Spring/Summer Voice Newsletter- Interview with Peg Evans

Posted 17. May, 2012

Read the Voice Click Here

Contents of Newsletter:
Farewell from Peter Griffin
Igniting a Passion for the Golden Mean by Dean Husseini
The Magic of Wee Folk- Parent & Child by Elizabeth Palermo
What I learned Today – By Jeannine LeBouthillier
Photos of Plays
Becoming a Waldorf Teacher by Kate Meehan
Reflections of a Grade 8 Parent by Laura Edlund
Dornach- Waldorf Around the World -2 articles by Diana Miklos and Paula Rosa
Dr.Neufeld and Waldorf Education? By April Quan
Grade 8 Poetry -Provided by Sheila Anderson
Survey Update from Enrollment Committee
Developing Bilingualism by Hege Jakobsen-Lepri
Silent Auction

Farewells and Community

Peg Evans – 12 years of dedication and innovation

Farewell to Peg

The comings and goings of teachers, families and staff at our school always stir in me feelings of curiosity, alertness and regret. I think it is healthy and wise to consider what we have to learn from the exits: does it point to anything we are not ‘getting right’ as a community, as a school organization striving to exemplify holistic living? And likewise, I feel it important to deeply acknowledge the gifts each member has brought, whether for a short or long time. Change is the constant in life, I am reminded, and any impulse to contract and hold on is most often a narrowing process and restricts the larger pulsations of life around me and certainly through our school. As Movement Therapist Stanley Keleman says, in Your Body Speaks Its Mind, “When we restrict our pulsating, we create the illusion of having stopped time, of having achieved a static reality. We believe we’re safe in this static situation… and have clinched our immortality.”

Peg Evans has been with our school for 12 years and ends her term here at the end of the school year. This farewell to Peg is my way of celebrating her career at AHWS/Waldorf Academy and a gesture of exhaling with her. And I thank her for the pulse of blood, the willing laugh, the naivete of taking on the unknown/the new, the grit of determination to see things through, the beautiful voice that has graced our school and the guidance she has offered our children.

I sat down with her at Ezra’s to review her rich career here and take a peak into her future…

Peg was raising her sons Max (now 23) and Frank (now 20) when she read Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk by David Elkind. With a Bachelor of Ed from Brock U. she knew she wasn’t interested in traditional education and her sons’ experience was confirming this. Her private singing student, Deborah Adelman, a class teacher at AHWS at the time, told her about Waldorf and the opening of a Music Specialist position at our school.  Peg’s accreditation for the job fit so well: ARCT in piano, B. of Music in Voice (U of Alberta), 2 year training at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Contemporary Music Theatre, a solo career, winner of the New York Oritorio Society Vocal Competition and 10 years (now 22) singing with the Canadian Opera Company.

And so Peg and her two boys Max and Frank came to the school in 2000. She sites her involvement in our school community as invaluable to her family life and her growth as a parent and a member of community. Key  mentors and support in that process have been Elyse Pomeranz, Tanya Kuchera and Dorothy LeBaron.  In addition, all her colleagues, both past and present have been an on-going source of inspiration, compansionship and wisdom.

As Musical Director, Peg’s hi-lites and accomplishments over the years include:

-Creating a Boys’ Middle School choir to support the emerging vocal changes in the 6,7,8 maturing process.

-Supporting the Violin program that had been recommended and working with the practical reality of the skills and interest of the children and the financial reality of the school thus incorporating fiddling, recorders and this year, ukuleles.

-Supporting Ryan McCombe’s vision for the Coffee House – to move Waldorf culture forward into a culturally diverse urban school.

-Sharing her life at the opera and taking students to the performances

-Directing plays, writing music for them.

-Musical collaborations involving faculty, students and parents

-Leading carols at the Winter Fair

-Taking on the roles of Faculty Manager for Staffing, Teacher Development and Substitution.

- Composing the Waldorf Academy School Song.

- Creating and implementing new Festivals for the school for Advent, Day of the Dead, and Easter to shift from a Euro/Christian approach to a more inclusive natural world focus.

- Canoe trips and camping trips with many classes

- Faculty trips to Waldorf Conferences, including 2 Music Educator Summer Programmes at Spring Valley, and the conference in Ann Arbour

And now as Peg considers what’s next she is certain of continuing her role as a Soprano in the Canadian Opera Chorus as she listens for other callings from within… Private singing teacher, Celebrant training, a children’s choir, creative writing and a teacher of teachers are some of the things stirring. The school, this pulsating organism, will do well having her assist with

finding the appropriate replacement and sharing her wealth of experience and understanding.

Come enjoy Peg’s finishing notes as she directs the Grade Eight play, Moliere’s “Scapino”, June 1st and guides a small parent/teacher choir in two lovely songs, TBA. Farewell and thank you Peg!

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May Craft- Making a Stamp from Children’s Art

Posted 17. May, 2012

Making a Stamp from Children’s Art

Making a print from a child’s art is one way to reproduce the art and share the love. Rather than simply photocopying or scanning the artwork, creating a printing stamp from the art adds another layer of interpretation and human touch. There are many ways to make prints and this is only one of them. For novices, using a rubber printing block is easier than using linoleum.

What you need:

  • a small piece of art from your child—ideally one that has strong lines, no or few grey tones, and a size smaller than the ink pad you will use
  • ink pad—either a standard office stamp pad or one for art or scrapbook stamping (such as Color Box)
  • rubber printing block (such as Speedball Speedy-Cut)
  • linocutter handle and 2-3 blades of different sizes (such as the Speedball linocutter)
  • pencil – HB or softer
  • paper for tracing and for test prints
  • fine paper or cards for finished prints—for example, cards and envelopes for a bunch of notecards (great gifts for grandparents and other relatives)
  • rolling pin or brayer

What to do:

    1. Choose and handle the artwork carefully. At first, you might want to choose simple images with very little detail.
    2. Trace: Hold the artwork to a well-lit window and place tracing paper over it to trace the artwork.
    3. Check your tracing against the original art to mark with pencil on the traced drawing what will be printed area versus unprinted area.
    4. Transfer: On the reverse side of the tracing paper, use the edge of the pencil to cover the art area with pencil lead.
    5. Place the tracing paper artwork side up on the printing block. With the pencil again, trace the lines of the drawing to transfer the image to the block.
    6. Check the image on the block to make sure that you know which areas should be printed (you could mark these with an X) and which should be unprinted. (Yes, this seems obvious, but it’s very easy to forget and do a reverse print by mistake.) If you want, simplify the image by thickening some areas or thinning some out.
    7. Using a blade screwed into handle, start cutting out from the block the areas you want unprinted. Start by outlining printing areas with the thinner blade and move on to big areas with the larger blade. (The following blog has a great demonstration. < http://blogdelanine.blogspot.ca/search/label/handcarvedstampstutorial>)
    8. Work slowly and brush away your cuttings regularly so you can see the image easily.
    9. Make a test print on some extra paper; gently and evening press your printing block onto the stamp pad and press the inked pad onto the paper. Roll the rolling pin or brayer over the back of the stamp to make sure the stamp fully prints onto the paper.
    10. Check the resulting test image to see if there are any edges to clean up with the blades. Make any refinements you want.
    11. Then get ready to print on your final paper or cards. First make sure that your printing surface is clean and that your hands are ink-free.
    12. Then print away!

{The original artwork here was a card Piers made for Speedy the Cat in grade 2.}

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Teacher Appreciation Week: The Waldorf Teacher

Posted 08. May, 2012

Photo 1: Grade 1 Teacher: Ms.Colby

Photo 2: Next Year’s Grade 5 Teacher, Mr.SIngh

What is a Waldorf Teacher?

Excerpt from: The Waldorf Teacher: Someone You Can Steal Horses With by  Dorit Winter

“I’m a computer programmer,” says your neighbor on a cross country flight. “You?”
“I’m a …uh… I teach.”
“Teach what?”
“Teach teachers how to teach.”
“Oh?”
Sigh:” I teach teachers how to be Waldorf teachers.”
“Oh, yeah, Waldorf, I’ve heard of that. That’s for (pick one or more):
a) kids with dyslexia b) kids with musical abilities c) little kids d)kids who need art e) rich kids

And now I have to explain Waldorf Education to a well-intentioned inquirer, unacquainted with its assumptions, methods, and goals. How can I do this? And how do I then explain what it is to train a Waldorf teacher? This is a moment on which much depends.

I have to give the same explanations—of Waldorf Education itself and of the essence of the Waldorf teacher training—to my adult students. Many of them, at the outset at least, are also well-intentioned inquirers. What I say has to be almost individual and has to evolve, because it depends on the inquirer. The more nuanced the capacity for discernment in the inquirer, the more nuanced the answer can be. Even after the more or less 1140 hours of class time in our teacher training, the students and I are still working with the questions “What is Waldorf?” and “What exactly are we doing in a Waldorf teacher training?”

In a lecture to the first Waldorf teachers, Rudolf Steiner said: “We must find our way more and more toward our task, which is to make human beings truly human. It sounds simple. But grand and complex questions are raised by this statement. What exactly is “truly human?” Herein lies the key to preparing Waldorf teachers. Their humanity is what has to be developed.  Read More of this inspiring article on Waldorf Teachers in Waldorf Today.

Photo 3:Grade 4 Teacher, Mr.Husseni

Photo 4: Childcare Teacher: Kate Meehan

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Screen-Free Week Every Week at Waldorf

Posted 01. May, 2012

Why we encourage screen free week every week at Waldorf Schools

At Waldorf schools we encourage screen-free week every week. This helps the teacher deliver the curriculum. At the beginning of the week a new concept is introduced to the students.

Three-Day Rhythm: Waldorf is the ONLY educational method to use sleep or spacing as a learning aid.  Typically it looks like this:

Monday – Perhaps practice something from last week, perhaps Form Drawing, TELL new story and let it rest

Tuesday – Hands on piece – re-visit story, pick out elements of story and work with poetry, crafts, painting, building, modeling, etc from story

Wednesday – Re-visit story, work on academic pieces such as grammar, writing summaries in Main Lesson Book, etc.  Tell new story if doing five days of school a week.  (If not, stop here and make Thursday a painting day or such with Fridays off).

Thursday – Re-visit story, hands-on pieces

Friday – Re-visit story, academic pieces

Optimal learning opportunities occur with this method but if a child is watching a lot of TV during the school week or being bombarded with other exciting media images the teacher and the curriculum cannot compete. The child will have to work harder at learning the concepts and the teacher will have to work harder at delivering the curriculum.

Recent research in understanding how the brain develops supports this method and is referred to as a ‘spacing effect’. The following is an excerpt from OurKids Newsletter

Changing the Way Kids Study
Our understanding of the brain is leading to remarkable insights into how memories are formed and how we access those memories. These insights are leading to new approaches to helping kids to study and learn.We’ll expect to see new insights into helping your kids with their study plans.For example, it turns out that repetition is important but that the brain responds to a “spacing effect.”The spacing effect is the finding that when you space learning episodes farther apart in time, you’ll remember more information later on than if you mass the learning into one study episode,

Screen-Free Ideas for Adults

But Screen-Free Week isn’t only helpful for students, everyone could use a little offline time. But addictions are common and tough to beat, so here are a few ideas to help the week fly by:

  1. Do a craft: You have a Pinterest board choc-full of cool DIY projects that look oh-so pretty—but you’ve been too busy pinning to try any of them out! Screen-Free Week is the perfect opportunity to dust off your scissors, glue, and craft box again and create something beautiful and practical. Same goes for all those recipes you’ve been piling up, too.
  2. Start a journal: You’ll be amazed how your thoughts will flow when you have more than 140 characters to express them with. We all know how fun it is to share your opinions with the world, but writing them down for yourself first can be just as satisfying. Who knows—your daily musings could end up developing into a poem, a short story, or even a novel. The only limit is the page in front of you!
  3. Make a video: YouTube has an amazing ability to melt hours from your day, watching and re-watching and triple-watching the moment’s funniest video. But do you know what can also make hours disappear without even noticing? Making your own video with your friends. Go exploring, choreograph a dance, or do a skit in front of a camera— just don’t watch it until Screen-Free Week is over.
  4. Have a party: Facebook is great in that it lets you connect with hundreds of people at once. You can chat, catch up, check out each other’s photos, and reconnect whether you’ve been apart years or minutes. But we forget how important is it to take that connection offline. Face to face interaction is the best way to make memories and friendships last. A Facebook chat will never stay with you like a good heart-to-heart.
  5. Play a board game: Before there was the Internet, there was the board game. It entertained friends and family for hours with classics like Monopoly, Sorry, Guess Who, Clue, and Trivial Pursuit—many of which are still readily accessible today. Why play an online version when the real thing brings people together in friendly competition?
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Spring Festivities

Posted 24. Apr, 2012

Spring has returned.
The Earth is like a child that knows poems.
Rainer Maria Rilke

Waldorf Academy invites you to celebrate Spring on Saturday May 5th at our annual day of festivities that include a traditional maypole dance and picnic from 10-1pm at Hillcrest Park and a Family Square Dance at the school from 6pm- 8:30pm.

Maypole procession and dance is held rain or shine! (In the event of inclement weather, it may be shortened.)
The Maypole Festivities begin at 10 am. Please contact your teacher for further information regarding picnic and volunteer help for garland making and set up.

Later that day the Grade 3 class is hosting a square dance in the school gymnasium with a live band and caller;  a stompin’ good time and family favourite. Entry to the square dance is $20 per family.

What is a Maypole Dance

The May Pole is a tall wooden pole with a circular top decorated with flowers and ribbons hanging down to the ground. As the time draws near for dancing, each child takes up a ribbon and stands at its farthest reach. To begin, it is tradition that each person greets their neighbor with a bow and then greets the May Pole. Then the dancing begins. Leah Salomaa,a celebrated performer here in Toronto will lead the dancing and music as well as the Faculty.

The children sing their May Day songs and walk, skip, skip/step, or weave around the May Pole creating a wonderful swirl of ribbon around the pole. They keep going around singing and dancing, watchful of their ribbon creation until the ribbons are wound as much as can be. Then they turn and begin again as the ribbons are unwound and hang long once more.

Once everyone has had a turn at dancing it is time for playing in the park and eating. A pot-luck lunch with a spring blessing usually follows the festival.

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We Do Teach Reading From Nursery School Onward. It Is Just A Different Approach.

Posted 28. Mar, 2012

Why does Waldorf have different age requirements from the public school system?

The rationale for this age difference stems from our approach to teaching, which is grounded in child development and the idea of “doing the right thing at the right time.” Waldorf schools take great care to ensure that each child is developmentally ready – physically, socially and emotionally – for the academic challenges of grade school.

With this readiness goal in mind, it may be recommended that a child attend an additional year of kindergarten to benefit from further development. This ensures that we are setting the child up for success and not struggle in the later grades.

Scientific research now indicates that formal or “direct” academic instruction – what we view as traditional school – is not the most beneficial learning approach for children under age 7. Journalist, Paul Tullis, has written about this in his recent article in Scientific American entitled “The Death of Preschool”.

My child is ready to read: why don’t you teach reading in Kindergarten?

We do teach reading from nursery school onward. It is just a different approach. Sensory integration, eye-hand corrdination, tracking, sequencing, mid-line crossing, infantile reflex release, large and small motor coordination – in other words all the things that are used in remediation at older ages with children now, we do early on to prepare the child for reading.

The mainstream’s perception that “earlier is better” to start direct academic instruction in fact runs contrary to how young children learn best. Scientific research in the field of education and language acquisition show us that children’s innate curiosity is what allows them to develop their social, emotional and physical skills through their creative play, their exploration of the world and their social interactions with others.

In terms of literacy, forming an extensive vocabulary is key to a young child’s language skill development. Singing songs, reciting verses, listening to and participating in storytelling are what build a child’s rich vocabulary and lay a solid foundation for reading. No scientific evidence has yet been found that learning to read earlier leads to better readers later.

Neuroscientists, developmental psychologists and education experts are now recommending play-based, indirect teaching strategies to be the most effective methods for young children’s brain development and the best way to prepare children for academic success in later life. Some research points to harmful outcomes of early exposure to formal academics in the preschool years, citing stress and frustration as inhibitors of the brain’s architectural development and as possible indicators of mental and general health issues later on.

For a century, the Waldorf curriculum has understood the vital role of play in early childhood development. The use of age-appropriate teaching strategies and the provision of self-discovery opportunities make up the living, experiential focus in our preschool classrooms. A solid foundation for reading and a love of literacy and are ignited in Waldorf early childhood programs.

Sara Anderson, Enrollment Manager

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Sample a Waldorf Kindergarten Saturday March 31st 9:30-11:30am

Posted 26. Mar, 2012

Our kindermorning program is a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning with your child. On one level your child will be in a beautiful and playful environment designed to engage all their senses while you on the other hand can join them or sit back and relax while observing the program. You may also choose to chat with the other parents, make connections with other like-minded families and ask our experienced Waldorf teacher about child development, parenting issues and why Waldorf works. It is a stress free event with no pressure to sell our school. Many parents have not heard about Waldorf education and are curious about us, so we have designed this free event to create an experience that is enjoyable for both the parent and the child yet informative at the same time. Waldorf pedagogy goes easily beyond the classroom to the home and can be an invaluable resource for families.

So please register for this wonderful free event and take advantage of 90 years of research.  Our play-based, experiential programs develop capacities for creative thinking and problem-solving through exploratory play and guided activities.  Our aesthetically rich classrooms are furnished with simple, natural materials and hand-crafted toys which allow the children to build imaginative scenarios and maximize their creative capacities.  Children engage in activities that feed their pictorial imaginations and build their language library.

Surrounded with warmth and beauty, children participate in daily and weekly rhythms, outdoor play and seasonal crafts that support self-regulation, physical development and healthy social interaction, laying the best foundation for later academic success.  Emphasis is placed on the development of requisite skills and capacities that promote readiness for first grade.

Choosing the right school for your child is a key decision and will be the most important investment you will ever make for their future. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore your options.

Please call or email Sara Anderson, Enrollment Manager to register for this Saturday March 31st

tel: 416-962-6447 ext 225

email: sanderson@waldorfacademy.org

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How important is the neighbourhood when buying a house in Toronto?

Posted 12. Mar, 2012

Walodrf Academy is located between several dynamic neighbourhoods; the Annex, Forest Hill, Hillcrest and South Hill. It is in Ward 22 and Josh Matlow is the City Councillor.

At Waldorf Academy we understand that many home buyers in Toronto are not only looking for the right house, but the right community. They are also searching for the best childcare and school for their children or future family.

Waldorf Academy is a beautiful, small independent school nestled below Casa Loma on Madison Avenue next to the Corner House Restaurant. It is a home away from home, where children love to come each day because they feel known, respected and capable. We offer a whole child approach based on the stages of child development. We believe in teaching the right thing at the right time, an approach that is 90 years old and now gaining increasing support from the most recent scientific research on how children learn best. Waldorf Academy is often labeled as an Arts school but in fact we offer a rich, classical, academic curriculum. We integrate art in the main subjects along with music and movement, engaging the child fully in the learning process.

Our school attracts families from every corner of the city. Our families and faculty reflect the cultural and socio-economic diversity of this great city and all share a vision for a deeper commitment to education.

The grade school makes the most of our urban setting and the network of ravines nearby.  Whether it be through trips to the Canadian Opera or performing a play on the grounds of Spadina House, displaying art work at a local café in the Annex or cleaning the ravines, we are out there connecting to our city. The outdoor education program starts as early as Grade 3 with an overnight farm trip. By Middle School the students book end the school year with wilderness trips that complement the curriculum, challenge the individual and group dynamics and allow a strong relationship with the Earth to be formed in a very personal and profound way.

The early years program, which includes Childcare, Parent and Child, Playschool and Nursery, is a hands on, rather than a head start, approach. Children develop a stronger foundation for academic learning when it is experiential, imitative and sensory based. By the time they enter Grade 1 they are well prepared physically and mentally for a challenging academic program but never rushed.

Rudolf Steiner, the founder, felt that the best way to teach children was to teach them with joy.  It’s not surprising that 94% of North American Waldorf graduates attend university and an astounding 50% of these pursue post-graduate studies including science, technology and business.

Waldorf education began in Germany in 1919 and spread across Europe. The first North American School opened its doors in 1929 in New York across from Central Park.

There are currently 2500 Waldorf/Steiner schools and kindergartens in 83 countries so be sure to mention us when an interested home buyer contacts you from overseas.

Please come by for a visit the next time you are in the area or call to book a tour of our school. 416-962-6447 ext 225

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March Craft- Felt Spring Basket=Easter egg basket, a child’s Spring purse, or basket on a nature table

Posted 11. Mar, 2012

Felt Spring Basket

This could be an Easter egg basket, a child’s Spring purse, or basket on a nature table. Sample in the School Store.
What you need:

  • light brown felt circle (with a 10-inch circumference)—the “earth”
  • dark green felt piece 10 x 5 inches—the “tall grass”
  • light or medium green felt piece 10 x 5 inches—the “short grass”
  • blue ribbon about 18 to 24 inches long—the “sky”
  • brown and green embroidery floss
  • embroidery needle
  • scissors
  • optional—needle-felted bee, needle-felted ladybug, black beads and black embroidery floss to create ants

Steps:

  1. Mark with pins 2 ½ inches from the edge of the grass pieces to create a border area 10 x 2 1/2 inches.
  2. Beyond the border area of the dark green felt piece (tall grass), cut an irregular fringe so it appears like thick grass.
  3. Line up the light or medium green felt piece (short grass) and cut the short grass to have slightly shorter and thinner stalks that will stand in front of the tall grass.
  4. Line up the bottoms of the short grass panel and the tall grass panel.
  5. With brown embroidery floss, sew with a blanket stitch the bottoms of the grass panels to the edge of the light brown circle.
  6. With green embroidery floss, sew up the edge of the grass panels 2 ½ inches from the bottom edge.
  7. Tuck in the ends of the blue ribbon (sky) between the grass panels and sew with green embroidery floss and small stitches to secure.
  8. With green embroidery floss and from the inside of the basket, use small stitches to secure the grass panels together at ½ inch intervals 2 ½ inches from the bottom of the basket.
  9. Add any optional decorations (bee, ladybug, ant beads) to the basket.
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February Craft: Sweet Dreams Pillow

Posted 13. Feb, 2012

February Craft: Sweet Dreams Pillow

This could be a Valentine’s Day craft with a sweet note tucked in the pocket, a pocket for dreams and wishes any time of the year, or a pillow for the tooth fairy. Kits and wooden heart beads will be in the Waldorf Academy store while they last.

What you need:

  • felt squares in coordinating colours:
    - 2 squares each 8 cm x 8 cm
    - 1 square 5 cm x 5 cm
  • 1 bead for decoration (e.g., a wooden heart bead for Valentine’s)
  • embroidery floss
  • uncooked rice, fleece, or other stuffing
  • embroidery needle
  • scissors
  • funnel

Steps:

  1. Thread the needle with 3 strands of embroidery floss.
  2. Sew the bead firmly on the small square.
  3. Centre the small square on one of the large squares.
  4. With a running stitch, sew the small square as a pocket on to the larger square. In other words, sew down one side, across the bottom, and up the other side in order to leave the top open.
  5. Use a blanket stitch to sew the 2 large squares together as a pillow. But note: on the final edge, leave an opening of about 3 cm.
  6. Insert the funnel and nearly fill the pillow (fill to about 75%, so that it is neither flat nor bulging).
  7. Finish sewing the last edge with the blanket stitch.  
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