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Waldorf Education & parenting articles
Following are brief summaries of articles on this website, available by clicking the —> READ link. The Alphabetical Index found on the main ARTICLES page provides quick links to the same articles. |
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In closing…
“The hard way is the best way. Not because it’s the best way, but because it is the hard way.”
I ended my school teaching career in the spring of 2020. (Retirement can be fun once you adjust!) But hopefully my book will stay at work as a resource and inspiration for teachers and schools. I wrote it in an attempt to distill and graphically organize everything I learned from working with hundreds and hundreds of amazing and wonderful mentors, colleagues, children and parents. And, from reading a large bookcase of anthroposophic and “modern” material on human development and education.
But there’s one guiding idea I forgot to include in the book: why the hard way is the best way - because it’s the hard way. I can’t remember how or when I first heard this phrase. It’s often used by athletes to encourage good training habits: run your wind sprints uphill, not down; do your crunches slowly because that’s harder but you gain more. In a few of my workshops I’d spoken about this motivational motto and how it helped me keep a focus on my professional goals in the realms in which I worked for some 30 years: Extra Lesson/educational support; and movement education.
-->> read pdf
“The hard way is the best way. Not because it’s the best way, but because it is the hard way.”
I ended my school teaching career in the spring of 2020. (Retirement can be fun once you adjust!) But hopefully my book will stay at work as a resource and inspiration for teachers and schools. I wrote it in an attempt to distill and graphically organize everything I learned from working with hundreds and hundreds of amazing and wonderful mentors, colleagues, children and parents. And, from reading a large bookcase of anthroposophic and “modern” material on human development and education.
But there’s one guiding idea I forgot to include in the book: why the hard way is the best way - because it’s the hard way. I can’t remember how or when I first heard this phrase. It’s often used by athletes to encourage good training habits: run your wind sprints uphill, not down; do your crunches slowly because that’s harder but you gain more. In a few of my workshops I’d spoken about this motivational motto and how it helped me keep a focus on my professional goals in the realms in which I worked for some 30 years: Extra Lesson/educational support; and movement education.
-->> read pdf
Movie Recommendation: Buck
An amazing example of teaching with respect and compassion
I strongly recommend this film to all teachers and parents, and especially as one that deserves time in a faculty meeting study. It provides invaluable reminders of how to teach with respect and compassion; how to uphold the maxim that for every step forward with pedagogy one must take two steps forward with personal development.
“Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems. BUCK, a richly textured and visually stunning film, follows Brannaman from his challenging childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real life “horse-whisperer”, he teaches people to communicate with horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses - and people - with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, Buck is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds.
An amazing example of teaching with respect and compassion
I strongly recommend this film to all teachers and parents, and especially as one that deserves time in a faculty meeting study. It provides invaluable reminders of how to teach with respect and compassion; how to uphold the maxim that for every step forward with pedagogy one must take two steps forward with personal development.
“Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems. BUCK, a richly textured and visually stunning film, follows Brannaman from his challenging childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real life “horse-whisperer”, he teaches people to communicate with horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses - and people - with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, Buck is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds.
Myths, Legends, Fables, Stories and Heroes: Keeping What’s Important
The Waldorf Literature Sequence as Armament for the Challenges of Life
Many North American Waldorf schools are working on thoughtful reviews of their canon of literary content from early childhood through high school. A knotty task: so many important considerations and viewpoints! Based on the research outlined below, I would offer the thought that “the more things need to change, the more they need to stay the same!” By this I mean that, absolutely, the sources do need a careful 21st century look at ways to bring in greater cultural diversity than was envisioned in 1919. However, the deepest layer of a school’s literature list, as it progresses from fairy tale, fable, myth and legend to modern biography and history, needs to maintain certain values if it is to continue to do the best possible job of helping to prepare students for life. This deepest layer could be defined as the universal motifs or archetypes, the soul-feeding qualities represented within the plots and characters.
I hope you’ll find it useful to hear about this topic of deeper meanings, of archetypes. We'll look at a comparison of the writings and lectures on this subject from two contemporaries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Rudolf Steiner, who founded Waldorf Education and many other movements; and Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology. These provide a lens on the ways that oral and then written literature have always, since the beginning of time, reflected the unfolding of human consciousness and our universal attempts to find meaning in life. The Waldorf literature track reflects this historical evolution of consciousness, and also supports the way (the same way) that the consciousness of today’s children in fact continues to unfold year by year.
--> Read pdf
A recipe for academic success
The purpose of this list is not to test anyone’s “degree of good-parent-ness” but only to summarize the many good ideas that are scattered over a wide number of books and lectures.
—> READ
Play and its role in the Mental Development of the Child
by Lev Vygotsky
In speaking of play and its role in the preschooler’s development, we are concerned with two fundamental questions: first, how play itself arises in development – its origin and genesis; second, the role of this developmental activity, which we call play, as a form of development in the child of preschool age. Is play the leading form of activity for a child of this age, or is it simply the most frequently encountered form?
—> READ
At what age are children ready to begin First Grade?
In many Waldorf kindergartens today, some of the most pressing questions pertain to when children should make the transition to first grade. What age cut-off should be used as a guideline? What signs should a teacher look for to indicate school readiness? What should be done if a child has been placed in first grade too soon?
—> READ
The Teening of Childhood
Nowhere has the rise of media education been more dramatically apparent than among eight-to-twelve-year-old “tweens”. The tweening of those we used to call preadolescents shows up in almost everything kids wear and do. The market aimed at this age group has skyrocketed in recent years, and many new products, particularly those specifically targeting these children, appeal to their sense of teen fashion and image consciousness.
—> READ
Speaking with the Young Child Through the Kindergarten Years
By Stephen Spitalny. This article originally appeared in “Renewal”. It is now incorporated in Mr. Spitalny’s book,
Connecting with the Young Child.
As parents and teachers of young children, we need to be as conscious as possible in our speech and language with our children. Particularly with children through kindergarten age, the content and quality of our speech affects physical and intellectual development. What we say and how we say it can be either a support to healthy development or a hindrance.
—> READ
Children in Martial Arts: the Cost
The number of children taking part in martial arts is rapidly growing. All around the world, armies of baggy, whiteclad children are being dropped off at local recreation centres, to be picked up an hour or two later. Parents are unwittingly helping to prime emotional time-bombs which will explode in adolescence with shock waves that last for many years.
—> READ
Children in Ballet: Strung Up, Strung Out
Along with opera, ballet is one of our classic artistic forms. Why is this? And why is it that so many children undergo a classical ballet training? Ballet is a highly stylised, perhaps the most stylised, of all movement forms. While an ordinary human being can kick, strike or bounce a ball, punch or wrestle, perhaps even do a roll or turn a cartwheel, there are very, very few who can move like a classical dancer.
—> READ
Children and team sports - are we erasing a valuable history?
TV, movies and videos, rock music, computers, and team sports like soccer have all come to be regarded as normal for elementary age children. A lot could be said about these popular cultural hallmarks; instead, let's look at the many, many things childhood can be filled with, that are actually much better than these ‘normal’ activities. Early participation in team sports is often motivated by parental concern that children will not be ready for high school sports if they don’t build specific skills long before the teenage years.
—> READ
Suggestions about organized sports for children
“Is my child ready for team sports?” “Will my child be left behind if he or she doesn’t get going on a team?” If you’re asking questions like this, here are five possible areas to be considered.
—> READ
The Waldorf Literature Sequence as Armament for the Challenges of Life
Many North American Waldorf schools are working on thoughtful reviews of their canon of literary content from early childhood through high school. A knotty task: so many important considerations and viewpoints! Based on the research outlined below, I would offer the thought that “the more things need to change, the more they need to stay the same!” By this I mean that, absolutely, the sources do need a careful 21st century look at ways to bring in greater cultural diversity than was envisioned in 1919. However, the deepest layer of a school’s literature list, as it progresses from fairy tale, fable, myth and legend to modern biography and history, needs to maintain certain values if it is to continue to do the best possible job of helping to prepare students for life. This deepest layer could be defined as the universal motifs or archetypes, the soul-feeding qualities represented within the plots and characters.
I hope you’ll find it useful to hear about this topic of deeper meanings, of archetypes. We'll look at a comparison of the writings and lectures on this subject from two contemporaries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Rudolf Steiner, who founded Waldorf Education and many other movements; and Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology. These provide a lens on the ways that oral and then written literature have always, since the beginning of time, reflected the unfolding of human consciousness and our universal attempts to find meaning in life. The Waldorf literature track reflects this historical evolution of consciousness, and also supports the way (the same way) that the consciousness of today’s children in fact continues to unfold year by year.
--> Read pdf
A recipe for academic success
The purpose of this list is not to test anyone’s “degree of good-parent-ness” but only to summarize the many good ideas that are scattered over a wide number of books and lectures.
—> READ
Play and its role in the Mental Development of the Child
by Lev Vygotsky
In speaking of play and its role in the preschooler’s development, we are concerned with two fundamental questions: first, how play itself arises in development – its origin and genesis; second, the role of this developmental activity, which we call play, as a form of development in the child of preschool age. Is play the leading form of activity for a child of this age, or is it simply the most frequently encountered form?
—> READ
At what age are children ready to begin First Grade?
In many Waldorf kindergartens today, some of the most pressing questions pertain to when children should make the transition to first grade. What age cut-off should be used as a guideline? What signs should a teacher look for to indicate school readiness? What should be done if a child has been placed in first grade too soon?
—> READ
The Teening of Childhood
Nowhere has the rise of media education been more dramatically apparent than among eight-to-twelve-year-old “tweens”. The tweening of those we used to call preadolescents shows up in almost everything kids wear and do. The market aimed at this age group has skyrocketed in recent years, and many new products, particularly those specifically targeting these children, appeal to their sense of teen fashion and image consciousness.
—> READ
Speaking with the Young Child Through the Kindergarten Years
By Stephen Spitalny. This article originally appeared in “Renewal”. It is now incorporated in Mr. Spitalny’s book,
Connecting with the Young Child.
As parents and teachers of young children, we need to be as conscious as possible in our speech and language with our children. Particularly with children through kindergarten age, the content and quality of our speech affects physical and intellectual development. What we say and how we say it can be either a support to healthy development or a hindrance.
—> READ
Children in Martial Arts: the Cost
The number of children taking part in martial arts is rapidly growing. All around the world, armies of baggy, whiteclad children are being dropped off at local recreation centres, to be picked up an hour or two later. Parents are unwittingly helping to prime emotional time-bombs which will explode in adolescence with shock waves that last for many years.
—> READ
Children in Ballet: Strung Up, Strung Out
Along with opera, ballet is one of our classic artistic forms. Why is this? And why is it that so many children undergo a classical ballet training? Ballet is a highly stylised, perhaps the most stylised, of all movement forms. While an ordinary human being can kick, strike or bounce a ball, punch or wrestle, perhaps even do a roll or turn a cartwheel, there are very, very few who can move like a classical dancer.
—> READ
Children and team sports - are we erasing a valuable history?
TV, movies and videos, rock music, computers, and team sports like soccer have all come to be regarded as normal for elementary age children. A lot could be said about these popular cultural hallmarks; instead, let's look at the many, many things childhood can be filled with, that are actually much better than these ‘normal’ activities. Early participation in team sports is often motivated by parental concern that children will not be ready for high school sports if they don’t build specific skills long before the teenage years.
—> READ
Suggestions about organized sports for children
“Is my child ready for team sports?” “Will my child be left behind if he or she doesn’t get going on a team?” If you’re asking questions like this, here are five possible areas to be considered.
—> READ
