Goals of the Waldorf Approach

The main goal for any Waldorf Inspired parent teacher is to develop the capacities (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) which will serve your child throughout his or her life. Before you can truly achieve this, you need to: Have a real understanding of how a child develops at each stage and what the child needs while passing through each stage. Offer creative methods which stimulate your child and engage him/her in an integrated approach. Have the skills and practice to model and lead the children, yourself. If you are teaching a movement exercise, you need to practice it until you have down the correct movement because the child imitates... If you are reading a story or reciting a poem, you need to be so familiar with it that they are a part of your speech and not just word being read aloud... you need to master the art of beeswax, wet on wet, etc... the key is to learn these skills alone before introducing them to your child. You must also be familiar with INTEGRATED form of study. This means simply, that subjects which are "normally" presented separately be presented in the same lesson so that they are integrated to one another. The more related they are, the more meaning they will have for the child. The ultimate reward is a child who is fully involved in each lesson: Their THINKING is stimulated, their FEELINGS really connect to the subject matter and they become ACTIVE in the lesson. This is the key to the Waldorf Approach. When a child is fully integrated, s/he has a deepened sense of understanding and a better grasp of the material presented. This goes way beyond traditional methods of memorizing or learning. A WONDERFUL book and absolute MUST HAVE tool for each and every home schooling parent is Putting the Heart Back into Teaching : A Manual for Junior Primary Teachers. This book is NOT a manual of lesson plans or theories... this excellent treasure trove of information is "the Bible" for Waldorf home schooling parent teachers. Lessons and curriculum ideas aside, this book offers so much information on the child's psychology in the different stages based on Waldorf beliefs and ideas, great detail and an simple way to observe and understand the temperaments, and so much more. It offers stories, songs, verses and games to make your job so much easier. The best part is most likely the fact that this is really like having 10 books in one: Waldorf Ideals & Principles, Curriculum for grades K-4, Child Psychology based on Waldorf principles, Understanding the Temperaments, A Collection of Waldorf Stories, Verses, Poems, Songs, Understanding the Four Fold Nature of Human Beings, The TRUE inspirations behind rhythm, Child's Consciousness, Using the Story as a Central Learning Resource, Learning and Using the Seven Lively Arts, Presenting true "Waldorf" alphabet, form drawing and math lessons, and a great section on Handwork! This wonderful book has it all and I have worked with teachers who use this book as a starting point to each and every lesson.