I read a study recently that the kids replied that the idea for bullying came from their parents making fun of other people. I think there are a vast amount of people who do that in their homes. I'm not blaming anyone here life is rarely black and white ,it's just that was an eye opener for me. Thankfully so far my kids have been the ones to stand up to bullying but I pretty sure I've been guilty of the fun a time or two it's really made me aware to watch what I think and then say. I'm a Christian so I believe we are all made in the image of God therefore no matter how awful a person is there is something in there worthy of praise and I try to think on that. Do I always succeed yeah right I wish, but it's what I push towards and I want to model that for my kids so the first battle is in my thoughts.

Ironically for Waldorf Education the time has arrived that they can stop defending their methods. There are more and more studies coming out on how children do learn better through play or you could also call it cognitive development or less "intellectual" work, in the early years. The studies show that kids that still believe in Santa , imaginative characters etc... at later ages like 9 (3rd grade) have developed in ways that help them learn better in the long run. So it's understandable why Waldorf education methods try to shelter that imagination. There are many more years to Waldorf Education then just the first three if you look over the entire curriculum it's a rigorous classical education. A good site where you can learn more about cognitive development http://www.cognifit.com/science/cognitive-skills also a great book http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Never-Used-Flashcards-Learn/dp/1594860688/ref=pd_sim_b_4 I think the quibble is over the use of the word intellectual. I honestly wish Waldorf would choose a different word because the curriculum certainly is rich in the development of knowledge. But the knowledge is taught in an imaginative,hands on way. It's kind of like thinking music is unimportant for learning. Then you look at some of the world's greatest mathematicians and there is clearly a correlation between them and music. So many of them were,are musicians. Drawing,painting,handwork are all developing spatial intelligence. I could go on because obviously I am passionate about Waldorf methods and hate to see them misunderstood but I'll stop:lol:. I should add that there are things that I don't agree with in Waldorf (I'm a Christian so some of their spiritual beliefs veer greatly from mine)but I think it's shame to not utilize the good part of it which is plentiful.

That is a great post!

You might find this helpful a chart comparing classical and waldorf http://theparentingpassageway.com/2009/06/25/differences-between-waldorf-and-the-well-trained-mind-grades-one-through-four/ HTH

"It's definitely not bad, but the magic of Waldorf only really shines through when the lessons spring out of your own heart. " So true!! The one thing about homeschooling is often multiple grades need to be taught. At one point I was teaching five grades ugh! I've found reading books new to me on the subjects I'm currently teaching help me to become reconnected with the subjects so the "canned" lessons are a bit fresher. It kind of feels like my 6th grader and I are in a book club as he usually likes to read what ever I bring home for me. So we end up discussing what we liked ,didn't like,learned etc... Some day when our kids are grown and gone we hope to either foster or adopt. Then I will get the chance to totally immerse myself into the one grade,make my own lessons. What a treat that will be! But you are right a vital part of the magic is when the teacher is connected to the subject themselves.

We have gifted children. Kids that without any help, learned to read fluently at 3,learned to multiply and divide by themselves in preschool etc... Some of our SAT scores have been in the top 3% in the country. We have five children aged 7 to our oldest 19 ,in his second year at his university. In my opinion, Waldorf will work for any family. My kids do go on learning tangents on their own but also fully enjoy the Waldorf curriculum. It's an error to think that Waldorf education isn't a rigorous education. You could say it starts "slower" because the method is interdisciplinary. It values integrating practical, artistic, and conceptual elements while also considering the child's development. My husband is engineer. He is also in management and does interviews. These interviewees have degrees,certificates etc... He will tell you he sees a disproportionate amount of interviewees that have a head knowledge but not a working knowledge. In many educational methods,there are skills being neglected in favor of dumping of facts. I think Waldorf does an excellent job of connecting the kids to the subjects which makes a world of difference. I am not great at putting together words so here is a site that says it so much better then I can. http://www.pasadenawaldorf.org/2012/02/22/what-makes-a-waldorf-high-school-different/

In a nutshell, Waldorf education cultivates three principal faculties in children: thinking, feeling and willing. As such, it is often described as education for the “head, heart and hands.” “Head” refers to the ability to think clearly and independently. “Heart” refers to the capacity for feeling emotionally connected to one’s work and the world at large. “Hands” refers to the willingness to take action to achieve one’s goals and to contribute to the world. An excellent and more detailed primer on Waldorf Education can be found in Jack Petrash’s book Understanding Waldorf Education—Teaching From the Inside Out Link here http://books.google.com/books?id=zeQFbuBta3IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Understanding+Waldorf+Education&hl=en&ei=PqObTNvcDonSsAPn-tmeCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=true More great resources I found at my local library School as a Journey, by Torin Finser (Waldorf teacher's writes about all the years of his 8 years of teaching the same children) A Waldorf promise dvd Some free resources online How Waldorf Schools teach reading http://pinterest.com/queenslace/ If you look on youtube you will find tons of videos from waldorf schools talking and showing how they teach. HTH

exactly like my image? I just noticed what you said in your title. Do you remember what company.

Yes I did but it's still up and I'm wondering if it's because you can't see my DD face? I don't post personal photos on the web anymore because a bunch of mine have gone viral.

my other photo account which shows my name and a discussion I had over the processing of the image. http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4072260

It's on my flickr and my old photography business blog. http://linenphotography.typepad.com/ I'll try to find the exact page I originally posted it

It is a personal photo of my DD and Husband and they are using it for a father's day promotion post on facebook. I've asked them to take it down and they are not. If you have a moment can you please post for them to not use someone's personal photo without permission? Their facebook page is here The image is of my dd and husband dancing Thanks so much. https://www.facebook.com/Tieks

Yeah it is a balancing act ...life, homeschooling or not. :lol: Because honestly I would just be swamping myself with something else if it wasn't school stuff. It's part of what attracted me to Waldorf in the first place the total immersion into subjects. I learn that way naturally.

That sounds amazing I'm pretty sure my library has those courses I need to check them out! Thanks for the heads up!

Yeah I have to agree with it when I first started I felt overwhelmed and I already have two grads. I think what helped me the most was the Enki training videos. I wish more companies would offer videos on teacher training (where you see actually lessons done with kids) or that Enki would offer theirs to buy separate from the curriculum. I think it helps to realize that waldorf basically is unit studies. They call them blocks but it's just like unit studies but done with art. The art/handwork/movement part just implement things slowly as you learn them. My girlfriend tells me she can always tell what I'm learning to master by my pintrest LOL I swamp myself reading,watching etc.. everything I can on my new subject ,learn it and then bring it to my kids.

Thank you it looks great so I will probably be buying the ebook.

are you selling it as an ebook? I LOVE ebooks such a space saver.

One link I wish I had added because it's such a great resource is this http://www.waldorflibrary.org/index.php?searchtext=ebook&author=on&title=on&isbn=on&description=on&publisher=on&option=com_booklibrary&task=search&Itemid=3 A waldorf library with tons of free ebooks on how use waldorf methods. For instance this book is great! has lessons from 2 to 8th and it's free! http://www.waldorflibrary.org/books?task=view&id=1384&catid=0

Sorry I offended you honestly I wasn't trying. I'm a really straight forward person with my views and I understand that can be offensive , sorry! It's just common to hear of people that get nervous with the method and I wanted to say something about that. I do not know your situation and couldn't possibly speak to it. I just gave my thoughts for what might be the cause of some failures. I really believe the curriculum is fantastic. It does try to utilize all the possible learning styles so it's very effective for most children even those in public schools. In fact there is a growing number of public Waldorf schools and many more Waldorf inspired schools. Also ,you might have missed where i said "In the end though a child might need a different environment to learn in and who best to know it but the parent. " (said humbly not arrogantly there hate that there is no inflection there so you could hear my intent. )

My kids are the same way... my oldest two both are going after art degrees(one started out in music and switched his major) Anything I did with them that was Waldorf-ish they loved! But there wasn't any curriculum that was Waldorf based when I was teaching them. I just read about Waldorf as much as I could and tried to add it in where I could. People do not know how lucky they are now, there are so many Waldorf curriculum choices. I'm using solely Waldorf curriculum to teach our younger three. Waldorf methods are great for any child but over the top for artistic kids. You can watch a movie for 2.00 online that gives a pretty good overview of how they teach. If you can find this same movie at your library (mine has it) in the extras are actual lessons being taught that I found really helpful to see the "how". http://www.amazon.com/The-Waldorf-Promise/dp/B002Y9G7JS In a nutshell Waldorf methods emphasize the teaching of the whole child—head, hands, and heart. So they try to approach all the styles of learning. So the children learn say math through movement,handwork,music,oral practice,written practice etc... the heart is trying to approach the subjects in a way that the kids can connect with it, beautiful stories,plays,puppet shows,books etc.. Waldorf doesn't use textbooks the kids make their own textbooks by illustrating what they are learning and writing about it in their main lesson books. Art ,dance,music is taught slowly through the years as you would other subjects like math. My kids are all thriving using Waldorf methods. Some of my kids did learn to read later. But when they read, they did it in leaps and bounds. This is going to be hard to believe but one of my kids went from not reading at 9 to reading books like Moby Dick in a few short months. I think some things it's kind of like potty training. You can drill them into to learning or just encourage till they are ready it's effortless and the huge difference is they want to and they enjoy it. As for math we start out using only Waldorf methods so they see math as fun and approachable. We continue teaching the Waldorf blocks where they do written work just like any school. My kids love math so we also bought them teaching textbook math(not waldorf) book to do their practice work. They LOVE them and most days beg to do the next lesson. If a child is lagging the error is the teachers in not seeing that the child needed extra attention or maybe the parent in not realizing that the child just needs more time or maybe it's a bit of both. I remember my girlfriend whose son was in the local Waldorf school complaining too about her son being "behind" and she pulled him out of the school . I can't help but think it must be so frustrating for Waldorf teachers who know the stats of their grads. It is challenging classical curriculum that builds slowly much slower then public school because it's based on child development. Considering that 94% of the Waldorf grads attend some college and 88% earn a degree... they must be doing something right. In the end though a child might need a different environment to learn in and who best to know it but the parent. If you are on a budget and want to pull together your own course of study. I recommend A Path of Discovery books there is one for all the grades ( http://www.waldorfbooks.com/curriculum-guides/path-of-discovery-curriculum-guides ) to use as a jump off base or use the charlotte mason curriculum ( http://www.amblesideonline.org/ ) as a base but use waldorf methods ( do a search online you will find tons of free information) Take a look at this pintrest board ( http://pinterest.com/queenslace/ ) you find lots of inspiration and links to tons of free Waldorf information. If you find you are at place where you can afford to buy we have loved Enki and live Education. HTH

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.

Actually this has gone to court for software specifically and no matter what a company tells you legally you have the right to resell. It's First-sale doctrine pretty soon we'll be seeing a suit against Amazon or another site for the ebooks. As the law stands now you have a right to resell ,you can not copy but you can resell.

I disagree with bluegoat on the surface they seem similar and they are in part. Waldorf methods approach intellectual problems in deeply creative ways which is hardly unChristian. Just because Steiner attaches something to the method it still doesn't mean the gift of using your noggen isn't God given. They teach for instance, the relation of whole to parts, and perceiving that successful solutions may require experimentation, imagination, and constant refinement. It's like the method is presenting something ,get the kids to ask the questions, and then have them come up with solutions with a bit of help of a mentor. Big difference from reading someone else's thinking and narrating it back. I don't hate CM but I don't it is a stimulating as Waldorf methods. Waldorf can be every bit as Christian as CM . Specially when you consider true waldorf method is creating your own lessons so if your view point is Christian well it will come across in how and what you choose to teach.

both classical educations. Waldorf starts off slow and I could write a long post as to the why but it is easier to post a link to this video to a very interesting lecture on the how and why reading is taught in Waldorf schools. I have found them spot on with my kids as far as what is needed for their age and interests. It's kind of like potty training a child at the right age. They enjoy it,you do too vs. try too early it's hard and the kids hate it. 90% of Waldorf grads go on to higher learning,ivy league colleges. So the in the end ,you know the curriculum is rigorous enough. I like CM, but I prefer the way Waldorf really encourages creative,critical thinking and frankly more of a world view. I like how it is huge on training kids to use their thinking, feeling, and willing ( "head, heart, and hands"). I do not belief in Steiner's new age beliefs. I modify or address anything I do not believe. I find the addressing some of these beliefs is a great way to help my kids critically think through their faith, with me as a mentor. HTH

Best of all is the cds themselves I don't mind listening to them in the car like most kids cds makes it easy for us to learn them listening in the car. http://www.enkieducation.org/html/materials/rsclib-rlmamob.htm