52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 47 We can notice that boys especially feel a strong need at this age [of fourteen and fifteen]—we only have to discover this and understand it correctly—for: “Everybody must choose his own hero, whom he has to follow on his way to Mt. Olympus.” And it is especially important for … Continue reading Differentiated Needs
52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 46 You see, one of the most essential things in the training of the Waldorf School teachers themselves is receptivity to the changes in human nature. And this the teachers have acquired relatively quickly for reasons which I shall explain. A Waldorf teacher—if I may express myself paradoxically—a Waldorf teacher … Continue reading Nothing Stays the Same
52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 41 We are not really aware of the fact that we have regressed in human evolution. In the past, children were allowed to grow up without being educated; their freedom was not invaded.Now we violate this freedom when we begin to educate them in the sixth or seventh year. … Continue reading Growing Up In Freedom
52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 40 Never underestimate the effect of the unknown or half known. The effect of such on feeling is extremely important. If toward the end of a lesson we say, “and tomorrow we shall do this…”—the children need not know anything about “this”; their expectation and curiosity will still be … Continue reading The Effects of the Unknown
This post was originally published on the Waldorf Handwork Educators' blog as a guest post. You can find the original HERE, and I also encourage you to take a look other posts on the blog, as it holds a wealth of experience and wisdom! As a student of the Waldorf Handwork Teacher Training program, I … Continue reading En-joying the Less Enjoyable
This post was originally published on the Waldorf Handwork Educators' blog as a guest post. You can find the original HERE, and I also encourage you to take a look other posts on the blog, as it holds a wealth of experience and wisdom! Community. It is an integral part of education. But what is … Continue reading Community in Learning: A Reflection on Leading Mixed Age Handwork Lessons
We often think of accommodations in education for the strugglers, those who are "behind", those who need something more to keep up. But what about those who excel? They too need accommodations. Just like the "strugglers", they will disengage and disconnect from an activity if it isn't meeting their needs. Their boredom could echo those … Continue reading Accommodations
Guten morgen, meine Freunde! Sprechen sie Deutsch? My daughter has always enjoyed learning languages. This year, she is working on German. Previously she's worked on learning Spanish and Japanese, and I'm super happy about adding German to the list because it is part of our heritage and makes it much easier to help her. These … Continue reading Language Learning Tips
Homeschooling can be overwhelming. There are so many books, curriculum choices, philosophies and families doing things differently around every corner. Social media and targeted ads can make you think you need more, need less, need this, need that. (You probably don't.) Add to that the general responsibilities family brings like classes, appointments, meals and keeping the house … Continue reading Tips For Avoiding Overwhelm
52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 13 (This is part of a weekly serial started on Michaelmas 2023. To see the other entries, please see the post linked HERE and scroll down to the bottom for individual links) We must take care in education not to drag everything learned by the children into sentimentality, especially in their … Continue reading On Practicality
