Education Styles: Waldorf
“Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives. The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility—these three forces are the very nerve of education.”
Rudolph Steiner
The Waldorf education style was created in the early 1900s by Rudolph Steiner. He believed in the education of the whole child (body, mind, spirit) to develop a child's intellectual, artistic, and practical skills through creativity and imagination. His model breaks up into 3 distinct seven year stages guided by age appropriate learning:
Early Child Education: (0-7 years) Education should be focused on creativity, play, exploration, and hands-on learning.
Elementary Education: (8-14 years) The introduction of academic instruction, while continuing to foster their imagination and emotional regulation.
Secondary Education: (15-18 years) The focus shifts to critical thinking, serving others and empathy.
There is an integration of the natural world, art, and rhythms into all aspects of a Waldorf Education. There are no textbooks or formal workbooks in the early child education stage. When introducing academic instruction in the Elementary Education stage, subjects/topics are taught in multi-sensory blocks of unit studies that focus on one subject at a time. It is not uncommon for children who follow the Waldorf model, to not be reading until 3rd grade.
Books
Education Towards Freedom by: Frans Carlgren
Rhythms of Learning by: Rudolph Steiner and Roberto Trostli
Podcasts
Waldorfy | What's Waldorf?
Articles/Websites
Artofhomeschooling.com- get a guide of "ages and stages" within the Waldorf educational model and resources about daily, weekly, yearly rhythms.
Themulberryjournal.com- a one stop shop to start homeschooling under the Waldorf umbrella with free resources and ideas.