We have officially kicked off the school year homeschooling. Gabe was signed up for preschool, you may recall if you followed my preschool saga from last winter/spring. He is going to a preschool class within a homeschool co-op, and he really likes it. He knows the teacher. That's important for him. It's 2 hours once a week and I stay in the building while he is there. It's nice to have some special time with just Susanna.
We are doing a couple years of Waldorf-inspired kindergarten at home. I think Waldorf-inspired education meets the needs of the young child really well. I had to do a lot of searching for sources for things like stories, songs, and crafts. I did find what I was looking for, and have organized it in a way that works!
Christopherus Homeschool Resources' Kindergarten with your Three to Six Year Old is my "outline" of sorts. I'm using the Enki Kindergarten Nature Stories, Folk/Fairy Tales, Crafts, and Movement books. It's so nice to sit down with my books to plan rather than search the web! The crafts are pretty unique, I think. The supplies to keep on hand include tools like a hand drill and a saw. Other materials include wood, pine cones, acorns, and yarn. And of course the typical Waldorf-y things like beeswax crayons and modeling beeswax. Wet-on-wet watercolor painting, too, but I'm not doing that just yet.
Some (most?) homeschool moms probably don't need as much instruction as I do in the preschool department. I had to sort of re-learn how to live in the magical world of the young child. My own schooling was almost exclusively academic "head" work. Not that I never did any "heart" and "hands" work, but I always thought that anything non-academic was really just supposed to make me better at academics, rather than have value in itself. Given the surplus of non-skill based college majors out there, I'd say I'm not alone in my experience. American culture has lost "heart" and "hands" work in favor of putting us all in cubicles 8+ hours per day to live in our heads. I want my kids to learn how to live in this world and do things, not just live in their heads while their body lies dormant. I don't want them to think that they can choose some interest of theirs, study it for 4 years at an expensive university, and then expect to be able to find a job with a bachelor of arts degree.
Anyway, back to preschool. I also bought the Christopherus drawing book because I can't draw. I know, you'd think they'd have taught me to draw in engineering school, right? Well, I can draw on the computer. That's not helpful for my 4 year old.
I believe in the value of lots and lots of "doing." Lots of movement, singing, stories, woodwork, arts. We don't sit down and intentionally work on things like letters and numbers. I did teach him letters and numbers in an informal way (how could I not, reading and math are such a part of daily life!).
I think that my very favorite thing about Waldorf-inspired education is that it is fun. It meets the young child in his world and teaches him through story and art. Rather than bringing the young child into the adult "head" world, it brings the adult into the magical child world.
We are doing a couple years of Waldorf-inspired kindergarten at home. I think Waldorf-inspired education meets the needs of the young child really well. I had to do a lot of searching for sources for things like stories, songs, and crafts. I did find what I was looking for, and have organized it in a way that works!
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| I even have a notebook! |
Some (most?) homeschool moms probably don't need as much instruction as I do in the preschool department. I had to sort of re-learn how to live in the magical world of the young child. My own schooling was almost exclusively academic "head" work. Not that I never did any "heart" and "hands" work, but I always thought that anything non-academic was really just supposed to make me better at academics, rather than have value in itself. Given the surplus of non-skill based college majors out there, I'd say I'm not alone in my experience. American culture has lost "heart" and "hands" work in favor of putting us all in cubicles 8+ hours per day to live in our heads. I want my kids to learn how to live in this world and do things, not just live in their heads while their body lies dormant. I don't want them to think that they can choose some interest of theirs, study it for 4 years at an expensive university, and then expect to be able to find a job with a bachelor of arts degree.
Anyway, back to preschool. I also bought the Christopherus drawing book because I can't draw. I know, you'd think they'd have taught me to draw in engineering school, right? Well, I can draw on the computer. That's not helpful for my 4 year old.
I believe in the value of lots and lots of "doing." Lots of movement, singing, stories, woodwork, arts. We don't sit down and intentionally work on things like letters and numbers. I did teach him letters and numbers in an informal way (how could I not, reading and math are such a part of daily life!).
I think that my very favorite thing about Waldorf-inspired education is that it is fun. It meets the young child in his world and teaches him through story and art. Rather than bringing the young child into the adult "head" world, it brings the adult into the magical child world.
2 comments:
Hi Michelle! I'm Holly, a friend of Brenna's & wanted to introduce myself, as I've begun reading some of your posts. We plan on using the Waldorf model for homeschooling as well, although I don't plan to start anything formal until next year.. So I'm looking forward to reading more about how it goes for ya'll!
Hi Holly! Nice to "meet" you. I recently started a small Facebook group for Waldorf inspired homeschoolers with kids 0-6 years. Ask Brenna to add you if you are interested!
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