Windows into Waldorf Jan 24, 2025
IN THIS EDITION:
Director’s Note
Key Dates
Grade 12 Play at Toronto Waldorf School
Community Skate Review
The Benefits of Knitting & Handwork
Childcare Corner
DIRECTOR’s NOTE
Each Thursday afternoon the faculty from Kindergarten to Grade 8 gather to plan, share information, engage in educational or child study (the Childcare faculty hold similar meetings, and the entire faculty meet together at various times throughout the year).
Every Thursday session closes with the Verse for Teachers, by Rudolf Steiner:
Imbue thyself with the power of imagination.
Have courage for the truth.
Sharpen thy feeling for the responsibility of soul.
This reflection beautifully encapsulates the inner qualities essential for Waldorf educators.
“The power of imagination” reminds us that creative teaching is at the heart of Waldorf education. Imagination allows us to bring lessons to life, fostering wonder and curiosity in our students. It challenges us to see beyond the surface, creating opportunities for growth and discovery in both the children and ourselves.
“Courage for the truth” invites us to remain authentic and honest in all we do. As educators, we are tasked with being role models, and courage allows us to navigate challenges with integrity. Whether it is addressing the needs of a student, collaborating with colleagues, or engaging with parents, truth is the foundation of trust and meaningful connection.
Bernadette Whistler
“Responsibility of soul” emphasizes the deep nature of our work. We are not merely teaching subjects; we are nurturing the inner lives of the children in our care. This responsibility requires mindfulness, empathy, and dedication to their ongoing inner development.
After reciting this verse, the faculty join hands and collectively say, “A blessing on the school, and on each other”.
Closing faculty meetings with this reflection and blessing serves as a reminder of our shared mission and the qualities that unite us as Waldorf educators. It strengthens our purpose and sets the tone for collaborative, intentional work.
Wishing everyone in our community a safe and rejuvenating weekend,
Conor
KEY DATES:
Jan 25 - 7:30pm - Grade 12 Play @ Toronto Waldorf School - You Can’t Take it With You
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)
Feb 20 - 7pm - Community Council Meeting
GRADE 12 PLAY @ TORONTO WALDORF SCHOOL
Sat Jan 25, 7:30pm - You Can’t Take it with You
The Grade 12 Class Play is on at Toronto Waldorf School! You Can’t Take it With You takes place in the 1930s, and is a madcap comedy about an eccentric family, each marching to the beat of their own drum. After the daughter falls in love with the uptight boss' son, chaos ensues when the two families meet for the first time. The message that everyone should follow their heart and do what gives them joy is one that never gets old and seems particularly relevant for today. The cast includes one of Waldorf Academy’s 2021 graduates. Come one, come all, to enjoy this Waldorf tradition!
COMMUNITY SKATE
Thank you to everyone who came out for our Community Skate last weekend (>25 families!), braving the elements! Our Class Reps went above and beyond - serving endless home baked bread, pots of chili and mugs of hot chocolate. The children skated for 5 hours! — a tribute to a school culture that embraces the outdoors, and to children who are at one with nature!
THE BENEFITS of KNITTING & HANDWORK
Knitting is ubiquitous in Waldorf schools. Teachers do it during meetings; students do it in classes; parents do it in the evenings. But why?
It’s certainly not for any nostalgia for 1960s Home Ec classes, nor for homey quaintness.
A recent article in The Guardian (Jan 20, 2025) recounts stories of young adults who have recently turned to knitting in lieu of phone addiction:
Jonathan Lasham previously scrolled X while going to work, and he would often arrive agitated and irritable. “There was always something to get angry about in the world,” he says… Now, Lasham commutes to his job as a postdoctoral researcher with knitting needles on his lap – typically working on socks to give as gifts – and arrives at work calm and relaxed.
This calming effect of hand-based activity is a pattern. A New York Times article cited the associated therapeutic effects:
Karen Zila Hayes, a life coach in Toronto, conducts knitting therapy programs, including Knit to Quit to help smokers give up the habit, and Knit to Heal for people coping with health crises, like a cancer diagnosis or serious illness of a family member. Schools and prisons with craft programs report that they have a calming effect and enhance social skills.
One theory behind the value of handwork such as knitting is the total focus that is required, eclipsing worry, anxiety, and other nervous habits. Rudolf Steiner himself recognised the value of knitting for all-encompassing attentiveness:
The value of such an occupation consists in the fact that on the one hand it introduces the world of mechanism and brings movement, while on the other it trains in the power of attention.
This is borne out by studies concluding that knitting engages both hemispheres of the brain, enhancing neural connectivity and strengthening cognitive connections “Knitting builds the brain by stimulating both both hemispheres – combining mathematics (counting, patterning) with creativity while engaging the hands purposefully … which leads us to hand-eye coordination.”
Many approaches to children involve overstimulation: excess noise, constant visual movement, false excitement, induction of laughter and hilarity. We have become used to thinking that happiness equals high fives and jocularity, and that learning is synonymous with facts and information. But one of the most important things we can learn is how to be innerly still, how to be comfortable in silence, how to find moments of calm in a world bent on frenzy.
As an antidote, handwork at Waldorf schools is typically done in a meditative and quiet atmosphere, reflecting the focus needed to engage in complex movements with slippery yarn or fine thread, specific numbers of stitches, and intricute patterns. This practice starts already in Kindergarten: today, children in Stargarden were sewing birds, and last month children in Sungarden sewed beautiful masks. It continues to knitting in Grade 1, followed by crocheting, cross-stitch and eventually sewing with a machine (which also factors into our Industrial Revolution studies, while teaching mechanics in a meaningful way).
If your childhood did not include the multifaceted skill of handwork, or if you would like to rekindle an art you have forgotten, Parent Knitting Circle continues on Mondays at 7:00pm (the less meditative variation!). Many of us join to keep up with our children, and to connect with each other. Drop-ins welcome!
CHILDCARE CORNER
Our faculty are constantly engaged in various forms of “study” - of the children in our care, the pedagogical approach we are using, and ourselves.
In early February, Dorothy LeBaron will be joining the Childcare staff for a seminar on Theory U. Theory U is a change management method championed by Otto Scharmer. Along with colleagues at MIT, Scharmer conducted 150 interviews with entrepreneurs and innovators in science, business, and society, and then extrapolated key principles into a theory of learning and management.
Theory U describes how individuals, groups, and organizations can move from reacting to current conditions to enacting new possibilities for the future. he theory contrasts traditional change management models, which are more focused on linear problem-solving, by encouraging deep reflection and connection to a larger vision.
Kristin Lee Hager
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!
