Drawn to Waldorf

[RainbowSprinkles]

I don't know why, but at least once a year and usually around the holidays, I feel myself drawn to the Waldorf method! I wonder if that means I'm supposed to be using it :) Not just for education, but also around the house.

Hmm... anyone else ever have this happen?

[catalinakel]

For me, Waldorf schooling styles are very magnetic...and when I think about gift giving, I am inclined to give handmade, wooden, practical play gifts to children. So it makes sense to me that you would be drawn at Christmastime. There are so many ways to incorporate Waldorf type set ups in your home and schooling.....this is where google can be a friend. Explore and enjoy.....

[LaissezFaire]

I love Waldorf toys but that is where my love ends. The philosophy itself scares me.

[Carol in Cal.]

Yes, when it's cold outside I like to think about sitting inside and making things. I like good seasonal cooking smells, like soup and bread and cookies and roasts. I like the idea of working with wool. And it's almost Christmas, so I'm thinking about presents! It's perfect for Waldorf.

[prairiegirl]

I love Waldorf! I am drawn to it periodically throughout the year (like right now) but then Classical drags me back. :D

[smrtmama]

The toys are great and all, but I wouldn't use the educational method pretty much ever. You want scary? Read some of the PRO-Waldorf comments -- and if they don't seem scary to you, it's because you've never had the exact same conversation w/ a completely different pro-Waldorf person. It's like they issue a script along w/ the other brainwashing.

[redsquirrel]

I always get all waldorf-y in the autumn/winter as well, lol. It passes when it comes down to actually doing the crafts. I am not so crafty.

 

I was heavily influenced by waldorf for the infant/toddler/preschool years but that was about it. My kids really responded to the airy-fairy, dreamy quality. Both boys are still very cuddly, artistic people. However, when it came to academics I did not want to delay at all. Again,my kids responded very well to academics at a young age so I went with it.

 

But, they do love their silkies, playstands and fairy tales even at 5 and 10 years old.

[chiguirre]

You know, you can pick and choose what you like. The Waldorf police are not going to knock on your door with their Martinmas lanterns and beat you with their pentatonic flutes. Or at least, none have appeared on my doorstep.:leaving:

 

If you'd like to add a bit of seasonal Waldorfy stuff, check out:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Year-Seasonal-Festivals-Hawthorn/dp/1903458595/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290913781&sr=8-1

 

or

 

http://www.amazon.com/All-Year-Round-Lifeways-Druitt/dp/1869890477/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1290913781&sr=8-2

[Peela]

I love Waldorf here too (and no, I am not "scared" of them). Psht. No more culty than some Christian churches seem to many of us. Take what you resonate with and leave the rest.

 

It is possible to integrate a lot of Waldorf ideas into classical homeschooling. The traditional Waldorf school system is based on a classical system, too, since that WAS the system back when it was developed, and it is quite compatible.

 

I did try and homeschool Waldorf style at the beginning, with a non arty, non creative, LD child. It was a lot of work for me and a lot of resistance from him! It would have worked wonderfully with my other child but she started homeschooling a few months later and by then I had found classical. She found her own way with her creativity, though.

[LaissezFaire]

I was basing my opinion on my own research and tour of Waldorf school. It just made me uncomfortable. That being said, I do LOVE the beautiful handcrafted things. We do love our black crayons though. ;)

[Tohru]

I love some of the ideas in Waldorf and we incorporate them with our Classical education, like the nature, handmade, all natural, simplicity, art, rhythm, gnomes/fairies. We do leave a lot of the spirituality aspects out though.

 

...maybe there should be another word for us part-Waldorf-y people :) Or maybe we're just modern, showered, evolved hippies.

[redsquirrel]

you shower?

 

Well aren't you little miss fancy pants!

[Tohru]

you shower?

 

Well aren't you little miss fancy pants!

 

:lol: Well, at least we try. If we forget, we do have patchouli as back-up

[merry gardens]

The toys are great and all, but I wouldn't use the educational method pretty much ever. You want scary? Read some of the PRO-Waldorf comments -- and if they don't seem scary to you, it's because you've never had the exact same conversation w/ a completely different pro-Waldorf person. It's like they issue a script along w/ the other brainwashing.

Thanks for that.

I've been looking at some of the Waldorf-y materials from various toy catalogs that arrive around Christmas shopping time. The toys and art supplies look nice, but I didn't know much about the Waldorf method.

[RainbowSprinkles]

Yes, I know I don't agree with some of the things that Steiner came up with, but it doesn't mean I can't like parts of it :) I mostly like the artistic part. I like some ideas like nature tables and fairy tales. And I'd like to find a way to somehow integrate these things more into our home and school. But I know I'll never be a pure Waldorf follower.

[Laurie4b]

The toys are great and all, but I wouldn't use the educational method pretty much ever. You want scary? Read some of the PRO-Waldorf comments -- and if they don't seem scary to you, it's because you've never had the exact same conversation w/ a completely different pro-Waldorf person. It's like they issue a script along w/ the other brainwashing.

 

One of my friends worked for a while as a secretary at a Waldorf school. She overheard some weird religious things that totally creeped her out and IIRC, they were also supposed to be secret--like a secret religious cult. She quit and does anything she can to dissuade people from sending their kids to Waldorf schools.

[annlaura]

You know, you can pick and choose what you like. The Waldorf police are not going to knock on your door with their Martinmas lanterns and beat you with their pentatonic flutes. Or at least, none have appeared on my doorstep.:leaving:

 

 

:lol: Oh my! This made me giggle. I find that many things I'm drawn to are Waldorf-y, but I was drawn to them before I'd ever heard of Waldorf. The traditions, or rhythms I should say, of this time of year do feel Waldorf-y. Just don't tell the Waldorf police that we've been listening to pre-recorded music, and I let my sons use more than one color of crayons and paint at a time. ;)

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Yes, I know I don't agree with some of the things that Steiner came up with, but it doesn't mean I can't like parts of it :) I mostly like the artistic part. I like some ideas like nature tables and fairy tales. And I'd like to find a way to somehow integrate these things more into our home and school. But I know I'll never be a pure Waldorf follower.

 

:iagree:

[Closeacademy]

In the past around this time of year, I would feel drawn to Waldorf. Some years we would do things more Waldorf and other less but last year, I decided to go all out and bought Oak Meadow and it has changed our school for the better. This last year was the best year yet.

 

I feel more relaxed, creative and we are all having fun while schooling. I've written a post in response to negativity about Waldorf & other educational methods on my blog.

 

You can just do the parts of Waldorf that speaks to you and that you like. You don't have to go all out and do everything Steiner says. Honestly, though I do like the fact that he talks about not punishing the symptoms (bad behaviors) in a child but getting to the root of the problem and helping them to be the best that way.

 

Hope you find your way to wherever you are supposed to go on this journey.:001_smile:

[Just Another Jen]

We ended up switching to Oak Meadow and my kids and I love it. It’s not from any growing interest in Rudolf Steiner. Steiner is a strange one but the education he designed is very good. He realized that kids need to move, create, play, and engage their senses, affections and imagination in order to learn and “own” knowledge in any meaningful way. The Waldorf method assumes a priority to how children develop into interested and disciplined learners, and for that reason “sooner is not always better”. As Christy said, "Take what works for you and leave the rest."

[AngelBee]

I am actually reading Steiner right now. I figured before I kept talking about how crazy he was, I should see what he actually said instead of what others say about him. :)

[kalanamak]

One of my friends worked for a while as a secretary at a Waldorf school. She overheard some weird religious things that totally creeped her out and IIRC, they were also supposed to be secret--like a secret religious cult. She quit and does anything she can to dissuade people from sending their kids to Waldorf schools.

 

I've met a few Waldorf grads, and even have a relative who is one, and they seem like more-socially-conscientious, somewhat artsy, upper-middle-class kids. I know one full grown with a daughter in college, and, really, they seem like people you'd like to have as a neighbor. The ones I've had deeper conversation with are more "spiritual" than religious, as many here are. The teacher I knew (second grade for decades) was not "spiritual" at all, but went to great efforts to teach "the whole child", including a high percentage of scholarship kids from rough part of town. I always got the impression the "secret" things were something like the "secret" meaning of "The Greek" fraternities on campus, or all the special stories and meanings going to a certain summer camp year after year imparts. Granted, I think I've known 5, but one is a relative (and I went to her high school graduation....nothing odd, and The Lord's Prayer was sung (I'd never heard it sung before)), and I also knew the teacher very well for several years.

 

It is amusing that people view it so suspiciously. I bet you could see a Steiner grad in the mall, and not see anything frightening about him/her at all.:001_smile:

[abbeyej]

There are a few lovely ideas with Waldorf. And, if you look closely, some Very Disturbing things too. ... The nice part about being home schoolers though is that we can take some of the lovelier ideas and ignore the rest. For me, I wouldn't consider a truly Waldorf-oriented "curriculum" because there are so many things at the heart of the philosophy that do not sit well with me. At all. ... *But* there are many wonderful things to draw from Waldorf as well. For me, some of those would be: simple, beautiful toys made with natural materials; rhythms through the day and year; a value for tradition; storytelling; incorporating art and handiwork through the years; valuing nature...

 

Feel free to grasp hold of those things (and whatever else particularly appeals to you and makes sense to you from Waldorf traditions) -- but it doesn't mean you have to accept whole heartedly Steiner's philosophical and religious tenets or some of the wackier educational ideas.

[LibraryLover]

Oak Meadow is a good place for curric ideas. I like their Ancients program for middle elementary children.