Waldorf Method

What is Waldorf?

  • This is be a very brief overview
  • Similarish to Montessori- lots of overlap
    • Montessori begins formal lessons much younger
  • Developed by Austrian Rudolph Steiner over 100 years ago in Europe
  • Now spread around the world with homeschoolers and Waldorf schools
  • A “gentle” way of learning
  • Very tactile
    • Focuses on engaging head, heart, and hands
    • Big focus on practical life skills, the arts, and citizenship
    • Lots of creating of things like maps, mini-books, journals, illustrations, tactile math, etc
  • Focuses on using natural materials and engaging w/ nature whenever possible
    • Waldorf materials are largely wood, paper, and wool
    • Avoid plastic whenever possible
    • No technology or screens at all for younger children and very little for older
    • Lots of focus on the rhythms of the seasons
  • Go at the natural pace of each child vs forcing kids into a mold to meet x standard at x time
    • Encourages an “unhurried childhood”
    • No textbooks until 6th grade
    • Document learning in journals
    • Writing taught before reading
      • Like a way to communicate with art
  • Students work in blocks
    • Focus on one main subject at a time w/ up to 2 hours per day dedicated to that subject & stay with it for about 4 weeks at a time
  • Big focus on subjects public schools often drop
    • Art, music, playing instruments, crafts like knitting, drama, etc
    • Also teach things like breath work, relaxation techniques, mindful movement, self-care, etc.
  • Founded on the basis that they believe children go through 3 stages of development, each about 7 years
    • Birth-7 is all about:
      • Sensory development
      • Observing others and learning through doing
      • Play-based education
        • Not giving reading lessons or formal lessons yet
      • Lots of art, play, crafts, and learning to care for themselves and others
    • 7-14 years old focuses on:
      • Beginning of more “formal” lessons
      • Reading is taught in 2nd grade / around age 8
      • Lessons focus on engaging wonder, creativity, and feelings
      • Lots of fairy tales and beautiful stories
      • Study other cultures and biographies
      • Elementary years have a lot of storytelling, drama, rhythmic movement, visual arts, and music – daily
    • 14-21 education looks like:
      • Students are given more autonomy over their education w/ teachers acting more as guides
        • Encouraged to work w/ experts in the field they’re interested in studying

Remember- any journal can work- Waldorf emphasizes documenting learning in journals and diving into kids’ interests. They all fit with a Waldorf-inspired homeschool. These are simply some of the more “Waldorf-y” ones:

Want to see how to combine Waldorf with your Fun-Schooling? Watch here!

Fun-Schooling + The Montessori Method

How Does Montessori work with Fun-Schooling?

  • Montessori is hands-on and self-directed
    • Goes along perfectly with Fun-Schooling baskets!
    • Include natural material learning toys and games in your basket – there are lots on Etsy
    • Could easily set-up different Montessori-inspired Fun-Schooling stations
    • Give kids control to choose what they want to do and when they want to do it
      • Montessori students know what needs to be accomplished in a designated amount of time and are given the freedom to complete their tasks in any order they choose
  • Montessori classrooms rotate out activities/works
    • Can rotate single-subject journals and complementary materials
    • Store them on a low shelf/table for easy access
  • Nature study, Life Skills, character development, and the arts are a big part of Montessori
    • We have journals for all of those!
    • Pair them with hands-on life experience
  • Use Montessori materials like sandpaper letters, Montessori math manipulatives, and motor skills frames/toys alongside the journals
  • Wooden puzzles!
    • Popular in Montessori and go great in a Fun-Schooling basket
  • Nomenclature cards/ 3-part cards
    • These are used to introduce new words and teach different subjects
    • Would work great along with journals, especially with vocabulary building pages
  • Fun-Schooling journals can be used by a wide range of ages and Montessori classrooms are multi-age classrooms
    • Put together a multi-age group of other homeschoolers to go through a journal together
  • Montessori teens choose an area of focus and engage in hands-on in-the-field study on that area of focus
    • Just like choosing a major!
  • Montessori values teaching independence and equipping kids with skills to thrive on their own
    • Our research method and journals are set up with this same goal in mind

Watch a flip-through of some of our Montessori-friendly journals here:

The Montessori Method

The Montessori Method was founded by Maria Montessori

  • An Italian educator in the late 1800s/early 1900s
  • She was the first female Italian doctor
  • Advocated for women’s rights and child labor laws
  • Studied child development and learning before opening her own school
  • She researched educational approaches and philosophies throughout the ages and studied children in-person to create her approach
  • Pulled heavily from the work of Jean-Marc Itard and Edouard Séguin

Main Focuses of a Montessori education

  • Very hands-on and sensory focused
    • The Montessori schoolroom engages all the senses
    • Activities are referred to as “works”
    • These works will engage multiple senses at a time
    • The environment itself is kept low-sensory and very tidy- everything has a place and is always put back in that place. Only one work out per child at a time. Known as a “prepared environment”
    • Lessons are incredibly tactile with things like sandpaper letters, counting beads, building blocks, and lots of manipulatives
    • Play is work- and children should not be interrupted while working or playing. A big focus is on letting them do things at their own pace with full concentration
  • Everything is adapted to be child-size and child-friendly
    • Works will be put out on low shelves, kid-size tools are made readily available and presented to the child from a young age, kid-size chairs, tables, etc.
    • In the kitchen, kids will have their own set of kid-size cooking items and a special stool to be able to stand up at the counter
    • Kids are given real glasses instead of plastic and “real” tools that are simply child size
    • Taught to work with careful consideration and attention to detail
  • Big focus on Life Skills
    • Taught from a very early age and children are encouraged to be independent from toddlerhood
    • Excellence in completion and attention to detail is a bit part of learning Life Skills
    • Self-care, cleaning, cooking, sewing, and other basic Life Skills are taught beginning in toddlerhood
    • Gardening and farm work are often a part of the daily school tasks
  • Natural materials
    • Plastic is almost never found in a Montessori setting
    • Wood, fabric, and glass are the primary materials found
  • The main core educational subjects are taught along with a big focus on art, citizenship, independence, nature, and engaging in the community

Other tidbits

  • In a school, children are grouped with a wide age range- usually 2-4 grades all together
  • Self-directed learning lets children progress at their own pace
    • Still guided by an adult with each work very carefully introduced in a methodical way
    • Children then can work through things at their own pace and based on their own interests
    • There’s not usually a strict schedule of X subject at X time
    • Instead, children will know what they are expected to accomplish in a day and be given the freedom to complete their tasks in the order they desire
  • No screens until at least 4th grade
  • Age 0-6 is a key age for introducing concepts, life skills, and development
  • Some similar components to Waldorf and Charlotte Mason but starts academic instruction at a much younger age and is much more methodical

Stay tuned for our next post where we will talk about integrating the Montessori Method into your Fun-Schooling!