Windows into Waldorf Nov 8, 2024
THIS WEEK’s TOPICS:
Director’s Note
30 Wishes Campaign
Key Dates:
Parent Knitting Social
Parent Song Circle
Lantern Walks
Kindergarten Open House
Early-Bird Kindergarten Registration
Winter Fair Volunteering
Winter Fair Tickets
Pedagogical Perusals: The Purpose of Main Lesson Books
DIRECTOR’s NOTE
Thank you to all in our community who have donated to our 30-Wishes-in-30-Days Campaign. Parents from the elementary school and from the Childcare Centre have made donations in support of items needed by faculty and students when we open our new Art Centre in January. Items for the staff room and supplies for our new pottery studio have been popular and quickly spoken-for, and many donations are still needed to ensure that our students have a fully functional art space and theatre experience. All donations, large or small, make a difference:
30in30 — Waldorf Academy Toronto
The construction is moving forward quickly: electrical and additional plumbing occurred this week; next week the roof drains will be re-routed and new skylights installed.
The parent-teacher conferences in the Madison building were a huge success over the past two days. It is wonderful to see our school take the time for deep discussions around our students’ social, emotional and academic needs and achievements.
Please note that the elementary school will be closed for Fall Holiday on Monday, November 11th. The Childcare Centre will be open.
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend,
Conor
KEY DATES
A quick reminder that there is NO SCHOOL for K to 8 on November 11th. As always, you can check the K-8 school calendar here:
School Calendar — Waldorf Academy Toronto
NEXT PARENT KNITTING SOCIAL
Tuesday November 12th, 8:45am
Join parents at Creeds Coffee bar for some social time. Knitting is optional! Drop-ins welcome (and dropped stitches)!
NEXT PARENT SONG CIRCLE
Thursday, November 14th, 8:30am
No need to be a virtuoso to make your voice heard! Come one, come all to our short but very sweet song circles on Thursdays mornings (typically in the gym). Be part of the warmth and intentionality of our vibrant community.
LANTERN WALKS
Thursday, November 14th
Childcare Centre Families (please contact teachers)
Friday, November 15th
Kindergarten - 5:20pm at Roycroft Ravine
Grades 1, 2, 3 - 5:45pm in the Side Yard
As the days get darker, we find multiple and multicultural ways to celebrate the power of light, both literally and figuratively, including Dev Diwali, Macau, and Martinmas. Colloquially known as “The Lantern Walk” in Waldorf schools, this tradition symbolizes the collective light we create together, and reminds us that there are always fires to kindle, even when the world is in its darkest time.
The story of St. Martin (which the Grade 2s will tell during the Friday portion of the event) speaks of the Roman soldier who cut his cloak in half in order to share his warmth with someone who had only rags to wear in the depth of winter. We look forward to seeing you at these magical events next week!
KINDERGARTEN OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, November 16th, 10:00am
We welcome all our Preschool Families to register for our Kinder Morning. This is an opportunity to get a glimpse of our Kindergartens and to experience some of our programming, with other families and children who are interested in joining in September, 2025.
Upcoming Events — Waldorf Academy Toronto
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION for KINDERGARTEN
All Preschool families are also offered the opportunity to apply for our coveted Kindergarten spots before registration is opened up to the general public. Application forms can be found here:
How to Apply — Waldorf Academy Toronto
WINTER FAIR
Sunday, December 1st
Our beloved Winter Fair is fast approaching! Winter Fair preparations in the intervening weeks are a wonderful way to build community within and across grades:
Call for singers & musicians!
Waldorf alumna and parent, Jessica Moore, is coordinating the musical portion of Winter Fair, and welcomes anyone with an interest in minstrelling or chorusing to reach out to her directly:
mooretranslation@gmail.com.
Get Your Winter Fair Tickets!
Winter Fair tickets are now on sale thanks to the quick work of Waldorf alumna and parent, Layah Singer Johnson and her committee of Winter Fair elves. The sooner the elves know how many tickets have been sold, the more magic they can prepare for your children!
bit.ly/wa-winterfair2024
PEDAGOGICAL PERUSALS: The Purpose of Main Lesson Books
Once your children join the grade school at Waldorf Academy, references to “main lesson” and “main lesson books” are ubiquitous. Waldorf schools consider main lessons, and their accompanying journals, as keystones of our unique approach.
All Grade 1 to 8 parents likely saw some of their children’s main lesson books during our Parent-Teacher Conferences this week. For some of you, they are by now familiar. For others, they are new. But for all of us, the question stands: what are they exactly, and why do they matter?
“Main Lesson” is a special class that takes place first thing each morning, lasting approximately two hours. During this time, students typically start by engaging in movement and verses to awaken both body and heart. They might ‘warm up’ by practicing math functions while throwing bean bags, or singing the multiplication tables to a familiar tune. They might recite poetry or play music.
Then the formal part of the lesson will begin, with students—bodies and minds now ready for learning—sitting at their desks for a while as they delve into the next part of a story, myth, or history lesson; rejoin Galileo’s journey around the sun, Archimedes’ discovery of displacement, or Turtle Island cartography; follow the arcs of the planets or the swirls of the trade winds; plot points in geometry or in the trajectory of a revolution; ponder the veins in a leaf or a heart. Each vibrant main lesson topic lasts two to four weeks, allowing students to immerse themselves in the stories and discoveries that are gradually woven into a beautiful and interconnected tapestry.
Waldorf terminology often references “head, heart and hands”. Learning that is simply by rote, and teaching that consists of passing on dry facts, often goes in one ear and out the other. The making of main lesson books is one of many ways in which Waldorf education ensures that learning is embodied and internalized: the students’ hands are engaged in writing and illustrating (freehand), their imaginations and senses are at work, and they build knowledge rather than simply accumulate information.
The hand-head connection is well-documented:
“Data analysis show[s] that cursive handwriting primed the brain for learning by synchronizing brain waves in the theta rhythm range (4-7 Hz) and stimulating more electrical activity in the brain's parietal lobe and central regions. "Existing literature suggests that such oscillatory neuronal activity in these particular brain areas is important for memory and for the encoding of new information and, therefore, provides the brain with optimal conditions for learning” (Christopher Bergland, Psychology Today, Oct 2, 2020, quoting research by Askik Van der Weel & Van der Meer).
The many benefits of learning through an arts-integrated approach have also been scientifically demonstrated. For instance:
“Researchers wrote two different versions of the curriculum, matched for content and timing, both involving active learning, but one including arts education. For example, in an arts integrated curriculum, students would sketch their vocabulary words, or learn some of the material as songs, or act out molecular motion with their bodies. The children who had learned the material in the curriculum that made use of the arts remembered more” (Perri Klass, New York Times, 2019).
Waldorf education calls on students to be present, to put will into their work, and to bring something of themselves to everything they do. Prefabricated handouts to be filled in—while sometimes necessary and useful—demand far less of students than does active, start-to-finish engagement. Main lesson books are one of many ways we manifest the call to active awakening that Waldorf education evokes.
Main lesson books are not meant to be “works of art” or aesthetically appealing for their own sake, beautiful as they may often be. They are meant to be a means for hands-on engagement, instruments of learning. The ‘making’ of them is what is important, not necessarily the product—though many Waldorf alumni (and their parents) cherish their main lesson books long after they have left school.
We hope all K-8 families had constructive Parent-Teacher Conferences. We value the connections we have with you, and the opportunity to share our experiences of your wonderful children.
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HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!
