Waldorf homeschooling?

Question:
Is anybody using any kind of Waldorf curriculum (either ready-made or self-made) for homeschooling? I love a lot of the Waldorf philosophies, but cannot find much beyond the pre-school years. What's next? What are some good books I can read (the local library has none)?

Answer:
- Some of this down elow was posted in another place in this area, but I've put here too in case you don't notice it there. I personally *don't like* what I know and have experienced of Waldorf schools--BUT I find a lot that I like on paper about how they're supposed to be in theory. We've used some of the creative things from the Steiner system in our home--and there are actually some very interesting things available for the later years! Steiner didn't even have a system for pre-school age or kindergarten--those things were added later for working parents. Many ideas can be found in books from the Rudolph Steiner College in Calif. and from the Rudolph Steiner LIbrary in New York--both discussed below. What's nice about the homeschool setting for Waldorf ideas is that you can take things with a grain of salt, or very seriously, or with a lot of humor, or not take them AT ALL --or you can even use video and plastic if you want! The books I'm speaking of do emphasize "the teacher" but you can certainly get around that. Kids certainly don't want a "teacher" for a parent--but they do enjoy your learning right along side them and sharing fun and creative ways of learning with them. ALSO: For the first grade, it might be worthwhile to look into the Oak Meadow curriculum, because they already have stories made up for teaching of the letters and sounds. Oak Meadow, P.O. Drawer Q, Blacksburg, VA. 24063. Phone 1-703-552-3263. I have no experience with them myself. Copied this part out of my post in the Homeschooling Books List posts above. You might want to go into that thread and see if there are some other things you'd be interested in as well. Doing Waldorf education at home is a lot easier than one would think. There are lots of wonderful little books available from the sources below. What you'll probably find out over time, however, is that you will want to back off as a "teacher" and be more of a learning companion in the homeschool setting. I've done a lot of nice things with my son--but I don't like the emphasis on the teacher/student model in Waldorf, so it was different for us. You'll find that homeschooling is a lot different from school, and a child doesn't want to have his parent turn into a "teacher." You'll be delighted at what you find in the flyers from the Steiner college--the mathematics and arithmetic books for teaching the elementary grades are especially good. They're not laid out for you--you have to take the information and be creative with it, but they give you a lot to be creative with. : Waldorf education books and materials:The Rudolph Steiner College Bookstore offers a mail order catalog with hundreds of titles, from architecture to Waldorf curriculum. You can get fairly inexpensive little books on almost any aspect of Waldorf education-things like The Teaching of Arithmetic, Geometric Drawing, a lovely and simple handwriting workbook called The Write Approach, Drawing from the Book of Nature. There is an emphasis on "the teacher" in Waldorf, but the homeschooler can sift through to get some great ideas. They also sell books of songs, and the blank lesson books used in Waldorf schools-and those beautiful, soft and brillian Lyra pencils. You can get onto a mailing list for to receive Seasonal Flyers, in which an assortment of educational items are described-and you can also get the Complete Catalog, which is a complete list of titles and prices. Call (916) 961-8729 or FAX (916) 961-3032 or write: 9200 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks, CA 95628. Orders can be made over the phone with a credit card.

There is also a Rudolph Steiner Libarary which will let you join for $10/yr. with a one time $25 refundable deposit! After that you just pay postage on books you want to take out for 8 weeks. Books checked out for group study get 8 months. They have nearly *20,000 volumes*--education, arts, agriculture, americana, astronomy, astrology, world spirituality (Christian mysticism, Celtic, Jewish, Islamic, etc., etc.), myth, ancient cultures, science, and much more. They say they make every effort to assist parents and educators as much as possible, and have an ever-growing selection of books on curriculum, childhood, and other topics of interest to Waldorf teachers and parents of Waldorf students *or home schoolers.* They say to call for more details on how the library may be of service. (518) 672-7690 Rudolph Steiner Library R.D, 2 Box 215, Ghent, N.Y. 12075 Mon.-Thurs.: 9:30-4, Fri. & Sat.: 9:30-12:30.