Children and Angels

Posted by Donna Simmons

God is Listening One of the most powerful examples parents can set for their children is to let them witness them as reverent people who pray and who actively relates to the spiritual worlds. We live in dark times and…

Child Development

Posted by Donna Simmons

In order to make the Christopherus curriculum one’s own and to work with its healing depths, one needs to have more than a passing familiarity with child development.

Children and Computers

Posted by Donna Simmons

Here is a talk–a rather long talk of about 30 minutes–I have recorded on the subject of why computers are not good for children. If one asks ‘is there a need for computers, called for by the universal and therapeutic…

Feedback Regarding Computer Use in Waldorf Schools

Posted by Donna Simmons

Last month I wrote an impassioned plea to Waldorf teachers to please stop and consider other ways to work with their classes during this time of shut-down and  distancing regulations. I got quite a lot of feedback, some of which…

A Plea to Waldorf Teachers

Posted by Donna Simmons

a Michael imagination by David Newbatt Dear Waldorf Teachers, I am writing to you as a colleague and friend, a former Waldorf student, teacher and parent, and present Waldorf educator mainly focused on homeschoolers. I write because I am shocked…

The Positive Side of Lockdown!

Posted by Donna Simmons

Well bless my boots–I’m actually going to write about the positive side of the lockdown situation we are in (and not about whether it contributes to containing COVID). What I’m interested in is the fact that a number of folks…

Homeschooling in Extraordinary Circumstances

Posted by Donna Simmons

Over the years I have often heard people worry that they cannot homeschool because of extraordinary circumstances–illness or death in the family, a natural disaster, divorce, job loss and so on. Homeschooling is about the reality of human relationships–and to…

A Few Tips for Staying Sane During Breaks from Homeschool

Posted by Donna Simmons

Following on from my exuberant plea to let children be children I do of course realize that many parents find the near-chaos (and sometimes, downright chaos) of the summer months to be, well, unsettling, to say the least. What happens…

Empathy and the teen

Posted by Donna Simmons

Just going through old blog posts and deleting dated or no longer relevant posts…and stumbled upon this goodie. I read it and was pleased to see that I still agree with what I originally wrote below! The following is an…

Candlemas

Posted by Donna Simmons

Here is a rather old post from – yikes!! – 10 years ago about the festival of Candlemas. I have been more focused on videos and talks than on my blog – I save my writing for the creation of…

When Violence Touches Children

Posted by Donna Simmons

Dear friends, I am reprinting part of an article from the wonderful Waldorf Today newsletter about the death of a Waldorf teacher recently in a drive-by shooting in Chicago. Following this I have reprinted an excellent article written by Susan…

Five Things Every Waldorf Homeschooler Should Stop and Consider…

Posted by Donna Simmons

By Donna Simmons I think there must be times in every homeschooler’s life when she (or he) wishes that she could just put the children on the couch and freeze them there for a year or two while she catches…

The Goal of Waldorf Education

Posted by Donna Simmons

By Donna Simmons   Greetings All, One of the most important and attractive elements of the Waldorf curriculum is the way children are led through an exploration of subject matter in an ever-deepening way. In accordance with her stage of…

Keep Calm and Homeschool On

Posted by Donna Simmons

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…

Rhythms of Learning

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

  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 Donna Simmons

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…

Role of Non-Teaching Spouse

Posted by Donna Simmons

  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 Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

A Doll for Every Child

Posted by Donna Simmons

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…

What is the Fate of the Next Generation?

Posted by Donna Simmons

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…

Death in the family

Posted by Donna Simmons

 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…

Trusting the Child?

Posted by Donna Simmons

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…

Drowning in Dialogue

Posted by Donna Simmons

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…

Follow Up to Teens and Texting

Posted by Donna Simmons

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…

A Job for Samuel

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

Protecting the Heart of the Home

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

The Darkness of The Dark Knight

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

Boundaries

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

The Need to be a Cling-On

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

Early Years Rant 3

Posted by Donna Simmons

(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 Donna Simmons

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…

Follow-Up – Early Years Rant

Posted by Donna Simmons

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…

Early Years Rant

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

 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 Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

When A Child Kills A Pet

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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 -…

Helping Little Ones with Manners

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

(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…

Caring for a Cat

Posted by Donna Simmons

(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…

A Bit of Benign Neglect

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

So How Do You Manage All Day at Home?

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

Review: Living into Dying

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

(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 Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…

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…

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…

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…

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….

“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’…

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…

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…

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…

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…