Your Child and Tests

Posted by Gabriel2

The Christopherus curriculum definitely includes tests–but the right tests, given in the right way at the right time. Listen here for a discussion of this topic plus what to do if tests are required where you live. Here is the…

My Story is Your Story, Your Story is My Story

Posted by Donna Simmons

Perhaps the most important aspects of anthroposophy, the foundation of Waldorf education, are its universalism on the one hand, and its utter respect for the individual on the other. The weaving between these two can seem like a paradox–but therein…

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…

Homeschoolers First and Foremost!

Posted by Donna Simmons

I am coming to the end of creating our new (summer 2019) sixth grade curriculum and a few things have happened recently which have helped me recommit to homeschooling as homeschooling–as opposed to trying to create Waldorf school at home….

The Wholeness of Waldorf Education

Posted by Donna Simmons

I am currently working on our Christopherus sixth grade syllabus (available mid-July 2019). This is the first new syllabus I have written in years. There are a number of reasons for this and one reason is that the Waldorf middle…

The Christopherus Geography Curriculum

Posted by Donna Simmons

by Donna Simmons   From one point of view, you could say that a study of geography is the heart of the Waldorf curriculum—it is the discipline that connects and enlivens much of the rest of the curriculum. History, science…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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….

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Thinking About Music Instruction

Posted by Christopherus

One of the things that so many parents appreciate so deeply about Waldorf schools is the way that music is an integral part of the curriculum. From earliest days in the kindergarten as the children sing and clap and play…

Is She Ready to Read or Not?

Posted by Christopherus

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…

Original or Copied Work?

Posted by Christopherus

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…

Form Drawing

Posted by Christopherus

(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…

What is Waldorf?

Posted by Christopherus

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…

To Correct or Not to Correct

Posted by Christopherus

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 Christopherus

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,…

Music Lessons

Posted by Christopherus

  One thing that it is of paramount importance when considering music lessons for a young child is not to bring under 7’s prematurely into their heads, into intellectual experiences. Little ones have a natural feel for rhythm – and…

The Waldorf View on Teaching

Posted by Christopherus

(this is a response I gave to a question on my yahoo group Waldorf_At_Home)   I think a question could be asked "how does the child know to ask what she wants? How does she know what she wants?" This…

Fantasy and Imagination

Posted by Christopherus

(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,…

Anthroposophy, Religion and Waldorf

Posted by Christopherus

(This was originally a message I posted on my yahoo discussion group, Waldorf_At_Home. It has been changed somewhat) Anthroposophy, while not a religion, is very helpful in spiritual striving. Anthroposophy means “wisdom of the human being” and it is also…

But Is It Waldorf?

Posted by Christopherus

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…

Religion Lessons

Posted by Christopherus

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,…

Multiculturalism

Posted by Christopherus

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…