The Homeschool Journey

Serious Threat to Homeschooling in CA

Just the other day a homeschooler in California alerted me to the fact that homeschooling is under attack in CA. She also shared her concerns over the possibility of pre school education being mandatory for all children of 4 years of age and up. I haven't heard any more on this last possibility, but this morning my husband shared the following article from the San Francisco Chronicle about serious threats to homeschooling. Those of us who have always had real concerns about accepting money from the State for homeschooling have watched the developments in the CA charter school movement with concern over the years. As a "curriculum provider"  we at Christopherus have seen increasing bureaucracy crowd into the lives of many CA homeschoolers - and have shaken our heads and murmured "what the State gives, the State can take away....." One year our publications are deemed acceptable - the next year some little person in an office (and without ever talking to us) has decided they are unacceptable.

 

So it unfortunately does not come as a surprise to us that this is happening in California. Now the task is not to say "I told you so" but for all of us homeschoolers to come together and protect our rights as citizens and parents and ensure that homeschooling is one among many choices in the supposedly free US of A.

 

Unfortunately..... as is usually the case.... in the particular case referred to in this article, it could well be that the parents were negligent and that homeschooling was just a fancy way of saying "doing nothing with the children." These things happen. But just because there are some people who do not have the wherewithal to care properly for their children's education it does not follow that education should then only be in the hands of certified teachers. To argue that would be akin to arguing that because some parents abuse their children, children should only be raised in state run institutions (it's for their protection, dearie!).

 

Freedoms have to come with responsibility and with vigilance. If some people are unable to cope, then others need to step in and help. Families which are suffering need support in their communities. People need to be free to decide how to run their lives even if they do not meet up to current standards of acceptabilty. And if choosing to homeschool - for whatever reason - is part of that, then so be it. In a free society we need to be free to mess up and fail just as we need to be free to succeed and triumph. For some people, the path is rockier than for others. The logistics of protecting children might then indeed be a bit harder - but is the alternative so much better?

 

I strongly encourage all of you, in every state (and in every country) to join your local secular state-wide (province wide etc) homeschooling organization and get involved in the campaigns to create fair homeschooling laws. The law in California has in the past been intepreted in one way - now, in this particular case, a judge has turned that ruling on its head with important implications for homeschoolers. It is up to homeschoolers and lovers of freedom to ensure that in Californa (and elsewhere) fair laws are passed concerning the education of children, homeschooling or not.

 

Anyway, here's the article. It might give some of you pause for thought to consider the words of the judge when he sings the praises of the reasons for public education....

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/07/MNJDVF0F1.DTL

And here's a follow-up post I made about this: More on CA Homeschoolers Ruling

 

 

The "S" Question

(This is from a thread from my discussion forum on that great homeschooling nemesis - the Question of Socialization! No matter what form of homeschooling one works with, the spectre of a poorly socialized child will haunt even the most confident of homeschoolers. Here are a few pithy thoughts of mine on this subject....)

 

I think there is an extraordinarily unbalanced perception in our society of how much socializing children need. And I think that this lurks in Waldorf circles too - it seems to me that the general (ie non Waldorf) homeschooling circles have this one about right! They often point out that children - especially little ones - need far less socializing than is normally expected in this day and in this country (and probably most other Western countries as well).

Human beings are not pack animals! Yes, we are social beings, but our primary and most important arena for socializing is the home. Little ones need mama - and dad and any other siblings - and occasional visits to this or that person and into the larger world - but until they can really play properly, ie have started to develop a sense of "I", they really don't need much. Even then, home is the most important place - and should, in my experience, be the main arena of life until  about the 9 year change. And if there are no siblings? I still think little ones do not need much other than their family.

Pretty bold, eh? This is my observation of children both who have this kind of life and those who don't. And it's my observation of my family, too.

This does not mean no play dates, being isolated and avoiding park days! It's a question of age and a question of balance. I think that until about 3, there is no need for more than occasional visits to play or regular play dates - yes, more can often work, but I would keep a close watch on the child's behavior. Many "issues" and "challenges" which arise at this time are nothing more than symptoms of a child with an overly busy, overly stimulating life.

From 4 on this can gradually increase. And (List Member X), looking at what you wrote, that is a pretty busy schedule to me! And it might be fine if the rest of your family life is very ordered, predictable and has strong rhythms and that, most importantly, you are not feeling stressed out by going here and there. With such young children, that could really effect them. (and no guilt intended!)

And I know that many of us go out a lot with our young children because being home all the time can at times be so lonely, boring and stressful (it can be - let's be brave and admit it!!) So sometimes we also have to do things to help ourselves as mothers so that in balance, the children will benefit (happy mom equals happy home). There's no one recipe for this. But I do know from many consultations with homeschoolers, that the more they cut back on commitments which took them out of the home, the more perceived problems with the children seemed to disappear - even if they didn't change anything else. That has been quite amazing and right across the board, something said by people with very peaceful calm home lives and those with hectic lives and no sense of rhythm.

Mood and Main Lesson Material

Each year when the administrator at the Waldorf-ish high school where I teach part time asks me "when would work for you to teach your main lessons?" I like to sit a bit and think about what it is that I am teaching and how I can use the mood of the seasons to enhance the lessons.

 

My 10th grade zoology block works best in the spring - there are logistical issues here, too as we go hunting amongst the leaf litter for invertebrates to examine and draw. But the outward gesture of spring works really well, meeting the students enthusiasm to get outdoors and leave the long, cold Wisconsin winter behind. Zoology challenges them to meet the world in a new way and to think about the creatures they share our earth with.

 

Even more obvious is my choice of Advent to teach poetry. The classes I have taught in poetry during this season have been amazing - the spiritual reality of this time of year, of the gesture of going inward, the watchfulness, the waiting, are all palpable to the students even if they are not able to articulate this. Poetry, as a very personal and inward art, works beautifully at this time of year as each student is challenged to reach toward his or her own star and articulate her observations of her surroundings, of life - of whatever speaks to her and lends itself to poetic expression.

 

By considering the gesture and mood of the material we are presenting to our children, we can ally ourselves with powerful spiritual forces which can work through us and awaken in our children as we teach and learn. Which subjects are best during the outward moving time of the year? Which are best during the more inward and reflective time of the year? By being sensitive to such things we learn to bring our teaching in a more graceful and spirit-imbued way than if we merely scheduled things according to convenience - or give it no thought at all!

Two valuable resources

Many book orders that we send out include a pamphlet about the Rudolf Steiner Library. This is the lending library (based in Harlemville, NY) of the Anthroposophical Society in America and is a wonderful resource for home educators.

The entire collection has over 25,000 volumes and has an extensive section of books related to the Waldorf curriculum. A catalog of education-related works is online (along with catalogs for many of the other fascinating sections of the library). Head librarian, Judith Soleil, and the others who work with her, are incredibly helpful.

Books can be ordered online or by phone and are sent through the mail. It costs a bit - you pay each time for mailing (though library rate is very inexpensive) plus a small handling fee and annual dues are $100 for the first year and $50/year subsequently - but joining the library is definitely worth considering.

For more information about the Rudolf Steiner Library see http://rslibrary.anthroposophy.org/ or contact rsteinerlibrary@taconic.net, (518) 672-7690.

The prompt to give this plug for the library was receiving their annual appeal in the mail. A few days later we received the annual appeal from another wonderful resource, also based in Harlemville: The Nature Institute. We've mentioned them before. If the following mission statement looks interesting to you we suggest you go have a look at the Nature Institute website!

Nature around us is whole and interconnected. Though we are part of nature, we do not yet fathom her depths, and our actions  do not embody her wisdom. A fundamental shift in our way of viewing the world is necessary if we would contribute to nature's unity rather than dissolution. At The Nature Institute, we develop new qualitative and holistic approaches to seeing and understanding nature and technology. We work to create a new paradigm that embraces nature's wisdom in shaping a sustainable and healthy future through research, publications, and educational programs.

Educating for Excellence

Sometimes I get the feeling that people forget to look beyond the "fluffy pink" beginnings of Waldorf and do not know much of where the education they are working with is aiming. Sometimes the Waldorf bubble encapsulates the parent as well - and she might not remember that the aim of such an education is definitely not to keep her child in a bubble for very long - and it certainly is never meant to keep her there!

 

A couple of months ago I had a consultation with someone who, over the years, has become more of a friend than a client or customer. I have met her and her family and her occasional contributions on my old yahoo group were highly valued. She was telling me about her experience of attending an end of year 8th grade projects display several years in a row at a very prestigious and well established Waldorf school in the Northeast and how disappointed she was in what the students had produced. Somewhat hesitantly, she "admitted" that she had hopes that after a Waldorf at home education (which might or might not include Waldorf school at some point) that her children would be able to attend Ivy League colleges.

 

I was surprised - not by her hopes for her children - but by the fact that it would even cross one's mind that Waldorf children might not be ready for such institutions should that be the direction in life that they choose! Most of my graduating class attended selective colleges or Ivies when I graduated and my relationship to Waldorf education has always been one of pursuing academic excellence.

 

After speaking with my friend, I began to think about this - perhaps there are some people who feel that either Waldorf does not prepare a child for "life" (whatever that means) or that academics are not important. I began to think more deeply on this.

 

And then I had to admit that I have had, over the years, a number of experiences with Waldorf schools that made me think that perhaps it is so that academics are not as strongly valued as they might be in some schools. I can remember being in an 8th grade classroom at a school where I was giving a conference perusing through the bookshelves to see what the class was reading and was shocked at the low reading level of the books! I found books that really, 6th graders should have been reading, not 8th graders. Where I teach, some students come into the high school never having read a novel. And math - well - middle years math in many Waldorf schools is in a sorry state (however, largely due to the work of people like Jamie York in Colorado, real efforts are underway to improve this situation and bring math to the very high and demanding level that is intended in Waldorf education.)

 

And that's the point - Waldorf is meant to start slow, very slow and then, because the children are ready and because they are engaged on all levels with a curriculum that resonates with their very souls, they are meant to be able to reach very high summits of academic achievement. This certainly remains the case in many Waldorf schools. But.... not only do I see a bit of a slide toward allowing younger children into first grade and pushing academics a little earlier on the one hand (and this seems to be mainly a West Coast phenomena) but also a weakening of academics in the upper grades.

 

We are homeschoolers - we can address this possible problem in our own homes. We can get to grips with the curriculum and its demands and really work deeply with out children so that academic excellence is theirs - though, of course, not at the expense of their emotional or physical well-being or at the expense of the equally important development of their other faculties. But this is the point - it is via art, via movement that academic potential is realized and developed. One does not come at the expense of the other! Should school administrators in the public schools finally realize this, the education system in this country would be revolutionized and America might become a nation of well educated thinking people.... But that doesn't seem to be on the agenda.

 

Back to homeschooling, we are so fortunate to be able to work freely with our children, supporting them and nurturing them in their early years and then preparing them to really fly as they head toward adolescence. Instead of the dumbed down garbage which passes for reading material and the mind numbing worksheets and exercises that the vast majority of children in this country are subjected to on a daily basis, we can challenge our children with real books and with meaningful learning that is artistic, interesting and which stretches them to develop their thinking capacities. Instead of only viewing logical linear thinking as worthwhile, we can let our little ones remain in their picture consciousness stage until they are ready to move onto the next stage of thinking, knowing that more than ever before in history, human beings need the ability to be flexible in their thinking. Instead of viewing art as a nice thing to do if there's time, we can work via art, educating out children holistically so that not only will they be flexible in their thinking but creative in their lives as well. And we can educate via movement, not regarding the body as some extra thing that needs its daily 30 minute cardio-vascular attention, but as the vehicle via which children learn about the world.

 

Waldorf education's aim is academic excellence - holistic, flexible, creative excellence. Not all children grow up to attend Ivy League schools. They may become farmers or craftspeople or artists or walk some other path no one has even thought of yet. That is fine and does not mean that they are any less worthy of receiving a training in thinking and in knowledge that is the basis of the Waldorf high school years. But the point is that academic excellence can and should be firmly in the consciousness of every parent who chooses Waldorf education. It is precisely because of the early years Waldorf bubble that this becomes possible for most children, regardless of what path they choose to walk later in life. Academic excellence is not for the few - it is for the vast majority.

Hiring a Waldorf teacher

(This is a post from my old yahoo group which I have reworked. The original question had to do with suggestions for hiring a Waldorf teacher to work with a mixed age Waldorf co-op).

To be perfectly honest, this is an area where I see many, many problems - I see situations where groups/co-ops hire a Waldorf teacher and it often becomes a disaster. And often for the reason you describe - the teacher, because of a rather narrow and classroom focus on Waldorf education, is unwilling/unable to work with mixed ages.

 

IMy opinion is that any group who wants to bring in a teacher or advisor needs to be absolutely clear that they are first and foremost homeschoolers - that their children are not not in Waldorf schools simply because, for whatever reason, it hasn't been possible. Even if that is so for some folks, I would advise that they think carefully about that mindset because it can seriously undermine one's confidence and abilities as a homeschooler.

 

This can also be the case with a group. If the teacher is disapproving - because people don't quite follow the curriculum or add in things from other educational methods, or combine children or have no problem with 10 year old non readers, then this can wreck havoc! I have seen this a lot!

 

I would suggest, as I said in the first paragraph, that this is mainly down to the fact that the person has been trained for a Waldorf classroom situation and because s/he is unfamiliar with homeschooling - and how vastly different it is. I spend more and more time in workshops I give - and considerable time in my books - explaining that one simply cannot transfer classroom methodology to a home situation. With groups it is somewhat different - but the exciting challenges (for the Waldorf teacher) mainly have to do with the realife family situations they face - ie mixed age children.

 

So I often gently advise people to think long and hard before hiring a Waldorf teacher to work with their group. If that person's role is to teach parents handwork, painting and other skills so that they can bring this to their children - then great! But if that person and the Way Things Are Done becomes the main focus for people's homeschooling - and, more importantly, a measuring stick of how they "perform" at home - then I say Beware!  This can be so undermining! You homeschoolers - all of you - need to be enabled and empowered to create your own homeschools! Bottom line!

 

Having said all that, there are certainly examples of a Waldorf teacher working with a group and this being a great thing. Often, I have seen, parents drift off after a while, having gotten what they need from that person's guidance and then being able to create the forms themselves. And sometimes that Waldorf teacher's motive has been to eventually create a new Waldorf school - and I've seen where that becomes wonderful for the parents who want the school and not so great for the ones who prefer to homeschool! An example of where I saw a Waldorf teacher working with homeschoolers very succesfully - and with mixed age children - is in Minneapolis, where a eurythmist holds weekly sessions  for homeschoolers which are apparently both popular and enormously beneficial.

 

My suggestion is that you get advice from someone like me or Barbara Dewey (Waldorfwithoutwalls) who understand (and in my case is a ) homeschoolers.  I can help talk through how a group can work together and create their own unique group or co-op as they explore both Waldorf and homeschooling.

 

I feel rather strongly about this.  I taught in a small Waldorf school in England where we combined children in many different ways. Although this was considered not ideal by several of the teachers, as far as I could see, the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks. And from my deep study of Waldorf education, I also see where Steiner was more than clear that there are possibilities for combining children (see my Curriculum Overview for more on this). And I also spend an awful lot of time repairing damage done - both to individuals and to Waldorf education as a whole I feel - by narrow people who have a rather limited way of working with Waldorf and an uncreative way of expressing that to parents!

Team Sports - what age?

It can be challenging sometimes to decide when it is appropriate to allow children to engage in organized sport - does one say yes when the child shows interest or are there some guiding principles to keep in mind?

 

For those working with Waldorf education, it is helpful to look for some guidance from its picture of child development. For the first seven years, the  child is understood to be slowly coming into her body, of slowly severing her ties with the spiritual worlds and having very different ways of relating to the world than adults or even older children. If one thinks that this is true picture of the young child, then one can readily see that organized sports, on the whole, are not appropriate for this age range.

 

Anything which brings heightened self consciousness and self awareness - a feeling of separation - is not in keeping wit the needs of very young children. To be on a team, one has to have a sense of self as well as a sense for the team. One has to be aware of what one is doing, both as an individual and in relation to the other players. One has to be wide awake, to react to the ball, for instance. This is exactly opposite to the dreamy sense of oneness that is the natural state of little children and which should be preserved until they themselves grow out of it.

 

Further, in order to work to strengthen the rhythmic center of the child, the breathing in and breathing out which helps him find a balanced relationship to the world, movement which has a strong musical element should be favored. Ring games, especially those with sing-songy verses are best for little ones and are what they seek out naturally. Of course, every little child would like to join in when the big kids are playing baseball or soccer, but left to their own devices, most young children will drift in and out of such games and spend more time watching and imitating than actually joining in. This obviously isn't possible when they've been signed up to join a team!

 

By 9, as the child reaches and passes the hallmark "nine year change", she has sufficiently developed a sense of self to be able to participate fully and appropriately in team sports. She has "grown into herself" and is developing a strong sense of who she is as an individual. This is the year (third grade) in Waldorf schools when children carry speaking parts in plays and when they learn to sing and play music in parts. To stand on one's own feet, in one's sense of selfhood, is becoming important.

 

And, as she learns to be her true self, the child also needs to learn how to interact appropriately with others. Team sports can be an excellent way to learn cooperation, team work and sharing and should be a part of every child's life starting around age 9 or 10. (This doesn't mean, however, that they need to play on a team all the time - one or two seasons on a soccer or baseball team might be sufficient for many!)

 

Further, as the child stretches into adolescence, she also needs to ground her growing intellect with a sense of her own body and physicalness. Sports - whether in teams or on an individual level - should also include competition at this point. She needs to learn how to push herself, how to develop strategies, how to win - and how to lose. Somewhere along the line many Waldorf people seem to have lost healthy sense for competition and I think this is a real mistake. Cut-throat competition might not be either useful or healthy - but learning how to win and lose are important parts of life. At one 5th grade pentathalon competition ( perhaps 'gathering' is a more accurate word ) I attended all the children got awards and individual rounds were weighed to ensure everyone won something. I find this patronizing to children and a far cry from a pedagogy which recognizes that though one might have few abilities in one area of life, there is always a place where one excels. Thus losing or doing very poorly at something like sports is no shame.

 

As always, it comes down to the attitude of the adults. If losing a hockey game is akin to treachery, if an adult's own pain at losing gets in the way of the child's,  or if children are shamed, then winning and losing become not healthy life lessons but agonizing pain. But if the adults - parents, coaches, teachers and so on - have a good natured sense of fair play and a "it's great if you win but not the end of the world if you lose" attitude, then I think organized sport can offer children some of the most important lessons in human interaction available.

 

Christopherus Full Gr 1 - 8 Curriculum

Announcement!

 

Arising from the spirit of flexibility and practicality which characterizes Christopherus Homeschool Resources, our new full curriculum will be designed to suit both the homeschooler who wants a complete curriculum as well as those who wish to purchase pieces separately.

 

Our experience as homeschoolers, Donna's lifelong involvement with Waldorf education, our therapeutic experience and our commitment to anthroposophy enables us to bring you a rich, inspiring and doable curriculum. As Donna has taught at the pre-k, grades and high school level at several Waldorf schools as well as having homeschooled her now 14 and 16 year old sons, she is in the unique position to guide parents through the Waldorf curriculum and Waldorf pedagogy, explaining and translating the school experience to the home experience.

 

As with our other materials, our curriculum will have a lively and warm "voice", helping you feel that Donna is talking directly to you, encouraging and supporting you as you create the right homeschool for your particular family situation.

 

Each year's curriculum will be a full curriculum - not a guide and not simply focused on main lessons. There will be full lessons for all the language arts, math, science, history/mythology main lessons plus a full year's worth of specific lessons and ideas for handwork, crafts, painting, drawing, modeling, form drawing, music, movement and games, cooking and other lessons as appropriate. In the grades where it is appropriate, there will also be "practise lessons" in math and language arts.

 

There will be an emphasis on art, with full color drawings and paintings in all volumes which will include "pictures in steps" - drawings and paintings in stages and with instructions so that people can understand how they were created. We are determined that this curriculum will not be intimidating and many alternatives, compromises and gentle possibilities will also be explored so that no parent feels inadequate when trying to work with our materials!

 

As with our other publications, there will be plenty of discussion of teaching strategies; goals and expectations; how to cater to slower or faster children; alternatives to main lesson books; discussion of the deeper aspects of the curriculum so parents can understand why something is done; and always, always, practical advise designed from a homeschooler to homeschoolers so parents can use these materials around, despite, with and because of whatever family situation arises!

 

For each grade several sections of the curriculum will be available for purchase separately. These will be books like our Unit Studies - Main Lessons at Home Series. For those purchasing the full curriculum, further instructions on how to use these books will appear and a larger plan of how to integrate them into the flow of the year will be explained. And so, for instance, in second grade, two language arts books will be available (one is already available - Saints & Heroes). The full curriculum will contain not only the other two language arts books  but will also give complete instructions for those wishing to build up a sequential LA plan for the year. This will include reference to LA work in non LA main lessons such as science (nature stories in second grade).

 

Our Plan:

 

September 2007

Second Grade math book (for all second gr math main lessons plus practise lessons - ie Circle Time for this grade)

Animal Legends (language arts book)

(Saints & Heroes, second grade language arts already available from our Bookstore)

 

Winter 2007

Third Grade Old Testament stories book

 

Spring/Summer 2008

Full Second Grade curriculum

Full third grade curriculum

 

We will proceed from there with some individual books released as we progress through the grades. Our plan is to have full 4th and 5th grade curriculums available by 2009. Then we will progress with the Middle School Years which are rather more involved.

 

At some point we will also create high school materials as Donna teaches at a Waldorf high school and is keen to put these together!

 

 

Planning For Next Year

So.... I thought I'd give you all a few tips on planning for the next year (and all you Southern Hemisphere readers you'll just have to come back to this blog entry later in the year!). One of my main areas of work as a consultant has to do with planning, helping people think through what their upcoming year or semester might look like and visioning into what needs to be done to get there. Those of you who have my First Grade Syllabus can use the section in there as the basis for much of your planning.

 

I usually start people off by asking them to write out their vision of the upcoming year. I ask them to think about each child separately and to write down the main lessons and other lessons/activities for that year. I ask the parent to then think about goals for each child. Examples might be: A to learn all her multiplication tables; make sure there is more room in the schedule for singing; learn 3 pieces on the recorder; make sure at least one handwork project actually gets finished.

 

Then the parent needs to write down a list of qualities that each child might be challenged (indirectly) to work on in the upcoming year. This doesn't mean that the child will be asked to, for instance, make sure he is kinder to his little brother next year. (though it might). Rather, it might be that the parent decides that Billy needs to learn perseverance. The parent then needs to think through how she can provide opportunities not to grind the child into the dust in the effort to teach him to persevere - but to ensure that he is appropriately challenged (in handwork, writing, chores, music lessons) to learn to persevere.

 

Next the parent needs to look at the children together and the family as a whole to get a sense for the overall balance of the upcoming year. What are the needs of the different children and how might they be met? What are the needs of the family as a whole and how are those needs met? Where might compromises be necessary? Where might sacrifice be necessary? An example is a family with a lively outgoing 10 year old who wants to join every homeschooling field trip and activity possible. But... the 2 year old really suffers if she has to come to too many outings, ride in the car a lot and generally have her weekly schedule upset. It might well be that the 2 year old's needs are seen as more important - and that the parent knows that as she gets older, she will be able to adapt more easily. The 10 year old will have to make due with fewer activities which take him out of the home.

 

And in that situation, it might well be that the 10 year not only learns that family is important and one sometimes has to sacrifice ones own desires for the needs of another person, but that actually too many activities was feeding an imbalance in that child and really, he becomes more settled and grounded by a less hectic social life.

 

Back to planning....

 

So what lessons and activities can be done with both or all the children together? If you have a very large family, it might well be that a lot of homeschooling is done in shifts, with various children put together to play or do lessons together. Or an older one looks after the little ones - and so on. For sure, the larger your family the more flexible you have to be - and the less hung up on the purity of the curriculum and what "real" Waldorf might be. It might well be that the main organizing principle in a large family is "a large family in itself is the learning experience for these children" and what happens, happens. Because really, with a big family it seems to me there are two choices: boot camp or gentle chaos ( or frantic chaos but as that isn't healthy, it's not really a choice!). Either it's Parent as Sergeant or Parent as Helper. Parent as Teacher might not be really possible - at least in extended periods - in a large family.

 

When can you combine your children and teach them together? One thing that many homeschoolers find useful is to not teach their first grader recorder until her younger sibling is in first grade - then the two children are taught together at the same level. This can also work for handwork projects other than knitting - that really is a MUST for every first grader (but you can just continue with knitting in second grade if your other child is then a first grader - they both knit but do different projects). If you're very lucky (!!) you might also be able to do this with math and/or writing/reading. If your older one is "slower" in a skill like math and your younger one is faster, there will be many lessons which can be done together. Just do make sure that the younger one does not miss out on the active and imaginative stage of math and that the older one is, when appropriate, challenged to move from imaginative pictures to abstract thinking. Stick to the "soul lessons" which the story material meets at the different stages of the child's development - but be more flexible with when certain skills (like learning multiplication tables) are addressed or accomplished.

 

Sometimes it is possible to do a main lesson on different levels at the same time. Man and Animal, Building, Saints & Heroes and Geography main lessons come to mind. If, for instance, you have a fourth grader doing Man and Animal and you also have a first or second grader, you can let that younger child join in. She can also do a main lesson book and just focus on  drawing and copying a word or two ((HORSE, EAGLE etc) or a sentence or two while you help your 10 year old write a report. During a geography block on US Geography (or whatever country you live in) all the children can listen to regional stories and go on field trips. The second grader can do some writing if she insists - the kindergartener can draw (and don't worry if she also wants to do some writing - it will probably pass - her natural imitative powers compel her to do what the older ones are doing). Just weave back and forth. And maybe when it's time for that second grader to do her own fifth grade block in geography you either find a different focus or revisit some of what you did earlier.

 

My Curriculum Overview can be very helpful for people to work out what lessons are done when in Waldorf schools and - most importantly - why. Then parents can figure out what the essence of of those lessons and be better able to adapt to family circumstances. And, as homeschooling is not school at home, one will have all sorts of things which will need to be allowed for - Grandma's month long visit; a move; a new baby; your child's passion for horses or ballet. You might decide to do a mini main lesson on horses or ballet - with the help of my Overview you can perhaps see what soul lessons are important for your child at her age and ensure that she gets them - even if her focus is on horses or ballet, neither of which show up in the Waldorf curriculum!!

 

There's so much more to say.... and this blog entry is getting too long. Let me just finish here by saying - make goals but ensure they are flexible. Process is usually far more important than goals when it comes to teaching and parenting - let the goals be guideposts but never let them bind you into a situation where one loses sight of a child's progress and, equally important, set-backs, over time.

 

And do consider getting in touch with me to talk through your plans and visions for the upcoming year! Go to the Consultations section of the Christopherus website for details of what I offer.

 

Happy planning!

 

 

 

 

Report from Informed Family Life Conference Boulder CO

I just got back from Rahima Baldwin's "Whole Family, Whole Parent" conference sponsored by her organization, Informed Family Life. What a great weekend it was!

 

I had the privilege of being one of four keynote speakers. The three people preceding me spoke on fascinating subjects (please go to www.waldorfinthehome.org for more information about the conference and to purchase cd's of these talks), mainly to do with supporting and nurturing the growth and potential of modern children. At first I was daunted by the prospect of having to follow these amazing speakers (including Eugene Schwartz who is just terrific) but then realized I was actually in a wonderful position. My subject was the art of homemaking - and I soon realized that I could bring many themes from their talks into mine as I put forward the suggestion that the home is the best place to truly nurture and care for each family member. So that was really exciting. It felt wonderful to be able to bring together the conference in that way through my talk.

 

I also gave three workshops - one on being at home with under 7's, another on Waldorf and unschooling and a third on language arts. Each was very enjoyable and it was gratifying to see people who hadn't signed up for the latter workshops returning for more and crowding into the room! These talks were not recorded but I have audio downloads available from my web site www.christopherushomeschool.org on the first two topics. There are also a number of blog entries here on language arts - as well as homemaking - which people might like to read!

 

So the workshops and the keynotes were a joy to present. And, even better, it was lovely to connect and reconnect with so many people! There were familiar faces from other conferences, either my own or from Boulder in the past. And there were several people that I knew only as voices from telephone consultations or as e-mail names on my yahoo group! That was really fun to meet them and to see how wrong my mental images of what they looked like were! Another highlight was going out on the Friday evening into the Rocky Mountains with Barbara Dewey - she and I had spoken about doing this for several years and we finally got to do it. We drove an hour out into those beautiful mountains and stuffed ourselves silly at a amazing German restaurant. Sauerbraten - yum! She and I spent a lot of time together during the conference. She is a wonderful person, with great warmth and humor. I intend to write a review of her "Geometry with 6th Graders" booklet here at some point - might as well give it a little plug now. It is a very good resource for a subject which is often hard for parents to fathom.

 

I believe the Conference was a success - Rahima seemed pleased by the numbers and by the enthusiasm of the participants and presenters. There were a few grumbles about food shortages on the Saturday but all in all, people did seem pleased by the Conference as a whole. An ecological waste company offered its resources to the conference with the aim of making it a zero waste event. I don't know if this was successful, but it certainly was a great goal to shoot for.