she wanted to make a… Read More >>Free Waldorf Curriculum Posted in: Curriculum, Family/Lifetime Membership, Waldorf Earthschooling - Did you know... *...that you receive over 300 free tutorials, curriculum extras, consulting sessions and more when you purchase the Lifetime Family Curriculum Package? * ...that once you purchase a Lifetime Membership you never need to purchase curriculum again? *You… Read More >>
How to Eat for Free: Free Meals from Nature: Wildcrafting Posted in: Herbal Healing, Kids Can Heal, Medicine of Avicenna, Naturopathic Healing, Nutritional Healing, Wildcrafting - I had someone over to help with my yard work. My yard had become completely overgrown in back and I knew it was only a matter of time before the neighbors started to complain. The first thing my helper suggested… Read More >>Natural Dyeing Tips for Easter and Spring Posted in: Easter, Natural Dying, Spring - There is something about Easter that just makes me want to dye everything! We do play silks, clothing, yarn and of course, eggs. Why get out the dye and go to all that work just for one thing? Here are… Read More >>
Easter Tea Party Lesson Posted in: Easter, Herbal Healing, Kids Can Heal, Spring, Wildcrafting - Every spring this is my favorite class activity! I wanted to share it with you because “my kids” enjoy it so much… When I was a child I used to think bunnies and flowers and eggs were all about Easter.… Read More >>The Junk Food in Your Health Food Posted in: Holistic Health, Nutritional Healing - Last week Yale University released a study that showed increased salt intake may be responsible for triggering autoimmune diseases. They studied cell function in 100 healthy individuals and noticed that when the people in the study visited fast food restaurants… Read More >>
Confessions of a Waldorf Mom Posted in: Parenting - One of the lamentations I hear from clients, parents and teachers is "I could never accomplish what they accomplished!" We are so bombarded with messages on Facebook, newsletters, blogs and other avenues that proclaim the successes of others that our… Read More >>
Encouraging Kids to Love Healthy Food Posted in: Healthy Meals, Holistic Health, Kids Can Heal, Nutritional Healing - "Don't eat the salad!" the little girl warned me at the potluck. I was worried. What is wrong with it? Is it old? Did it fall on the floor? "No, salad is yucky!" she explained. I remember when my son… Read More >>
How to Be a Happier Parent and Raise Happier Children Posted in: Parenting - I was listening to NPR last week and heard an update about a study being done in Texas about happiness. The original study showed that adults without children were happier than adults with children. The second study was trying to… Read More >>
Food as Medicine Posted in: Healthy Meals, Nutritional Healing - In the past 25 years I've seen food help and hurt people in so many ways. If you think about it using logic it is not that surprising. Over the counter and prescription medicine is given to us in doses… Read More >>
Waldorf Education and College Posted in: College, Parenting, Waldorf Earthschooling - Last week I visited a college campus with my daughter – she will be attending in August 2013. She has already registered and since she does not have much school work left to do before she goes she took on… Read More >>
Inspiring Story of Healing for the Holidays Posted in: Consultations, Holistic Health, Nutritional Healing, Temperament - Clara (not her real name) came to me only one month ago with anxiety, depression and high blood pressure. However, all she asked for help with was her high blood pressure. I told her that I could not help her… Read More >>
How to Talk to Kids About Tragedy Posted in: Parenting - This post was written in 2012 but continues to be valid as our society experiences an ongoing series of traumatic events. I've been silently reading so many posts and responses over the weekend but was so deeply touched and shocked… Read More >>
Twas the Night Before Solstice Posted in: Solstice - It is a yearly tradition now that I post this poem I wrote a few years ago to the list 🙂 Enjoy once again or enjoy it for the first time. You are welcome to share it and pass it… Read More >>
