Why do Calligraphy?

Posted by Christopherus

by Barbara Benson Sometime early in my homeschooling, a Waldorf resource mentioned doing calligraphy in 6th and continuing through 8th as both an art form and a lovely embellishment for main lesson books, particularly in history. Over the years, I…

Local Geography in Fourth Grade

Posted by Christopherus

By Barbara Benson   I think that Donna has done an excellent job of laying out a comprehensive geography curriculum starting in 4th grade. The very first three week main lesson block, Local Geography, covers the geography of your home…

Keep Calm and Homeschool On

Posted by Christopherus

by Barbara Benson Guidelines for homeschooling multiple ages of children   One of the most frequently asked consulting questions I receive is how to homeschool multiple ages of children and keep one’s sanity! It is a challenge and I remember…

Celebrating Third Grade and Native American Culture

Posted by Christopherus

by Amy McGehee-Lee     This is our family’s second time through third grade, and I can honestly say it just gets better every time. We are, of course, using the Christopherus curriculum. It is such a joyful way to…

Reflections on Creating a 12th grade World Literature course

Posted by Christopherus

By Barbara Benson I have finally reached that “last class” as a homeschooling educator. My youngest is entering her homeschooling senior year in high school in the fall. I am truly her specialist teacher now as most of her classes…

A Mathematics Main Lesson: Geometry in Man and Nature (7th and 8th)

Posted by Christopherus

By Barbara Benson The  primary reference text recommended in A Rough Guide for Seventh Grade  is Mathematics Around Us. The primary text for Eighth Grade is Mathematics  in Nature, Space and Time. These are both great books with wonderful illustrations….

Coping with Chemistry-7th Grade

Posted by Christopherus

By Barbara Benson In Donna’s From Nature Stories to Natural Science (104-106), she suggests organizing the Chemistry main lesson for grade 7 around the traditional elements of Fire, Water Earth and Air, with Fire (combustion) being the natural starting point.  Since…

A Freshman to Senior Timeline for High School Homeschoolers interested in College

Posted by Christopherus

by Barbara Benson, mother of 5 children, all homeschooled with Christopherus and other materials through high school I realize that there are few of you homeschoolers that are currently teaching high school, but since it is very much on my…

Rhythms of Learning

Posted by Christopherus

In Waldorf inspired homeschooling we talk about establishing a good daily weekly, monthly and seasonal rhythm. What do we really mean when we say rhythm? In Donna’s Waldorf Curriculum Overview, Chapter 7, she discusses the daily rhythm of ” active…

Working Moms and Homeschooling

Posted by Christopherus

  In truth, every mom is a working mom. The job of taking care of a family is a large one. For those of us who add on paid employment, either outside the home or at home, the task of…

Transitioning from School to Homeschooling

Posted by Christopherus

Taking your child out of public school or a private school in order to homeschool is a major life decision for the family. In my experience as a consultant, this decision can often occur in early elementary, middle school, or…

TAKING STOCK- A Midwinter Evaluation of Your Homeschooling

Posted by Christopherus

January or early February is a good time of year for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere to take stock of where we are with our homeschooling. Here are a few suggestions to keep your homeschooling rhythm on track:…

Homemaking Together: Restoring the Family Ecosystem

Posted by Christopherus

by Lea Page Today’s parents have high expectations for themselves and for their children. They have an image of where they want their families to be, but daily hassles make that image hard to reach. And anytime we get caught…

Tone Drawing

Posted by Christopherus

TONE DRAWING for 4th and 5th grade Tone drawing was a favorite artistic activity of all of my children. I incorporated it into our natural science work ( Man and Animal/Zoology and Botany) in 4th and 5th grades. My inspiration…

Managing Multiple Main Lessons

Posted by Christopherus

(written by Barbara Benson) It takes organization, dedication and some flexibility to homeschool multiple children. The simple fact is that you are not going to be able to follow each syllabus thoroughly with each child. As a parent of five…

Transitioning to High School

Posted by Christopherus

The following was written by Barbara Benson, mother of 5 children, all homeschooled with Christopherus and other materials through high school. The Waldorf inspired curriculum at Christopherus is largely focused on grades 1-8, those years when a homeschooling parent is…

Organic Chemistry in 8th Grade

Posted by Christopherus

As a Waldorf homeschooling teacher, I have finally reached that milestone of completing my last 8th grade main lesson. My youngest daughter will still continue to homeschool for high school, but I definitely have that feeling that I have ended…

Role of Non-Teaching Spouse

Posted by Christopherus

  Many couples that do Waldorf inspired homeschooling share similar values on education and adopting a Waldorf inspired rhythm to homeschooling. There are times, however, when one person "discovers" Waldorf and is determined to augment it into the family lifestyle,…

The Rhythms of Reverence in Homeschooling Daily Life

Posted by Christopherus

By Barbara Benson The Rhythms of Reverence in Homeschooling Daily Life Why is it important to instill a sense of reverence into our homeschooling daily life?  Reverence is a fundamental ” mood of the soul”, a sense of love and…

What is a Trained Waldorf Teacher?

Posted by Christopherus

For the first time in 12 years of business, my lack of having a certificate from a Waldorf teacher training institute has been queried. How interesting this whole question is to me! First, thank you to the homeschooling mother who…

Summer Learning

Posted by Christopherus

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, July 2004 About a week after I wrote the last newsletter, I realized that what I had written was potentially open for misinterpretation. I had written that although we do not formally “do school” during…

Immunization… a parent’s decision (or not)

Posted by Christopherus

I’m more then disappointed with California’s recent passage of bill SB277.  The law takes away the basic parental right of deciding what is right for their child if that child is enrolled in a public or private school. For now…

Thinking About Toys

Posted by Christopherus

Although most young children – and many older ones – will be attracted to flashing, noisy toys, with care and forethought, one can create a family culture whereby the values of what is true, beautiful and good are embodied in…

A Doll for Every Child

Posted by Christopherus

It is a wonderful thing for every child, boy or girl, to have a doll. As a sleeping companion, confidante and general companion, the doll should be soft and warm. Most “Waldorf dolls” are stuffed with real wool because wool…

Books for Three Year Olds

Posted by Christopherus

The following is a very common question which, over the years, I have answered many times. We have reprinted it here to help others. Question: Do you have any book recommendations for three year olds? And what are the types…

The Frustrated Two Year Old

Posted by Christopherus

The agony of the frustrated two year old! A very popular topic for discussion over the years on my old forum, with clients….at conferences. Here are some thoughts. And don’t forget to look at our early years book The Journey…

Relating to Anthroposophy

Posted by Christopherus

By Donna Simmons At some point in one’s early explorations of Waldorf education, one will surely come across a host of unfamiliar terms and concepts relating to anthroposophy. My intention in this short piece is to take a brief look…

The Newtown Tragedy : A Simple and Ongoing Response for our Children

Posted by Christopherus

We are so very grateful to Kim John Payne for sharing  this article about parenting, teaching and caregiving in these challenging times.  Click here for a printable copy to share with friends.   By Kim John Payne, M.ED & Davina…

Beginning a Sucessful Homeschooling Year

Posted by Christopherus

The first month of homeschooling, especially for new homeschoolers, can be challenging. Sometimes the carefully laid out plans of summer seem to go awry in the face of actually teaching the main lesson material to your children. Here are a…

Knitting Project – Cabled Headband

Posted by Christopherus

Here is a sweet little knitting project from Lisa Ashley of Ewetopia Fiber Shop, which she co-owns with her daughter Kathryn, here in Viroqua, Wisconsin. The warm and lovely Ewetopia shop has become quite the social hub for knitters of…

Communication Blackout

Posted by Christopherus

By Donna Simmons My sons have left home. They are now 18 and 20 and live in England, which is where they were born.  They are tall, strong, articulate young men, deeply concerned with the inequalities and tensions of our…

Respecting the Child

Posted by Christopherus

This piece was written in the middle of my guest appearance on the blog, “Catherine et les fees” so as to clarify and deepen some things which had come up during our conversation. A link to this thread is found…

Children and Social Networking

Posted by Christopherus

At the bottom of this piece is an article that all of you who have children heading toward an awareness of social networking – or those who are involved with this already – might need to read. The article is…

September Boom and Bust

Posted by Christopherus

September Boom and Bust If you’re like most homeschoolers, you started your new homeschooling year well organized, with clear goals and with great enthusiasm. You had all your lessons well planned, with interesting and engaging projects to do to keep the work…

Keynotes for Each Grade

Posted by Christopherus

One thing that I have noticed over the years of working with parents interested in Waldorf education is that often people forget to look much beyond the grade/age that their children are currently at. This causes much confusion and sometimes…

What is the Fate of the Next Generation?

Posted by Christopherus

Here's a sobering article from the New York Times about our new generation of tech and media junkies. Why is this so surprising to so many people? I suppose the faint silver glimmer in this very dark cloud is that…

What Are Waldorf Toys?!

Posted by Christopherus

The following was written by Sarah Baldwin, owner of Bellaluna Toys. Many of you will be thinking about holiday gifts at this time of year and Bellaluna certainly provides some of the best toys which we can recommend. Here are…

Resisting the Lure of Electronic Games

Posted by Christopherus

The following was written by Alison, a Waldorf homeschooling mom who started a thread on my online discussion forum about electronic games and gave a version of the following story. I liked it so much I asked her to write…

Death in the family

Posted by Christopherus

 The following was kindly written for me by my friend, Marianne Dietzel. Marianne lost her eldest child in a car accident in 1996 and has, along with her husband and two sons, been on a long journey of healing. One…

Creating Boundaries for Children

Posted by Christopherus

Below is an article I wrote which appeared in an issue of Lilipoh magazine last year. It is a subject that I often speak and write about – one that often strikes deep chords in parents but which is surrounded…

Second Grade Speech and Poetry

Posted by Christopherus

The following is an excerpt from our Christopherus Second Grade Syllabus, from the language arts section. I am very proud of our curriculum materials but I have to say that I am especially proud of the language arts section of all our…

Devising a Schedule that Works

Posted by Christopherus

One of the things that I take great pains to emphasize throughout our Christopherus publications is advise on how to teach and how to organize one’s lessons. Drawing from my background as a Waldorf teacher and homeschooling mother, I try…

Trusting the Child?

Posted by Christopherus

In my recent blog where I wrote about our middle grades curriculum, I referred to Waldorf Unschooling. What follows is from a discussion on our (now closed 2014) discussion forum where a member asked a question she entitled "Waldorf vs…

Musings on School Readiness and Older Children

Posted by Christopherus

It’s that time of year again…parents agonizing about whether their six year old should start first grade or stay in kindergarten….Such a big decision. Steiner’s entire picture of the development of the human being rests on an understanding of the seven…

Hiking the Appalachian Trail

Posted by Christopherus

The following is from my neighbor, Sheila Sherwin, who, to my great admiration, began her homeschooling journey with her son by hiking the Appalachian Trail with him and another 11 year old boy (both boys were 12 by the time…

Review: A Warm and Gentle Welcome, a WECAN publication

Posted by Christopherus

  Kudos to Carrie Dentler (theparentingpassageway) for jumping into the midst of what I see as a huge contradiction in the world of Waldorf Early Childhood. She highlights what I also see to be as a real problem – the…

Drowning in Dialogue

Posted by Christopherus

Just the other day I was in our local co-op (center of life here in our small Midwest town – especially now when there are two feet of snow on the ground) bobbing about doing my shopping when I became…

Curative Education: A Review

Posted by Christopherus

Here is a review written by Carrie Dentler, enthusiastic Waldorf at Home forum moderator. Carrie, as a pediatric intensive care therapist, has an on-going interest in the health bringing basis of Waldorf education, including that focused specifically on children with…

Follow Up to Teens and Texting

Posted by Christopherus

Thank you to all who responded to my earlier blog on Teens and Texting. I think this is a huge topic – one which I will return to again and again. And if you haven’t responded to my original blog…

The Child and the Community

Posted by Christopherus

Here is an article by Christopherus forum moderator, workshop presenter and consultant Barbara Benson about her experience as a homeschooler encouraging her older children to expand their horizons into the larger community, something that anyone homeschooling older children must do. While over…

The Peace of Mary

Posted by Christopherus

This year for the first time I was able to participate in the celebration of Epiphany at my Church (The Christian Community – the Church inspired by the work of Rudolf Steiner). I was privileged to participate in the most…

Teens and Texting

Posted by Christopherus

Beware! My goodness – how those innocent looking little machines can take over one's life! This is a plea for parents to think very, very carefully before getting their teenager a cell phone. As for those parents contemplating getting one…

A Job for Samuel

Posted by Christopherus

Sometimes it can be so easy for parents of young children to forget how simple it actually is to keep them engaged and pleasant to be with. During Advent I was at my Church helping before the Advent spiral. Some…

Imagination and Discipline

Posted by Christopherus

by Donna Simmons Today I had an opportunity to remember how one needs to develop one’s own imagination so as to deal creatively with a potential discipline problem with young children. What happened was both typical and easily dealt with…

Autumn Field Trips

Posted by Christopherus

This year my daughters are in 7th and 4th grade and we are in the middle of Indiana geography/history and the Renaissance. To honor these two main lessons in a living way we decided to do two field trips. The…

Creating a Festival

Posted by Christopherus

Here is a post I recently wrote on our discussion forum (and though I’m not there as much as I used to be, I still pop in from time to time !) Though the following refers specifically to someone’s question…

Protecting the Heart of the Home

Posted by Christopherus

When our children are little, it can be reasonably easy to create the kinds of rhythms and forms in our homelife which support their growth and which nurture our family relationships. Having sit-down meals together, saying a verse or blessing…

The Wonder of the County Fair

Posted by Christopherus

This weekend is the Vernon County fair, held at the old fair grounds on what was obviously, once upon a time, the edge of town but has now been swallowed up by our little strip mall (and admittedly corn fields…

Preparing for a New Academic Year

Posted by Christopherus

It can feel like an overwhelming task to consider planning a new academic year of homeschooling for one child let along multiple age children. When Donna asked me to do a guest blog on this topic I asked her to…

The Darkness of The Dark Knight

Posted by Christopherus

Last night I watched The Dark Knight with my 16 year old son. He had seen it in the movies a year ago and raved about it ever since and wanted to watch it with me. So we did. So this…

Is Childcare as Good as Mama-care?

Posted by Christopherus

Every once in awhile I have one of those “Emperor’s New Clothes” moments – you know what I mean. In this story, the emperor is gullible and gets taken in by two con-men who claim to make him the most…

Revisiting Jean Liedloff and the Continuum Concept

Posted by Christopherus

The very first book that I read that set me off and running on the road to “natural parenting” was Jean Liedloff’s The Continuum Concept. Having devoured Ina May Gaskin’s Spiritual Midwifery and militantly given birth to my first son…

Old Testament Stories again?!

Posted by Christopherus

Our fourth grade curriculum is now at the printer’s…..we expect to be able to send it out to you (all being well) in mid June. In the next day or so, we will set up a description of it in…

Destructive Children Come to Play

Posted by Christopherus

We had a great thread on the Waldorf at Home on line discussion group recently, started by a member who needed help managing when neighborhood children would come to play – and would trash her house! The following is an…

Boy Scout Commandos

Posted by Christopherus

So, think the Boy Scouts are a nice wholesome organization dedicated to providing children with outdoor skills and fun around the campfire, toasting marshmallows and singing Kumbaya? Think again. How about skills such as combating illegal immigrants and rescuing a school bus captured…

From Norse Myths to Beowulf

Posted by Christopherus

By Donna Simmons (2009) Now that I am teaching high school students (as I have been doing for the past 5 years) I often have the opportunity to see how material covered and experienced in the students when they were…

Boundaries

Posted by Christopherus

One of the biggest challenges of life is the struggle to understand boundaries. Everywhere we meet another person, every social encounter we have, we meet boundaries. What is my boundary – what am I comfortable with? What is your boundary…

A Change of Clothes

Posted by Christopherus

Recently, in church, I sat considering why it is that some parents do not insist that their children dress nicely for church. Obviously, there are issues with getting up late, avoiding an argument and so on….but I wonder if perhaps…

Main Lesson Books: How and Why

Posted by Christopherus

I had an interesting conversation the other day with a friend who is  Waldorf teacher – she had read through my 4th grade book The Human Being and the Animal World and commented on my advice about main lesson books….

The Need to be a Cling-On

Posted by Christopherus

One of the most important reasons for parents to create a lifestyle which values slow over fast is that it supports good health. Cooking meals from scratch, growing one’s own vegetables or taking the time to visit a farm or…

Encouraging Inner Listening

Posted by Christopherus

A few weeks ago my 15 year old son, my husband and I watched an Alfred Hitchcock film together ( Shadow of a Doubt) Not a great film but something really made me sit up and take notice. There was a scene…

Keeping Sane Over the Holidays

Posted by Christopherus

The Holiday Season is a time of joy for most people – and surely people with children are most joyous of all, as children’s excitement mounts and the countdown to the Great Day begins…. But the Holidays can also be…

Painting in Peace

Posted by Christopherus

I have a love-hate relationship with wet-on-wet painting. As a child in my Waldorf school, I can clearly remember the quiet excitement of Painting Day – getting the jars of water ready, passing out the board, putting on aprons, squeezing…

Empathy and Adolescents

Posted by Christopherus

The following is an excerpt from the magnificent book Loving the Stranger: Studies in Adolescence, Empathy and the Human Heart edited by Michael Luxford. This book comes out of the work of the Camphill Communities (curative communties where people of…

Early Years Rant 3

Posted by Christopherus

(So if this was a movie, I’d entitle it Early Years: The Rant Continues……!) Do have a read through my original piece on this topic and then the follow-up. There have been many wonderful contributions by readers as well – which I…

The Gesture of Giving and the Gesture of Taking

Posted by Christopherus

Yesterday was Halloween, one of my favorite days of the year. I love the sight of children roaming freely through my town, (even if their parents walk behind or with them or, with older ones, drive along slowly near their…

New – two wonderful books to help on your journey!

Posted by Christopherus

As Christopherus grows and as we expand our work, we intend to increase our offerings to you all. We are now launching a very small, very select range of books which we feel will complement and enrich every family, whether…

Follow-Up – Early Years Rant

Posted by Christopherus

Well, well, well – I have been bowled over by the responses to the Early Years Rant I wrote last month. It seems I have hit a chord. I am honored to be able to hold a safe space for…

A Home For Teens

Posted by Christopherus

Having started a conversation her on my blog about the importance of being at home with ones little children (see Early Years Rant), I am now going to throw a another gauntlet down: this one has to do with teens…

On Michaelmas

Posted by Christopherus

We are approaching Michaelmas, a very important festival from an anthroposophical standpoint and one which can be understood to speak to people from all religions. Michael is the “time spirit” of our age, He who brings an impulse both of…

Early Years Rant

Posted by Christopherus

Every once in a while a thread on my discussion forum hits me in such a way that I let lose with what basically amounts to a rant…. Most of my “sensitive spots” have to do with issues having to do with societal …

Dealing with Anger

Posted by Christopherus

 Following on from my last blog entry about inner work and personal development, here is an excerpt from a series of threads on my on-line discussion forum dealing with issues like forgiveness, slowing down, ensouling the home and so on. And…

Unending Personal Development

Posted by Christopherus

There are three things which Rudolf Steiner said were necessary prerequisites for someone to be a Waldorf teacher: 1) knowledge of anthroposophical child development; 2) knowledge of the particular children in the class; and 3) a commitment to personal development….

From Chaos to Form

Posted by Christopherus

This is a rather short reworked post from my Waldorf at Home discussion forum. An exhausted forum member wrote in, asking for help with transitioning her 7 year old daughter from total unschooling to a more Waldorf – ie formed…

Good Test, Bad Test

Posted by Christopherus

I like tests. I really do. I enjoyed them as a child in the Waldorf school I attended, I enjoyed giving them to my homeschooled sons and I enjoy giving them to my students. I enjoy creating tests and I…

Help with Painting

Posted by Christopherus

At the bottom of this post you can see that I wrote it more than 10 years ago. At that time the Third Grade Syllabus was new—it has since been joined by grades 4, 5 and, summer 2019, 6. In…

Understanding the Temperaments

Posted by Christopherus

 I am full of the temperaments at the moment because in writing our Christopherus second and third grade curriculum, I decided to include several sections on the temperaments. So in the second grade curriculum people will find an essay by Steiner…

When A Child Kills A Pet

Posted by Christopherus

By Donna Simmons (2008) (this is a post from our discussion forum. The thread was from a distressed forum member whose 3 year old son killed their pet rabbit. She was concerned that he did not seem to show any…

Daddy Central

Posted by Christopherus

Here’s a post from my old yahoo group on a popular question : how to cope with the chaos that Daddy’s daily arrival home wrecks on the peaceful pre-bedtime routine?! How to honor Dad’s need to see his children -…

A Question of Control

Posted by Christopherus

Here’s a somewhat reworked piece that I wrote on my forum in response to a member wondering whether she was being too controlling of her children. She has three little girls – a pair of twins and another child, all…

8th Grade World History

Posted by Christopherus

A couple of months ago I got a phone call from the 8th grade teacher at our local Waldorf school – she was exhausted (as most th grade Waldorf teachers are) and was there any way I could come and…

Helping Little Ones with Manners

Posted by Christopherus

Here’s another reworked post from our Waldorf at Home discussion forum…. If this is a topic which interests you, do consider purchasing my talks on Good Manners and on Talking Pictorially to Young Children for more practical help with this!…

The “S” Question

Posted by Christopherus

(This is from a thread from my discussion forum on that great homeschooling nemesis – the Question of Socialization! No matter what form of homeschooling one works with, the spectre of a poorly socialized child will haunt even the most confident…

Steiner and Breastfeeding

Posted by Christopherus

(Here’s an excerpt from an interesting thread on my discussion forum about Steiner and breastfeeding)  Steiner never talked about things like breastfeeding per se – he talked about the development of the human being – it has been up to other…

Caring for a Cat

Posted by Christopherus

(I am now starting to put selected posts which I have written on my discussion forum here on my blog… I can’t re-print the whole conversation which we have, but just a few snippets here and there which I think…

Homeschool High School

Posted by Christopherus

Well, Gabriel, my 14 year old, decided to return home. He spent a semester and a little bit at the vaguely Waldorf high school where I was teaching and has had enough. He has come home. So now both my…

Candlemas

Posted by Christopherus

Just thinking ahead to Candlemas which is coming up soon. Some of you might be interested in this festival and those of you with second graders could incorporate a Candlemas festival into your Saints & Heroes block.Candlemas falls on 2…

Mood and Main Lesson Material

Posted by Christopherus

Each year when the administrator at the Waldorf-ish high school where I teach part time asks me “when would work for you to teach your main lessons?” I like to sit a bit and think about what it is that…

A Bit of Benign Neglect

Posted by Christopherus

Sometimes parenting can get so intense that one comes to a realization that something has gone wrong, that all is not quite right. One can become aware of feeling suffocated, that one’s sense of autonomy and one’s center has been…

New Year’s Resolutions

Posted by Christopherus

Happy New Year to all of you! Let us hope and pray that 2008 will be a decisive year of steps toward healing the often overwhelming pain and darkness in our world. Here at Christopherus, we like to think that one…

An Advent Reflection

Posted by Christopherus

I thought some of you might enjoy reflecting on this quote about Advent from The Rhythm of the Christian Year: Renewing the Religious Cycle of Festivals by Emil Bock, one of the founders of the Christian Community, the Church inspired…

High School World History

Posted by Christopherus

Today I finished a three week main lesson at the Waldorf-flavored high school where I teach part time. It was a class with the juniors and we spent three weeks galloping through the centuries from the Fall of Rome to…

So How Do You Manage All Day at Home?

Posted by Christopherus

Following on from my last blog which I wrote earlier today I want to help parents think through how they actually can mange to be at home all day with tiny children if they too believe that this is what…

From two to three – early ed for tinies

Posted by Christopherus

A few weeks ago I gave a talk to parents in our community about early years parenting. Most of the parents attending had their children part time at one of the local Waldorf-inspired  in-home nursery or day-care providers here. The…

A Change of Clothes

Posted by Christopherus

Earlier today I had a conversation with a client about Daena Ross’ cd on the Twelve Senses (read my review here). This is an enormously important topic with important ramifications for the health of our children – and we will…

Reading and Telling Stories

Posted by Christopherus

One of the hallmarks of Waldorf education is the practice that teachers have of telling stories to their class. Lessons are not a series of points from the teacher’s notes, or passages from a text book. There are no power…

Educating for Excellence

Posted by Christopherus

Sometimes I get the feeling that people forget to look beyond the “fluffy pink” beginnings of Waldorf and do not know much of where the education they are working with is aiming. Sometimes the Waldorf bubble encapsulates the parent as…

Fall Festivals

Posted by Christopherus

If you work with the “Waldorf calendar” of festivals, then you know that these next few months are busy ones. Michaelmas, Martinmas, Advent…. Succos, harvest festivals, Channukah, Solstice, and Christmas, are all on the way. We are currently having an…

Team Sports – what age?

Posted by Christopherus

It can be challenging sometimes to decide when it is appropriate to allow children to engage in organized sport – does one say yes when the child shows interest or are there some guiding principles to keep in mind? For those…

Review: Living into Dying

Posted by Christopherus

Every once in a while one reads a book which feels, from the first page through the last, as if one has been handed a great gift. One feels honored that the author has shared her story, has even bared…

Sword and Gun Play

Posted by Christopherus

(The first part of this entry is a re-worked post from my old yahoo group… I then went on to discuss gun play….)  I think the key to a lot of the questions around sword play is “can my child rise…

Birthday Loveliness

Posted by Christopherus

A couple of weeks ago I celebrated my 45th birthday (huzzah – Happy Birthday to me!). My 14 year old wanted precise instructions for what I wanted for my birthday. He also took it upon himself to coordinate his brother…

Museum Baby

Posted by Christopherus

A few weeks ago my husband Paul and I went to New York for a family visit. I am a native New Yorker but my mother now lives across the bridge in New Jersey. Whilst in NYC Paul and I…

Self Development as a Parent

Posted by Christopherus

Steiner said there were three absolutes which every teacher must undertake as part of his essential task of being a teacher: to understand child development; to strive to understand the particular children one is working with; and to work on…

Planning For Next Year

Posted by Christopherus

So…. I thought I’d give you all a few tips on planning for the next year (and all you Southern Hemisphere readers you’ll just have to come back to this blog entry later in the year!). One of my main…

Isolation or Family?

Posted by Christopherus

In the past few weeks I have come across a variety of articles in a variety of magazine which have given me real pause for thought about what is happening in modern American – or perhaps Western – families. In…

Review: ” Beyond the Rainbow Bridge”

Posted by Christopherus

Just about everyone who is interested in ways of working with Waldorf with young children knows about Rahima Baldwin’s You Are Your Child’s First Teacher. But then…. then what? What is another good book to read? I have a number…

One Step at a Time

Posted by Christopherus

One of the things that often strikes me in the course of consulting with clients or reading through what people say on my discussion forum (or my old yahoo group) is how by making just a few simple changes to…

Let’s Hear it for Hats!

Posted by Christopherus

It’s getting warmer outside – our subfreezing Wisconsin winter is passing into beautiful Spring days of sunshine and balmy temperatures. Neighbors I haven’t seen for months have emerged from their winter dens. And children are everywhere – on bikes and…

Helping Children When You Move House

Posted by Christopherus

Apparently, the average American family moves an average of 6 times over the course of the children’s growing up period. Everyone knows that people are always moving – you just settle in somewhere and your child’s best friend announces he’s…