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…

An Advent Reflection

Posted by Donna Simmons

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…

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…

Reading and Telling Stories

Posted by Donna Simmons

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 Donna Simmons

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…