Windows into Waldorf Jan 17, 2025
IN THIS EDITION
Director’s Note
Key Dates
Community Skate
Comic Club (6,7,8)
Homework Club (4,5)
Grade 1 Info Event Review
Alumni Attribute
Childcare Corner
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
A little more than two years ago, at an international school abroad, I was observing a Grade 6 class as they learned about volume and mass. The teacher set up three experiments and the students moved from one to the next at the sound of a bell.
The class was noisy, the students laughing and calling out numbers and observations to the scribe in their group. On the fourth bell the students had 10 minutes to write down what they learned about mass and volume from the experiments. On the fifth bell the students had to clean up the experiments and prepare the room for the next class.
When I say I was observing the class, I was actually observing six upcoming school administrators as they observed the class. They were learning how to use class visits as one aspect of evaluating teaching practice and curriculum. They subsequently filled in reports and I met them as a group to review the following day.
During the observation the administrators focussed on the teacher; how the teacher instructed the class, how the teacher used time and resources, how the teacher connected the experiments to the specific curricular outcomes. The administrators were in agreement that the lesson was flawed as there was not enough instruction to ensure all the students arrived at the same conclusion. They also agreed the class was too noisy for thoughtful learning. Several suggested that the clean-up should have taken place before the review, as the students did not clean up in a timely fashion after-the-fact. In essence, the administrators felt it was a poor lesson.
I shared with the administrators the students’ written conclusions from the experiment. Some students found that each experiment made a different point, others that all experiments represented a single concept. Some students only listed their observations, while one group suggested an alternate way of conducting the experiment.
The administrators could articulate the content to be taught, but not the content that it is possible for a student to learn; they could determine where the lesson was flawed, but not why this flaw is essential to encourage thinking; they are correct in asserting that a good lesson should run on time and leave the room clean for the next group, but could not also see a messy and noisy environment as one that is alive with learning.
Those administrators would be challenged by a Waldorf classroom where sitting in rows, recitation and repetition, singing and dancing, beeswax and fountain pens, live comfortably alongside open-ended questions, student choice in response, self-expression, and challenges that don’t always wrap up neatly. Our focus on age and stage, on head, heart and hands, is the preparation a student needs to face a world where content is so readily available that it becomes less relevant than character, creativity, critical thought, and self-confidence.
Conor
KEY DATES
SUNDAY - Jan 19 - 11am-3pm - Community Skate Day @ Greenwood Park
Jan 20 - 7pm - Knitting Bee at 250 Madison
Jan 21 - 3:30-4:15pm - Grades 4 & 5 - Homework Club (please note time change)
Jan 23 - 3:30-5:00pm - Middle School Comic Club (see below)
Jan 24 - 8:30am - Parent Song Circle in the Gym
Jan 27 - 7pm - Knitting Bee at 250 Madison
Jan 28 - 3:30-4:15pm - Grades 4 & 5 - Homework Club
Jan 28
6-8pm - Grade 4-8 Parent Evening
6:30-8pm - Stargarden & Sungarden Parent Evenings
Jan 30 - 6pm - Grade 1-3 Parent Evening
Feb 8 - 10am - Gr 1-8 “COMMUNITY” OPEN HOUSE - volunteers needed! https://signup.zone/Rh7bkde5AXD8pEY9r
Feb 11 - 7pm - Board Meeting - via Zoom
Feb 12 - 4pm - Grade 4/5 Play
Feb 13 & 14 - NO SCHOOL for K-8 (Camps Available) - PT Conferences
Feb 17 - NO SCHOOL or CHILDCARE (Family Day; No Camps)
COMMUNITY SKATE - THIS SUNDAY!
The Community Council warmly invites everyone to join the Community Skate this Sunday at Greenwood Ice Rink. If you don’t have skates, don’t let that stop you! In addition to checking the skate exchange noted in the flyer, consider stopping by a Salvation Army store (on Saturday; they are closed Sundays). They usually have many pairs of skates for sale for very reasonable prices (<$15), as do other thrift stores. And if you are not a skater, come for the company. We hope to see you all there!
The Umbrella
MIDDLE SCHOOL COMICS & WRITING CLUB - January 23 - March 6, 3:30 - 5:00pm (no session on Feb 13)
Our Middle School students in Grades 6, 7 and 8 are invited to a free, drop-in, program on Thursdays after school to draw, write, and read in a creative workshop environment generously hosted by author (and Waldorf Academy parent) Damian Rogers. Your child may work independently or collaboratively to create comics, write poems and stories, read graphic novels and cartoons, or finish any writing homework (feel free to ask Damian for help). The club will run for six sessions (no session on Feb 13) and at the end, the students will make a zine featuring their best work. Please contact your child’s class teachers regarding registration for each session.
HOMEWORK CLUB - Grades 4 & 5
Homework Club for Grades 4 & 5 will be held on Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 to 4:15pm (please note new end-time), from January 21st to March 4th. The focus will be on math and reading.
GRADE 1 INFORMATION EVENT - REVIEW
The Grade 1 Information Event last Tuesday afternoon was informative, warm, and well-attended, with over 30 of us listening to our Pedagogical Lead and other faculty members talk about the amazing breadth and depth of the Waldorf 1-8 curriculum from fairy-tales to revolutions, mythology to world history, the four operations to the International Gauss Context, Mother Goose to Archimedes, story-telling to essay-writing—and most importantly, the metamorphosis of wide-eyed youngsters to well-adjusted teens brimming with enthusiasm, critical thinking, a sense of self, and a feeling of agency in the world.
The Grade 1 curriculum carefully balances academics with the continuing wonder of childhood, infusing feeling and imagination into every aspect of the syllabus. Letters of the alphabet are associated with animals, characters, and stories, making them come alive in three dimensions rather than being merely abstract, 2D-symbols on a page or blackboard, thus actively participating in the very stories they tell. Similarly, math operations are taught with characteristics that bring to life their functions: subtraction is associated with a character who is miserly and takes things away; addition is associated with a generous personality. Robust academic learning is fully at play throughout all this, literally!
Ms. Yu spoke about the Waldorf tenet that physiological development is directly connected with learning (we touched on this briefly in last week’s edition of Windows, in the context of juggling). Waldorf schools understand that body and mind are inextricably interwoven, that physical readiness enhances academic learning. Our Senior Kindergarten students are currently engaged in a series of exercise sessions in preparation for Grade 1, and our elementary curriculum is replete with activities that ensure our children’s physiological well-being continues to support their ongoing learning: knitting, form-drawing, balancing exercises, coordination, movement, music, time outdoors, etc. (in aid of proprioception, fine and gross motor skills, midline-crossing, right-left brain connections, vestibular stimulation, etc.).
Parent questions at the event included, “When will we know who the Grade 1 teacher will be?” (answer: likely in May!), and “How is teaching differentiated?” Ms. Agi, Ms. Lee and Ms. Yu all explained how children are given different challenges within their grade level based on their particular needs and learning speeds, while ensuring harmony throughout the class, and consistency of curriculum.
Another essential aspect of Grade 1 is building a sense of camaraderie and team spirit as the class embarks on a multifaceted journey towards Grade 8 graduation. This sense of community is a priority among parents as well, as we establish a collective sense of purpose and mutual support for the years to come. This is a communal venture, and it takes a village!
Thank you to the faculty and staff who supported this wonderful event, and to all the Senior Kindergarten families who came out. For those of you who could not be there, we have information packages available at the office. Please reach out to Larissa at admissions@waldorfacademy.org if you would like copies of the materials we distributed, or if you have any further questions about Grade 1 enrolment.
ALUMNI ATTRIBUTES
A Waldorf Academy alumnus contacted us recently to ask about enrolling his own children in the school (another family to add to our second-generation list!), and shared the following:
“Waldorf Academy was an incredibly important part of my life. It fostered my creativity in ways that I’ve now applied [in my professional life]. It taught me the values of empathy and compassion and the importance of a strong community. I’m so grateful for every beautiful moment I spent at that school.”
More heart-warming words are hard to come by. That our own alumni wish to bring their children to Waldorf Academy is beautiful validation of what we strive for here. Notably, there were 3 Waldorf alumni in the room at the Grade 1 Info Event. Our multi-generational community is growing stronger by the year!
CHILDCARE CORNER
We leave you with an image from one of our Childcare rooms. We are very much looking forward to welcoming our preschoolers to our Junior Kindergartens in September!
Hope to see you at the Community Skate on Sunday!
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!
