Waldorf Education Works

Waldorf Schools offer a distinctive pedagogy that often garners national and local media attention for its unique and innovative characteristics. At the core of Waldorf education are principles of child development that have inspired many commentators' attention in the national discussion on how we learn and how to best teach our children. Waldorf schools demonstrate the effectiveness of teaching that focuses on learning through the body, through movement, storytelling, observation and in social interactions at a simpler, awe-inspiring, and care-filled pace that focuses the child's attention on excellence, beauty, intuitiveness and discipline. These characteristics instill rigor, confidence, motivation, independence, and a lifelong love of learning in our students.

Articles on Education Supporting Waldorf Principles:

Kids in Nature
Why it matters

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Bill Bryson's A Walk In the Woods, and Robert Frost's iconic  poem "The Road Not Taken" are exemplars of a longstanding tradition and appreciation for the restorative powers of nature and humans' deep connection to the natural environment.

New studies, book authors and child psychologists are also asserting that this connection has psychological and developmental influence on children that are far deeper and more lasting in impact than the mere enjoyment of leisure time outside.

Outdoor experience, exploration and play engages the child and fosters critical experiences in learning and psychological development. It also broadens a child's perspective and their understanding of the world. "kids today are becoming more and more removed from nature, at the expense of their own psychological and physical well being" Lauren Knight writes in a new Washington Post article about the impact of nature on children and she offers a list as a parent's guide to engaging in experiences in nature. Her list includes:
  1. Inspire curiosity by being curious yourself
  2. Simply be in nature with no other distractions
  3. Limit electronic devices while commuting
  4. Seek out natural, untouched spaces and return often
  5. Make time for unstructured outdoor play
  6. Stop thinking about nature time as leisure time
  7. Read about nature with your child
  8. Plant a small garden
  9. Look at the stars
  10. Get organized 
"Children who spend more time in nature develop better motor fitness and coordination, especially in balance and agility. And the benefits of the mind are not to be overlooked..."Read the details of each guideline for parents (including a great reading list) in the Washingtopn Post article

How We Learn


The October 6th New York Times ran an article entitled "Better Ways To Learn." The article goes in-depth to explore How We Learn, and the author summed up many primary principles that mirror the way that Waldorf curriculum and classroom experiences approach learning. Learning is an actively engaging process of repetition, interpretation and reiterations. 

Here are excerpted concepts from the article that are ALSO foundational principles in Waldorf education:
  1.  “Although a good grade may be achieved in the short term by cramming for an exam, chances are that most of the information will be quickly lost.”
  2.  “Long and focused study sessions may seem productive, but chances are you are spending most of your brainpower on trying to maintain your concentration for a long period of time. That doesn’t leave a lot of brain energy for learning.”
  3. “The brain wants variation,It wants to move, it wants to take periodic breaks.”
  4. “One way to signal to the brain that information is important is to talk about it.”
  5.  “Studies have shown that for a student to learn and retain information like historical events, vocabulary words or science definitions, it’s best to review the information one to two days after first studying it.”
  6.  “Not surprisingly, sleep is an important part of good studying. The first half of the sleep cycle helps with retaining facts; the second half is important for math skills.”
This gives insight into the Waldorf approach to storytelling, writing, taking dictation, lesson review, all processes of repetition and reinterpretation of core concepts across verbal, written, and physical demonstrations key to learning.
Read the full NYTimes article here. 
Written by Tara Parker-Pope for the New York Times / the "Well Column"  /  Illustration by Stuart Bradford



PLAY

http://aeon.co/magazine/culture/children-today-are-suffering-a-severe-deficit-of-play/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/01/19/letting-kids-move-in-class-isnt-a-break-from-learning-it-is-learning/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg-GEzM7iTk

Service Three


ts is a core learning experience at all Waldorf schools that students practice penmanship, they learn cursive, and use their handwriting skills to create their own curriculum Block Books (rather than using pre-printed textbooks). The benefit of MANUAL LEARNING is also taken up in traditional Waldorf handwork classes where students learn woodworking, knitting, hand felting and many other processes of manipulating natural forms and materials. Many contemporary studies in education and science, reports from neuroscscientists, academics, child psychologists and child development experts have been promoting the benefits of physical movement and kinesthetic learning (that is, learning through the body & making with your hands). 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/science/whats-lost-as-handwriting-fades.html?emc=eta1&_r=2

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/memory-medic/201303/why-writing-hand-could-make-you-smarter
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/opinion/sunday/architecture-and-the-lost-art-of-drawing.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1346673671-YdvnVwsDCrtegESubC36+w