One of the unique features of Waldorf Academy’s Childcare, Nursery and Kindergarten are the dolls.

They are all ome of a kinds, handmade and completely designed for the child rather than mass consumption. They are meant to ignite their imagination. They are not meant to be mini-adults or to perpetuate gender or ethnic stereotypes. They take hours upon hours to make and send an important message about the slow movement of childhood.

Many years ago I joined a doll workshop at our school determined to create a doll for one of my daughters. I am not crafty at all but I completely admire those that are. Of course the social aspect was wonderful and with so many helpful hands to guide me I created my soccer boy from Zimbabwe for my Tomboy girl. I gave it to her on her 4 th Christmas! I could barely contain myself as she opened the package. As she breathlessly opened the box her face collapsed from sheer excitement to extreme disappointment. She scrunched up her nose, mumbled thanks and went back to her sheild and sword.

Although I could have (and wanted to) I didn’t go on about how ungrateful she was and the hours I had put it into it and  how proud I was of my accomplishment. Instead every time I found it under her bed I would bring him out and place him on her bookshelf or with a hat on or with glasses and a sweater or a soccer outfit. One day I discovered her playing with him but she didn’t want me to know. It didn’t matter, I knew there would be no turning back. And sure enough all the other Waldorf dolls we had of varying sizes would be often be gathered to create some magical story – Godzilla included and sometimes Spiderman.

Years later- guess who is still around? The doll! My eldest just completed her first Waldorf doll for a Grade 7 project and has learned perseverance, value, appreciation for the hours it takes to create something beautiful and meaningful. The Grade 7 students adore their creations and they will for life like I do.

Be sure to catch the article, An Anti-Comsumerist icon for $700? Whimsical and wholesome, Waldorf Dolls provoke Cabbage Patch-style Frenzy in the Maclean’s March 25th Issue that features dolls made by Monika Aebischer’s

Ms.Yu, the Asian Studies teacher, organized a beautiful morning for students that included:

Worship for the school

Chinese New Year poem by Grade 8

Traditional Chinese music performance by Grade 3

Chinese New Year song performed by Grade 2 and Grade 3

12 Zodiac play performed by Grade 8

Snake Kung Fu performance by Joe Witkin

Chinese Kung-Fu performance by Grade 3

Traditional flute musician performance

Auspicious words with red envelopes by Grade 8 and Ms. Yu

Good wishes by Grade 2 & 3

Rice ball treats for the students(cooked by Solomon’s mother, Alice)

Thank you all for a great Chinese New Year Festival at our school. Asian Studies was introduced to our school as our third language 3 years ago and it has enriched us all.

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?

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

Here in Toronto it has also appealed to many of us from the film industry, theatre and literary circles. From my own experience working in the  film industry on a few great shows such as Good Will Hunting down to the iconic Half Baked(what can I say)  it was clear that creativity was the key to success. And I am not talking about imagination but disciplined creativity. This does not require that a child watch more TV or play video games. Those activities are clearly passive and will not develop the skills required to imagine, conceptualize and deliver an original script or story or even a new medium.

When you work in film it is also abundantly clear that a lot of what we are making is crap that is designed to get children to comsume more and more junk and pester their parents mercilessly until they cave in. And so the same goes with hi-tech.

As my nieces from LA noted at Terroni’s one night, that even though a family with three kids, one was under two, each had  hand held devices,  they still made a racket, knocked over their drinks, fought and got out of their seats.

Another interesting experience occurred on a family holiday to Mexico in the hotel lounge. Four large families had gathered near our group and all their children were sitting quietly next to each other playing their own solitary computer games. The parents started playing a card game called Wizard. It just so happens that my youngest who was 7 years old lat the time, loves the game and joined in with the adults.  There was laughter, conversation, trickery, elation, defeat but it did not include their 6 children. They simply did not interact.

Which brings me to the latest NY Times article on Waldorf Education.  No longer is it just the film industry sending their kids to Waldorf but the hi-tech gurus themselves. You gotta love it! Waldorf education has stayed true to the needs of the child for almost 100 years and it has not led them astray. Despite the trends in each new generation, it works. One has to choose whether they want to support the profit margins of the hi-tech companies and waste valuable funds on equipment that can at best be only regarded as a mediocre tool or invest in educational pedagogies  that respect and support passionate and creative teachers that understand child development.

More articles of interest:

A ground-breaking article in Scientific American, The Death of Preschool, lends full support to the Waldorf approach in the early years.  Although the article does not mention Waldorf, all the research quoted as beneficial to childhood development supports what we do and how we do it.

This article is going viral as we speak.  Please follow the link to get a preview of the article: The Death of Preschool, Scientific American Magazine

A great book my friends at Savvymom  recommended to me and has been our bible for watching film classics:

Best Old Movies for Families: A Guide to Watching Together By Ty Burr

Jen Deathe

Marketing Manager

While attending a conference at the Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, California I was able to go back and forth to the dorm accommodations via the most beautiful biodynamic garden. This garden includes a beehive, poultry, sheep, goats and cows. It feeds 60 people. They offer all kinds of courses. The one that intrigued me the most was the beekeeping course- after one weekend you will be all set to start your own beehive at your school. click here for more info about this beautiful college and farm

The Annex Eco-Park Alliance Inc

Present a proposal for the Mcpherson Eco-Park
Located at the east corner of Spadina Rd and MacPherson Ave and extending to Davenport Rd, “The Eco Park” will provide green space for the Annex Community and supply renewable energy to the surrounding neighbourhood. The park site is approximately two acres in size and is an active utility corridor.  The site was previously used as a parking lot but is now abandoned and no longer serves the growing community in a positive way.  Through the efforts of the local councilors, Hydro One has donated this site to the City of Toronto under the condition that it is used as a park.

The central concept behind The Eco Park is to transform this abandoned parking lot into a park space that will feature renewable energy sources and a full ecological restoration of the site.  The original plan was to install a geothermal heat exchange system, solar pavilion and wind turbine in the park space,  additionally, native plant species will be planted throughout the park to reduce CO₂ levels, increase Toronto’s tree canopy, and provide green space for the surrounding community.

That was an excerpt from the proposal.  Councillor Josh Matlow has announced it has been approved but there are many changes that had to take place as a result of the feasibility study and the many stakeholders involved.

For more info please contact Josh Matlow or Peter Griffin

“Let us take a moment to consider the mental equipment that students are using to make such dramatic academic achievement as described above. The human brain is the most complex system on earth, yet it is too often used in schools primarily as a simple device for storage and retrieval of information. It is now known from the research of such neuroscientists as Marian Diamond at Berkeley, that the human brain can change structurally and functionally as a result of learning and experience–for better or for worse. New neural connections that make it possible for us to learn and remember and problem-solve and create can continue to form throughout life, particularly when human beings are in environments that are positive, nurturing, stimulating and that encourage action and interaction. Such environments are opposite from dull, boring, rigid environments in which students are the passive recipients of information. Well designed arts programs provide just the kinds of environments that Diamond describes.

Not only can the brain be transformed, but it is itself a transformer. For example, one might take in the sight of a magnificent sunrise, and the experience might emerge in the form of a lyric poem or a joyful dance. One might take in an exhibit of paintings, and the experience might emerge in the form of music, such as Moussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” One might take in the experiences of a lifetime, and they might emerge in the form of historical plays, tragedies, and comedies, such as those written by Shakespeare. The arts provide the means for the human brain to function at its highest capacities.” Read more Learning Through The Arts

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1065460–find-what-you-love-jobs-told-stanford-grads?bn=1

This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

http://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong.html

Most of us will do anything to avoid being wrong. But what if we’re wrong about that? “Wrongologist” Kathryn Schulz makes a compelling case for not just admitting but embracing our fallibility.

Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, pyschologist and professor at MIT writes about technology and innovation.
Overview:
Many educators incorporate digital technology thinking it is cutting edge and a way of life but in fact the students relationship to technology is superficial and passive. ‘Full citizenship demands critical thinking and there is no ‘app’ for that. Students need to be able to concentrate and focus but most students are too busy communicating to think, connect, create and innovate.’ Their sense of worth depends upon other people’s responses to make them feel whole. Put it out on Facebook, get no response, you drop it.
‘Media can take away from the developmental tasks young people need to accomplish to be the thinking and feeling people they need to become.’ We need to teach children to be alone and right now many are anxious about being disconnected and are phobic about phone calls or meetings face to face.
My Waldorf Perspective:
Waldorf students do not use computers in the classrooms, but they will learn to focus, to speak face to face, to be critical thinkers and by the end of Grade 8 mathematics they will have studied the binary code.
By high school they are developmentally ready to use media as a tool rather than the other way around. We feel that the stimuli a child experiences in this society is the cause of many of the childhood illnesses. When a child enters the Waldorf classroom we want them to feel calm and focused, unfettered by distractions that do not deepen their learning experience but rather hinder it.

Drew Dudley: Leadership Educator
Overview:
‘When we break down our understanding of the world into smaller bundles with labels like’literacies’ and ‘life skills’ we embed further in our young people that our world can be divided into commodities that are differentially valued. We end up teaching that an accumulation of the parts are the key to success and happiness not developing the whole. The result is we lower our expectations of ourselves.’
My Waldorf Perspective:
Waldorf education is based upon recognizing and revering the unique gifts of every human being. Our goal is to allow that child’s gift to unfold as it should rather than be shaped to meet the demands of the current market economy or be shaped by a teacher’s own views. The Kindergarten teacher, for example, will meditate every evening and morning in order to clear their own ‘baggage’ and present a clear and open mind with the children. This will allow the child’s true personality to emerge. By the time a student graduates from our school in Grade 8 they will know who they are and what they value but equally respect another’s point of view. No one should undermine this strength in a child as they continue on the rocky road through adolescence.

Michael Zwaagstra: Author of What’s Wrong With Our Schools and How We Can Fix Them
Overview:
They need three basic skills to be able to adapt to the challenges of the future: solid background knowledge about the world, good reading and writing skills, and an understanding of basic mathematics.
My Waldorf Perspective:
The Waldorf curriculum is a very classical academic education that has been infused with the arts. The humanities begins as evolution itself unfolded and ends in Grade 8 with the present day. Science begins with learning about the Earth and nature. Measurement begins with their own body in Grade 3 where they learn a foot was actually the size of the King’s foot. They learn to read by writing and creating their own textbooks. It is a systemic but thoughtful process of learning that is matched to the capacities of a child at a particular age. As their own intellectual, physical and emotional capacities evolve so do the challenges we present them but it is done with imagination and beauty and it is accomplished in a variety of methods. Multiplication begins in Grade 1 through the body first. As a group they move and clap to the the math times tables, they play games that ensure the children know number place value backwards and forwards. For a Waldorf teacher there is no question that learning the basics is essential but rather than straight memorization or stressing the child with quizzes who may be having difficulty, it is their job to make sure the student knows it from within so they don’t have to even think about it when they progress to the higher levels in math.

Alex Sarian: Director of Education for Outreach for MCC Theater in NY
Overview:
As he explains, there is art education and then there is arts integration which is what we do at Waldorf Academy. Having a space for art in a school means exploration is a requirement- the art of exploration, of making a mistake, of being able to have a voice- which will help a student become a creative thinker and a creative problem solver. Arts is not an option at Waldorf Academy nor is it separated from the core subjects.

Gwen Colman, Youth Program director at GPO atlantic.
Overview:
Gwen believes it is important for children to start as soon as possible to be active citizens- aware of how their countries policies are affecting the environment and other countries. She also stresses they need to know about the bio-diversity of their area and have indigenous literacy in order to prepare for the future and make this world a better place.
Waldorf Perspective
Waldorf has a different approach to achieve the same effect. The relationship with the environment is much deeper at Waldorf. From the moment a child enters kindergarten they are surrounded by the beauty of the Earth and its bounty. Natural light, wooden toys, organic whole food, and beeswax crayons. This natural aesthetic is carried through the grades. A very deep and personal relationship with the Earth is nurtured so that by the time they are in Grade 8 there is no doubt they will understand, care and fight to protect the Earth. Many children today are weary from the knowledge they have learned about our world at too young an age. They are anxious and depressed. Our goal is to make sure children have a rich and beautiful unhurried childhood so that by grade 8 they are ready to take up the cause and are not battle weary.
The students relationship to indigenous culture beings with the blessings to Mother Earth in the Early Childhood programs and is carried through our outdoor education programs that focus on expeditions up North to such places as the Dokis Reserve.

Daniel R Woolf: Principal and Vice Chancellor of Queens University.
Overview:
Cultural awareness and relationship building skills, curiosity, communication skills and to feel they can make a difference.
He suggest experiential learning and many adult role models and volunteering in the community.
Waldorf Perspective
At Waldorf the focus on relationship building starts in the early years and is considered the most important part of the education. The Waldorf curriculum is designed around building healthy habits, empathy and working on the class as one unit while supporting the unique gifts of every indivdual. The teacher will ideally travel with the child until Grade 8. This relationship offers an incredible model for relationship building as the student, teacher and parents are all being forced to face change, adapt, compromise, grow and most importantly find solutions because no one is walking away at the end of the year. Student, teacher and parent have to work through the relationship and this is something that rarely happens these days. It is too easy to send an email to end a relationship rather than working it out but in the end this is not a roadmap to peace.

Marie Battiste: a Mi’kmac educator.
Overview: Two languages, ability to connect holistically with one’s inner spirit, learning journey, aware and comfortable with one’s gifts and use it as a compass.

Waldorf Persepctive
At Waldorf we teach 2 additional languages. One is official; French and the other is Asian Studies (Mandarin). The purpose of the two languages is to provide insight into another culture and develop empathy. Empathy is the key factor for promoting peace in our world.
The inner spirit: Waldorf education is based upon the belief that one must be freely taught to choose their own spiritual path whatever that may be. The Waldorf teachers themselves work from the philosophy of Anthroposophy. The goal of the school is to educate the children and sent them forth in freedom so they will know their purpose.
Kathryn Gordon: Youth and Generation Y consultant.
EQ- Overview: Emotional Intelligence.
Need I say more? Waldorf education has been all about EQ since the first school formed in 1919. When we refer to the head, heart and hands we actually could say the intellect, emotion and the will.
When we say we are educating the ‘will’ we mean we giving them the ability to self-regulate and to develop intrinsic motivation. If you can develop a healthy will you will foster the ability to initiate, focus and conclude.
Kathryn also talks about the ‘sad’ generation; heavily medicated and anxious. Many simply do not know how to face and deal with failure. Too often we want to protect children but can end up hurting them.
Case in point, we had to put down our pet dog and I was struggling with what I should tell the children. I ran into their former kindergarten teacher and mentioned that I might just tell them the dog died when they were at school. She set me straight- she said I had to tell them the truth because it will come out when they are older and they will feel betrayed and not only that you are giving them a very important lesson in life. They are going to experience terrible pain and loss but they are going to overcome it and time will heal. That is a lesson that will help them in the future get through tough times. So I listened, I told them the truth and it was hell. But we all recovered and shared a very deep experience. This kindergarten teacher still comes to their plays and always attends Gr.8 graduation. She is there with the children witnessing their development and continuously marveling at each child’s incredible journey to becoming a full human being. Our faculty are simply extraordinary role models as are the parents that are brave enough to go against the mainstream and invest in their children and humanity.