Rather than return their kids to in-person school or computer centered learning this year, many parents have committed to pod schooling and homeschooling. They ask : how can I set up a homeschool or a pod school so that my kids are happily engaged in learning? While A Gift of Wonder is set in an independent Waldorf school, it shows…
I worry that as time goes on and, as schools increasingly focus on the “thing” that is the curriculum and the “thing” that is the test, we will forget what is missing at school. So, I want to invite you into my classroom in a school where teachers and their students are free to learn together without the interference of…
“It was as if my long-term students and I were taking a long journey by ship and it was my fault that, in the parlance of the controversial education law, William was being left behind.”
Readers say: Told in an easy to read style, this book is actually a page turner. This turned out to be the best book I’ve read in a long time. It has the emotional impact of a book of fiction, and the educational value of a non-fiction book. Perhaps, long ago, a teacher made a difference in your life.…
Roland had fallen asleep in the field while watching over the sheep and cows. When rain woke him in the dark of early morning, he smiled and retreated through the wet grass to the lean-to he had built at the edge of the field. It was a low, three sided structure made of long sticks he had found in the…
Discover the importance of wonder in education:  Discover the importance of wonder in education: A Gift of Wonder: A True Story Showing School as It Should Be https://www.amazon.com/dp/1584209542/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_G3UcGbXBT5DRS
“I’m ready to go!” announced Ronduin as he entered the kitchen. His parents, who had been sitting at the table with Cook Agnes, looked at him wide eyed. Cook Agnes hid her smile. Ronduin had stayed awake into the deepest night sewing a bag for carrying his possessions across the muddy fields. He had filled this bag with stockings, a knife, a…
“This is so, so, so good,” said Rowan, between great bites of quiche. He and Mirabel sat at the candle-lit table in the barn kitchen. “I barely ate after I reached the stable because I was running and walking most of the time I was there.” “Why were you running?” asked Mirabel, lighting a second candle. “It’s a long story,”…
I’m sending good wishes to all the readers of Growing Children as we wrap up 2020, a year that will be remembered for a global pandemic and for our responses to this challenge. May you find you own way to honor this season as we pause to honor and celebrate that within us which shines light into darkness. For readers…
Ronduin and his father walked all around the courtyard, back and forth and up and down until they became practiced at walking on the mud with the boards strapped to their feet. They practiced for so long that the Queen and Cook Agnes came looking for them when they did not arrive for the mid-day meal. “Look!” called out Ronduin.…
The overwhelming smell of fresh bread and the brightness of many candles met Mirabel as she stepped into the kitchen so early in the morning that it was still dark. The linen sleeping sack draped over her shoulders looked like a long shawl. “Ah, there you are,” said Rowan. “Good morning, Sister and Caretaker of of Barn Hill, and thank…
When Mirabel rolled over in the dark, her face landed on a clump of prickly, pokey, stick-up straw. She brushed it all away from her face, but when she tried to settle again, a lone piece of straw poked at her cheek. Now, opening her eyes, she looked over the edge of the loft toward the door which was now…
Ronduin emptied the bucket of kitchen scraps into the chickens’ food bowl. “Sunrise and Sunset, you will like what I brought you today,” he said to the chickens in a tone that sounded like he expected them to understand. “Yesterday I noticed some turnips that had started to sprout and I asked Cook Agnes for green tops. She said she…
The dawn wind stirred the grass on the foothills. And, when a blade of dew-damp grass brushed across his cheek, Roland wakened from his light sleep. Sitting up and stretching, he surveyed the cows and sheep who were already up and grazing. He had woken may times through the light to check on them by the light of the moon.…
