About Us
The Life Without School Blog is an on-line publication and blogging community. We homeschool. We unschool. We live our lives without school. For some, life without school begins as a conscientious choice that is whole-heartedly embraced. For others, it begins as a quest for second chances and new opportunity.... Read more about us .
Our Blogs
About Our Blogs
We support life without school, diversity of perspective, choice, the family and the child. No one blog, not even this LWOS blog, can possibly represent the opinions and lives of all who live life without school. Each blog does, however, in some small way represent one life, one family, once voice, one lifestyle out of many who choose to live life without school.
On Questions
The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in awhile, and watch your answers change. -Richard Bach
Questions for Us
What are ways you prepare your children to survive in our society economically? How are you sure your children are learning enough; what about holes in your child's education? Read more Questions for Us .
On Perspectives
A perspective does not tell me what is right for you. A persective shares a view into what is possibly right for me. No one perspective should hold a human being, especially a child, prisoner to its expectations.
February 23, 2008
Thoughts on Waldorf-inspired homeschooling
by Bettina
A few years ago, a friend introduced me to Waldorf education. I read some books, joined a Waldorf web group, thought the educational style and philosophy were a good fit for my family and decided to give it a go. I went to a Barbara Dewey seminar, learned to knit, started saving the wool from our meat sheep just in case I wanted to stuff a handmade doll, and we were off!
Waldorf was created by Rudolph Steiner in Germany in the early part of the 20th century. Steiner was voluminous in his lectures and writings. He founded a spiritual movement called Theosophy based on Anthroposophy . Theosophy and Waldorf are linked, not only by their creator but also by the people who educate their children with a Steineresque vision. I cannot begin to tell you how difficult it is for me to find the line between the educational philosophy and the religion, much less where I'm willing to toe up to that line.
Steiner posited that children incarnate in certain ways, at certain times of their lives and that if you educate them wrongly, you might damage that child on a soul level. For me, and many of the parents who enjoy the Waldorf approach to education--a soothing daily and weekly rhythm, lots of time spent outdoors and in natural settings, limited media exposure, toys made of beautiful, natural materials and, as they grow, a classical, block-lesson plan which does not skimp on languages and the arts--it's sometimes difficult to find the place where a wonderful educational approach ends and dogmatic thinking begins. I think it's worth it to wrangle with this line because of the beauty of this educational model. The basic thought is that there are stages of development, which are clearly defined as from 0-7, 7-14, and 14-21. My dad swears that these stages continue through our adult lives and that his taste buds change every 7 years! To officially give a Waldorf education, say the hardliners, you must send your child to a school. To contrast with the official Waldorf school education, we refer to what we do as a Waldorf-inspired homeschool education.
I have found that there are a few keys to the kingdom that are not readily apparent to the novice:
1. Apparently there is a secret text that gives us the subject lists that should be taught each year so that most accepted-as-important subjects are covered at the right time for the child. It is an expensive book but there is a lot of information in it for those dedicated to the Waldorf approach. Of course, there are tons of other resources, I just found this to be a 'must-have' for our homeschool.        2. First grade begins when your child has lived through 7 springs, including the one when they are 0 years old. Keep in mind that summer begins on June 21st. So, if you have a child born in August, that child will be 6 during Kindergarden and 7 during first grade, if you use the traditional September through June school calendar.
3. While Waldorf does not push early literacy, keep in mind that it is a rigorous, classical, arts and letters type of education. It is not easy nor is it academically unsound. Just because your child hasn't been pushed to read by age 7, does not mean that your child is not intelligent or capable of reading, it does mean that they have had time to do other things that you consider more developmentally appropriate. (I am not bashing families to whom early literacy is important. To each their own.)
4. I look at Waldorf as something to aspire to, like perfection. I don't expect to achieve it in it's purest form (and there is a lot of debate about what, exactly, that is.) Don't kick yourself if your kid watches 6 hours of cartoons one Saturday while you're running errands or are down with the flu.
5. Compile a reading list and start working on it. There are a lot of great books out there and there are many, many people who will recommend their favorites to you. The online Waldorf library is a great place to begin.
6. Begin with small steps. Get rid of those plastic toys or turn off the TV. Do a puppet show with your kids or take a long nature hike and draw a picture of something you see. Realize that lasting change generally takes place slowly, with awareness of an end goal.
Waldorf-inspired homeschooling can be fun, relaxing, challenging and a good way to opt out of the hectic, dare I say frantic?, lives that so many families live. Waldorf isn't for everyone. It really requires a dedication to a quiet, calm way of life but even for those who enjoy more activity, elements of Waldorf can enhance your homeschool experience by opening you to different ways of approaching your child/ren's education. For us it's something we weave into our lives but not the principle by which our lives are governed. Like with all things homeschool-related, take what you need from it and leave the rest.
Bettina Colonna Essert is a native of the Virginia/North Carolina borderland. She currently lives on a 'farmette' in rural NE NC with her husband, 2 home schooled children and a menagerie of farm animals. Bettina is an Equine Sports Massage Therapist and also handcrafts a line of fine, organic bath products, Alchemy Redefined .
Thank you for this overview and the links. My daughter is in 3rd grade and was in a waldorf school in our home state, Oregon. When we moved to NYC we learned that the only waldorf school anywhere near us costs $26K per year (plus feels more like typical NY private school than waldorf) so we opted for public school. We are missing the waldorf rhythms and routines and I am considering waldorf homeschooling next year. We have never been waldorf hardliners and it's nice to hear that there are others who try to toe the line as we do with TV and culture in general. Thanks again, this was very useful.
The dogma and near-religion of a Steiner/Waldorf education put us off over 20 years ago when we were looking for a school for our daughter. We continued to homeschool her but I kept an interest in Steiner education for the very reasons you mention in your blog.
Life does need to slow down for children today and reconnect with humanity and culture, and nature. I hope that Steiner/Waldorf inspired home education continues to grow and that it will touch the lives of many more children learning in freedom.
Liz, Thank you for pointing that out. I thought that I might have those terms backwards and meant to look it up (and not having done so is inexcusable). I often do that inversion with regard to Anthro-vs-Theo-sophy. I suppose I'm relieved that I've finally quit accessing my creative writing background and saying Anthropomorphism instead of Anthroposophy! ;-) In order to keep the relevance of your post I will leave the error in the original text unless I post it elsewhere or submit it to a carnival. Thanks again, Tina
The Life Without School Blog
The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic creed but the liberation of the diverse energies of free nations and free men.~John F. Kennedy
Editor's Corner
It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power. ~Alan Cohen
How to Contribute
Please feel free to express your experience, thoughtful perspective and personal opinions in the comment boxes that accompany posts. Comments in the form of questions submitted to this site may be used to create the You Asked page or as leads to new posts. Your stories and experience make this weblog! Read: How to Contribute. Regarding Submissions.
News & Commentary Vault
News Search
Copyright & Legal Info
Copyright © Life Without School Publications, LWOS Publications, 2006 All rights reserved. Please feel free to link to this site but do not copy material and/or reproduce for distribution without permission. Authors of articles retain the rights to their own articles which may not be reproduced for distribution without their permission. Articles may be properly linked only to sites which are not used for commercial purposes. LWOS Publications and authors reserve the right to deny or repeal authorization to link/distribute at any time. Comments in the form of questions submitted to this site may be used to create the You Asked page.