The Homeschool Journey

Update on Sierra Leone

A reader contacted me, having had some difficulties when she tried to donate to this very worthy cause. I contacted the Waldorf teacher from NYC who is working out at the Sierra Leone school about this. Her response follows (and by the way, I am tickled that she is from the Rudlf Steiner school in NYC - I went there from kindergarten through twelfth grade!):

If you would like to read more about my work and the school, you could have a look at my blog, which I try to update weekly (sporadic electricity and fussy Internet servers often play havoc with those intentions, however, so please don't worry if there isn't an update for over a week). The URL is http://goderichjournal.blogspot.com.In the U.S. the Rudolf Steiner Foundation receives donations on behalf of the Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudolf Steiners in Berlin, which forwards the money to the school in Sierra Leone.  My blog has a link to the Rudolf Steiner Foundation website, where credit card donations can be made.  Donors should simply click on DONATE NOW.  Then from the drop-down list of recipients select FREUNDE DER ERZIEHUNGSKUNST. Finally on the checkout page type Goderich Waldorf School in the notes section.  Alternatively checks can be sent to RSF, with Goderich Waldorf School written in the memo.  They will forward the money on. 

Here you can read my original blog about this project.

Waldorf in Sierra Leone

Just recently I found out about a Waldorf school in Sierra Leone. A friend mentioned she had met a teacher from there who was on the same Waldorf teacher training course as she. I had no idea that there were any Waldorf schools outside South Africa, Kenya and Botswana. The situation in Sierra Leone is unbelievably difficult - the children at the school are mainly orphans, many of them having lost their parents to AIDS and to warfare. Many of the children themselves were pressed into being child soldiers and through the health bearing impulse of Waldorf are starting to heal. But it's a long haul in such an impoverished country.

 

A number of individuals and communities, including several Waldorf schools, are helping to support this school. My old school, the Rudolf Steiner School in NYC, has sent a teacher for a year. If you go to the Sierra Leone school's website, you can find her blog. And you can find out all about the children and the dedicated people who are running this school.

 

If anyone is inspired by this work, please help them out! And let us know what you do so we can spread the word!

[Please see my update to this post.]

 

 

More on CA Homeschoolers Ruling

Just to follow up a bit on this.... this blog entry caused quite a flurry of discussion on my internet discussion forum. Many people were concerned about ramifications for their own states and there was also some concern about exactly what the CA ruling did or did not do. It seems that I was not 100% clear in what I wrote originally in my blog - I did not mean to imply that the judge in question made a new ruling. He did not. What I meant to point out was that he did bring forward or underline the fact that one can interpret the CA law to say that homeschoolijng is illegal. Prior to the case in question, homeschooling was (and perhaps will continue to be - it remains to be seen) a grey area. Most homeschoolers register through Charter schools or in one of a number of various ways.

 

The point of my blog entry was to highlight that the atmosphere toward homeschooling could be changing in CA - and that this has important implications for all of us. Despite the fact that Gov. Schwarteneggar has recently spoken in favor of homeschooling I know from my work with Christopherus that charter schools in CA are, in many ways, less open to parents actually determining what their children's educational needs are. And to me, that is what homeschooling is about.

 

All comments on this important issue are most welcome!

High School Blog

My son Gabriel has returned home to homeschool high school - and I am also teaching several local Waldorf high schoolers as well. So I will be chronicling our adventures together in a new blog. I think that this new blog will be of use not only to those of you with high school students but also those of you with 7th and 8th graders - and those of you thinking ahead! Find it here:

http://christopherushomeschool.typepad.com/highschool

Deadline for N Illinois Conference!

As many of you know, I will be giving a weekend conference in Northern Illinois (near Beloit WI) the weekend of 16 May. The deadline for sending in your registration forms and payment is fast approaching - we need a minimum of participants tyo make this happen! Please click below for details of the conference and to download the registration pack.

 

http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/waldorf_at_home_conference_packet.pdf

Colorado Conference

I will be giving a conference in Grand Junction Colorado the weekend of 18 July. I will announce here when details are available - contact me if you want to be put on a list of interested people.  donna@christopherushomeschool.org

Old Testament Materials Now !

They're finished!! They're - well, they're not quite ready... they're at the printers (mid January) but will be back and orders will be sent out the last week of January or the first week of February.

 

So.... here is a link so you can read more and also place an order!

 

More Details of Our New Curriculum

Well, I've been faithfully writing up a storm these last months, pulling together the new Christopherus second and third grade curricula so that they'll be ready for you late spring/early summer. I have been enjoying myself immensely and have learned an enormous amount.

 

One of the things which is especially important to us as we create this curriculum is that it hangs together and makes up an integrated whole as befits anything which calls itself Waldorf. As I have been thinking through the various lessons I am always asking myself "what will they do with this subject next year? And in years to come? How does this subject develop over a number of years?"

 

To that end we now have details on our website not only of what will be in both the second and third grade curriculum but we also have a plan detailing both our Handwork and Crafts vertical curriculum from grades one through eight as well as our vertical Science curriculum for grades one through eight.

 

You'll see that the science curriculum especially is a little different from what one might expect to find in a Waldorf school - and that's because we encourage parents to not try to late schools but to capitalize on the uniqueness of the home situation! Thus gardening and cooking feature strongly in our work as these are subjects which lend themselves easily to home learning - and are also both excellent subjects to not only tie together a large part of the overall science curriculum, but to also underline the ecological consciousness which permeates our work.

 

I have also worked in a geography plan into this as geography in Waldorf education is much more to do with how the land expresses itself across the globe than with a "what is the major export of Peru" kind of approach. I have also shifted the geography curriculum slightly, moving local geography of one's country into fourth grade and Our Neighbors - in the case of the US this is Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean - into fifth grade. Children are more awake now to a global relationship to the world and I think this is a good thing to work with at this age. My plan also allows the geography of all five continents to be explored by eighth grade, something which often doesn't happen in Waldorf schools. There are also weather blocks in the early grades, a block on biomes in sixth and one on sustainable technology and agriculture in eighth which again bring the child into a healthy relationship to the earth.

 

I teach zoology at our local Waldorf-flavored high school and have been appalled at the students' lack of knowledge of the animal kingdom. I have therefore decided to add a zoology block to the eighth grade science plan.

 

We have also added a new Waldorf homeschooling FAQ on our website which should help people navigate the decisions they need to make as they embark on their Waldorf homeschooling journey.

 

We have also added a section for the Do It Yourself homeschooler who has no wish to use a full curriculum!

 

Find all of these things here!

Christopherus Family Camps

Christopherus is growing! Our work is expanding and deepening on a number of different fronts - I would lie to share one of these possibilities with you.

 

We are currently exploring the possibility of hosting a Early Years Family Camp in Wisconsin this June. This would be a pilot to see how well the site suits the work, how the camp works and what the needs of families are. This pilot project will be limited to 10 families - in future we will look toward larger camps. We are also limiting this pilot to Early Years only - so it is open only to families who have children under 7. Assuming we go ahead with this project, we will let you all know the details when they have been settled upon! Do e-mail me at donna@christopherushopmeschool.org for details and feedback on this.

 

As of summer 2009 we would like to explore the possibility of further camps. Ideally we would have a number of farms in various parts of the country (and perhaps Canada) where Christopherus Family Camps and possibly even Homeschool Intensives would take place. Do you have a farm or know of one which might be suitable? Here are the ideal specifications:

 

* A mixed  (animals as well as market garden, fruit, arable crops) biodynamic or organic farm within 1 hour from a major city

* At least 1 large indoor all weather space which could hold all participants (could be a clean well lit barn or pole shed)

* Swimming, hiking and possibility of other seasonal activities

* Farmers to be familiar with Waldorf education

* A willingness to include families in farm activities which I would coordinate and at least initially direct

* Interest in holding camps several times a year so families could experience seasonal changes.

* Space to camp for up to 25 families. Possibility of winter camps.

 

As someone with over 25 years of mainly working on the land with children - on city farms, in Camphill, on our own farm, on an anthroposophical intentional community - I have abundant experience of planning, coordinating, supervising and undertaking such a project! Here's a link to a few photos showing some of the work we used to do on our farm a number of years ago: http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/farm_visits.htm  (that's me in the red jacket squatting by the pig and in the grey jacket watching the child cover potatoes she'd planted - oh and I'm holding the chick but there's not much there to see of me!!)

 

Paul and I are in the process of working out the core values which would inform such work. For now, we leave you with this vision:

 

* Dedication to working out of the healing impulse of Rudolf Steiner's indications on the development of the human being, taking from established Waldorf Early Years Education, Waldorf Schools and Curative Education where necessary whilst also imbuing our work with a healthy dose of knowledge arising from our own unique experience.

 

* Belief that the new generation of children have challenges and tasks completely different from previous generations and that a new impulse, grounded in anthroposophy, needs to arise to meet today's children. Work on the land, delayed academics, an utterly integrated approach which speaks to the whole child and an acknowledgement that the limitations of the classroom cannot meet the needs of all children, inform our work.

 

 

A Plea

As we enter this holiday season, a time of thanks and blessing for so many people around the world, I would like to share with you information about two very special projects which strive to bring peace and understanding to children and teens under very challenging circumstances. Both of these places are Waldorf inspired and are wonderful examples of the healing potential which Waldorf education can bring not only to individuals, but to whole communities.

 

The first is the Salaam Shalom Educational Foundation in Israel. Its mission is to foster peace and understanding between Arab and Jewish teens. Please visit their website to find out about the wonderful work they are achieving.

 

Second, we have Escuela Caracol, a Waldorf initiative in Guatemala. They have a Holiday Wish list on their website - perhaps some of you could help them out!

 

So many of us have experienced the benefits of Waldorf education to our children - won't you consider supporting those who are bringing Waldorf to children in the most difficult of life circumstances? Just think how Waldorf can help teens heal  and make human connections despite the war and horror of life in Israel/Palestine. And just think how wonderful it is that people are striving to bring Waldorf education to children in some of the poorest communities in Central America.

 

Blessings to you and your family during this Holiday Season!