If you’re anything like me, you’ve looked at those gorgeous main lesson pages on Pinterest and shamelessly copied every detail. I absolutely confess that when I’m feeling stuck, I turn to Pinterest for a well-spring of inspiration. But the truth is, those Pinterest teachers don’t always know what spoke most to my students about our […]
I thought it might be nice to share a little snapshot of a sample lesson with you. If you've never used my curriculum guides before, this is what you get.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve looked at those gorgeous main lesson pages on Pinterest and shamelessly copied every detail. I absolutely confess that when I’m feeling stuck, I turn to Pinterest for a well-spring of inspiration. But the truth is, those Pinterest teachers don’t always know what spoke most to my students about our […]
A few weeks ago, I texted my family group chat about the conversations my faculty had been having about remote learning. My adult Waldorf-alumni children had the most hilarious responses. Me: My faculty and I are talking about how we could teach Waldorf remotely. Calvin (24): That’s actually hilarious. Me: I know. Waldorf via Skype? […]
We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]
I’ve been doing some mentoring and evaluation work lately, which has gotten me into lots of different teachers’ classrooms. I love seeing how other people teach and helping them find ways to streamline and inspire their work. Interested in knowing more about my evaluation and mentoring services? Click here. One of the things I’ve been […]
We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]
Spring has definitely arrived, and with it, the fifth grade Waldorf Greek Mythology block! This is one of the best fifth grade Waldorf blocks!
This morning was one of our school’s most beautiful traditions and I’m so pleased to have played a part in it. In this ceremony our three kindergarten teachers come out the doors of the early childhood wing, holding the hands of the rising first graders. They hold hands, spiraling in and then out, singing together. […]
Waldorf Supplies. One of the things I love about going away to my annual summer training is getting some new ideas for supplies for my students.
My last class was chock full of choleric students. My natural phlegmatic tendencies were hard-pressed to meet them in a strong way and I feel like I learned a lot about choleric children. This time around I’ve got a much more easy-going group. Phlegmatic is the most dominant temperament, which is something I know quite […]
A few weeks ago, I texted my family group chat about the conversations my faculty had been having about remote learning. My adult Waldorf-alumni children had the most hilarious responses. Me: My faculty and I are talking about how we could teach Waldorf remotely. Calvin (24): That’s actually hilarious. Me: I know. Waldorf via Skype? […]
We start our first language arts block on Monday, so this weekend I took some time to really solidify what we’re going to do during each of our language arts blocks and I’m feeling really good about the plan. By the way, if you’re looking at teaching 1st grade language arts anytime soon, you might […]
Creating a Waldorf Home Whether their children are grades students at a Waldorf school, homeschoolers studying with a parent-teacher or preschoolers organically learning and growing at home, many families appreciate a warm, organic environment and they want to create a Waldorf home. The home is the perfect place for Waldorf principles to be made manifest. […]
I’ve been doing some mentoring and evaluation work lately, which has gotten me into lots of different teachers’ classrooms. I love seeing how other people teach and helping them find ways to streamline and inspire their work. Interested in knowing more about my evaluation and mentoring services? Click here. One of the things I’ve been […]
Today was our first day back to school and, surprisingly, the most remarkable thing about it was how easy it was to pick right back up where we left off! Now, of course, the 2nd graders grew a TON over the summer (I remember noticing how different the 2nd graders looked last year) and many […]
We’re having such a fun time with our current Physics block! This week’s main lessons included lots of water squirting everywhere. When you’re studying water pressure, it’s bound to happen, I suppose. I figure it’s a pretty memorable experience and completely appropriate for the topic at hand. Some students were a little disappointed that water inadvertently […]
This thorough guide gives you the outline and framework you need to teach the block, activities and a list of recommended resources to check out.
When I first started teaching and sat down to plan my first main lesson (14 years ago!) I remember looking at that two hour stretch of time that is dedicated to the typical Waldorf main lesson and thinking, “How can I possibly fill two hours with valuable lesson content?!” I worried that we would run […]
Now that we’re all back together in person, the fifth graders and I have been diving into some pretty meaty content. And I have to say, it’s really been floating my boat. We’re keeping up with our usual rhythm of dictations, compositions, guided drawings, and other fun activities peppered in, but for the past week […]
One author who makes several appearances on my list of absolute must-have Waldorf curriculum resources is Charles Kovacs.
Join me as I make my way through The Growth Mindset Coach — a month-by-month guide for teachers. Each month I’ll record an episode about it and I’d love to hear what you think! In this episode . . . Audible (affiliate link) my curriculum guides The Growth Mindset Coach by Annie Brock and Heather […]
I can’t quite believe our magical first grade year has come to a close. I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed teaching Waldorf first grade. Over the course of the past few weeks, the first graders and I have gradually prepared ourselves for second grade. We’ve moved into our new classroom, we stitched […]
Last week I wrote about how to meet the needs of choleric children. This week I’ll continue the discussion of the temperaments with a consideration of the phlegmatic child. I’ve always found it easiest to think about the temperaments and how they relate to the four elements. While choleric is fire, the phlegmatic is all […]
Are you teaching the Waldorf first grade Quality of Numbers block? I took a bunch of photos of my main lesson book. What a great block!
I love this Waldorf meteorology block! We spent the first part of our Physics block studying the dynamics of air and water.
I’ve been doing some mentoring and evaluation work lately, which has gotten me into lots of different teachers’ classrooms. I love seeing how other people teach and helping them find ways to streamline and inspire their work. Interested in knowing more about my evaluation and mentoring services? Click here. One of the things I’ve been […]
If you’re anything like me, you’ve looked at those gorgeous main lesson pages on Pinterest and shamelessly copied every detail. I absolutely confess that when I’m feeling stuck, I turn to Pinterest for a well-spring of inspiration. But the truth is, those Pinterest teachers don’t always know what spoke most to my students about our […]
I was a Waldorf classroom teacher for many years, starting out as a kindergarten assistant, then a subject teacher, and finally taking on four different grades classes, with whom I journeyed for varying lengths of time. The part of the day I loved best was story time. A hush would fall o
Waldorf 7th Grade | The Age of Exploration This was such a fun block to teach! History is one of the best parts of the Waldorf curriculum!
Last night I had my first meeting with my new group of class parents. My thoughts have been so consumed by graduating my 8th graders, I haven’t had much time to dedicate to thinking about this new group of families. So I was surprisingly taken aback by the flood of emotions I felt as we […]
Creating a Waldorf Home Whether their children are grades students at a Waldorf school, homeschoolers studying with a parent-teacher or preschoolers organically learning and growing at home, many families appreciate a warm, organic environment and they want to create a Waldorf home. The home is the perfect place for Waldorf principles to be made manifest. […]
If you’ve been reading my posts for any length of time, you know that I’m a planner. I’ve written posts about my favorite planning supplies and I love feeling ahead of the curve as I manage all of the various aspects of my life. I am an absolute devotee of my paper planner. But I’m […]
There are lots of moving pieces when it comes to your Waldorf language arts curriculum. Sit down and plan it out so you make sure you're covering it all.
I swear, there’s something about school year time . . . it goes by so quickly! At the same time, it seems like it was MONTHS ago that I wrote my last post about Waldorf 2nd grade math and our hopes and dreams conversation. Here’s an update . . . Hopes and Dreams After our […]
Now that 8th grade graduation is behind me, I’m starting to get all geared up for 1st grade. I’ve got just 3 weeks before my family and I head off for our big summer trip, so I’m wasting no time getting going on my summer prep. Years ago a former colleague of mine put together […]
The 8th graders and I have moved on from our long (but super-fun) physics and meteorology block (click here if you want to read my outline for that block) and we’ve jumped into history. I think I love Waldorf history more than any other aspect of the curriculum. My experience is that every step of […]
We start our first language arts block on Monday, so this weekend I took some time to really solidify what we’re going to do during each of our language arts blocks and I’m feeling really good about the plan. By the way, if you’re looking at teaching 1st grade language arts anytime soon, you might […]
Which class goes in which room and what color should your Waldorf classroom be? Waldorf classroom color is the topic of this post.
I swear, there’s something about school year time . . . it goes by so quickly! At the same time, it seems like it was MONTHS ago that I wrote my last post about Waldorf 2nd grade math and our hopes and dreams conversation. Here’s an update . . . Hopes and Dreams After our […]
In the heart of a Waldorf teacher lives the commitment to help each student reach for his or her highest potential. Waldorf teacher preparation gives you a deep…
What kind of training do I need to be a Waldorf teacher? How much does Waldorf teacher training cost? How long does it take? Get some answers in this post.
I find the morning warm up time to be one of the most essential elements of our day. It allows us to orient ourselves, arrive at school (mentally, as well as physically) and remember how to be at school and with our classmates. It also helps everyone to wake up a little bit! But even this […]
Lots of photos of our Waldorf sixth grade mineralogy main lesson book pages. The Ring of Fire, Abraham Werner, The Rock Cycle and the poem Fire and Ice
It’s mid-April and we’re in the home stretch of the school year. With our play behind us, I’m glad to be entering this time with nothing but some solid weeks of plain old school! We started our third and final math block on Monday. This one will be a lot of review and practice of […]
When I first started teaching and sat down to plan my first main lesson (14 years ago!) I remember looking at that two hour stretch of time that is dedicated to the typical Waldorf main lesson and thinking, “How can I possibly fill two hours with valuable lesson content?!” I worried that we would run […]
