Why Waldorf?

I’ve been asked the question “Why Waldorf?”  many times.  Well, here’s the answer (in a nutshell… so to speak.)

Rudolf Steiner gave birth to the Waldorf philosophy of education following World War I.
He championed a method of learning that embraced the “whole child.” Waldorf education acknowledges:
1.The unique physical,
2.Academic,
3.Behavioral,
4.Emotional,
5.The spiritual needs of children.
Lovingly and gently, Waldorf education cultivates those needs through activity and imagination.

Steiner said, “Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings, who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives.” (AWSNA)

Curriculum

I’ve had several curious friends ask me about the curriculum we use for school.  Most of the people I know have never even heard of Waldorf.  So, here’s a link for a 60+ page free sampler  (CLICK HERE) that covers 11 books that Melisa and Erik Nielsen have written.   If you like what you see, you can purchase the curriculums from their SHOP.    They are working on the curriculum for 7th grade right now and I couldn’t be more excited about it since that’s where Allyson will be next year!

Shamrock Pillows

 since  the school has only one more week before spring break, I figured we’d get a head start on St Patrick’s day crafting. 

I found the perfect shaped shamrock online and turned it into our pattern.  we used all the *green* fabric’s that the school had. 

this was by far the hardest class to teach the elementary kids since there was so many different ages and levels of sewing (most of the kids don’t know how) but it was totally worth it in the end. 

One boy (10 or 11 years old) told me that he likes sewing now.  way to melt a teacher’s heart!

Valentine Cards

I’m a week late in posting this since I was getting ready to go out of town for the Valentine’s weekend. 

Remember how we made Recycled Paper?  Well, we used our paper to make Valentine cards!  The parents that receive these can plant the homemade, recycled paper which will grow into pretty wildflowers.

 

and here’s the ones my kids made:

 

Paper Making

Our first craft for February!   

I showed the kids how we can make paper by recycling other paper products. 

• the pale lavender = plain white paper
• grey = newspaper adds
• brown = brown grocery bags

We used THIS SITE for basic instructions on making our paper.

We sprinkled wildflower seeds on the pulp before smashing the water out of it.  some of the kids got a little carried away!  some of us also used flower petals and leafs from the plants in the school yard.

Everyone had a ton of fun even though it was chilly and the clouds looked like it would rain on us! (we made the paper outside since it’s such a messy project.) 

Next week we’ll be making a special craft with the paper we made.

Snow Globes

Today’s art was making snow globes! 

We used baby food jars.  sticking  little plastic animals, hearts, leaves, people, and shells to the lid with waterproof clay and a hot glue gun.  Then we filled up the jars with cold water and glitter before screwing the lids on.  Don’t forget to seal the crack between the lid and jar after you put the lid on or it could leak!    we opted not to use mineral oil in the jars because it was just a mess.  we decorated the lids with felt and trim to hide the baby food company’s name.  (not all the kids finished decorating it today)

leave the jars right side up for 24 hours to make sure the glue is dried completely. 

 

didn’t the kids do a great job!?  

 

 

these ones belong to my kids.  

3D Snowflakes

With the winter weather returning this week, we decided that a snowstorm would be fun to make even though we only get rain here in Mesa.  The kids had alot of fun making these pretty 3D snowflakes.

(you can find the instructions HERE.)