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JenniferS
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Rebecca,
Thank you. I appreciate what you have written. I am really drawn to many of the things I have seen on the OM site. I noteiced carpentry for the thirf grade. My third grade ds would so love that. He is so not a text book kind of kid, but he is afraid to do too much crafty things becasue he is a perfectionist(like me, unfortunately). I wonder if something like OM might not help him to blossom. Sorry...wondering out loud. It also helps that we own most of the literature for many of the levels.
I want to just order some of it now, but financially it has to wait. I will begin looking for it used, though.
Thanks!
Jen
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JuliaT
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Rebecca, thanks for the reminder of the separate books. I knew it but I didn't put it in the context of my history dilemma. I wonder though, if I bought the books separate, if it would be more expensive. I will have to figure that one out.
Elizabeth, I had never heard of Christopherus before this thread. I looked at the site quite extensively today. I love their 2nd grade math book and their unit study books. We could use some of them now.
I do have one question, though, if Christoherus is strictly Waldorf, does it go against your worldview as a Catholic? This is what bothers me about Waldorf. I am afraid that it will subtly go against my belief system.
Julia
mom to 3(8,6,4)
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Juliainsk
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pipandpuddy
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Jennifer,
I have the third grade OM curriculum if you would like it (I no longer need it). Privately email me if interested. Karen
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trish
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This is all so interesting. I'm glad this thread started. It's really got me thinking. My 3 littles (7,5,2.5) would just love this approach. Wouldn't hurt my 11 dd either.  And my aspie son 17 would really love it. Anything that he can do along side his younger brothers he just loves. Loves to be with them and read to them etc.
This is a much gentler approach than I was planning to do this year. And it wasn't going to be alot with being pregnant and feeling yucky. But just enough structure to keep me sane. I have such a tendency to stray far, far, far away......  from my goals for the year.
I'm going to seriously look at Christopherus this weekend. I looked at Oak Meadow too but the Christopherus first grade syllabus is tugging at me.
It looks like it'll be doable. Good thing I just ordered a bunch of Waldorf art supplies last week
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Saintly Soaps
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Elizabeth
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JuliaT wrote:
I do have one question, though, if Christoherus is strictly Waldorf, does it go against your worldview as a Catholic? This is what bothers me about Waldorf. I am afraid that it will subtly go against my belief system. |
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Donna Simmons is very respectful of all faith systems. I haven't found anything overtly anti-Catholic. I think that if you are a well-formed Catholic, you can use what you like and ignore anything that doesn't suit you. I've read references to karma and old souls and reincarnation (actually, not sure if I read them or heard them) and I just listen around it. She has some real pearls of wisdom and she does almost intuitively understand children, I think.
There are times when I read a festival suggestion or a nature table suggestion and I think that she is missing the full treasure. How much more meaningful our "feasts" are because they are the treasure of the church. And how beautiful our Mary altars and prayer tables and icon corners are when they change with the seasons of the sun and the Son.
I actually find it easier to use and to read the Christopherus resources than most Protestant resources. I can't put my finger on it but it seems easier to adapt. Perhaps this quote from St. Basil the Great sheds some light on how we can carry away the good and make the honey from Waldorf materials.
But on the other hand we shall receive gladly those passages in which they praise virtue or condemn vice. For just as bees know how to extract honey from flowers, which to men are agreeable only for their fragrance and color, even so here also those who look for something more than pleasure and enjoyment in such writers may derive profit for their souls. Now, then, altogether after the manner of bees must we use these writings, for the bees do not visit all the flowers without discrimination, nor indeed do they seek to carry away entire those upon which they light, but rather, having taken so much as is adapted to their needs, they let the rest go. So we, if wise, shall take from heathen books whatever befits us and is allied to the truth, and shall pass over the rest. And just as in culling roses we avoid the thorns, from such writings as these we will gather everything useful, and guard against the noxious.12 So, from the very beginning, we must examine each of their teachings, to harmonize it with our ultimate purpose, according to the Doric proverb, 'testing each stone by the measuring-line.'
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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KASB
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Bookswithtea
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I'm still reading!
This has been immensely helpful to me. I have all these links now to get through, and I am excited to learn more. We don't keep a super busy hs schedule, and I would like to have some ideas for worthwhile things to do. My girls like being home, but sometimes I think they need a guided activity. Handcrafts sounds like a great idea.
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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KASB
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The above is what happens when you leave the site open so your 4 and 5 year old can see all the "funny faces"
They obviously have some mixed opinions about the thread
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Elizabeth
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KASB wrote:
The above is what happens when you leave the site open so your 4 and 5 year old can see all the "funny faces"
They obviously have some mixed opinions about the thread |
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Oh my goodness! I am SO laughing out loud! I've been sitting here staring at that for ten minutes trying to decide what the moderator thing to do would be. I couldn't figure out what you meant:-). Tell them I'm so happy they like our buttons!
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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JuliaT
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Elizabeth, thank you for that quote. It was beautiful.
Julia
mom to 3(8,6,4)
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Juliainsk
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~Rachel~
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My daughter just asked me what's funny because I was laughing at the reason for the smilies... I couldn't figure it out and actually scrolled back to see what was going on
And Elizabeth, I have to agree... from the different Waldorf resources, Donna Simmons is definitely easier to read around the 'extreme' stuff 
I think it is because she sees the ability to adapt it to different religious philosophies, where so many do not...
The first time I read about the 'seasonal' tables, I realised that these were really more of an adaptation of the family altar... and how much more meaningful surrounding the emblems of our faith and CREATOR with the things He created is, to just having the pretty table there .
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kjohnson
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~Rachel~ wrote:
| The first time I read about the 'seasonal' tables, I realised that these were really more of an adaptation of the family altar... and how much more meaningful surrounding the emblems of our faith and CREATOR with the things He created is, to just having the pretty table there . |
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Rachel, this is exactly the impression I walked away with when I first encountered the idea of a Waldorf-style nature table. And this is one of the reasons I agree with Elizabeth when she said that Waldorf is easier to implement than many Protestant educational sources. At least in the Waldorf-inspired educators you see an expression of the need for a sacred space and a recognition of the need to live a rhythmic and sacred year. And while it is unfortunate that these people don't have the rich traditions to draw from in order to fulfill these desires, I still believe these desires are seeds planted by the Holy Spirit that have the potential of opening them to greater Truths.
The children and I set up an autumn table this year because we recognize that time has been sanctified because of the Incarnation and the created world reflects the glory of God. But we have no need of lighting a candle at the nature table or to treat it with reverence because we already have a sacred place in our home. Our candle burns on our icon wall and points us to Christ, His Mother and the saints. The liturgical year, which follows the natural seasons of the sanctified created world, sets the beat of the rhythm that we follow. So I can read a Waldorf idea and translate it into its fullness and while doing so, thank God for the fullness of my Faith. If anything it has made me more thankful.
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Katherine
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lapazfarm
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I love the St Basil quote, Elizabeth and I agree wholeheartedly. But I am wondering if maybe you or someone else can answer this. If Waldorf just doesn't seem to sit well with me, but I still am intrigued by the idea of infusing our curriculum with art, then are there other options out there? Are there any other art-centered curricula, esp ones that are not Waldorf based?
I mean I guess this is actually a rhetorical question because I have no intention of following anyone's curriculum but my own. But I do like to read lots of them and glean ideas. I was just wondering if there are other curricula out there that are also art-centered, that might give me ideas without having to wade through the baloney.
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Elizabeth
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I keep having snatches of time but not a long stretch. Someone asked about telling stories and if you'd just use the pictures in a book. I think that Waldorf purists would prefer you memorize the story and tell it without props at all.I'm pretty attached to living books. I did tell a fairy tale all by myself today though. Maybe there's room for both.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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mariB
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I stared at the faces for a few minutes too and went back and read Elizabeth's post to find out what was happening!!!
Loved the post!
Pulling out my dusty Waldorf books now.
Blessings,
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Genevieve
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I love storytelling and I love books. I think both of them can go hand in hand. I usually tell stories during little snatches of time and often only one at a time. It's a lovely way to spend time while we're waiting in line, dozing off to sleep in the dark. My children love how stories come alive until Mom's very amateur-ish hand via modeling or sketching. Books are usually better when we are curled up on the couch for long periods of time. I find that my oldest is better able to follow short chapter books now after storytelling.
For the overview of the curriculum, I thought some of you might find Marian Waldorf School website useful. It gives me insight as to why certain blocks are taught at certain. It's an interesting concept to have certain blocks/unit studies to address the particular need of a child.
Either way, I love Donna's kindergarten book. I've come to respect the needs of my children more and they in turn love everything that I've tried thus far.
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Elizabeth
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Genevieve,
What a great link! I was just coming back here to talk about that very thing. That site articulates it so well. I see this concept--the fact that certain subjects have to be taught at certain times because of a child's development--as the biggest obstacle to Waldorf "school at home." It just won't work like that in a home setting. And I think that Donna Simmons acknowledges that in her publications and she says that the benefit of a big family might just outweigh the detriment, but she still feels that these subjects at these times are ideal.
By the same token, when Oak Meadow looked to be accredited, they had to teach certain things and those things were introduced at times that the state accrediting them dictated. And they introduced things that weren't in a typical Waldorf curriculum at all. So, it lost a lot of its genuine "Waldorfness" but it might have gained more universal appeal. Oak Meadow is still very, very age segregated though. I think it's more difficult to read Oak Meadow and then wrap your brain around how to combine for a big family than it is to read Christopherus.
And, I'm finding a real dearth of resources for Waldorf at home in high school. I like OM's products but they lack the Waldorf feel by high school.
It's interesting to me that one thing that drove me batty reading The Well Trained Mind was the way she insisted on certain subjects at certain times. And the Classical people have the grammar stage, the logic stage and the rhetoric stage.
At roughly the same ages, Waldorf has the "Hands" stage (birth to 7), when the child should be surrounded by what is GOOD [the play stage]; the "Heart" stage (7-14), when the child should be surrounded by what is BEAUTIFUL [the artistic stage]; and the "Head" stage (14-21) when the youth should be surrounded by what is TRUE [idealism is cultivated]. When looking at the stages this way, it's easy to see lots of overlap as families learn together.
That's it for me till much later today. We've got that whole ballet, football, soccer thing happening today! Keep talking. I look forward to catching up with the conversation this evening.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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BrendaPeter
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Just popping in to recommend this book - "Toymaking with Children" - which I was able to get from the library. It was so NOT what I expected! I got much more out of the philosophy of "toys for children" vs. the instructions on how to make the toys. I would say it has pretty much "rocked my world" and makes me think alot about why kids get so much out of playing with wrapping paper, boxes & sticks. I'm trying very hard not to cry over spilled milk and not dwell on the fact that I've totally stifled my dc's imaginations by giving them toys that were just "too much" .
It always strikes me how themes seem to appear on these threads with lots of us thinking alike. 1st it was the art supplies and now this thread, which I think in ways goes along with the Made in China thread. Even my personal favorite, LCC's "multa non multum" (less subjects but deep) seems coincide somewhat with Waldorf. All I can say is it never gets boring here!
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msclavel
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Oh this thread has been sooo good for me. Just what I'm needing to refocus and make those little adjustments.
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missionfamily
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I'm still trying to flesh out my impression of the whole Waldorf philosophy and what our family should glean from it. I know for a fact that the Holy Spirit is using it to tell me some thing because all these discussions surfaces just as I was deeply praying for wisdom on what special gift God wanted to being to our family this year in our home schooling. I know the art has a lot to with it, so we got started in that area. Then as I started to read some, I got a little turned off with all the new-agey things I knew would be there, but nonetheless was annoyed by. I put all the books down and have just been using our art supplies and reading here for a while. This discussion is wonderful. I'm still mulling around how to articulate what we are taking away from this but I think I understand it deeply and I'm so grateful to have a place to read as ideas get fleshed out and begin to make sense to me. Maybe by the end of the weekend I'll be able to get the words out and share them!
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Waldorf (
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