Isolation or Family?

Posted by Donna Simmons

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…

One Step at a Time

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

Passive Learning

Posted by Donna Simmons

A concern that many people express is about children who do not seem to want to engage in play or who prefer to stand aside and to watch. As our society values a “get ahead” and assertive attitude toward life…

“Violent” Play

Posted by Donna Simmons

(the following comes from my stock of old posts I kept from the yahoo group I used to run…)   One thing that needs to be addressed is the issue of media violence. I think normal good guy bad guy…

Is She Ready to Read or Not?

Posted by Donna Simmons

Something that is very important to ponder is the difference between teaching a child who is not ready for something and allowing a strong impulse in a child to unfold. I would hope that no parent who is interested in…

Handwork and Crafts with Older Children

Posted by Donna Simmons

It seems that everywhere one looks there are wonderful on-line stores and home businesses selling all manner of lovely craft items for children – young children. I can’t think why, but there is a distinct lack of craft kits and…

Original or Copied Work?

Posted by Donna Simmons

One of the perennial questions asked to teachers at Waldorf schools is “Why do the children all paint the same pictures? Why don’t you leave them free to draw or paint whatever they want?” Such questions usually arise after a…

Rhythmic Play

Posted by Donna Simmons

In many different places – on this blog, in books and articles I’ve written – I refer to rhythmic play. I often get asked about this. So I will try to explain here what I mean by this term. And…

Advent

Posted by Donna Simmons

  In most Waldorf schools – at least those in North America, Central Europe, and Britain –  a very special early Winter festival takes place for the children. This is the Advent spiral, a beautiful spiral of Light which symbolizes…

Form Drawing

Posted by Donna Simmons

(the following are two posts from our old Yahoo group, Waldorf At Home on the topic of form drawing). by Donna Simmons   Form drawing is like water, it is like the movement of plants as they grow, it is…

Friendly Teens

Posted by Donna Simmons

It always amazes me – and saddens me – when I hear about or read about parents who have no idea who their teens are, who cannot communicate with them or who are at a loss as to how to…

Dependency – Appropriate and Inappropriate

Posted by Donna Simmons

The time has come in my family for us to start looking at Life After Home. Will my eldest (presently 15) go to college? Might he travel and work first? Or might he go back to England to live? We…

What is Waldorf?

Posted by Donna Simmons

Several people have contacted me recently, in private, expressing their concern that a number of individuals are setting themselves up as “Waldorf consultants” or sellers of Waldorf curriculum and that the relationship of these people to Waldorf is unclear. How…

Playing with Language

Posted by Donna Simmons

(This article first appeared in The Homeschool Journey, December 2003) I’d like to share a poem with you. I’d like you to read aloud the following poem (which many of you will probably know) and just relax into the words….

A Child Who Hits

Posted by Donna Simmons

(This is a re-worked post from my yahoo group, Waldorf_At_Home. The subject was what to do with a child who hits  her siblings) In a hitting situation – in any situation with little one – under 6/7’s – one first…

Speaking and Reading to Little Ones

Posted by Donna Simmons

(Here’s another reworked post of mine from my yahoo group, Waldorf_At_Home) In this thread I have not been saying that we shouldn’t talk to our children!! What I am saying is that there is balance needed – that parents who…

End of Year Wrap Up

Posted by Donna Simmons

It is now mid May. My 6th grader and I are drawing his year’s schooling to an end – next week is our last formal “school week”. I thought I would share a few thoughts on how we have, in…

To Correct or Not to Correct

Posted by Donna Simmons

This is a post I wrote on my yahoo discussion group, Waldorf_At_Home in response to a question a list member had about how to get her reluctant and somewhat perfectionist daughter to do form drawing. She also was interested in…

Form Drawing with Older Children

Posted by Donna Simmons

Form drawing is a therapeutic art unique to Waldorf education. Often misunderstood to be solely to do with improving or preparing for handwriting, its use goes much deeper. It is a way for the child to orientate himself in space,…

Not School at Home

Posted by Donna Simmons

I wrote the following article for Lucie Smoker’s  eclectic and Waldorf-inspired homeschooling website, Wonder Homeschool, which unfortunately no longer exists. Many people are completely bowled over when they first encounter Waldorf education. The truly holistic and spiritual acknowledgement of the…

Working Together

Posted by Donna Simmons

My son Gabriel and I have been busy these past few weeks creating a new unit study publication for sale – this one is on the Middle Ages and follows on from the Roman History unit study we already have….

Maturation of Thought

Posted by Donna Simmons

One of the exciting things about teaching at the Waldorf high school here in town is the opportunity to work with mixed age classes and to observe the differences between the students not only as individuals, but as young people…

A Lovely Day of Nothing

Posted by Donna Simmons

My 12 year came down the stairs this morning at around 10 am, hunted around for cereal and then joined me in the living room where I was sprawled on the couch. “What are we doing today, Mama?” he asked….

Fantasy and Imagination

Posted by Donna Simmons

(the following was written in response to a question I received many years ago on my old yahoo group…)   When working with questions around the existence of fairies, I guess it all depends on how one views the world,…

Christmas with Older Children

Posted by Donna Simmons

Well, the holidays are over – today is Three Kings’ or Epiphany. It is the day that we take down our decorations and officially bring the Christmas season to a close in our family.   My sons are now 12…

“Working with Anxious, Nervous and Depressed Children”

Posted by Donna Simmons

(yet another article gleaned from my yahoo group Waldorf_At_Home – again, it has been slightly edited) I have been reading a wonderful book recently which deals with issues around the senses, movement, balance etc.  It is called "Working with Anxious,…

Discipline Questions

Posted by Donna Simmons

(this entry has been adapted from my Waldorf_At_Home yahoo group) The topic of discipline in Waldorf circles can seem elusive – this is mainly because discipline as such is rarely talked about. Rather, discipline is understood as something which arises…

Little Ones Who Chatter

Posted by Donna Simmons

(the following is adapted from a message I posted on my yahoo group “Waldorf-At_Home”) Fundamental to a Waldorf understanding of young children is therecognition that they are in  the imitative phase of their lives. Everything that goes on around them…

Wonderful Halloween

Posted by Donna Simmons

What a great Halloween we had in our family! What a wonderful festival – though unless one is a follower of Celtic traditions, I’m not sure ‘festival’ is the correct term. ‘Excuse for fun’ or ‘evening out of the ordinary’…

But Is It Waldorf?

Posted by Donna Simmons

Here’s my one week progress report on the journey back home by my younger son, Gabriel. A couple of entries ago (eeecchh – sounds like items on a menu) – er, a couple of blogs ago? – no that’s worse…

Fall Festivals

Posted by Donna Simmons

By Donna Simmons I love this time of year. I love the bright blue skies, the vibrant shades of red, gold and orange on the trees. I love the warm sun on my face and the cold wind – the…

Religion Lessons

Posted by Donna Simmons

Religion lessons do not figure in the Main Lessons curriculum (there is a specific religion lessons curriculum – but to my knowledge, only a handful of schools in this country or in the UK use it) and the Old Testament,…

Reading Readiness

Posted by Donna Simmons

The following is from my yahoo discussion group – it is obviously part of a thread but I thought there is enough that might be of interest here to warrant re-printing it. My experience tells me to be even more…

School or Family?

Posted by Donna Simmons

From the earliest days of catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, well-meaning proclamations were issued from governors and other politicians or civil servants from affected states that schools would accept children from displaced families. Reporters talking to families or relaying the seriousness of the situation repeatedly…

Katrina’s Orphan

Posted by Donna Simmons

So many awful images from Hurricane Katrina – the ones involving children stand out for me. A desperate father holding up his three week old baby, crying out for formula. Babies in intensive care whose parents were evacuated. And, most…

Keeping One Step Ahead

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, April 2005 One of the new and exciting challenges of living in town (as opposed to our former life on our farm) is the phenomena of friends. It seems obvious and…

A Visit to the Science Museum

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, February 2005   Just a little note to warn people that the following has been issued from Donna’s extensive Waldorf Curmudgeon files… I promise that March’s newsletter will not contain any…

Discipline and Inner Work

Posted by Donna Simmons

This first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, January 2005 No whining or nagging! Identify what makes you slip into either of these and      then do something to correct it. If you hear your mother’s (or father’s) voice…

In Praise of No Praise

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, January 2005 When my family and I returned to the US from Britain, we came to live in an anthroposophical intentional community which, amongst other things, hosted visits from school groups,…

The Role of the Homemaker

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, December 2004 When I was watching TV the other evening (yes – I watch some TV. I tell my 11 and 13 year-old sons that I like to keep an eye…

Raising Compassionate and Socially Aware Children

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, November 2004 The following are excerpts from the keynote talks I gave in Fair Oaks, CA and Ann Arbor, MI at Waldorf in the Home conferences. The entire talk would be…

How To Do It!

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, October 2004 (and much has changed in our family since then!) My original topic for this month’s newsletter was something quite different than what you are about to read – I…

Get Out of the House!

Posted by Donna Simmons

My most precious childhood memories are from the brief weeks each year that I spent with my class on a working farm in the Hudson River valley in upstate New York. The Waldorf school I attended was in New York…

Practical Suggestions for Sick Children

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, May 2005 Here are a few things for parents to consider when their children are ill. It is based, in part, on what we do in our family, as well as…

Time to be Ill?

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, May 2004 How do we regard illness in our families? Do we respond with an arsenal of medicines and potions, moving quickly to get rid of whatever it is that is…

Multiculturalism

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article taken from the Homeschool Journey newsletter, April 2004 Occasionally, one reads or hears someone say something along the lines that Waldorf is not multicultural or not multicultural enough. This always puzzles me, and sometimes seriously irritates me. If…

Communication/Conversation

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, March 2004 With horror I read an article entitled ‘Now You’re Talking: For more parents, communication with their kids is getting a lot easier, thanks to instant messaging’ in the St…

Choosing Toys

Posted by Donna Simmons

This piece first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, February 2005 Following on from the above, I want to talk a bit about choosing toys. Mainly this is about toys for younger children, but some will surely be used by…

Extending Play

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, February 2004 Some of the most joyful moments I have  had as a homeschooling mom have come during our occasional ‘Boy Days’, days when my sons invite their friends over, en…

January Activities

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, January 2004, updated slightly in 2019 January can be a depressing month for many homeschoolers. Panic and guilt lurk just around the corner as well realize that the children have done…

The Value of Silence

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, January 2004 In my mind, I visualize Advent time to be like a huge balloon, building, building, building, getting bigger and then POP! Christmas Day, which in my family is also…

Non-Commercial Christmas

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, December 2003 Advent in America… hmmm… not much awaiting of the Light in our local Wal-Mart or in the orgy of holiday specials advertised on TV. It’s such an assault on…

Cultivating Perseverance

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article was first published in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, November 2003 By Donna Simmons As I struggle to write this newsletter, I am half listening to my husband and sons having their recorder lesson. My sons would rather not…

Creating Good Readers

Posted by Donna Simmons

Another oldie but goodie which I have recently updated. Much of what follows forms the basis for how I approach language arts throughout our curriculum…so if you relate to what follows, you’ll love our curriculum! One of the most rewarding…

Schedules

Posted by Donna Simmons

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, June 2005 By the time this newsletter gets to you all, it’ll be late June … and many of you will be starting to collect your thoughts about next year. Many…