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
I think if there were to be a mascot for grade one handwork, it would be the humble knitted square. Quick to create and endlessly versatile, that first blessed square to come off those knitting needles is an accomplishment indeed! It is the first big step into the new world of building purposeful skills for … Continue reading The Humble Square
Many parents wonder when a child is ready to move to the work of grade one. A standard goal post for Waldorf schools is that the child has celebrated seven springs/Easters in their lifetime and has started to lose their baby teeth. That means that a child who was born between January and Easter will … Continue reading Readiness: It’s More Than Just Age and Teeth
As homeschooling parents, we often get caught up in the curriculum. The lessons. What we teach, when we teach it, the methods we use, the materials we will need. We often forget about the most important component of the lesson. Us. We are one of the most important aspects of the homeschooling journey. Depending on … Continue reading Seeing the Forest
When we look at teaching our children through the lens of artistic experiences, something magical happens. It becomes a gift we share with our children! Instead of giving them facts to memorize, we are creating images and feelings that will reach the soul of the child. That is the magic of a Steiner inspired education! … Continue reading Teaching as an Art: Creative Lessons Workshop
This is the first year in a long time that our took a full summer break with no lessons and no holding onto the skeleton of our rhythm. After a year of my son doing a few online highschool credit courses on top of our planned lessons he was in need of some down time. … Continue reading Soft Launch into the New Year
Home should always come before schooling. Join me in this block of seven mentoring sessions and put your home back into homeschool by focusing on creating a learning environment within the home, instead of the other way around! Each family enters these sessions with a unique set of needs, so this mentoring option is 100% … Continue reading Foundations of Home – Mentoring Package
The "art" aspect of a Steiner inspired homeschool was, for the longest time, a bit of a stumbling for me. It was one of the last things I tackled from a curriculum and innerwork standpoint. I always included artistic experiences in all of learning, but it wasn't something I felt confident in at all. It … Continue reading The Secret Life of Colour
"You can see that a great deal must be incorporated into teaching geography, so that it can become a kind of summary of everything else we do with children." Rudolf Steiner Lecture 11, Practical Advice to Teachers. Planning our geography block has been such a rewarding experience. I thought that Norse Mythology was my favourite … Continue reading Geography – From here to there…
The setting sun. I try and take a moment each day to watch the sunset. It is a reminder that everything must rest, that things must come to a close, and that everything needs an opportunity for renewal. Letting things rest is an important facet of Steiner pedagogy; the idea that new information gets the … Continue reading Rest and Renewal
