Jump to content

Menu

For Those Considering Waldorf for a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th Grader


umsami
 Share

Recommended Posts

I don't know if I'm the only one...but when I look at Waldorf-y stuff...I think, "That's how childhood should be." "That's the type of school I wish I went to." It speaks to my soul. I remember visiting a Waldorf kindy for DS1 when he was 4...and the energy of the place was just so peaceful and nurturing. Unfortunately, we couldn't afford the $5k, tuition. ;)

 

The thing is, I went to an overpriced, Anglophilic, academic-rigorous prep school--so the classical curriculum speaks to me as well. Oh, if only I had started Latin younger, rather than waiting until 6th grade. Oh, if only I had a better grasp of Ancient history, etc.

 

I'm kind of caught between the two.

 

Anyways, I'm in a major curriculum shopping/lusting phase, and went back to one of my old Waldorf haunts, A Little Garden Flower. She now has little guides for people coming to Waldorf late--be it the second, third, or fourth grade. They're under $20 for the e-book and they are just chock-full of so much information. Pages and pages. She also has a great sample series from her curriculum that I highly recommend. If you're at all considering Waldorf, I really recommend these. I love Donna's stuff (Christopherus) too, but her prices are much higher these days.

 

Waldorf speaks to my soul. Classical speaks to my head. So, I think I'm going to try and go back and do Waldorf with my kids. My goal is to commit until they're in 5th grade at least. I figure I can start major intensive Classical schooling then if I want--or continue with what's working. I'm sure I'll still supplement (it's my nature), but I hope to offer a more gentle early Childhood if possible. (Possible for me...the curriculum junkie.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think a lot of people have that feeling about the Waldorf aethetic. For me, although I like a lot of the surface dressing of Waldorf, I have serious disagreement with the core philosophy and so I would never use a true Waldorf program.

 

We've tended to go with a CM approach which has the things that I like about Waldorf while also being classical.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't dismiss Waldorf as being academically light. If you follow the Christopherus path, you will basically be running a four year history and science cycle by 5th grade, as well as keeping pace with maths (ready for algebra in year 7) and grammar. The reading selections are almost identical to the WTM lists. Writing from outlines is not taught directly until high school, but you can alter this if you like: language arts tends to be integrated with history and science.

 

And we are living proof that you can use a Waldorf curriculum without adhering to the esoteric religious aspects. We are entirely secular (my husband and son are atheists) and Christopherus has causes us no problems.

D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I didn't have so much brain damage, I would use more Waldorf than I do. The past few weeks, my seizures have been decreasing in frequency and my brain has been clearing and repairing itself and I feel myself being more and more drawn back towards my Waldorf ways, but...I have to be careful to stay with more open and go resources, so I will be prepared to weather the deteriorations that are almost certainly in my future.

 

There are a LOT of misconceptions and rumors about Waldorf. Just like in any method there are PEOPLE who take things to a certain places that are not the GENERAL method, and...since any method grows and adapts over time, it's even hard to say what is the GENERAL method.

 

Yes, there is absolutely some conflict with some interpretations of Waldorf and certain religions. The primary founder of Waldorf was of a different religion, and while it wasn't his intent to create an educational method based on HIS religion, or course some of his beliefs crept in.

 

Waldorf is NOT academically light, as Deee said. It's just NOT. It just presents different skills in a different order, and it treats the child as more than a brain suspended on top of an expendable body, that has no soul.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Waldorf is NOT academically light, as Deee said. It's just NOT. It just presents different skills in a different order, and it treats the child as more than a brain suspended on top of an expendable body, that has no soul.

 

I love the way you said it perfect! If you look into how waldorf grads do it's amazing the stats. It's a shame that people take a quick glance at Waldorf and don't look at the whole picture.

A good lecture to see why "light" academics in the early years http://vimeo.com/9181078\

It really is that they are focusing on skills that often get left behind in the "normal" approaches. I find it interesting that more and more science is backing up Waldorf thoughts on the head, the heart and the hands and teaching to the development of the child.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't dismiss Waldorf as being academically light. If you follow the Christopherus path, you will basically be running a four year history and science cycle by 5th grade, as well as keeping pace with maths (ready for algebra in year 7) and grammar. The reading selections are almost identical to the WTM lists. Writing from outlines is not taught directly until high school, but you can alter this if you like: language arts tends to be integrated with history and science.

 

And we are living proof that you can use a Waldorf curriculum without adhering to the esoteric religious aspects. We are entirely secular (my husband and son are atheists) and Christopherus has causes us no problems.

D

 

Well put.

 

On a side note, any idea why Donna's prices have gone up so much? Is she just bundling things differently or was there really a giant price increase?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love the way you said it perfect! If you look into how waldorf grads do it's amazing the stats. It's a shame that people take a quick glance at Waldorf and don't look at the whole picture.

A good lecture to see why "light" academics in the early years http://vimeo.com/9181078\

It really is that they are focusing on skills that often get left behind in the "normal" approaches. I find it interesting that more and more science is backing up Waldorf thoughts on the head, the heart and the hands and teaching to the development of the child.

 

Thanks! I enjoyed watching the video.

 

Do any of you teach uppercase letters first?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think the prices have gone up, but Christopherus now produces full packages for each year up to 5th, so these cost more because you get lots more. When we first started, in grade 2, there were only separate units. You can still buy units separately for maths, there are books for language arts and science which cover up to grade 8 and you can buy science and history units. So if you don't want it all laid out, you could pay much less. If you buy the whole package, all you'd need was craft supplies and a good library. Compared with the other main Steiner curriculum, Live Education, Christopherus is well priced and covers the full years work for main, middle and block lessons, where Live Ed only does main lessons. Christopherus has much more information about how to teach, plan, etc than Live Ed and no restrictive resale policy. If you check out the Waldorf forums, and Waldorf supplies yahoo list, you can find Christopherus second hand.

 

We're now in 6th grade and using the free rough guide, along with two history guides for the year. We've found Christopherus good value, even with shipping to Australia. I guess most of all, I like Donna's style: very down to earth, very practical and she gets the difference between school and homeschool. Its also not US-centric, which is a big problem for us rest-of-the-world types!

D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also have a ton of Live Ed and Christopherus for sale on these boards. If you search for my names or even Live Education or Christopherus you'll find it.

 

I didn't really find it "light"--actually I thought it was pretty challenging--but it took a LOT of time, at least for me. Implementing all that form drawing and nature/community walk time and painting, etc, just took a lot of time. I guess it would have been find but I personally can't feel comfortable with a block schedule, especially for math. I always loved the block we were in but then I would start getting this nagging feeling about all the other stuff we were neglecting. I just couldn't relax about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is exactly the debate that I've had with myself. CM or Waldorf? I just told my mom the other day that my mind says CM and my heart says Waldorf. I finally went with my heart and purchased the 1st grade Christopherus materials and I'm so excited about using them. When I read through the Christopherus Curriculum Guide and saw how things progress I felt much better about the slow start with academics. I also noticed that lots of the CM books that I've already gathered (I was going to do Ambleside Online/Simply CM) will be used anyway, just a little bit later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm kind of caught between the two.

 

 

Me too.

 

What I've ended up doing so far is CM with touches of Waldorf and Classical. I like what little I've read of the Bluedorns. The article that Hunter linked would mesh nicely with many aspects of Waldorf.

 

Meanwhile I dream of writing a curriculum with this odd mix. :001_smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...