Discovering Waldorf :: Modeling In Waldorf Educatioin

With the kids home for the Summer and being around them all day (or rather, them being around me all day) it has amazed me (once again) how they imitate what I do. Modeling what they see is such a huge part of how they learn. With certain things, I can tell them what to do until I am blue in the face... but it is when I quietly do these things with them, that doing them becomes part of who they are. It reminds me that modeling good behavior, modeling a calm and peaceful day is by far the easiest way to ensure good behavior and a calm and peaceful day!

To read more about 'Modeling in Waldorf Education' please visit this super Discovering Waldorf article written by Kristy Burns.

(Please feel free to add the above Discovering Waldorf button to your blog. You can do this by saving the above image to your desktop and then adding it to your blog as a Picture Gadget that links to this code:

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Discovering Waldorf is a weekly series of articles written by 'everyday' Waldorf families. The contributors to this series share their 'real-life' insights and inspirations on all kinds of Waldorf topics. This series is not meant to be Waldorf philosophy in its purest form, but rather a snapshot of how we can all incorporate Waldorf ideas into our lives to help nurture and encourage the magic that is in our children. If you have a topic you wish to learn more about (or want to share) on Discovering Waldorf, send me an email at vined(at)ymail(dot)com.

 Please visit the Discovering Waldorf Page for more info on Waldorf Education.
 

Blessings and magic, 

Donni

The Role of Media in Our Home.

Some of you have asked questions about the role media plays in our home. Do we watch television, do we watch movies, do we play video games?

I feel this is a very touchy subject and am hoping I can share how our family handles media in our home in a non-judgemental and truthful way.

Our family subscribes to many Waldorf philosophies and limiting media exposure is one we buy into without reservation. There are many reasons why we feel that TV is against the best interests of our children. Not only have we have read many articles and studies that regale the negative effects that too much TV has on young, developing, brains. But we have also realized that when we have randomly watched TV with our children, we have come away from the experience knowing in our hearts that the time we have just spent has been, if not a negative and harmful experience, then at least a total waste of our family time. So, yes, we do actively limit media exposure in our home.

Not completely though. About three and a bit years ago, when Kitty was 4, we decided to end our cable subscription and therefore do not have any television channels in our house at all. We do have a portable DVD machine and a number of DVD's that Matthew and I have carefully selected. Our children watch a few of the Disney fairytale movies that we think are lovely (albeit far too long) and we have a number of Nature DVD's like 'Earth' and David Attenborough. These, our children are allowed to watch if they feel like it. Father Christmas brought them a delightful set of DVD's called Storybook International which I think is a marvelous series for anyone who want's to make sure their children are watching quality stories. There are 10 discs and each disc has about 5, beautifully narrated fairytales on it. The stories are tales and legends that have been collected from around the world. They tell of places like Africa, Russia and India. And they are acted by wonderful actors with beautiful scenery. I love that each story is only about 20 minutes long so my children are not 'locked in' to an hour and a half like they are with other movies. And I love that they are learning about other cultures and countries. Here is a YouTube clip of one of the fairytales... The Stubborn Princess.

By not having TV channels in our home, there is never an opportunity to ever randomly watch TV. Any movie time they do have is a conscious decision. And what they watch is a conscious decision too. It's totally amazing to me that, having been out of the TV scene for so long, I find what my friends call 'educational' TV utterly jarring and inappropriate. They say... 'But, how can Dora be harmful?' I don't want to say that it is harmful, but to me who has become sensitized to TV (as opposed to desensitized) Dora is loud and brash and mesmerizing in a Kaa (the snake from the Jungle Book) kind of way. I am somewhat appalled at the TV shows that are directed at the 8 to 10 year old audience. They are, in my opinion, often sassy, far too grown up and, again, inappropriate for children who should still be innocent in mind and spirit. Whenever I happen to catch a moment or two of them, I feel immensely relieved that my 8 year old is not subjected to them on a daily basis. I find the advertising during these shows alarming too.

We are not dogmatic about no TV. If we are at someones house and the kids are watching the television, we will make sure that they are watching a kids' channel and let it fly. There have been times when I have felt totally uncomfortable with what has been on the TV when at a friends house and I have had to make an issue of it. On one occasion, the adults were watching 'Bounty Hunter' when the children joined us. Our friends thought nothing of it and I had to be brave enough to ask them to turn it off. Another time, the adults were watching the news and the kids joined us when a news story about mothers who murder their babies came on. On both occasions, I was utterly amazed that our friends thought nothing of letting their children watch such sensitive material. Both of these experiences were highly uncomfortable for me but they strengthened my resolve to protect my children from media I feel they are too young for.

I have had people say to me, 'It's an ugly world out there... you shouldn't shield them from the truth they might, one day, have to face.' My response is 'Why?'... 'Why should a young spirit know that there is ugliness out there?' I want it to be a beautiful world for as long as possible... with any luck it might just be beautiful for them forever.

A Good Man and I don't miss the television at all. We get our news from reading newspapers, the internet and NPR. And, I have to admit to having had a horrible addiction to reality TV and was guilty of spending  wasting hour upon hour watching utter junk. We have a Netflix subscription and watch an hour of TV a night on my laptop after the kids have gone to bed. Mindless TV watching is not an option.

Our children do not play video games. They do not use the computer. At 8 and 4, and at a Waldorf school, there's no need for them to have computer screen time. I have an ipad that has a few free games on it and they play on it when were are waiting somewhere and there is nothing else for them to do.

We have quite a few books on tape and Kitty sometimes loves to listen to her favorite stories like Little House on the Prairie. And I am really thinking of joining Sparkle Stories for her when finances ease up a little for us. I know she'll love having a regular subscription of beautiful stories to listen to.

What do our children do instead of watching TV? They play together, they play alone, they play inside, they play outside, they read books, they knit, they practice shooting arrows, they paint, they draw, they build forts, they build blocks, they make up stories, they make gnomes, play ball...

In a nutshell, we do not miss having a television in our house. Our children do have media time. And we get a little free time while they are watching their stories but no more than when they are playing or reading or crafting. We like that it is quality media that we have carefully preselected. Childhood is just too precious to spend in front of a TV.

I hope this has been helpful in some way.

Blessings and magic,
Donni

The Importance of Community.

Living simply in a city is not always easy. We live in Long Beach which is a city in the heart of the Los Angeles/San Diego metropolis. Living simply is certainly not the default way city people go about their lives. In this concrete jungle we often have to re-evaluate the way we do things and reaffirm our desire for a calm and peaceful lifestyle. Needing to live simply is probably one of our strongest draws to a Waldorf inspired life. I would expect that it's easier to find pleasure in the simple things when you are surrounded by wide open farmland and clean air. Here, we have to work on being simple... we have to consciously turn away from a hectic and over-scheduled city life. We have to make an effort to find ourselves in nature... we can't just go for a walk and feel the freedom of the woods... we are surrounded by city block after city block of sidewalk and manicured lawns. That's not to say that there's no nature here... oh, there is! We delight in Nature daily. We often find a new mushroom growing in a magical mossy spot and notice how dewdrops sparkle like diamonds in the rays of the morning sun. We have had sparrow chicks hatch on our own porch and we have a wild squirrel who jumps onto our laps to gently collect nuts from our own hands. But all these things we have had to cultivate. And, most importantly, we have had to notice them. 'Notice them?' you might ask... 'how can you not notice a squirrel in your tree?' But when you are rushing to get get your kids to school on time, when you are in a hurry to pick them up to take them to soccer practice and from there to Judo and from there to Art and from there to gymnastics and from there, home to do homework, taking the time to care that there's a squirrel in your tree is not a priority. We have consciously decided that noticing the squirrel IS, indeed, a priority.

I often feel that trying to live simply in a city is like walking uphill against the parade... everyone else is going somewhere different and they are all walking with such conviction in their steps. Sometimes I feel scared that we have chosen to live against the flow... I wonder if taking our children out of the rat race is really the right thing to do. And, it can be lonely too... if everyone is rushing off to soccer and judo and gymnastics, who is there left to play with us?

Luckily for us, our Waldorf School community is a strong and like-minded group in this crazy, busy, city. For our own reasons, in our own ways, we are all trying to live simply, to slow the pace, to breath in the little things and live in the moment, knowing that the squirrel IS important.  I feel so lucky to have found like-minded people to walk uphill with and, to any of you who might read this, and to any community of people out there who are also following their hearts although everyone else is floating past, fast, I thank you for helping make my family's journey a little easier.

I would like to take this opportunity to share our Waldorf Schools upcoming events. Maple Village has been a ray of sunshine in our lives and if you are in our area and would like to learn more about our school, you will be welcomed with open arms. Please also pass this information on to anyone you know who might like to join us too.

Don't hesitate to contact me if you need a friendly face in the crowd :-)
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Learning Math with Gumnuts :: Second Grade

I love Waldorf education so! Kitty is in Second Grade. One day a week, her class has 'outside school'. The children and their wonderful teachers start the day with a 20 minute walk to a local park. The rest of their school day is spent having their lessons under the sky, amongst the trees, squirrels and fresh air. On 'outside school' days, when I'm going about my business, I can't help making a little detour past the park to get a glimpse of them. It warms my heart to see them playing freely as part of their Second Grade Curriculum.

Today, after 'outside school', Kitty and I had a little special time together at our local cafe. Over our hot chocolate, we talk about all kinds of lovely things. One of our threads of conversation went like this...

Me: I saw you playing under the big tree in the park today as I drove past.

Kitty: No Mom, we weren't playing.

Me: Oh. What were you doing under the big tree then?

Kitty: We were collecting Gumnuts for our Math Lesson.

If I had learned Math with Gumnuts that I had collected, perhaps I wouldn't be so scared of it today!

Blessings and magic,
Donni