It’s no secret that I’m a huge Oak Meadow fan, but since I know what you typically gravitate to and your preferences, I’ll share a few things to consider. OM is not written in a style you are accustomed to. That is not a bad thing, but it may throw you off until you are use it. If you need a curricula to say, do this day one, the day two etc, this is not it. The information is laid out by the entire week. You and your student make choices on assignments and then you proceed to pace the week’s checklist to suit you. For me, that’s a huge plus. For others, they need a detailed schedule. OM in middle school is rigorous, rich, hands on and holistic. It produces critical thinkers and fosters creative minds. It brings things other programs do not focus on. For example, in science, scientific research papers aside from labs. The courses are written directly to the child, so they can get going while you work or care for the younger kiddos. Every subject is writing heavy. That being said, to be successful with OM, you have to be willing to edit and adapt to suit your students. The format allows you to easily do that. I would also say it’s important to understand the general idea of Waldorf. In middle school the Waldorf inspiration is not as strong as younger years , but I feel it’s important to understand the why and how. It’s not written in blocks like a purist Waldorf curricula, which I’m sure it’s a plus for you. That’s a format you are use to. The subjects do connect with each other, even though it’s a stand alone at that stage. The lit can be hit or miss across levels, but it’s always been easy to swap titles, and still do the same assignments. This also leads to a great foundation as they enter high school courses, where OM truly shines in my opinion. Overall, I would recommend watching my grade 6 flip throughs, then download the samples, and test out a lesson or two. It’s an investment (I feel it’s worth it), but since it’s not what your typical style, I would definitely test it out first. Hope that helps.
It’s here!!! Thank you so much for this incredible detail. I really value your informed opinions and methods. Looking forward to the other episodes. Just in time for planning season.
How many main lesson blocks do you do with each child per year? Do you generally always have a main lesson block going with just a couple of days at most in between or do you do a main lesson block, take a break for some weeks and then do another? In either case can you share why?
That varies greatly depending on grade, topics being covered , resources I’m using vs making myself , and generally the season of life we are in. If you look at a purist Waldorf education framework, there’s specific topics covered in each level, based on developmental stages . There’s very specific reasons for this and it goes deep into the educational philosophy behind it. I wouldn’t be able to summarize that in a general paragraph. However, if you really wanted to dig into the whys to understand it better (which anyone considering Waldorf inspired framework, should do. Highly recommend it!) I would take some time studying it and there’s various resources for that as well. I can link a good book below which I find does a great job summarizing it. Now, I’m not a purist by any means, I adapt and change to adjust to our needs, especially since my kiddos are ND. As for your other question, I think you may be viewing it through the lens of a unit study. Where it may not always have a special study going on. A main lesson block does not fall under the same general ideas, because it’s your core subjects being covered . It is the framework in which we carry our days. Basically, that’s how we homeschool. Which means, there’s always a block going. Only time we are doing something different is on a bad health day which I have back up independent lessons for. With a Waldorf inspired framework, it can be very teacher intensive. Which is why I have sub plans, just in case. We look at everything as a whole. It’s not about just doing a specific study or numbers we are fitting in. Our days revolve around the concept of head, heart, hands (which I went over on the video) and the breathe in and breathe out rhythm of each day, I’ll discuss that more in a later video. That all may sound very foreign if you are not familiar with the style. But this is all just to say, there’s a lot behind it. Now if you are not interested In the whole style, and just want to do something with the schedule, like block scheduling, that’s something else that can be accomplished without digging into the rest. Here’s the book I recommend, there’s a few others linked in my Amazon store if you are interested. amzn.to/3SHzZGe (aff)
You are unbelievable. This is an amazing set-up. Thanks for the ideas. Your son is so lucky!
Thank you so much for watching and your kind words ♥️
I look forward to future videos in this series!
Thank you for watching! Working on episode 2 as we speak ♥️
Oh my gosh!!!! I. Am. Here. For. This! Thank you thank you!
Made my night! Thank you! You have no idea how long this took to craft 🫠♥️
I loved all of this. I feel like i need to possibly revisit Oak Meadow, as we head into middle school years. Thoughts?
It’s no secret that I’m a huge Oak Meadow fan, but since I know what you typically gravitate to and your preferences, I’ll share a few things to consider.
OM is not written in a style you are accustomed to. That is not a bad thing, but it may throw you off until you are use it. If you need a curricula to say, do this day one, the day two etc, this is not it. The information is laid out by the entire week. You and your student make choices on assignments and then you proceed to pace the week’s checklist to suit you. For me, that’s a huge plus. For others, they need a detailed schedule.
OM in middle school is rigorous, rich, hands on and holistic. It produces critical thinkers and fosters creative minds. It brings things other programs do not focus on. For example, in science, scientific research papers aside from labs. The courses are written directly to the child, so they can get going while you work or care for the younger kiddos.
Every subject is writing heavy. That being said, to be successful with OM, you have to be willing to edit and adapt to suit your students. The format allows you to easily do that. I would also say it’s important to understand the general idea of Waldorf. In middle school the Waldorf inspiration is not as strong as younger years , but I feel it’s important to understand the why and how. It’s not written in blocks like a purist Waldorf curricula, which I’m sure it’s a plus for you. That’s a format you are use to. The subjects do connect with each other, even though it’s a stand alone at that stage. The lit can be hit or miss across levels, but it’s always been easy to swap titles, and still do the same assignments.
This also leads to a great foundation as they enter high school courses, where OM truly shines in my opinion.
Overall, I would recommend watching my grade 6 flip throughs, then download the samples, and test out a lesson or two. It’s an investment (I feel it’s worth it), but since it’s not what your typical style, I would definitely test it out first. Hope that helps.
@@Arleneandcompany Thank you!
It’s here!!! Thank you so much for this incredible detail. I really value your informed opinions and methods. Looking forward to the other episodes. Just in time for planning season.
Thank you so much for watching and your kind words 🫶🏽
I keep forgetting about chatgpt! Experimented when I couldn’t sleep last night and it was amazing! But asking it to break it up into days…next level!
Yes, just be very specific and it will break it up any which way you like. #teacherhacks 😆
I so appreciated the explanation on main lesson block vs. Unit study
My pleasure! It’s usually the number one question I get when I say main lesson block. Glad it was helpful!
Omg care plans! 😂 I couldn't stand those!
🙌🏽I still have vivid nightmares about them!
How many main lesson blocks do you do with each child per year?
Do you generally always have a main lesson block going with just a couple of days at most in between or do you do a main lesson block, take a break for some weeks and then do another?
In either case can you share why?
That varies greatly depending on grade, topics being covered , resources I’m using vs making myself , and generally the season of life we are in. If you look at a purist Waldorf education framework, there’s specific topics covered in each level, based on developmental stages . There’s very specific reasons for this and it goes deep into the educational philosophy behind it. I wouldn’t be able to summarize that in a general paragraph. However, if you really wanted to dig into the whys to understand it better (which anyone considering Waldorf inspired framework, should do. Highly recommend it!) I would take some time studying it and there’s various resources for that as well. I can link a good book below which I find does a great job summarizing it. Now, I’m not a purist by any means, I adapt and change to adjust to our needs, especially since my kiddos are ND.
As for your other question, I think you may be viewing it through the lens of a unit study. Where it may not always have a special study going on. A main lesson block does not fall under the same general ideas, because it’s your core subjects being covered . It is the framework in which we carry our days. Basically, that’s how we homeschool. Which means, there’s always a block going. Only time we are doing something different is on a bad health day which I have back up independent lessons for. With a Waldorf inspired framework, it can be very teacher intensive. Which is why I have sub plans, just in case.
We look at everything as a whole. It’s not about just doing a specific study or numbers we are fitting in. Our days revolve around the concept of head, heart, hands (which I went over on the video) and the breathe in and breathe out rhythm of each day, I’ll discuss that more in a later video. That all may sound very foreign if you are not familiar with the style. But this is all just to say, there’s a lot behind it. Now if you are not interested In the whole style, and just want to do something with the schedule, like block scheduling, that’s something else that can be accomplished without digging into the rest.
Here’s the book I recommend, there’s a few others linked in my Amazon store if you are interested.
amzn.to/3SHzZGe (aff)
@@Arleneandcompany this explains a lot. I’ll be reading the book when it arrives. Thanks again!
My pleasure😊