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folklaur
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| Posted: May 23 2009 at 9:07pm | IP Logged
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Is this all of them?
Live Education
Oak Meadow
Christopherus
Little Garden Flower
am i missing any?
would you say OM is the least waldorf-y of the bunch?
I have no experience with Little Garden Flower - can anyone do a compare/contrast?
Is Christopherus worth the money for 1st or 2nd grade - the IG seems quite pricey  , and I doubt we would use the Math.
Anyone have ANY experience with Live Education?
thanks....
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Sarah M
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| Posted: May 24 2009 at 11:54pm | IP Logged
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I think Enki is waldorfy. I don't know anything about them, though.
I have no experience with a Little Garden Flower, but Dawn from Renaissance Mama uses it, and I hold her opinion in pretty high regard. I really enjoy A Little Garden Flower's webinars and blog, so I would bet their curriculum is pretty darn good. Their price is certainly right.
I agree- OM is the least waldorfy. But it's wonderful, IMO. A good blend of waldorf with a bit more traditional content.
Christopherus is pricey, but I don't know... I've never been disappointed with any of their materials. They are my first go-to when I am thinking Waldorf. I haven't used their curriculum for the grades, though, just the kindergarten book, the curriculum overview, and some of Donna's other books (Form Drawing, etc). So I can't really speak to their complete curriculum. But I bet it's worth it.
Just a few thoughts...hoping some others will chime in.
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Elizabeth
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Live Education is the most anthroposophical of them all--I'd steer clear, especially since you'd have to do considerable tweaking for the cost. Donna Simmons is topnotch. Oak Meadow is well done, too, and a bit less pure Waldorf than Donna's. Dawn at Sun and Candlelight uses Oak Meadow in the early years.
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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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Lauri B
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I have used and/or owned some of each of the above. Christopherus 1st Grade is terrific. I used it with Gracie. I also used the 2nd grade Saints unit. OM is barely Waldorf-ish, but is a terrific full curriculum - particularly the 3rd - 8th grade. (1st & 2nd is very light.) Live Ed is not what I consider a curriculum, although it is thorough (and thoroughly Anthroposophical) if rather recondite set of teacher resources. I've used 2nd grade, some 5th & some 6th. It's a resource for putting together one's own lesson plans, but definitely not a full curriculum with daily lesson plans and such. As Elizabeth said, if you're uncomfortable with Anthroposophy then I would eliminate LE.
What else? Oh - Little Garden Flower is a very nice curriculum and fairly full. She's adding more and more all the time. You've missed Alan Whitehead's Spiritual Syllabus which I've never seen, but have heard Anthroposophists call incomprehensible. So, take what you want from that! LOL! Also there's Eric Fairman's Pathways of Learning booklets which are rather thin guides to the various grades - I've used many of them. Also, Eugene Schwartz's Millennial Child guides & CDs - I don't own any but have gleaned from his website.
Rhythms of Learning is a wonderful book for the whys of Waldorf, but it's not for the faint of heart (or faith). If you just want to "waldorfize" your homeschool, I'd suggest the ideas in Serendipity or buying some of the craft/recipe books (All Year Round; The Children's Year; Festivals, Family & Food) and adding them to your family routine along with Melisa Neilson's Block Coloring DVD, Form Drawing DVD, and Rauld Russell's Painting book (from Marsha Johnson at waldorfhomeeducators on yahoo).
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Lauri B
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| Posted: May 25 2009 at 5:26pm | IP Logged
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Laura, I got your private message, but I can't PM back as "you have exceeded the private messages you can receive". Maybe delete and I'll try again?
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JuliaT
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Waldorf curriculum is well-known for being vague. I know some people like vague but when you are starting out, it would be nice to have a bit more detail.
Imo, Christopherus and OM are the better ones of all of the Waldorf curriculum. I have not seen Little Garden Flower so I don't know what this is like but I have heard many positive things about it.
I have seen Live Education and I own Spritual Syllabus and Pathways to Learning. Again, all our vague and I condsider the the last two a waste of my money.
Blessings,
Julia
mom of 3 (9,8,6)
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folklaur
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| Posted: May 25 2009 at 6:21pm | IP Logged
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Lauri B wrote:
| Laura, I got your private message, but I can't PM back as "you have exceeded the private messages you can receive". Maybe delete and I'll try again? |
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 sorry about that
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pmeilaen
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I've been using Live Education! for five years now and do like it. I will continue with it. I have to add though that I'm German and am very familiar with Waldorf Schools from Germany. I also own a lot of Waldorf materials from Germany and love the original Stockmeyer Waldorf School Curriculum which has been translated into English. Live Education! is work intensive and I don't use all of their ideas but supplement with materials based on my children's learning style evaluation from Mercy Academy.
I do like Donna Simmon's Waldorf Curriculum Overview but don't think that her materials for each grade level are as challenging and as detailed as Live Education! I also do not care for Path of Discovery (the Australian Waldorf Curriculum she recommends in addition to her suggestions). Live Education! and Donna Simmons are equally anthroposophical, Donna always stresses that she is an anthroposophist. If you don't want to get into anthroposophy you might want to take a look at Oak Meadow.
There is also Eugene Schwartz' website Millenialchild. There are quite a few resources available for Waldorf School teachers at this site AWSNA and at this one Bob and Nancy's Bookshop.
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Eva
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donnalynn
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Great post Donna you said a lot for me to think about.
A few questions though that I have are, how do you incorporate Catholicism throught a curriculum such as OM or Christopherus if you do use it?
Do you you do all of the lesson plans or just pick and choose?
Lastly if you stay with say OM do you stay with it through out the life of the childs schooling experience?
I am really looking into OM for my 2nd and 4th graders, because I am really liking the lay out of the lesson plans and what they will be learning.
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Claudia in Southern California
Wife to George,
Mom to DD 14, DD 10, DD 7, DS 4, DS 2, 1 in heaven, and now due 5/11.
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Sarah M
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Claudia,
I used OM this last year, and I approached faith formation by celebrating the liturgical year and reading books from Cay's Catholic Mosaic. That, combined with Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at church and our family's rhythm of prayer/Mass attendance, infused our year richly with our faith. I didn't feel the need to Catholicize the material in OM. We just "added on". I'd do the same thing if I was using Christopherus.
I didn't do all the lesson plans . For example, I loved OM math, but we got bored with the language arts and didn't like their approach to history (although we loved their other social studies topics). I picked what I liked, and dropped the rest. They give you a plan for the week, not breaking it down into days, so you can look at the week's work and decide what you are going to present, and what you are going to skip, and then fill in your school time slots that way. Add faith formation (and read-alouds, they don't have many of these) and you're done. It was nice to have the curriculum as a spine, but I didn't feel like I used it enough to justify re-purchasing OM this next year. But that's just me and my inability to follow someone else's plan- I still highly recommend OM to others who are looking for a curriculum. I think their plans are really well done.
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12stars
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Thanks Sarah
What was it about their history that you did not care for and what else did you really like besides math?
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Claudia in Southern California
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Mom to DD 14, DD 10, DD 7, DS 4, DS 2, 1 in heaven, and now due 5/11.
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Sarah M
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I didn't like how their history jumped all over the place, and moved quickly. For example (and this doesn't happen till the spring quarter), one week you will learn about Abraham Lincoln, the next you'll learn about Paul Revere, the next you jump to Ancient Egypt (maybe not in that exact order, but you get the idea). I don't think they spend enough time on any one topic to really soak it up, and they seem to jump around sporadically. Their history is not waldorf-inspired at all (in a true Waldorf curriculum, history would not be approached until a later grade). The rest of the social studies topics (fairy tales, mapwork, community) were very nicely done, I thought, and we used those.
I LOVE Oak Meadow's teacher's guides (The Heart of Learning and the Home Teacher's Process Manual)- worth purchasing even if you don't go the OM route. Let's see...what else did I like?...recorder, knitting, simple crafts...oh! their science is *wonderful*. All nature-study with nice stories to go with them. I always did the science lessons. I think (after reviewing the sample online) I'd like grade 2's language arts better than grade 1's. Grade 1 went over each letter with a story, and my kids got bored with that. But grade 2 does language arts through fables and animal trickster tales- now, that sounds fun!
Hope that helps some, Claudia.
Also- I think OM recently opened up a forum on their website. It might be worth looking into, to see how other families are tweaking the lessons to fit their families.
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teachingmyown
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Because I always get so excited when you ladies start talking about Oak Meadow and such, remind me that it is teacher-intensive and maybe not the best fit for a disorganized mom with five students and two toddlers! Am I correct about this? I believe this is the conclusion I came to last time it was discussed.
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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12stars
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I know how that feels but my littles are not baby babies anymore so I feel a little less attached if that makes any sense. My little ones go off and explore and I will have activities for them to do. My 4th grader is now independent in some subjects and the way our house is built we can't help but be together.
I am really interested in OM because of all that my 2nd grader would learn, and we were doing MODG history which I love and will keep on doing for my 2 eldest then for my 2nd grader because I like the timeline of it. But I feel like my youngest dd needs a lot of what OM can offer. It is more 'her' way of learning. She is reading and loves crafts and just loves nature, my 4th grader does also. So it is a possibility that I will get OM for both.
I hope that it is not overwhemling and that I am able to do it.
I will definitely pray a novena for this, because I feel like I need more structure but not a rigid one like MODG or Kolbe. I was finding their lesson plans non engaging for my children.
I am also starting to look in Montessori for my littlest ones, but that is another story.
ETA I am very eclectic and usually fall back to CM for my two olders.
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Claudia in Southern California
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Mom to DD 14, DD 10, DD 7, DS 4, DS 2, 1 in heaven, and now due 5/11.
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Sarah M
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teachingmyown wrote:
| remind me that it is teacher-intensive and maybe not the best fit for a disorganized mom with five students and two toddlers! Am I correct about this? |
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It depends on your personality, of course, but I wouldn't go the OM route if I had 5 students and 2 toddlers.  Especially if you are wanting to combine topics/work with the older ones. I don't think it's teacher-intensive, though. Of course, it would be if you were working with several different kids at several different levels.
There, does that make you feel better? 
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teachingmyown
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Thanks Sarah! I am known for letting my idealism run wild and have the packed bookshelves to prove it! 
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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Last night I was going through older threads looking for information on Waldorf and what anthroposophists was. I will be honest I had read about Waldorf in various threads but had not paid attention to this aspect of it. The only thing I can say was that although I loved the art and handcrafts I was just having a red lights feeling about Live Ed and other more pure Waldorf philosophies. Now it all makes sense when I read more and I understood what Elizabeth meant to steer clear.
I ran across this thread it was started in 06. I found it interesting, and many of you ladies are still posting about the same thing but in a bit different perspective in 09.
I just found that very interesting. How we change over time and our understanding.
This thread helped me understand I was not too off in my doubts.
If the thread is too controvercial to even reference to then go ahead delete it. IMO though it really helped me put into perspective my choice of using OM, and my comfort level has risen You ladies are a wealth of information and whenever I have a doubt about a homeschooling choice, prayer and 4 real forum always has a answer for me.
Thank you all!!!
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Claudia in Southern California
Wife to George,
Mom to DD 14, DD 10, DD 7, DS 4, DS 2, 1 in heaven, and now due 5/11.
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Mackfam
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I love embracing beauty and the emphasis on gentleness, Claudia, and I feel the same way you do - that this board continues to be a great treasure in helping us uncover and understand some of these philosophies while helping us translate them into our homes.
There is no copyright on beauty; no one name has exclusive rights to gentle, imaginative childhood development programs.
I think Serendipity does a great service to all that is beautiful and rich and offers us a Catholic perspective with all gentility.
Let's keep discussion here on the different curricula out there, and how we might discern or implement these approaches in our homes without steering into anthroposophy, which is condemned by the Church. That could be a topic that could be more carefully tended in Philosophy of Education.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Waldorf-y type curriculums
