Written by Sarah Baldwin of Bella Luna Toys and Moon Child
While my two boys, Harper and Will, spent most of their schooling years in a Waldorf school, we spent two years homeschooling. I am a trained Waldorf teacher and prior to this I had been teaching at the Waldorf school that my boys attended.
I spent years in graduate school studying education and had many years of teaching experience, but I learned more about how children learn during those two years than I did from all my teacher training and the plethora of books I’d read on the subject.
The Challenge
Being devoted to Waldorf education, I was determined to give my children a true Waldorf experience at home, so when we started, I did what I knew. I created a mini-Waldorf school at home, complete with lazured walls, wooden desks, and a large blackboard. It was beautiful!
Since I had also agreed to homeschool my niece, I was committed to offering the curriculum to three different grades, as it would be taught in a Waldorf school.
During the first couple of months, I would routinely stay up until midnight, sometimes later, preparing three different lesson plans and drawings that I would expect my students to copy into their “main lesson books” the next day. I had a curriculum and a daily schedule and I was determined to stick to it.
Our first day was a success!
We got through the first month. But as the weather grew cooler, I was getting a little stressed and sleep-deprived. I noticed that my students seemed to be growing restless and resistant to my lessons.
By Christmas I was ready to have a nervous breakdown.
Letting Go
I knew that in order to preserve my sanity, something had to change. I was going to have to relax and let go of my preconceived notions of what the children needed to learn and when. We started planning more field trips, which were a welcome change of pace.
We attended a talk with a naturalist about eagles and owls. The presenter informed us about how many eagles have returned to our home state of Maine, and told us that if we made a point to look up in the sky, we would likely see them.
It was true! In the coming week we spotted three bald eagles, one of which dramatically swooped down to capture a snake from the ground. This sparked an interest in birds of prey. Now “Birds of Prey” was not one of my lesson plans, but we went to the library to get books about owls and eagles.
Then I turned our newfound interest into Waldorf-inspired activities. We drew pictures of owls and eagles with colored pencils in our main lesson books; we memorized a poem about owls; we learned a Native American song about the eagle and played it on our recorders; and we wrote essays about owls and eagles and copied them in our main lesson books.
Our learning became more inspired by the children’s interests, and our days became much lighter and joy-filled.
My A-ha Moment
Then it dawned on me that the prescribed Waldorf curriculum was designed as an institutional model. The curriculum, which Rudolf Steiner brilliantly devised to meet children’s needs at each stage of their development, was intended for a class of 25 or more students of the same age.
It would not be practical for a teacher to create individual lesson plans to meet the interests of 25 different students, but at home we had that freedom. I began to discover that we learn best when learning comes out of our own curiosity; when we feel the desire to know more about something.
After our “Birds of Prey” block, our further studies were inspired by other field trips and from books we read. In choosing books, I looked to the Waldorf curriculum: fairy tales for my first grade niece; Native American stories and fables for my second grader; and stories of the Middle Ages for my sixth grader.
Naturally, a child may never have a burning desire to learn all about long division or solving equations, so we spent a little time every day working on math skills. We worked with Singapore Math and Harold Jacobs’s excellent textbook Elementary Algebra, which really made algebra (never my favorite subject) fun. Harper and I problem-solved together and checked our answers against one another.
Back to School
After two years of learning together, there was an unexpected need for an early childhood teacher back at the Waldorf school. While I loved the time we spent homeschooling and was reluctant to give up the freedoms we enjoyed, I felt called back to the work that I often feel I was born to do, and the boys looked forward to rejoining their friends and the social life of the school.
Upon their return, I worried that their teachers might find them to be “behind,” not having followed precisely the curriculum their classmates had. To the contrary, their skills were at or above those of their classmates, but most importantly, their teachers noticed how enthusiastic they were about learning.
When Harper’s teacher shared that his newfound enthusiasm for math and science was having a positive affect on the rest of the class, he gave all the credit to homeschooling.
“Before we homeschooled,” he said, “I never knew that math and science could be fun!”
Do you follow a set curriculum? Do you unschool, or do a combination of both? I’d love to hear what works for you!
This is so beautiful – thank you for taking the time to write out your journey. It’s so encouraging!
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Thanks, Misha. Glad you found some encouragement from it!
I’m chuckling over your choice of words, nervous breakdown, but I know from experience that’s exactly what it feels like. I know some HS moms can do it – and thrive! – alas I wasn’t one of them. So I learned to let go too. I’m not too crazy about the term unschool as it’s gotten a bad rap lately, but yes, that’s what we do. I don’t see how our homeschool would’ve survived without me letting go of the image I had in my head of what homeschooling should be. Thankfully I found it easy to follow my kids’ lead in their education.
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I wonder if there are any among us, Monica, whose reality of homeschooling matched our image of what we thought it would be when we made the decision to do it.
Sarah Baldwin’s latest post: Waldorf Homeschooling- Letting Go of Perfect
We are unschoolers here too. I like the term interest led learners better. We started out with a curriculum when the twins were younger but because of some family issues it was put aside and we just started doing things together and slowly came into letting the kids find what interests them and going with it. We love it, our days have a natural rhythm to them.
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Oh, I like that term “interest-led learners,” Rana! If I had to describe our homeschooling philosophy now, I think I would call it “Waldorf-inspired, interest-led learning.”
Sarah Baldwin’s latest post: Waldorf Homeschooling- Letting Go of Perfect
Hello and thanks for the great post. I’m also a teacher and have a heart that struggles with wanting to home school when the time comes.
Question about resources:
Do you (or anyone else reading) have what you would call a quintessential home school primer – a book that explains the basics of how and why one home schools?
Do you (or anyone else reading) know of a quintessential Waldorf resource – explaining the basics of Waldorf as well as its advantages?
Thanks so much again for sharing!
Thanks for your comment, Stephanie. Through my homeschooling experience I learned that every decision we make in life seems to involve a compromise. When we decided to return to school we gave up some of the freedoms we enjoyed, but we gained being part of a like-minded Waldorf community.
I can’t recommend a quintessential homeschool primer (maybe Jamie can chime in with one), but as far as a Waldorf resource, I can definitely recommend Waldorf Education: A Family Guilde (Pam Fenner, ed.) as a good introduction to the philosophy and curriculum. You can find it at http://blog.bellalunatoys.com/cat/bookstore under the category “Waldorf Education.”
Sarah Baldwin’s latest post: Waldorf Homeschooling- Letting Go of Perfect
Thank-you for this encouraging article!!!! I am a waldorf homeschooler as well, and your insights confirm what I expect to be the right path for our family.
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Hi Sarah,
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am a homeschooling mother of 5 children. I have an education degree and often say that it did not prepare me to teach my children. It did teach me how to gather information to share with them. I have always taught my children by “delight directed” learning and I mentor others by begging them not to bring school home. This is such a difficult concept when parents and children have been in a school setting. I greatly appreciate the confirmation of your post to just keep doing what I do.
By the way…my oldest son graduated high school from home with his an AA degree and “started” college today.
I hope you have a great year!
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“Delight directed learning.” There’s another great description!
By “started” college, do you mean he’s pursuing a bachelor’s degree at an institution now?
Sarah Baldwin’s latest post: Waldorf Homeschooling- Letting Go of Perfect
Yes, he is at the university now working on a bachelors. He went in as a junior.
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That’s great! I’ve never heard of Waldorf; perhaps there are some things I could bring into my teaching. I unschooled my son from grades 6-12. Like yours, he took community college classes also while in grades 11-12. Then he graduated from UCLA and is now in graduate school. When he went off to college I became certified to teach high school and now work one-on-one at a public independent study charter school. It’s such a blessing!
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We do a combination of a set program and a touch of unschooling. We spend most of our day doing the book learning and then explore areas that Kiddo finds interesting. Today we watched a video on how to survive an earthquake– we just finished a lesson on volcanos and earthquakes. Unconventional learning but still learning (I learned tons with him). Kiddo is a visual learning so we do some videos and go outside and explore. We love watching bees, ants and clouds.
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What an enlightening journey! But, ugh, don’t I hate hearing over and over again about how children don’t naturally have a desire to learn math. I’m a firm believer that that says more about the teacher (who probably never liked math), than the children. Lucky me to have grown up in a house full of mathematicians!
I’m so glad you mentioned this, LMJ! If I’d had more time and space, I would have written more about math. The reason none of us had a burning desire to teach/learn math *at first* was because we’d all been turned off to it in school.
Through home schooling, we discovered how much fun it could be. We watched a PBS Nova special on Archimedes, read the amazing history of geometry for children String, Straight-Edge and Shadow by Julia Diggins, and the biographies included in Mathematicians Are People Too. We all got excited when we learned what led humans to *want* to study and understand math, which made us want to know more, too.
When Harper and I would work with Harold Jacobs algebra textbook, he and I had great fun problem-solving together, and I learned for the first time that I was not left-brain impaired after all, and that algebra was cool!
So I think I gave the wrong impression about our study of math. Homeschooling gave us all the gift of learning how much fun learning can be–especially math and science–once I learned to let go. And to this day, Harper credits homeschooling for his love of learning.
Sarah Baldwin’s latest post: Waldorf Homeschooling- Letting Go of Perfect
Really an interesting journey, the way that you adapted the teaching to meet their current interests is what appeals to me about the Reggio Emilia style of teaching even more than Waldorf does. We seem to naturally do a combination of both at home now, and are currently undecided whether we will continue to homeschool beyond these early years.
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I discovered Reggio Emilia after I became a Waldorf teacher, Amber, and it’s another educational philosophy that resonantes strongly with me.
Sarah Baldwin’s latest post: Waldorf Homeschooling- Letting Go of Perfect
Your posts always inspire me Sarah, and we share very similar journeys. I love the gentle way you describe your philosophies. My ideal would be a mix of Reggio Emilia interest inspired learning and Waldorf rhythm and environment. 🙂
Sarah,
What a wonderful post , I could not agree with you more. We are Waldorf homeschoolers and though we stick with the topics covered in each grade, like yourself, I have found that when their intrest is peeked there is no stopping them. As homeschooler we have SO much more freedom in how we can bring those topics to or children.
Blessings
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I loved hearing the direct experiences of homeschooling the Waldorf way. I would classify our style as “Ivy League Bound homeschooling”. That’s my own phrase if you didn’t figure that out already. With my hubby being a Harvard alum, nothing would make him happier than seeing the fruits of my homeschooling labor lead to MIT, Harvard and Stanford.
I am blending a variety of styles and curriculum’s designed to lead my kids to the Ivy League. Secretly (don’t tell my husband) I would be happy if they broke free of the institutional path, became entrepreneurial pioneers (at 16) doing something they really loved.
We’re kind of on different tracks aren’t we? 🙂 The point is, the beauty of homeschooling that you can do what works while it is working and change directions on a dime.
I love hearing what others are doing. Thanks for this great post!
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What a great post, Sarah! Really well done! Thanks for sharing your journey!
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My son will turn 2 in Jan. I find Summer has been difficult on us as where we live there is nothing to do apart going to the sea (parks are too hot here). I feel he needs some stimulation and looking forward to October – when the heat starts to drop- to do more activities. I think by the time he’s 2 he’ll be ready for some schooling and been looking up for things on the net. I decided to unschool first as he would still be young and second it seems more fun. Any help on activities much appreciated!
Melissa, your toddler will learn everything he needs to just being home with you, engaging in daily household activities, and given opportunities for sensory play–water play, sand play, putting his hands in flour while you bake together, and so on.
One resource I cannot recommend highly enough is Donna Simmons’s Practical Waldorf at Home: Kindergarten With Your Three to Six Year Old. It will give you lots of ideas on how to turn daily living into joyful learning opportunities for your preschooler.
http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/bookstore-for-waldorf-homeschooling/early-years/kindie.html
Sarah Baldwin’s latest post: Waldorf Homeschooling- Letting Go of Perfect
I have been up to my eyes in websites, curriculum and books trying to figure out a way to “make it all work” with my three homeschooled children. Reading this made me realize that gut feeling of mine is what I should follow. So many beautiful things about Waldorf are the little things, the way of living…. so if I don’t complete a full chalkboard drawing… I think we’ll be okay. Thanks for helping me let go… I needed that 🙂
Thanks for the homeschooling post. Loved the pictures of that pretty room and that cute little boy! The curiosity factor is very interesting. I think that all educators recognize that humans learn faster when their curiosity is piqued. It is one of the basic ways our brains work. But what’s different in your homeschooling was letting it drive the curriculum. Maybe drive is the wrong word. You understood your curriculum so well, that you could teach it through subjects your students were curious about. That’s hard to do in a classroom of 20 or 25! I do know one kindergarten teacher who pulled it off, though.
The brain principle, as I recall, is that in the days of hunter-gatherers, people walked vast distances and didn’t need to remember every detail along the way. Their brains, and ours, evolved to dump the ordinary scenery almost as soon as they past it, but to jump into action at the unusual. We still do it. When we get home from our usual commute we don’t remember what we have seen. Tragically, that can happen in school too. When lessons seem routine, they get dumped as fast as the sight of parked cars along the commute. But if you rouse a student’s curiosity, he becomes poised for an adventure!
Hello Sarah,
Lovely post.
My children are 3 and 1, and since my oldest sons birth I have been very committed to homeschooling them. While unschooling resonates very strongly for me, lately I have been curious about Waldorf education.
Are there curriculums available online to guide you? Where would you suggest starting?
Thank you so much.
Shannon, there is quite a bit of curricula out there for Waldorf homeschoolers. I have examined and used many of them. But I have to say, the resources that worked best for me and that I highly recommend are from Christopherus Homeschool Resources http://www.christopherushomeschool.org.
Donna Simmons, who has created an outstanding curriculum, is a former Waldorf student, trained teacher, and homeschooling mother herself. Unlike some of the other Waldorf homeschool curricula, most of which were created by Waldorf school class teachers, Donna knows what it’s like to juggle daily household chores–like cooking, laundry and errands–while educating one’s children. She finds practical ways to incorporate daily living with learning, while having a firm and solid understanding of Waldorf philosophy and principles, to which she stays true.
Her materials keep growing and I can’t recommend them highly enough. In fact, it was Donna’s “Waldorf Curriculum Overview for Homeschoolers,” which came out the first year that I was homeschooling, that helped open my eyes to how I could let go of my “Waldorf-school-at home” approach. Thanks, Donna!
Sarah Baldwin’s latest post: Waldorf Homeschooling- Letting Go of Perfect
I have had to let go of many of dreams of giving my children a “pure” Waldorf education as well. With five grades this year I just knew it would never be possible.
Thank you for all of your enncouraging words.
Warm wishes, Tonya
You wrote the following:
“I began to discover that we learn best when learning comes out of our own curiosity; when we feel the desire to know more about something.”
YES!!! It is such a tight-rope walk between the mandates and ideals we place upon ourselves, the education that is best for our children, and allowing for the innate nature of life-long learning to take hold.
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Oh-Sarah,
You-are-hilarious!Your-words-echo-my-experience-of-trying-so-hard-to-make-home-into-school.Yes,so-important-to-let-go-and-be-present.Love-your-piece.
Thank-you
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sarah,
thank you thank you thank you. i would (and have) been tempted to homeschool in a purist waldorf philosphy type model. i appreciate all you’ve said here about your experience, and mixing interest-led learning with waldorf principles. i also really love your even-minded description of the benefits you all received from both homeschooling and waldorf school. thanks again!
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i love that sarah. we are embarking on homeschooling the same way, through curiosity led learning, which i believe is the most important. great article.
Sarah, What a fabulous entry. We did early childhood at Waldorf and then ran out of money, thought we would home/unschool and then wound up in the local schools. I wouldn’t change any of it! And a lot of letting go was involved – which seems to be integral to the journey, no? Along the way, we have met so many wonderful teachers – everywhere. We have been pleasantly surprised to rediscover as adults how (mostly) wonderful and caring humans are. Thank you for sharing.
I needed that.
I have tried getting the fancy sets with workbooks and teacher guides etc. I get bored and overwhelmed all at the same time. I laughed and cried as I was reading this. I am still figuring this homeschooling thing out. This was so good to read and be okay with exploration learning, life skills learning, with a little work book stuff thrown in that I am doing now. Thank you for sharing your journey.
Thanks for sharing your experience. My two sons unschooled high school. I had my moments of doubt but now they are in college and both doing very well. My oldest is majoring in physics and math… straight A’s last semester. Taught himself guitar.. rock to classical… is more well-read than anyone I know. All on his own. He followed his interests and curiosity. That was everything. My youngest son is also doing very well. He just took a different path… that of a computer geek. Probably going to major in computer science but is undeclared at the moment. He scored extremely high on the ACT.
Thank you for the great article! We have been homeschooling for eleven years and it has been quite a journey. When we first started out, I thought a boxed curriculum would be best for our young kindergardner… Somewhere between A is for Apple and Z is for Zebra I stopped using the boxed set and began creating our own lesson plans. The boxed set seemed stiff and un inspiring for our young inquisitive boy and his three year old sister! Istead, we utilized our Library for story times, and books, nature centers for time in nature and learning about animals. Art, music and reading were part of our days too! We made picture books, and paintings, played with clay , practiced drawing, watched discovery channel, learned to read and practiced basic math facts together. Most of our days were un planned but they were always full.
Finding support was key in our success in the beginning and we found just that in local homeschool groups for fun and sharing of ideas between us home teaching moms. We’ve continued on the path of “Eclectic” homeschooling all along. We started using Oak Meadow a few years ago and we love it. We have a 9th grader and a 7th grader. Over the years we have borrowed wonderful homeschooling ideas from Montessori, Waldorf, and Charlotte Mason, John Holt and more.
Over the years we have learned there are many paths to learning. None right or wrong, if you are following your own curiosities! We use text books child led ideas and inspirations , outside classes and activties, ( some with homeschoolers some not). Music and Art are a large part of life in our homeschool as well. I ” let go” of planned days and full set curriculums early on and took hold of the wonder years for all they were worth. I look back with joy and wonder at all we did and learned together. I admit, it wasn’t always easy, and I always felt a bit nervous inside about our approach, but I could see how it was doing it’s magic on our children. The more I got out of their way, the more we all learned!
I share more of our homeschooling experiences on my blog. I hope you’ll visit sometime!
Debbie ( homeschool mom to 2 teens)
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I really enjoyed reading your honest portrayal of homeschooling. My kids go to a Waldorf based charter public school in Los Angeles, but we are always looking for ways to supplement their education. They are homeschooling right now for a couple of weeks and we are all enjoying the process. It’s always the challenge to feel like a Waldorf family in the city, especially in a city without a change of seasons. But we do our best.
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my kids and I do a combination of both, I suppose that is what makes homeschooling so great. We don’t try too hard to follow a direct pattern and I have seen the joy of following their interests. Having a daughter with A.D.D. made me rethink the way a child can learn successfully. That’s how I began doing research and realized a lot of kids don’t learn as well in formal school settings. In teaching my kids I have also rediscovered a joy and curiosity about all that goes on in the world around me. I haven’t yet got my kids on board about my new enthusiasm for math (of which seemed hopelessly confusing to my in childhood) but I am giving them time and space and still present lots of opportunities for them to see and experiment with all the different subjects and what they have to offer.
This is so inspiring. I do agree. We all learn more and accomplish more when the desire arises from within to do it. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I am glad you were willing let go of your expectations and enjoy the ride with your kids 😀
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Thank you for your article and pictures. What a peaceful and beautiful school room! I would like more information on the desks chosen. Is the slanted work surface better for children? What about beginning writers? Did you have to custom order or craft them yourself?
Thank you,
Tommie and family
What a beautiful blog!! I started reading it thinking that I was going to come away feeling like I should have more structure for unschooled 4.5 year old. Thank you for reaffirming what my husband and I have believed all along. 🙂 http://aspiringearthmama.blogspot.com/2010/10/our-reasons-for-homeschooling.html
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Some time before, I needed to buy a good car for my corporation but I didn’t earn enough cash and couldn’t order anything. Thank God my friend suggested to get the loans from banks. Therefore, I did that and used to be satisfied with my commercial loan.
Hi Sarah,
Enjoyed this post, and all of the messages in response to it. :0)
I have recently re-committed to home-schooling my daughter. We home-schooled her for a year when she turned 5 because she missed the “cut-off date” (August 31) for entering Kindergarten at our local public school. In that year, she began reading. Last year, we sent her to Kindergarten, where she learned, but was given so much “busy work” to do. Because homework was optional, I never made her do any of it! :0)
Now we are back home-schooling her at age 7 because I could not send her to school knowing that she would have almost 6 hours a day at a desk, with very little time for movement, and then have homework to complete. (LOL!) I decided to home-school her, and make sure she has other home-schooled children to play with. I have an M.Ed. in elementary education, but I have no desire to return to a formal classroom. I’d rather home-school my daughter so that she can keep her love of learning….and I am all about keeping that “curiosity” center of her developing brain strong!
I think I began the year with more structure because my husband and the grandparents want to see it (and keep a “Teacher’s Plan Book”), but she is beginning to buckle and resist. This is my cue to LET GO and it is so encouraging to read about other home-schooling parents having that experience. :0) I feel that if I do, I will finally become a “real” teacher for her…and perhaps touch other children’s lives, as well.
Thanks again, Sarah!
Sarah, I’m new to homeschooling and just found this website and your article! Thank you for writing it and helping me avoid some of the pitfalls and burn-out that I would have probably found myself in had I continued on the same path. I definitely have some things to ponder.
I love reading the articles on this site. My daughter just came back from vacation and I had somewhat of a curriculum made out but she blew me away with her desire to write a book about the New Moon. She had the notion she could publish it and make a lot of money and I had to set her straight on that like lets focus it on being a good project to work with together and show it off at the next Homeschool Social. She still can’t spell and she’s in the fourth grade but her handwriting has gotten so neat and I praise her for that. We do small amount of math problems and she really understood dividing by 10’s with the visuals used in a Marvel character second grade math book. She is so good with counting and adding up money, I didn’t grasp counting change till I was on a seventh grade field trip. I homeschool because I don’t want her diagnosed as learning disorderd and treated like she’s dumb, she acts ‘weird’ by other peoples standards, she flaps her hands when she gets excited, and she gets upset over seemingly little things. Regular school would just stress her out and she doesn’t like sitting still. We have mini lessons and take fequent breaks and she will focus more on a longer project with proper help like in her book idea. She would not get the individual attention she needs anywhere else and I know I would have teachers say she needs to be drugged. THAT is NOT an answer. She does have friends in church and in the Homeschool group and in her two church clubs she goes to where there is little worry of bullying. I too had to learn not to keep a strict schedule but to let her lead the way most times. And if she is behind in a subject because it is hard to keep from being upset about it and thus avoid it for awhile, later I know she will get it when she adds on some more maturity. But that takes time and schools don’t have that.
Great to read this, Sarah. I’m a Waldorf teacher and did some homeschooling as well (for only one child, though). Ive often wondered how it would all come together for multiple children. Your teaching space is beautiful!
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Thanks, Meredith! Nice to know there’s someone else out there who’s had experience teaching both in a Waldorf school and at home.
I love this, because it truly addresses the most common misconception about homeschooling. This is a misconception by ourselves as parents and teachers and by the public at large. It took me quite a journey to realize that the entire point of homeschooling was to create enthusiastic learners, not to just do the same work at home that would be done at school! Thank you!
Thank you for your honesty. I am STRUGGLING with this very issue even though I don’t use the Waldorf style of teaching. I keep reading that this is a very successful way of teaching, but I just can’t seem to let go. I have an 8 year old daughter who has Tourette Syndrome and a host of other co-morbid issues; the biggest ones right now being lack of focus and anxiety. I think I’m worried that she won’t do well when she has to take the standardized tests and she will fall behind. Every day I say to myself, “Okay, today we will try to do some fun learning activities mixed in with our lessons.” But everyday it takes so long to do each subject that we never finish. I can’t make a lesson “plan” because I never know how much she will or won’t get done each day. I really think this approach would benefit us both, but I just don’t know how to do it. Each time I read an article, though, it makes me want to really try harder to “let go”.
Thank you! This could not have come at a better time. I recently began to feel as if I had gotten in over my head and there was no way I was going to be able to finish this month, let alone a whole school year! I have decided to realign my goals for homeschooling and got rid of the “curriculum” and devoted myself to enjoying my kids and helping to inspire them to enjoy learning. It is nice to hear that this is “okay”.
thank you the great insight. As a new homeschooler, i have many doubts and worries. I do think that I too definitely need to “let go” and have school become much more unschool-y. 🙂
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The unschooling concept is exciting, but I have to admit, VERY intimidating. I do worry that if we don’t follow a set curriculum (my son is only 18 mos old, so we haven’t started any kind of formal schooling yet) we will bypass critical benchmarks. At this point, my husband I are spending a lot of time researching our options, so we’re set to move forward in the next few years. And regardless of what decisions we make – we are thrilled to have resources, like yours, available.
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Sensacional , fantastico ,parabens .
My son is only 4 but we want to take an unschooling approach. We feel this would suit our son more than something rigid. I think however though I will still use a curriculum for guidance but from reading obout other unschooled children that it doesn’t seem to be a big deal if you don’t hit all the marks because they tend to pick up things when they need them. I read one mother’s comments about how her 13 year old daughter taught herself GCSE maths within 6 weeks to past the exams and did so exceptionally well.
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Sarah, this is lovely! We are a homeschooling family using waldorf methods in the kindergarten years, and the more I read the more I consider myself to be “waldorf-inspired” The beauty of homeschooling is the focus on family, the ability to adapt at any time, the attention to the needs of each individual child….regardless of methodology, we don’t need to recreate a curriculum designed for institutional schooling!
Kelly’s latest post: March Preview
Hello, thank you for your wonderful and beneficial post. I couldn’t help but to notice the wooden flip top desks. Do you know where I can order them? We just purchased a home, and we can now have our homeschool room that we have dreamed about. Thanks again!
I just wrote a post about our home school and finding it a little difficult to find the joy in our lessons. This post really resonates with me. There’s something alive about interest led learning and letting life just happen. There’s so much in our every day life to learn. Thanks! This helps me.
Becca
Becca’s latest post: Year in Review: Waldorf Home School, First Grade
“Then it dawned on me that the prescribed Waldorf curriculum was designed as an institutional model. The curriculum, which Rudolf Steiner brilliantly devised to meet children’s needs at each stage of their development, was intended for a class of 25 or more students of the same age” Yes, SO Glad I found this! I am embarking on homeschooling my two grade school level sons who previously attended a Waldorf Charter…we love Waldorf, but for many reasons the school itself is no longer a good fit for us. I will show this to my husband- his only concern about homeschooling is “where will you do it?” and “don’t you need a black board”… etc. These are of course the least of my concerns.
http://speak.dk/ the World. the swedish sound of germany to go for
THIS! I needed to read this. My heart tells me to let go. I currently have one in first and one in third grade with a Waldorf homeschooling curriculum. Now, at Christmas, perfectly on track mind you, I’m seeing a lot of what you described and I’m experiencing a little burn out. I’d love to follow my daughters’ cues. I’d love to let go. When you say in choosing stories you drew from the curriculum, do you mean stories you used outside of those books you found in the library? For example, a storytime? Or, do you mean you found stories related to the subject they were working with? Thank you so much!
I love those desks! So natural and calm. Where did you get them?