I continue to explore Waldorf Education and am finding that it resonates and makes sense with what I value in the education of young children; a good feeling indeed.
I am already finding so many elements of Waldorf Education beneficial to our home environment; I’ve evaluated the way we use our home spaces considering: the colors of rooms, the presence of natural materials, the openness of space, and whether or not media are central aspects of the room (both our dining room and living room are at angles that make our television the “holding” force in the room). Actually, I’ve long been considering the role that television plays in my family’s life and have been seeking a healthy balance to its inclusion in our lives: I want to be able to relax and enjoy a show and I want the same for my daughter and husband, however, I worry that television and other sources of media can become all consuming . . . dominating our attention and affecting our creativity,our abilities to interact positively and thus our connection with each other. As part of my surveying television use in our home, I’ve arrived at what seems a healthy compromise and am already observing how it is helping Annabelle’s imaginative play (I now hear her talking with her dolls regularly and finding other ways to make believe: she speaks kindly with the natural world, saying hello and goodbye to trees, flowers, animals).
Other ways that Waldorf Education is benefiting our home environment include: more creativity (we practice yoga and dance daily, explore new art materials, spend time with nature daily, survey imaginative stories and story telling, we help more (I make more of an effort to include Annabelle in daily chores like watering the garden, meal time preparation and clean up, and dusting our furniture), and we are learning to make good use of our hands (though I do need to learn to knit or crochet or find another crafting skill, like felting or sewing, so that I may teach handwork to Annabelle).
My favorite part of the day is my quiet time each day when I reflect on the day’s work; I’ve learned to journal, jot down my impressions of the day, name my wishes and dreams for my daughter (and myself), envision our day’s events in reverse (good for evaluation and mindfulness too), think about how I can better meet my daughter’s needs each day, and last, read a bit of inspirational writing. Some of my jottings about the day are one word stream of consciousness writing: fast, engaging, nostalgic, busy, delicious, energetic, and surprising. My wishes included: “wanting to spend less time with television,” “wanting for Annabelle to play more on her own,” and “to connect more with Annabelle and to listen to her more.” My time of reflection at the end of each day helps me to keep perspective about what we are doing together each day and helps me make the changes I need so that our days are more enjoyable and rich (with activity, learning, and meaning).
Among the many new creative activities we are exploring with Waldorf Education is felting; we followed Martha Stewart’s kids’ craft instructions to make these felt balls (or felt meatballs, as Annabelle calls them). Impressions: easy, relaxing (the combination of massaging the felt and working with warm soapy water), and fun. Bonus? Watching my daughter whip up an imaginary spaghetti and meatball dinner with these felt balls she made with her own two hands.
{ 9 comments }
These are great!
Martha Stewart and Felt Balls?? omg – i love that woman.
It’s been awhile since we wet felted – your blog post inspires me to work this in soon.
I love Waldorf too – so much about it just fits with me! We only fell into it because there are no Monti playgroups here, but there is a great Steiner one and I love the friends I have made there, and have found such wisdom in the approach.
Thank you for the well wishes! I look forward to visiting your blog and learning more about Waldorf Education; I have been so happy since learning/discovering more about Waldorf and bringing its magic into our home, :-)
Thank you for visiting my blogsite – I am glad you enjoyed the flower pictures! There was this quiet time in the morning and the dew had not yet evaporated away, I wanted to capture the tranquility and beauty of the moment.
The creative spirit that flows naturally within all of us has found an affirming and nurturing home in Waldorf education. And I believe, especially for those who homeschool children (like us – http://www.syrendell.blogspot.com), we incorporate the elements that feel right in balancing the rhythms of our own family lives.
Best wishes to your growing family of creative souls!
Abbie, thank you! I miss Connecticut so much and I would love to see you in person. Annabelle would love to see the animals and heck, I’d love to meet your grandmother too. Thank you for thinking of my baby boy, :-) Maybe you can give me a mini lesson on crocheting while I visit too.
Amber, I don’t know whether our family could part with television, though hey, it is possible; we’d like catch Jon Stewart on my laptop and watch other shows like Heroes and Medium online too.
Emma, the felt is 100% wool . . . not sure if it feels squeaky; it’s best to use clumps of wool and not flattened wool (we used both and I found the clumps easier to work with). Annabelle loved working with it and I’d love to learn how to work with a felting needle too.
Odd Q – does it have a “squeaky wool” feeling? (kind of like cotton balls)? Yours came out really pretty & A looked like she had fun!
We use certain elements of Waldorf philosophy in our home. We have a nature table, and we opt for a lot of natural toys. When our TV died we didn’t replace it.
But I had horrible luck with felting balls. I ended up using a lot of bad language and my daughter left the room and hid. I just don’t seem to have what it takes to wet felt. I bought a felting needle, I’m hoping I have better luck with that. ;)
My grandmother recently got a bag full of felt from her friend who used to work in a fabric store. She and I were mostly at a loss for what to do with all that felt. If you’d like it, I can ask her for it and keep it here until you visit next time. Or better yet, I can take you all with me to her house in North Guilford and visit with her horses and cows. That is, whenever you make it back up north!
I also must confess that, while I love to work with my hands knitting or crocheting, I love to do it while I watch TV, since it’s a great way to keep my hands out of the proverbial cookie jar. And another confession… I’m making a crocheted blanket for your little boy, but won’t have it finished in time! I’ll be sure to send it your way when I do complete it!