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…