Waldorf

I thought I'd create a post on Waldorf philosophy and education since I reference it so often. I could write for weeks and probably still not cover everything so I'll be brief and try to touch on the main points.

The principles of Waldorf were founded by Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner. He also founded anthroposophy. We'll get to that in a minute.

Basically, Steiner believed in educating the child as a whole. "Head, heart, and hands". Children learn through the arts, music, literature, handwork, imagination and creativity as opposed to rote memorization and dry textbooks. In fact, children educated through Waldorf curriculum or Waldorf schools don't even use textbooks until 5th grade. For example, with our new curriculum, I will do the days lesson with Lexeigh and she will then do her work into a main lesson book. A main lesson book is a blank book where children can put their paintings, stories, math practice, poems, etc. By the end of the year they will have many books filled with all of the things they learned over the year. I think this method works because it interests the child. Everyday each subject is incorporated with painting, drawing, stories, handwork, clay modeling, etc.

Waldorf aims to teach children responsibility, respect for others and society, individual thinking, truth, beauty, love of learning, and compassion among other things. Waldorf education teaches children in 7 year stages according to their various stages of development.

I'm very drawn to the fact that Waldorf education not only educates the child intellectually, but also educates their heart, spirit, and nature.

Now this is where I find some things I don't necessarily agree with. In a nutshell Anthroposophy tends to be at the root of all things Waldorf and Waldorf education. Steiner professed and taught such things as clairvoyance, reincarnation, and karma. He believed in a spiritual world although this is not the same Biblical spiritual world we believe in.

One of the stranger beliefs of Waldorfism for example is that elementary children not being allowed to use black crayons. Children in Waldorf schools also celebrate many of the festivals that tend to be pagan. They also do circle times and say certain verses I'm not completely comfortable with.

There is so much more to Waldorf than this but I only have so much time, haha. Needless to say, there are some parts of the Waldorf lifestyle and education that are intriguing, beautiful and wonderful for children. Other parts do not encompass our beliefs. The good thing is we can pick and choose what we like and only implement the things that fit for our family.

I love the Waldorf principles for early childhood as well. The use of calming, relaxing colors and spaces. Providing them with only natural, open-ended toys. Engaging them in activities that inspire creativity and learning. These are some of the things that are important to us.

The new curriculum we have ordered is the Waldorf curriculum from Oak Meadows. Lessons are assigned in blocks and are developed to be executed through painting, drawing, writing, handwork, etc. I think if children are captivated first, then learning comes easily. My children tend to be kinesthetic learners. Lexeigh really seems to be capable of learning in many different ways but Jimmie is definitely a "do-er". And some of the most memorable lessons I have from school are the ones where did projects or I was really interested in the way the lesson was delivered.

The curriculum we have coming is pretty strictly academic. I wanted to be sure it didn't include anthroposophical beliefs of any kind. So we will learn in a Waldorf-inspired manner and continue to use our current Bible curriculum daily. We are so excited to start this new program!

Here are a few examples of typical wet on wet watercolor paintings done by young Waldorf students. We can't wait to start learning about this.

Here are some examples of regualr daily work done by Waldorf students: (I don't have a pic of 4th grade for some reason).

First grade
Second
Third
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
Eighth

The things they do are just amazing and I think this program will really enrich life and learning for all of us.

A lot of homeschool families and Waldorf teachers do chalkboard drawings that have to do with daily/weekly lessons. These are really neat as well and so beautiful. I looked at some online and I made one for the first time for the kids based off of one I found:

It's a time wheel of the seasons and I added the verse from Ecclesiastes since I found it appropriate since there are so many changes coming up for us. =)

We've also been moving towards eliminating plastic and electronic toys. I've ordered some playsilks that we're going to dye in pretty colors. Playsilks are a great open ended toy. They can be capes, parachutes, water, baby buntings, anything at all. We used to have a bunch of them when Reece was little but after so many different moves they've gotten lost.

I also ordered some of these tree blocks:


How cool are these?! I love how they still have the bark on them and look as close to their natural state as possible. I think Reece especially will have a blast with these.

This has been a really great experience for us and I've enjoyed every bit of it so far. It makes me feel good to do this for the kids because I really feel it will enrich things for them in so many ways.

So, anyone care to discuss? =D