The preparation and shaping of bread is a central part of the early childhood program in Waldorf education. This tradition is often continued into the upper grades as well. This tradition develops hand-eye coordination as well as community connections within the classroom. It also teaches students life skills and provides them with a snack for […]
Cooking
Preparing Food Ahead for College Student, Single Person or Family
Note: I’ve included our video illustrations below as 2-minute mini videos so you don’t have to watch one long video. You can just watch the little video clips you want to. However, if you do want to see the full 30-minute video you can view the complete video HERE. As a single mom with three […]
Make Any Recipe Gluten Free
I started going gluten-free twenty years ago. At that time it was out of a desire to add more variety to my family’s diet rather than a necessity. So I didn’t mind that finding gluten-free ingredients was difficult. I started out experimenting with different flours. One Waldorf teacher I knew used to simply substitute spelt […]
The Benefits of the Family Meal
By Nancy Jewel Poer We did not feel television was a benefit to growing, creative minds … with TV you are taking in someone else’s story, not living your own. The only possible and logical daily gathering time was the evening meal. When I speak with adults about happy childhood memories, special meals almost always […]
Book Review: How to Bake Pi: Inspiration for Teachers/Parents
In Waldorf education math for a first and second grader is a joyous experience. This continues through the lower grades with math being integrated into drawing, form drawing, art, hands-on activities, and handwork. However, as the children get older and the math becomes more challenging it becomes increasingly difficult to present continually exciting math experiences […]
Winter Snack for Wildlife Guests
While the kids were out sledding yesterday I thought I would prepare them a surprise. I popped popcorn, sliced up some oranges and some apples, put some dried cranberries in a bowl and cut up bread into squares and put out a knife with a big jar of peanut butter. Then I started to string […]
Easy Holiday Cookies
These are great cookies to bring to any holiday party – starting at Thanksgiving and ending with New Year’s Eve! We often use this recipe to make different cookies for each day or each few days of Advent by creating different shapes or adding different flavors or toppings. These are so simple – a child could […]
What is an “Open Table”?
Today I took a look back in time. What were we doing on Thanksgiving five years ago? And how have things changed since then? What I discovered surprised me. Looking back I can see how what we did was very healing to our family as well as others and contributed to the way the children […]
Essential Kitchen Tools for Kids
Kids naturally love to “help” in the kitchen and I have found that by providing them with the proper tools that they can actually be helpful! These tools are fun for adults, too. They can often make simple meals into something more “fancy” without a lot of extra effort. My kids (and all my Waldorf […]
Your Herbal “Financial Stemulus” Package
Ok, I admit I didn’t make that up. Our local florist has that on their sign and I thought it was so clever! But it also fits what I wanted to talk about today. During rough economic times (be it now or another time) I often find people struggling to keep up with their natural […]
Tears in the Classroom & A Breadmaking Poem
Sometimes we plan the best lesson and get so excited anticipating the results in our class…and then it does not go as planned. This is what happened one day when we were shaping bread and my daughter burst into tears. It was unexpected and disappointing for me. What had I done wrong? Or did another […]
Appetizers for Vibrant Well-Being
On Wednesdays we celebrate well-ness with a different healthy tip, recipe, formula or inspiration each week! A student at The Avicenna Institute asked today about raw garlic which inspired me to remember my favorite raw garlic dish. I immediately made a batch of it. This appetizer is so yummy and healing! The garlic clears your […]