"An Art of Education that is at the same time a cultural Therapy-this is what Rudolf Steiner has bequeathed to us. It is permeated with those Divine powers that are revealed, in Art, in their garb of Beauty. It leads to those sources of life whence health and healing flow to the growing human being. In this educational activity, as a member of the community of artists in life, the teacher may feel himself in all humility, to be priest and healer as well."

What a quote!  This comes from the article "Education as a Healing Agent" by Caroline von Heydebrand.

This is one of those gems. This article reminds me that this education was intended for all and that there are some wonderful WHYs behind the HOWs and WHENs.  This article confirms that the first schools worked with children that didn't fit the "perfect child" mold - this is something harder and harder to find among the younger schools in the movement.  I fear it is a sign of the times - the movement is growing and more and more tea...

I rarely use the word punishment with my children because with very rare exception, the consequence always fits the situation. i.e., not finishing school work timely will mean we will not have time at the park/friend's house, etc. so one directly affects the other. Even when they are small, keeping the boundary firm with that mindset of consequences helps you to not use a ton of words. Toddler hitting or hurting someone? Remove toddler. Preschooler won't clean up toys? Remove toys. I will say that not all children need the toys taken away so most will opt to help clean up.

Experiencing authority helps us to see commonality. This is just my take on it. I will preface this with my own experience. I have been asking God to help me understand people more... I need to be more careful what I ask for! I keep getting into very interesting and sometimes stressful learning situations! 

Case in point, our time in our community. We lived in co-housing. I understand that some co-housing is VERY g...

This post is for the masses... for mamas that are contemplating divorce and for those who have to report to the government each year.

First... those contemplating divorce... look at your state laws.  What do you currently have to do for homeschooling?  If you live in a state that requires you to report then you are probably well covered in a divorce situation, the law already requires that you inform the state of your actions, this will likely help you in court, just know the law and be prepared for a judge that doesn't so that you can quote it to him or her should you need to.  This becomes an issue when soon-to-be ex's are getting cranky about homeschooling.  If the state requires you to report, I suggest you just give your ex a copy of everything you are handing in for the state. Make your life easier.

Now if you live in a state where there are no laws, you also need to be ready to let your judge know. Many just assume that homeschooled children take the same tests that their scho...

I get this question a lot.  My answer is yes and no.  You don't HAVE to read Steiner in order to have a Waldorf inspired homeschooling experience. BUT, to begin to really understand the work of Waldorf from a spiritual aspect and even from a practical aspect after the first few years, you will need to begin to delve into some of his actual writings. They aren't scary - I promise! 

One of the things I get very troubled about is those who tend to take Steiner out of context or even take things a bit too far.  I know Waldorf appeals to many faith bases, from a very loose base of those who do not walk a structured religious path, to those who have a pretty rigid path.  Interestingly, both extreme ends have trouble with a lot of Steiner's work.  As we learn to walk with an open heart though, we can begin to see his truths within our own lives and children.  In order to do this we must be open to hearing and seeking to understand a message that we may not agree with - you don't have to agre...

Penmanship

My oldest, now an adult was my first experience with teaching handwriting. Those were some frustrating days.  He has ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and while you wouldn't know it now to look at him, talk to him or have him teach you something, if you look at his handwriting you might wonder. Mainstream society would feed us a line of "oh boys typically have poor handwriting."  While this is the case, in general, is that an excuse?  They are male so they should write sloppy? My dad has beautiful handwriting - in fact so much so that my mom makes him address the holiday cards! 

Handwriting is a will based activity.  Having good handwriting takes time and practice.  What happens though if you have a child with poor muscle tone and writing seems almost painful?  This is often the case with many autism spectrum children. I was really trying to think about how we did things in those early days with my son.  I stumbled upon one of my planning journals from his grade 1 year - he w...

Steiner's suggestions:

Grade 6-8: Practical gardening. cultivating the soil, tending and harvesting plants.  Repeating this through these three years helps them understand rotation.

Grade 9: Focus on vegetable gardening, tending to flowers, fruit-bearing shrubs and trees.

Grade 10: Thinning out of trees and shrubs.  It is also suggested that manuring be discussed during this time as well as sustainable agriculture.  At this age they can really begin to make some strong opinions based in facts - show them all kinds of agriculture.

Now of course there is the discussion that children should have a knowledge of farming in grade 3 - this is so true!  This easily goes with the studies of the year.  Adam and Eve had a garden and then when they were cast out, they had to learn to farm and garden without the help of it being started for them.  A child of this age should be gardening alongside Mom, harvesting, cooking, etc. This is very cooperative. As they grow, you can allow them to be a b...

Well Mrs. Bossy Pants... how are you doing today? I can poke fun at Mrs. Bossy Pants, because she is my base temperament.  As I have gotten older, I have mellowed a LOT. However... back me up against the wall and I will become Mrs. Bossy Pants to protect myself!

Mrs. Bossy Pants generally likes to be in control... prefers complete control, but will settle for partial control if she must.  She doesn't often work well with other Mrs. Bossies unless the other ones are completely competent and know what they are doing.  Then this mama can kick back a bit because she can trust another leader.  Mrs. Bossy Pants probably started planning for the new school year at least six months early and if she didn't, she will make it a priority to take a weekend and get it done.  She knows how to get things done.  She is a doer.  Being a doer is a GREAT thing!  She loves check lists and gets glee in marking things finished.

Sometimes my parenting backfires.
Does that ever happen to you?
Do you ever just start talking and somehow the wrong words are coming out and you are not sure how to stop them? 
I don't need to be perfect to be a good mom. Neither do you.

An example of my resident phlegmatic, Super Sam. Asks for his piece of comfort. He would like a full belly and a good television show. (GASP! Yes, TV!) For the phlegmatic child, no amount of TV is generally enough. It isn't that they are lazy, it is that they seek comfort. Older phlegmatic children and adults will often want to curl up with a book or even a book on tape. As a mom with children of all temperaments, I have to say that the phlegmatic is probably the most calm, most pleasant, most even tempered child to parent. UNLESS. Unless you need to go somewhere. Unless you need them to hurry up. Unless you need them to eat their breakfast so you can get out the door. Unless you have to be across town in ten minutes and they can't find their shoes or worse they know where their shoes are but they haven't even started putting them on and you asked them to do it ten minutes ago and can't they see you are in a hurry?! Then they look up at you with the sweetest eyes and tears are welling ...