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.…
Moss gardens bring nature inside. They offer children opportunities for imaginative play, experimentation, and hands on exploration of the world of plants. We started by collecting moss and a mossy log in the forest. Then we placed a layer of soil on a boot tray and added the pieces of moss. At this point my eight year old helper took…
This page launches on February 2,2019. You are welcome to join now. click here: https://www.facebook.com/waldorfwisdom/ As a participant in a number of very worthwhile Waldorf-related Facebook pages, I saw a gap that asked to be filled, hence Seeking Waldorf Wisdom. The goal is to work together in the manner of a Waldorf faculty meeting to explore topics that support our…
My friend Robert tells me, “How we raise and educate our children is a key element in whether or not we survive! That’s why your book is so important! Because civilization is, in Victor Frankl’s term, “running on the wire.” “But,” I counter, “my teaching memoir is simply life in a Waldorf classroom, moments, conversations, little kids becoming big kids,…
They sit in front of a screen for five hours a day, hundreds of people at desks moving through the programs, step by step. Once a week they meet with a person for fifteen minutes. Occasionally they join a group listening briefly to a speaker. But mostly they interact with a screen, reading and giving answers.They try to keep on…
According to studies and parents themselves, parenting can make you tired, overwhelmed and anxious. And no wonder. The parent zone includes marinara drizzled onto your new beige carpet, more hours in the car than in your bed and entire mountain ranges of laundry. Plus you are responsible for the health and well being of someone who means more to you…
“In an era where “high-stakes testing” and other so-called standards and measurements has taken over our public schools, this look into the life of a Waldorf school feels like a refreshing oasis in the desert!” “As an Early Childhood Waldorf parent of two with one just entering the grades, I was glued to the book A Gift of Wonder…
by Kim Allsup Growing Children October, 2018 I have a scar on my lower lip because I was a child before cars had seat belts and forgiving interiors. The driver braked hard and I flew into the sharp edge of a metal strip. Many new technologies are not inherently safe and the automobile is still in the not-quite-fully-safe category. After…
Writing in The Atlantic, Paul Barnwell says that students today have a “broken moral compass” because “The pressures of national academic standards have pushed character education out of the classroom.” (link below) One of the reasons I wrote A Gift of Wonder was to share a picture in which character education is integrated with academics. I discovered that this approach…
