Sample chapter and lesson plans for grade one.  Remember that for the lesson plans, the stories are included in the book so it can be a very good resource for your grade one teaching year and the rest of the information contained in the book can be a source of refueling for any Waldorf parent.

Chapter 1

Parent Care
“In anthroposophy (anthropos=human, Sophia=wisdom) we find many tools to help us seek the spirit via our own free will – our own wakeful motivation.  The study of human wisdom is free to anyone, but only when it weaves its way into our will and comes to life through our deeds does it become an “awakened anthroposophy” bringing forth something useful and generous to the world.  In this way inner work can become more than just a personal practice; the fruits of our spiritual strivings are passed on as contributions to human evolution.”

 ~ Christy Korrow, editor of LILIPOH Magazine, Autumn 2003

 Caring for ourselves so that we can care for them. This topic is one that nearly always shocks parents and caregivers that come to the method, while some do not at first glance see the need for it, others are thirsty right away to get started.   Caring for ourselves takes on many forms, including spiritual and physical health, the two go hand-in-hand.  Physical health has nothing to do with the set of scales in your bathroom that you try craftily to avoid!  It entails realizing that your body needs certain things to function at its peak and if it does not get those things it will be tired, run down and you will likely not be a joy to be around – so yes this does affect your ability to teach!  Today is a great time to evaluate how you are living your life and make sure you are comfortable with all things in it.  Changes that last are those that take place over time, so give yourself the time you need to make them.  DO NOT expect that you will read my book and start living a perfect “Waldorf” existence tomorrow (read the later chapter on Waldorf dogma!)  DO expect that you will read the book and hopefully come away with a knowing of how to make some better choices, not just for you but for your family. 

There are so many good books and resources on changing your eating habits, I will not go into them all here.  I will say that two of my favorite resources are Nourishing Tradition by Sally Fallon and The Sunfood Diet Success System by David Wolfe.  They are on opposite ends of the spectrum because one promotes eating some animal products while the other promotes a completely raw food lifestyle, I tend to sit somewhere in the center.  While I am a vegetarian I have gained many morsels of truth from Sally’s book and while I am not completely a raw foodist, I have thoroughly enjoyed David’s book.  The common factor in both books is to eat with purpose, to understand what you are putting in your body and to make proper choices with that knowledge.  Realizing that sugary breakfasts will not give you the start you need for your day will be a shock to some, but changing the way your family consumes food and in turn consumes our planet’s resources will have a very positive affect on your soul as well as your waistline.  Do not go after this with the intent that you want to lose weight, take it in and use that intention to nourish yourself and your family. 

Author’s note: I try my best to live a great whole foods diet, but that doesn’t mean I don’t fall off the wagon or that I’m the perfect weight I’d like to be!  I still fall prey to my favorites… pie, Jelly Bellies, ice cream, but I am careful to do this when my kids are not around as much as possible.  We of course indulge in treats as a family, but they are not the norm in our house.  Now shhh… there is ice cream hidden behind the strawberries in my freezer, come on over and I’ll give you a scoop! 

Along with knowing what is proper to put into your body, I encourage you to really think about your other habits as well.  Do you get enough sleep? Most people would answer this to the negative.  As parents it is far too easy to put our children to bed and then cram in all the alone time we can!  It is natural and many of us do not even think twice about it.  We often stay up too late and then need a few cups of something hot to get us moving in the morning.   It becomes a regular part of our lives.  Let me suggest something that might be a bit radical to some!  Go to bed early and then get up before your children!  There is nothing more empowering than getting an hour or more of alone time when the house is completely quiet and I am well rested.  I spend this time writing, answering emails, praying and meditating.  I know it is not possible for everyone, but I do submit that if you can get up before your children and greet the day before they do then you will see the benefits in how you feel and how you can give yourself to them.  Taking care of you is so important.  I regularly retire my children around 8 p.m., then I spend some time with my husband and retire myself around 10 p.m., sometimes a bit later, my husband on the other hand is a night owl.  I regularly rise between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.  How do I do that?  Well I asked God to help me, if I am to be the mother and wife that I want to be and that I feel called to be I need help, so I simply asked for help in prayer and he has answered me by waking me gently everyday.  I just needed to ask. 

Aside from the need for alone time, our bodies need recovery time.  Our organs are on a repair cycle throughout the day.  Much repair work is done between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.  this is one reason for the old adage to eat like a king for breakfast, a queen for lunch and a pauper for dinner.  Eating your larger meals early in the day gives your body the fuel that it needs to get through the day.  Gradually tapering off your intake then allows your body to start this repair process.  Retiring early assists your body in this effort.  You will be amazed at how good you can feel by doing this.  If 6 a.m. is not your style then gradually back up your intended waking time until you feel comfortable with it and you are getting both the sleep and alone time you need.  Make your children and your significant other aware of your goals so they can understand and respect your time.  My children have clocks in their rooms with a note taped to the wall with the time that I am comfortable with them getting up.  They know that anytime before this is “mom’s time” and that they may rise and use the potty but they are to play quietly in their room until the time is up.  They have gained such a testimony of my good mental well being from this practice that they willingly support me in this. 

The spiritual aspect of caring for ourselves can be almost trickier than the physical one!  Many of us may have personal baggage in this area or we may be completely grounded.  I was raised in one faith, as an adult became Pagan for several years, and now have finally become comfortable with where I stand in my faith in my conversion back to Christianity, that was my path.  I feel like I have been called to stand on both sides so that I can equally understand and not judge the paths that people have chosen.  The words I share here are as universal as I can make them.  Please feel free to insert whatever name you are comfortable with in place of the word “God,” I will also use terms like “creator” and “universe” a lot so feel free to change them to suit your needs and those of your family. I was recently listening to the powerful speaker James Arthur Ray and he used the analogy that the terms “God” and “universe” were a lot like the words “pop” and “soda.” In some parts of the USA we call anything with carbonation (i.e. Coke, Pepsi, etc.) a “pop” in other parts it is called a “soda” and other areas still have other names for it. Really, we are all referring to a carbonated beverage, so it really does not matter what we call it, it is the same thing. 

When I first came to understand Waldorf, I was in a much different spiritual place than I am now.  I had just left the Christianity of my youth and was not at peace with what I had been taught in the terms of dogma for the majority of my life.  I spent a lot of time in trouble in high school for questioning doctrine (I went to a religious school) and my mother, bless her, worked to understand the nutty rants of her daughter!  Oddly, my mother gave me the nickname “Joan” from an early age as it always seemed that I was on some sort of crusade to help others understand (Joan of Arc.)  I often wondered if she thought it was a phase I would out grow – now she knows better, my efforts and energies are just put to better use and I do not go on rants quite like I used to!  Anyway, when I came to the method, Paganism was very attractive to me and within a few months of attending a coven and studying, I embraced that as my new faith.   I felt very comfortable in my own skin and loved the Waldorf ways but really took issue with all of the references to Christ.   It took me a great deal of meditation to come to peace with those parts of the method and to realize that other than being the Savior to a huge portion of our planet that he was also a great teacher that I could learn a lot from.  In my later years of Paganism, I was able to finally blend those aspects of Waldorf with my own beliefs.  I relay this only because I know that some of my readership will have the same troubles with Waldorf.   They will be completely drawn to the nature side of things as this is what grounds them in their Pagan faith, but they will likely not enjoy all the Christ centered talk.  When I began to explore Steiner’s work from the angle that we all are blessed with grains of the great Truth, then my heart began to open and I began to understand more.  I spent much time in meditation and prayer trying to find the proper balance for me and I encourage ALL those who read my books and study Steiner to do the same.  This method is about far more than nature tables and delayed academics, it is about the mission and understanding of a man (Steiner) and the impact he had on thousands of people.  He never expected that people would take his thoughts as a gospel truth, but I do think he hoped that we would find our own grains of the great Truth within his work and find ways to make them our own. 

Personally deciding to care for yourself will make you much more prepared to deal with everything from the spilled juice at the breakfast table to the reluctant child not wanting to draw or paint.  Much of what I counsel parents to do as they are learning the rhythms of their own family is to pray and meditate.  I can tell you what things work for me and what things I have learned through years of study but in the end what works for your family may be far different than what works for mine.  Becoming comfortable with prayer and meditation is a feat in itself for many people.  Some of us may have grown up in very dogmatic situations and prayer alone may be a huge stumbling block - that is ok!  You do not need a strong faith base to understand or implement what I am going to cover with regards to self care in a spiritual sense.  I have even had a few atheist clients that have found meditation on certain aspects to be very healing for them.  We live in a society that all too often throws out the baby with the bathwater – I submit to you that Waldorf is not that way.  In a Waldorf classroom when there is a conflict with a teacher, the teacher is often encouraged to find ways to heal that conflict within themselves.  I have found that this healing, when done by someone willing to be open can be such a treat and reward for all.  We are the teachers in this situation; the children are not going to change!  We have to be the ones to figure out how to touch and reach each one of the blessings we have chosen to teach.  Regular prayer and/or meditation on each child, and our mate, often yields astounding results.  I may not gain an answer right away, but I gain a peace that comes from the fact that I am actually working toward a resolution.  

Steiner had some great words to impart here in lecture six of Human Values in Education:  

“Where is the book in which the teacher can read about what teaching is? The children themselves are this book.  We should not learn to teach out of any book other than the one lying open before us and consisting of the children themselves. In order to read in this book, however, we need the widest possible interest in each individual child, and nothing must divert us from this.” (pg. 116) 

The role of gratitude in our lives and the laws of attraction.  Being grateful is another tool I have used to heal things between me, my family and the others that I deal with daily.  Having gratitude is so important.  I start each day by sitting up and thanking my higher power for waking me, then I move toward the floor and become thankful for my health, from there I begin getting awake enough to be grateful for my spouse, my children, my home that gives me warmth, etc.  I find that this act that seems so very minor is actually the biggest part of my day!  It grounds me in starting things out right and gives me what I need to serve and greet others, namely my family and those around me that I love. 

When we are grateful for what we have been given then the Universe tends to send us more of that.  Being grateful for something so simple as a gentle touch from our partner or a wonderful school day with our children, gently shifts our focus from anything negative to that which is sacred and positive.  Saying a blessing before a meal can do the same thing.  This gratitude invites a wonderful spirit to reside in and around us, it pulls in more of what we want.  By focusing on those things we appreciate and enjoy we will attract more of that to us.   

This is an important part of learning to meditate and pray.   For example, I generally start off a mediation cycle for a child, spouse, or even myself with a short prayer centered on what I am looking for.   So if it is a peace for myself, I don’t sit and tell God all the things I am angry that I have manifested.  I start by being thankful for the parts of me that I like.  Then when I turn to meditation, I meditate on the parts of me that I wish to magnify rather than the ones I want to get rid of because you see, when we are grateful things multiply, but when we are angry and trying to push things away instead of focusing on the positive, those negative things tend to multiply as well!  I don’t know about you, but I don’t need more anger and grief in my life so I’ll just work on strengthening the good things, knowing that by making those things strong then my weaknesses will become less and less. 

Anthroposophy as inner work. Before we dig deeply into anthroposophy, I want to touch a bit on the very basics of meditation.  Meditation and prayer are different.  Prayer usually tends to be a conversation with our higher power, while meditation I have found is a great tool in listening to that higher power.  While prayer can be the asking if you will, meditation becomes the answering, although generally not in the form of “hey Joan, go do this.”  Sometimes it can come in that form, but often times it is the silence of meditation that gives us the peace to understand the answers we have sought from that higher power.   For instance meditating on a situation with a spouse or a child will not “fix” the situation but may bring us to a better understanding of the situation within ourselves so that we can better understand all angles and approach things differently.   There are many different meditation programs on the market, many good, some are just ok, but I find the best way to start any meditation program is to simply just do it yourself before employing your wallet.  After you have some great basics down and you feel the desire to buy something then by all means do so, spend away!  Just joking, try the library first, this is often a good way to see if a set of mediation CDs or DVDs speak to you before you spend your money on them.  Also, ask friends who meditate for suggestions.  

I start by doing the gratitude work I mentioned in previous pages and then I sit comfortably (if I lie down I will go to sleep, which is okay, but I try not to do that when I am seeking answers!) Start with short time periods like 5 minutes and work your way up to longer ones.  If you have never meditated before then sitting for 5 minutes in complete silence might be a huge chore, give it time and start with something very simple like meditating on how you would like your day to go.  As you gain more confidence and can stand the silence longer then move into Steiner’s six basic exercises if you choose.  It is my hope that over time you will begin to embrace the silence and search for it in your day. 

Anthroposophy is a very large topic.  As described in the beginning of the book, it encompasses the work of a man who saw many things for humanity and was brilliant in many ways.  His work can be very enjoyable if taken in slowly and our souls are given the ability to gently let his work wash over us.  That is not to say that all of his work will speak to your idea of truth, some of it may in fact gnaw at you a bit and I submit to you that this is okay!  There are many times when I have started a Steiner lecture or a book about his work only to walk away baffled and not knowing which end is up!   Then there have been other times that his writing has sent me into tears, tears of gratitude and joy.   I have found myself wishing many times that I could remember the German of my youth so that I could read his untranslated work.  So much can get lost in the translation.  For instance the word “freedom” – this word means far more in German than most English speaking peoples can gain from the translation.  It not only means the freedom to move about and to think for ourselves, it means something far deeper, a spiritual (not religious but spiritual) freedom that many of us will go a life-time and not explore within ourselves or explore without the proper wording for its description.  I suppose “harmony” might be a better word, or at least for me harmony has described that peace Steiner speaks of when the term “freedom” is used.  Many that come to Waldorf and begin to delve into anthroposophy begin doing so via the works of others before trying to digest Steiner, I can certainly see value in that way of doing it.  I however just discovered something fabulous that spoke to me right away as both a partial auditory learner and as a busy mom!  There is a wonderful Steiner audio archive that can be found on the internet at www.rudolfsteineraudio.com.  I have shared via email with the site owner Dale Brunsvold the scope of my books and he has given his blessing to having sample tracks in mp3 format put on my companion CDs for each grade.  I suggest beginning with The Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment and then moving on to what intrigues you most. The best part is that this work is free to the public, just as Steiner would have wanted it.  You can download these to your computer and mp3 player or put them on a CD and listen in your car.  So many options!  At the time that I write this, there are seven books and 25 of his lectures (or lecture compilations) to pick from!  Do not get overwhelmed, choose one at a time and let that one seep in before picking another.  Listen to what speaks to you, and if you have it in your budget give Dale’s site a donation.   A great deal of thanks should go to Steiner Books (www.anthropress.org) for making this work available to everyone. 

The six basic exercises listed below are a great way to begin your Steiner study and are described briefly below and in many other anthroposophical works, including his book The Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment.   

Six Basic Exercises

1.      Differentiate in meditation between essentials and inessentials.

2.      Initiative – one act each day, same time for two weeks.

3.      Equanimity – holding back expression of emotions to help us find perspective.

4.      Positivity – find something positive in every situation.

5.      Freedom from bias – develop in oneself the feeling of approaching every new experience totally without prejudice- be ready to accept a totally new experience.

6.      Persistence. Practice the above. 

Finding like-minded parents. When ever we attempt to do anything outside the norm in our society, it is always a good idea to get a support group.  Let’s face it, homeschooling is weird enough for some people, but homeschooling with Waldorf is a whole new ball game.  I read yesterday that there are around 2 million homeschooling families around the world. That is a lot of weird, freaky people. Just joking, but we are still looked upon strange in some settings.  And then there are those of us that are odder still with our home birthing and breastfeeding, and all those other normal but not “the norm” habits.  Just as La Leche League International (LLLI) is a good support group for breastfeeding mothers, we have to try and find support of that kind for homeschooling and in turn hopefully Waldorf in our community.  Some that come to Waldorf are lucky enough to have a school nearby; I have heard many wonderful stories of Waldorf schools being very supportive of the homeschooling Waldorf community so this would be a great place to start.  Not sure if you live near a Waldorf school?  Well there is a fantastic resource for Americans at www.members.awsna.org/Public/SchoolListPage.aspx .   I also found a listing of schools worldwide at www.waldorfworld.net/Waldorf/Schools/ they are listed by country.  Others that are not lucky enough to live near a school (myself included) may have to hunt harder for support.  When I lived in Utah there were two small cooperative groups that have now grown into a school movement.  I had a wonderful time attending festivals with these moms.  It gave me the confidence I needed to start finding my own voice when we moved to Idaho.  Here things have been slower going, I have found that the conservative base in Idaho has hindered my search a bit but I am pleased that at any given time we have a cooperative of Waldorf minded friends that we can pull from to play with and celebrate the year with, it may be a small group of less than ten families but it is a fairly strong group.  It took me several years to grow this base.  I started by attending LLLI meetings to see just how many other freaky people like myself were in the area.  At the time I found only one, but that was all I needed!  She while not Waldorf, did homeschool and in turn introduced me to many other families and that is how I have grown the base that I enjoy now.  It takes being a detective of sorts at times to find what you are looking for. 

So just what are you looking for? Well you want others that are open to the Waldorf mindset to start.  They do not have to be readers of Steiner (that can come later.)  Perhaps for a while you will have to lead by example.  Show them what a nature table is, invite them into your home, and lead them to see how you do things.  From here you may find that you have a small group of mothers willing to take things to the next step.  The next step for me was a group circle time once a week at the park when the weather permitted.   At first you will have to carry the weight, so be sure that you can emotionally do this.  Since we are talking about other homeschooling parents (or planning to homeschool for those with younger children)  they will enjoy the interaction with other moms as much as you will so it is likely that they will start wanting to know a bit more so that they can also experience leading from time to time.  You may go from park play dates to holding festivals together.  

Author’s note: I do things at the park as often as possible for a few reasons… there are some children that I just do not care to have in my home.  It is not a reflection on the child as much as it can be on a parent that refuses to help control the situation.  I value my home and the work I put into our intimate space so I am careful who I invite into it. If I know the parents will not help their children self govern while in my home then they remain our “park” friends.  We hold many festivals when the weather permits during the day in the park, especially when children are young.  Holding things at the park can be its own reward for parents of young ones, the festival can be short and sweet and then the children can play and give the parents ample time to delve deeper into festival meanings by having discussions about them as the children are playing.  Plus, the park offers that nature element that is so important to this method.  If the park isn’t an option then I suggest a backyard. 

Festivals can then lead to an active study group as I am sure by this point you will have parents quizzing you on what all this “stuff” means!  I have run several study groups over the years and I always suggest reading You Are Your Child’s First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin as a first book together.  The speed at which it is covered is entirely up to the group.  You could read a chapter a week or have a monthly group, both have worked.  I find that utilizing the park again is great in the warmer months because then children can play and moms can chat and you are not taking away from those precious family evenings.  I often only run a group during the warmer months and then we take the winters off to hibernate, only getting together for festivals.  Once you have other families on board then it can take some of the pressure off of you as others will be confident enough to hold things in their homes.  I suggest that when you are working on a festival that you get as much help from your group as possible, delegate where you can, otherwise you will exhaust yourself and it will not be a fun experience for you.  Also know when to back down and stay in.  This past year I only held my Saint Nick festival for my children when in years past I have always had a big party at my home.  I realized that when we shared it with others we were losing a bit of our own enjoyment and since St. Nick is our main winter holiday for our family, I wanted to keep it sacred, so this year we adopted a new festival to enjoy with our friends and family, Festival of Stones.  The Festival of Stones was an enchanting evening.  I spend more time talking about it in the festivals section of this book. 

Often times these playgroups grow into more complicated cooperatives with families wanting to get together on a weekly or daily basis to share some of the homeschooling load.  The can be very enjoyable but also very taxing.   Learn from some of my (and others) experiences!  My first suggestion when you meet with parents to discuss such an ambitious venture is to make sure you are all on the same page.  Come together with ideas and have several planning sessions before you actually decide it will work.  Does everyone want the same thing? Will it meet weekly? Monthly? Daily? Who will teach? What will be taught? Will the content be strictly Waldorf? Will only natural materials be used?  How will it be paid for? Per child? Per family? Will one person govern? Or several? Who is in charge? Will rules be in place for irreverent children? If so, what are they?  What is everyone’s commitment level? Can you trust everyone in your cooperative?  

I know these may seem like some odd questions, but there are a lot of things you will need to know in order to save yourself a lot of grief down the road.  I suggest too that some sort of parent agreement be drawn up and signed by all participants, something outlining what is expected and how things will be handled in the event that someone can not or will not live up to their part.  I also suggest that each parent remains at all of your functions to help out in any way possible. 

I have had some great successes with groups in the past.  The best ones were groups where we came together for a circle and then split off by age group.  We had some in a 6 and under group that enjoyed making the weekly snack for the bigger kids and serving them, as well as doing the clean up, this gave them a fun sense of service and provided for lots of imitation.  It also gave way to the older kids showing a great deal of kindness to the little ones that had prepared the snack.  We tried to keep the younger children filled with the types of activities that would occur in a Waldorf kindergarten class, it was so fun to watch them.  They even put on a play of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” for the entire group, it was great fun!  The older kids often stayed together the entire time, depending on the activities.  When we taught knitting it was fun for some of the older children to help the younger ones, the same was true when we made marionettes.   

I think the biggest concern in any group larger than say two or three families is that the roles of each parent as a teacher must be defined and everyone must pull their own weight in order to have success as a group.  We all have to be able to check our egos at the door and that can be tricky when you have a lot of women involved!  We have to learn compromise.  I definitely think that all the cooperatives that I have been involved in have taught me as much as they have my children! 

Cooperatives aside, if you can’t find or create what you want among real live people, then join one of the many Waldorf communities that are evolving online.  These can be a fabulous way to learn how others make Waldorf work for them.  

Being comfortable and confident in your role as parent and teacher. Now that you have started some inner work and began meditating on your family and your role in guiding them, you should be much more comfortable.  Even if you never encounter another live homeschooling Waldorf family, I encourage you to continue to grow in your own knowledge.   

Remember that you know your child and family best.  Your comfort and confidence will grow as your family does.  Also know that you can absolutely have a bad year and recover!  I often think of my worst year homeschooling as the year that I was going through my divorce from my older children’s father.  He and I have a great relationship now but that time was very hard on us all, him included.  While it was something that needed to happen, it was stressful and I was not the best teacher that year.  That being said, my children learned so much.  They learned that even though their world was changing, they still had parents that loved them.  While their book learning that year suffered a bit, their life learning grew.  Granted this type of life learning is not something I suggest for everyone!  I sincerely hope that you never have to encounter it; however it is out of our greatest trials that we can find peace and blessings.  From a rosebush we have both a sweet smelling, beautiful rose and the thorns.  So whether your worst years are from a family death that throws you, a divorce, a remarriage, a move (or two, or ten!) a family business starting or breaking up, what have you, know that your children are still learning and you will accomplish more in a few hours a week of homeschooling than they will get in ten hours at that school down the road, plus you will be with them during these hard times and that is indeed what is important.  They are learning who their real life teachers are. 

So be comfortable and confident that you are doing what is right for you and your family.  You can do this!  You are fabulous!   

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