Windows into Waldorf Dec. 6, 2025
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE INCLUDES
Director’s note
Key Dates and Happenings
Community Council message of thanks and looking ahead
Dispatch from the classrooms
Dear Waldorf Community,
To understand a significant amount about Waldorf pedagogy, the educational theories of Rudolf Steiner, and the various wonders of Waldorf Academy large and small, one only has to attend two events: Winter Fair and Parent Festival.
The Winter Fair shows our school and community at its best. It is transformational. Through the work, kindness, thoughtfulness and vision of so many, the school becomes a place where magic reigns, childhood is cherished, and everyone is in the service of each other and the experience of children. The spirit of this gift of pure selfless giving imbues the rooms with feeling and emotion. There is every reason to believe the good witch can connect the dreams and hopes of each child to the wider universe; that the snowdrop market has gifts that will enchant and bring joy for a lifetime; and that the journey through the woods to the wishing pond is long and thoughtful, the acorn that carries the wish into the water and the subsequent sight and sound of the water rippling reaches out to the future and the past, connecting imagination and people. Winterfair is the feeling, the presence of Waldorf Academy when we are focussed on children and hope and giving. It is a gift from parents to children.
Parent Festival, this coming Wednesday, is a different, though complementary event. It is a gift from children to parents. Intended as a glimpse into the students' learning, each class takes the stage for a few minutes. The variety is extensive, recitation, song, movement, often all three together, capture the feeling of the grade. The presentations are often tinged with the spirit of the season.
While there is an extensive “thank you” to all our volunteers for Winter Fair below, please allow me to give a special shout-out and Thank You to Jesse Macht, for his leadership with the Winter Fair and Amrit Kaillon for her organization of the on-line auction.
Sincerely,
Conor
Head of School
KEY DATES & HAPPENINGS
The school-wide Calendar of upcoming events can be found here.
Wednesday Dec. 10 @ 4:00PM: Parent Festival - A celebration of learning
Thursday Dec. 11: Grades 2-8 will be attending a musical adaptation of Narnia at the Soulpepper Theatre's Young Centre for the Performing Arts
Friday Dec. 12: Parent song circle 8:30 - 9:15 (all welcome!)
December 19: school ends at 1:00 p.m. Period 2 will finish at 12:45 p.m.
Winter Fair - Message of thanks from the Community Council
Dear Friends and Fairies,
I’m writing to you this week with the hope of conveying what a wonderful success this past weekend’s Winter Fair was. We sold over five hundred tickets to the event, including a surplus of Supporter tier tickets that more than covered the discounted Access tier tickets we sold, moving our event a step closer toward being equitable and accessible for all members of our community. We received more than $3,000 in donations, material and financial, that covered many of the essential supplies required to run the Fair. We served delicious food safely, coming together to break bread in our school gym, and shared quiet moments together around a fire in our side yard.
As the dust begins to settle on our finances for the event, it is clear now that we have raised in excess of $21,000 for our school from the combined Fair profits and our delightful Silent Auction. This is an incredible financial boost for our school, enough money to make a sizeable impact on our fundraising goal for the year. The generosity on display was a testament to the commitment of our community members toward brightening the school’s financial picture in meaningful, sustainable ways.
Beyond these successes, I want to express the immense gratitude that continues to reverberate through me and so many others this week. This list of names below is not complete, nor is it meant to be, nor is the thanks solely mine to give – it is simply a glimpse inside the collective labour and love, all wrapped in gratitude, that exists at our core.
Thank you to Susana, along with many others in the Grade 2 class and beyond, who rose to the daunting challenge of feeding hundreds of people hot food simultaneously. Thank you SarahAnn, Anna, Amber, Melanie and so many other CCC families for arranging a most splendid, delicious bake sale (that raised over $2,000 all on its own!).
Thank you to Amrit for organizing a Silent Auction that so perfectly represented our school community while simultaneously adding tremendous value to it. Thank you to each donor and bidder, for coming together in an expression of intention, skill and generosity.
Thank you to the kindergarten teachers for their epic performance of Rumpelstiltskin – it was everything I could do to not steal a seat for myself! Thanks to Michelle, Tammi, Monica and Conor for welcoming in newcomers with warmth. Thank you to the many Grade 5, 6, 7, 8 and beyond students who showed up as kind, caring role models for the younger children, guiding them through many of the activities.
Thank you to Sarah, Marilene, Rahul, Larysa, Sybil, Charlotte (both of them!), Rebekah, Njal, Be, Alex, Jess, Natalie, Betsy, Jen and Jenny, Eliza, Daryl, Layah, Sydney, Geraldine, Dani, Oli, Sonia, Subodh, Charlene, Trevor, the setup-ers, the day-of-ers, the cleanup-ers, the musicians, the bakers, the knitters, the acorn gatherers… the list goes on and on. These people balanced on ladders, lifted trees, filled entire ponds and even summoned clouds indoors, all with our children’s experience of the Fair central in their minds and hearts. And not only did they do a fantastic job, they also shared so many laughs doing it – I have not had a more joyful experience of volunteerism in my time at this school. If you know one of these people, or are wondering what it might feel like to be amongst them, we encourage you to reach out to us and find a way to join in next time – there are always more opportunities to take another step deeper into this community, right around the corner.
As always, we have more to learn and improve upon in our delivery of these events. Next Tuesday December 9 th at 7pm is the December Community Council meeting, of which we’ve allocated a large chunk for the purpose of performing a retrospective on this Winter Fair – all are welcome, as always. We encourage you to participate, bringing your ideas and observations so that we can help make next year’s Fair even better. We will be sharing the last box of chili that was forgotten in an upstairs freezer during the Fair at the meeting… like I said, always more to learn and improve upon!
Finally, thank you for believing in the value of creating magical experiences for our kids. Thank you for drawing out the goodness and sincerity in each child as they encountered the Good Witch and placed their wish for a better world upon the Wishing Tree. Thank you for guiding each child through the Woodland Pond, allowing their courage and bravery to shine through in a moment of darkness. Thank you for respecting the door height of the Snowdrop Market, for being as excited as the kids were to make your own beeswax candle, and for looking up at a stairwell full of snowballs with a twinkle in your eye.
With warmth and gratitude,
Jesse
Marionette Play Photos!
Silent Auction Winners Announced!
Thank you to everyone who donated their wares and bid on all the amazing gifts and experiences that were on offer! (to the person who won the Sharbot Lake cottage retreat, please bring back some butter tarts!)
Why we Winter Fair -
Our Nov. 30 Winter Fair, lovingly organized by our incredible Community Council, is a cherished tradition filled with music and joy that helps bring true seasonal spirit to our community.
In a time when the din of the mall and commercial bustle of the holiday season can sometimes eclipse a time intended for family and community connection, we invite everyone to join us for a day of awe and wonder. Read our Blog on Why We Winter Fair and enjoy these photos of wonder.
Lost and Found - Parents come get your kid’s stuff!
While that lonely rubber boot we posted about earlier has been returned to its rightful owner, there are many articles in the lost and found! We get it, seasons change.
Parents have until Dec. 19th to pick up their childrens’ items from the lost and found. During the winter break anything that is left will be donated to a good cause.
The lost and found is at the bottom of the stairs en route to the lower ground Art and Woodworking space.
Dispatches from the classroom
Grade 2 Math Wizards!
As we continue our Math Block these past two weeks, we have had an especially fun time discovering the patterns and shapes of the 8 and 9 times tables. The children have made several astute observations:
The 8 table makes the same pentagon as the 2’s.
The pattern in the ones column in the 8 table is the same as the 2’s reversed.
The 9 times table is the same as the 1.
If you remove the odd numbers, the ones column is the 2 times table.
If you add the number in the tens column and the number in the ones column, the result is always 9.
The tens column is going up and the ones column is going down in the 9’s table.
A note about Math in Waldorf Schools
A few words from Andrew Starzynski: Mathematics in Waldorf Education Has Always Been and Continues to Be Revolutionary:
“The students also need the will to overcome any obstacles that may be in their way and build resiliency to pick themselves up when they fail and try again. Math is taught through movement whenever possible, activating the limbs and enhancing their memory and understanding through their whole body, part of the realm of the will.”
Panta Rhei in seasons and water - Lake Ontario Unsalted
"Our nature studies class will be doing a number of exercises in the spring around our relationship with water. Clean water and sanitation is one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
This snowfall provides a perfect example of how what we do has downstream ramifications. As talk of increased salinity levels in our Great Lakes increases, we can consider how our work can impact the environment. With regards to salt use, city guidance says that about:
one tablespoon of salt per 10-foot sidewalk square is sufficient, or a
12-ounce coffee mug of salt for a 20-foot driveway or 10 sidewalk squares.
Apply salt sparsely and evenly, with granules spaced out, and remember that more salt does not melt ice faster; use it sparingly to avoid waste and environmental harm. Mixing it with sand for traction is better for the environment we depend on for our lives and livelihood."
